The Chicago Bears had their first week of training camp practices this past week. With that, the staff has started to lay the groundwork for the team’s chemistry. Head Coach Ben Johnson and his assistant coaches have begun to identify and work out any kinks for this new roster in the early practices of training camp. They’ve also started to set their expectations and goals for their players, such as dependability and consistency. Johnson, and even Caleb Williams himself, have set some lofty goals for Williams during
training camp and preseason in hopes that it translates on the field for Williams as he enters his sophomore season as the Bears’ starting quarterback.
70% Pass Completion Percentage
During a Bears press conference on Tuesday, Johnson stated that he has set a goal for Williams this upcoming season “to complete 70% of his balls.” Last season, Williams completed 62.5% of his passes, making this goal for Williams a tall order. Johnson acknowledges that this is a lofty goal but claims, “it’s one we’re going to strive for.”
However, to ensure Williams meets this goal, the coaching staff has placed an emphasis on tracking Williams’ pass completion percentage each day of camp. On Friday, Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle told the media, “We track everything…The biggest thing is, you track it and give it to him. ‘Hey, we’re below our standard right now.’ It’s something that we’ll track throughout camp. Obviously that’s our benchmark, our goal, but that’s the biggest thing. We have to track all of it, and make sure our players are aware of what we’re going to ask of them.”
The team has set the baseline to gauge Williams’ performance as “above or below championship standards.” While the coaches are placing ambitious goals on Williams during camp and the season ahead, it seems that they are setting him up for success by keeping him accountable and tracking his performance daily these next six weeks.
Intentional Defensive Pressure
Both Johnson and Doyle have described a 11-on-11 period during practice that they place intentional pressure on offense from the defense on every snap. They refer to this as the “wake-up” period. On Friday, Doyle explains, “[setting up pressure on Williams], that’s very intentional. That’s trying to get our defensive pressures in against some of the stuff we’re going to do offensively…the quarterback operating, getting the offense on the same page as far as checking plays, checking protections, things like that…that’s all a part of the scripted practice.”
Albert Breer stated Friday, per Sports Illustrated, the reasoning for “the volume [Williams is] getting to see from the defense” is so he can “apply more of the offense to what he’s seeing from an opponent”, claiming that the Bears coaching staff’s idea was to have Williams “drinking from a firehose in the spring, and keep the load on him to start camp and then begin to narrow the offense down to what Johnson, OC Declan Doyle, and the staff think he does best.” With putting this intentional defensive pressure on Williams, the hope is that the practice and skills he gains from this activity will translate on the field when he is up against other defenses.
Williams Sets Individual Goals for the Season
Along with his coaches, Williams has set a few main goals for himself for this upcoming season. Similarly to Johnson’s goal for him, William wants to hit that 70% pass completion. He also wants to do something no other Bears quarterback has done before: throw for 4,000 yards.
Via the team’s official website, Williams shared, “Being the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history, that’s a goal of mine…seventy-percent completion, that helps the team, keeps us on the field, puts us in better positions. And then other than that, just trying to go down and score the most points that we can with each drive that we have. That’s kind of my self-goal, and obviously other than that, you’ve got to go win. That’s success for me. That’s success for the team. That’s all we wish for and I wish for.”
Williams has not let the tumultuous season he experienced last year deter him from thriving in the NFL. He is eager to grow and ready to hit the ground running in 2025.
During both training camp and preseason, the Bears coaching staff is challenging Williams, emphasizing pass completion percentage, body language, pre-snap procedure, and the ability to operate the offense and read a defense with the goal that they are adequately preparing and setting him up for success for his sophomore season.
Do you think Williams can rise up to the occasion and meet the goals and expectations the team has set for him this season?
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