A few days ago, I wrote about the unusual situation at Chicago Bears training camp. While head coach Ben Johnson and his staff were eager to sing the praises of certain players like Colston Loveland or Luther Burden, they seemed somewhat careful with their comments regarding Caleb Williams. Sure, they were complimentary of the Bears’ quarterback, but never quite went all the way. It felt as if they might be deliberately downplaying how he has looked in practice. It was a theory, yes. One that seemed to have some merit, though.
Sure enough, Jay Glazer of FOX Sports pretty much confirmed it with his recent tweet. He’s been making the rounds with several teams, taking in what he sees. Among the biggest standouts was what he heard about Williams.
“Caleb is LIGHT YEARS ahead of where he was this time last year. So much so, they actually think they need him to pull back some.”
That sure sounds like a staff that loves what they’re seeing and doesn’t want to tip the rest of the league off on how much Williams has improved. So they’ve asked him to throttle down for now. It would explain why the quarterback hasn’t had as many big days over the past week of camp. He’s deliberately keeping his foot off the gas. It would also explain why Johnson held him out of the preseason opener.
Caleb Williams has gone from passenger to driver.
Last year, Johnson was the unquestioned one in charge. He relayed the plays and instructed the quarterback on how to run all of them properly. There was no room for freelancing at the line of scrimmage. However, Johnson understood this arrangement could not and should not last forever. If the Bears’ offense were to reach its full potential, it would eventually require Williams to step into the driver’s seat. That meant taking the play call, getting everybody lined up, and then assessing the defense. If it didn’t show the look he wanted, he would adjust the play.
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By all accounts, that has been what is happening in camp. There have been multiple instances of Caleb Williams laying into teammates for not getting lined up properly. He forced the offense to huddle up again if things weren’t going his way. If the defense shows something the play isn’t ready for, he changes it. Johnson already admitted last year that Williams saved him from the wrong play call. Now the quarterback is doing it more often than ever.
There is a certain sense to this line of thinking.
Few things work better in the NFL than the element of surprise. If you can catch opponents unprepared, you’ve already won half the battle. This is why football teams are so strict about video footage at practice and don’t run anything of real consequence in the preseason. They will not give any of their regular season opponents something useful to look at until the actual games start being played. Johnson already said he feels no pressure to see Williams in game action this month. He’s been watching him in practice for weeks. Nothing has told him that the quarterback is unprepared for the season.
That should’ve been a major signal by itself. Johnson is as strict as they come regarding preparation. If he’s saying Williams is already ready for the season, that should tell you everything. It makes no sense for him to showcase this progress to the world when the outcome doesn’t matter. Better to save it for the Carolina Panthers on opening day.
