Bears have no concerns about QB Caleb Williams entering 2025 season

If you thought there were any worries within the Chicago Bears organization about second-year quarterback Caleb Williams, you’d be dead wrong.

General manager Ryan Poles spoke with ESPN this week and confirmed the team is as high on Williams’ upside as they were when they selected him with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

“I think as a human being, I want it to happen super fast, and I would love for it to look really clean and for [Williams] to look like a fifth-year vet right now,” Poles said of Williams learning Ben Johnson’s offense. “But I think, just being in this long enough, what’s reality, though? It’s going to take time. It’s new.

“A new defense is going to jump out faster. It always does. We’re also playing this man scheme that [defensive coordinator] Dennis [Allen] is playing is a pain, and he is not holding back anything. And I think because of that it might look choppy at times, but that’s what you want. You want this time to look, be as hard as possible. And then when you get to game time when the lights come on, you want that to then slow down.”

It’d be great if the very opinionated Caleb Williams’ critics could take note of that last part. Training camp practices are where teams want mistakes to be made. It’s how a young player like Williams will learn; it gives Johnson an opportunity to teach.

Let’s be honest: the first couple of weeks of anything new are always rough. We’ve all been there, whether it’s a new job, a new workout program, or learning a new language. You don’t just snap your fingers and master all that’s required.

That’s where Williams is right now. He’s in the very early stages of learning Ben Johnson’s system, which goes beyond the playbook. He’s learning an entirely new way of practicing, watching film, and meeting off-field expectations that are clearly much higher than they were under Matt Eberflus.

Patience, Bears fans. Patience.

“Obviously, there’s going to be mistakes, but being able to understand that it was a mistake by me or we lined up wrong — whatever the case may be — getting back in the huddle, calling it right, getting back out there, doing it, executing, being a player-led team [is what’s important],” Williams said.

Sign up for BearsTalk Premium and unlock our exclusive Bears and NFL Draft content as well as a limited ad experience and an enhanced commenting and social networking platform.