Chicago Bears head coach, Ben Johnson, at rookie minicamp, May 9, 2025.
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Chicago Bears head coach, Ben Johnson, at rookie minicamp, May 9, 2025.
The Caleb Williams/didn’t want to go to the Chicago Bears saga had a nice little bow wrapped around it on Wednesday when the former USC quarterback remained excellently composed in answering reporters’ questions on it.
Yet, there are still things to work on for Williams entering an important second season as the former #1 overall pick.
New Bears head coach, Ben Johnson, has reportedly outlined two main focus points for his new quarterback: 1.) improving pre-snap and 2.) improving his body language.
Bears Head Coach Notes Importance Of Positive Body Language On And Off The Field
Body language is one of the most important, yet least spoken about aspects of the game from the media perspective. Strong body language and interactions with teammates can create a far more positive illusion of success and composure than may in fact exist.
And on the flip side, the image of a quarterback throwing his toys out of the pram after some things did not go his way can be a major detractor from his success, even if the team is winning.
Think how much Aaron Rodgers would be ripped in the media for poor interaction with his young wide receivers during his time in Green Bay, even though he was posting consistent MVP-caliber seasons.
Ben Johnson Expects Better Body Language From Williams And Team Moving Forward
During Wednesday’s press conference Johnson re-iterated his feelings towards Williams’ needed improvements in body language for this upcoming season, although he framed it as a whole-team necessity, rather than that of just his franchise quarterback.
“Early in the process we sat down and watched some tape from a year ago and we talked it through,” Johnson said on Wednesday. “It’s like – ‘Do we really want to? Is this what we want to look like or not?’ We come to an agreement, ‘No, it’s not, OK, we learn from it, we move on to the next thing.’ Body language is a huge thing. Demeanor. We don’t want to be a palms-up team where we’re questioning everything. No, no, no — to me that’s a little bit of a sign of weakness. We don’t want to exhibit that from anybody on the team.”
It is obviously understandable that Williams was frustrated during portions of last season, given the coaching horror-show that was put around him in his first year. But now with a very highly regarded coach leading the team and a staff that feels much more well-put together, the time for sulking and moodiness is in the past for the young signal-caller.
That’s not to say he won’t show moments of outpouring of emotion, but the aim will be, from Johnson and co., for Williams – and the rest of the team – to keep their cool in high-pressure moments and not dwell on the mistakes of past plays.