It’s a big year for the Chicago Bears. They have a new coaching staff headed by former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who is expected to elevate quarterback Caleb Williams’ play to a high level worthy of the first overall pick in 2024.
Williams has been experiencing growing pains under Johnson. He’s been flooded with information and asked to do much on offense.
Johnson has said, “We are loading his plate up,” Johnson said. “We want to see how much he can handle. It’s a lot easier to put too much on and then scale it back if necessary than do too little and wish we could have pushed the envelope a little bit more.”
Will Caleb Williams Line Up Against the Bills?
Johnson told the press on Wednesday that Williams and the rest of the starters will see action against the Bills on Sunday night at Soldier Field.
Williams and the rest of the first-team offense sat against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 of the preseason, but it was by design. Johnson wanted his players to do as much work in practice as possible.
My final post practice thoughts on Caleb Williams, Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears offense.
Caleb Williams is doing everything that is being asked of him. After throwing the kitchen sink at him through a lengthy installation process of Ben Johnsons offense over the first few…
— Greg Braggs Jr. (@GBraggsJr23) August 15, 2025
“Last week and really all through camp I’ve been pretty consistent with the thought of reps, reps, reps are the most important thing to get him up to speed,” Johnson said of Williams. “And by the plan that we had a week ago, we were able to get him probably somewhere between 80 and 100 more reps than we would have been able to had he played in the game.
“This week, it’s a different schedule, different length of time between games, and all that. Our plan right now is the guys that sat out last week, they will be playing this week.”
What Is Expected of Williams?
Greatness.
Williams was drafted to be the Bears’ franchise quarterback, but he has a lot of work to do before he can reach that rarefied height.
Overall, he had a solid 2024. Williams threw for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions with an 87.8 passer rating. He tacked on 489 rushing yards and set Bears rookie records for pass attempts (562), completions (351), completion percentage (62.5%), and passing touchdowns (20).
He also had four games with 300 + passing yards and two or more passing touchdowns, tying a franchise record. However, he finished with a No. 33 ranking and D grade (63.2) in PFSN’s QB+ ratings, leaving plenty of room for improvement.
Been seeing a ton of Caleb Williams hate on the TL recently, he went #1 overall for this exact reason, your favorite QB isn’t making a majority of the throws Caleb Williams made last season…
pic.twitter.com/JEpfYnD1Px— 𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖗𝖊𝖜 ™️ (@Illinois2Natty) August 15, 2025
His biggest problem was sacks. He took 68 of them, and Seth Wickersham’s book reported that Williams complained that the previous coaching staff didn’t spend time breaking down film with him.
There’s little doubt that Ben Johnson, well-known for his meticulous attention to detail, has addressed that problem.
Sunday will be Williams’ first chance to show what he’s learned from Johnson so far.
