Caleb Williams' body language often seemed to draw attention through his rookie season and even into Chicago Bears training camp last year.
Sometimes Williams didn't exactly exude confidence or leadership the way a quarterback in the NFL needs to, but seven fourth-quarter comebacks last season/postseason took care of allthis and certainly being put on the cover of Madden couldn't hurt anyone's swagger.
People often need refresher courses, though, and it appears Williams did already in this offseason. He already addressed it through the help of a new player, former Lions receiver Kalif Raymond.
โKalif has only been here for, I don't know, a couple months or so," Williams said at minicamp. "But Kalif came up to me and it was a day I wasn't having the best practice. So, I got really frustrated. Kalif came up to me and said, โYou know everybody's looking at you.โ
Caleb Williams with a bomb to Luther Burden on the final day of the offseason program ๐
This duo is going to be special ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/eprLykWayl
โ Bearsszn (@bearszn) June 12, 2026
"That really resonated for me. Because that's been something that from my first year to now that I want to be as stoic as possible. Good, bad, or indifferent, not be too high or too low for the guys. So when he said that to me, it stuck with me and it bothered me. Just every day having that type of mindset, be as stoic as possible, be as strong as possible for the guys because they're looking at me. It takes a lot to do that because the passion and the energy in the sport is so strong. But it's important to me, it's important to guys, itโs important to coach.โ
Williams doesn't want to eliminate the way his passion for the game is visible. After he was fiery throughout last year's postseason run, that would be a disaster. A quarterback can't be this way all the time, though. And they can't be sullen or pout above all else.
Savage: Bears QB Caleb Williams was asked about Micah Parsons calling him the best QB in football.
Caleb said he wouldn't vote for any Packers player in the NFL Top 100.
๐ฅถ๐ฅถ๐ฅถ pic.twitter.com/voEmYkxulc
โ Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 12, 2026
"I would say I'm pretty always even keeled," Williams said. "It's just this sport, it's the thing I care about the most. So I get really passionate about it. I get fiery and there's times for it, there's times to be fire, there's times to not be.
"It's just finding a good balance for it. It's showing that you care, but it's also showing and knowing, like I said earlier, that everybody's looking at you. It's important to be able to not be too high, not to not be too low. Because you know it affects other guys."
The coaching impact
Knowing this and keeping this in mind is something coaches should have addressed extensively during Williams' rookie year when he and DJ Moore sometimes seemed at odds or when Williams would sit alone and brood a times. Of course, Bears coaches were in the midst of a total meltdown after a 4-2 start and couldn't keep the most simple things in order.
๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐: New Bears WR Kalif Raymond has gone viral for barely being visible at his press conference with the media.
Raymond is only 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds.
The Chicago staff did him so dirty ๐ญ๐ญpic.twitter.com/Ba7299quO9
โ Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 10, 2026
When Ben Johnson came on board, one of the things he did first was make certain everyone knew he was holding Williams accountable. Perhaps players need reminders at times but it's a positive that Williams has advanced to the point where he can recognize this from a teammate and not need to be hollered at about it by coaches.
"It's just being able to be conscious of it," Williams said. "Notice it when it does show up. And if I don't notice it, Iโve got coaches that I care about what they say and when they say things like that or teammates, when they notice it bothers me so I want to correct it immediately and move on from it and be better.โ
This is every 20+ yards attempt Caleb Williams threw from a clean pocket.
He is still bad at throwing deep. That isn't going to change. His deep ball has an extremely flat trajectory that makes his margin for error extremely small, and no QB can be perfect enough to overcomeโฆ
โ Joe (@JoeA_NFL) June 8, 2026
The Bears don't really need a quarterback who is "stoic," so to speak. They often referred to Justin Fields in this way, and how did that work out for him and them?
Williams just needs to be responsible, and even third-year QBs need reminders.
In this regard, the acquisition of Raymond already looks like it's paying dividends. He has been around a veteran quarterback in Jared Goff and saw what it's supposed to look like. Having someone else who reminds him besides Johnson or QB coach J.T. Barrett, can't hurt.
They thought they had this with veteran third QB Case Keenum but sometimes it takes someone from outside the inner QB circle to deliver the message. It did in this case.
Avoid: Caleb Williams
This has everything to do with cost and not his talent.
Right now he goes as the QB6 which isn't necessarily high...
But once again there are other QBs that go a bit later who also have big upside. โฌ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/EcqWjopTaW
โ GBergFantasyFootball (@GBERGFF) June 12, 2026
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