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Caleb Williams at the bye: What we learned about Chicago Bears QB over 1st 4 games — and 3 areas to focus on

October 5, 2025 by Chicago Tribune

Ben Johnson and his Chicago Bears coaching staff aren’t taking a vacation this week.

The bye week is a much-needed respite for players. For coaches, it’s an important week. Since training camp this summer, Johnson has pointed to September as an opportunity to see what his team is all about. The Bears learned what they do well and what they don’t do well over the first four games.

A Week 5 bye provides an opportunity to make adjustments.

“For us as a staff, we’ll have a good feel after four games of who we are, what we do well and what we can sink our teeth into,” Johnson said, “whether we want to pivot a little bit in certain spots, whether that’s personnel-driven or schematic, that can get us better going ahead.”

The Bears are already planning some adjustments. Lineman Theo Benedet started the Week 4 win over the Las Vegas Raiders and appears poised to remain in the starting lineup.

Johnson’s offense remains a work in progress. That’s by design. The Bears have built this thing from scratch. Johnson didn’t bring his Lions playbook with him from Detroit.

He said at his introductory news conference in January that it was vital for the Bears to build an offense specifically to fit the skill set of quarterback Caleb Williams, last year’s No. 1 pick.

“This is not simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there,” Johnson said that day. “Nope, we’re ripping this thing down to the studs, and we’re going to build it out with him first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next.”

Already, Williams is playing better in some key areas. The bye week can help crystallize what the Bears want to do heading into the meat of their schedule.

“Just because it’s a bye week doesn’t mean it’s an off week,” Williams said.

Here’s a look at what has worked well and what hasn’t for Williams through the first quarter of the schedule.

1. Thinking like the play caller.

Quarterback Caleb Williams (18) and coach Ben Johnson stand on the field before the Bears play the Vikings on Sept. 8, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Quarterback Caleb Williams (18) and coach Ben Johnson stand on the field before the Bears play the Vikings on Sept. 8, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

A key tenet Johnson believes in is that the play caller and the quarterback have to think alike.

“The quarterback needs to be able to see the game through the play-caller’s eyes,” Johnson said on his first day on the job.

That takes time, and it takes time together. One-on-one meetings facilitate that best.

“He and I have had a number of one-on-ones,” Johnson said when asked last week about how that process is going. “We sit down and I get to know him, he gets to know me, how I work, how he works. We’re just in the beginning of this too. I think that’s the best part of it, is that I feel so strongly about him as a player and the direction he’s heading that we’re just going to continue to get better. We’re going to grow together.”

Johnson has been impressed with Williams’ level of preparation. The quarterback might screw up a play in practice on a Wednesday, but he has it fixed by Thursday.

After an 0-2 start, Johnson called out the team for its practice habits. He was not pleased with the effort he saw ahead of the drubbing in Detroit in Week 2.

Williams said he and Johnson talked about how if the team needs a little extra juice going into practice, the quarterback can set that example.

“If it’s pushing the guys, if it’s encouragement, if it’s whatever the case may be, it’s just being able to be there for the team and the offense and that was kind of his point for me,” Williams said.

Williams and the Bears locked in ahead of a Week 3 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, and the results were apparent in a 31-14 win.

The quarterback and the coach are still learning how to work with one another. That relationship happens from Monday to Saturday, not necessarily on Sundays.

They might not see the game through the same lens yet, but the hope is that more time on task will lead to that.

“His attention to detail is the main thing and understanding the process and really honing in on the process of preparing each and every week,” quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett said. “I think that’s encouraging to see and he’s still working at it and still trying to build upon it and improve. When you have that type of preparation and you’re intentional about your work, it puts you up for success on Sundays.”

2. Adjusting his footwork.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a touchdown pass to Rome Odunze against the Cowboys in the first quarter Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a touchdown pass to Rome Odunze against the Cowboys in the first quarter Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

When the Bears went back to work in the spring, Johnson gave his quarterbacks film of Rams QB Matthew Stafford to study. Specifically he wanted them to study Stafford’s footwork.

“Very quiet feet,” Bears backup Tyson Bagent said of Stafford. “You don’t want to be erratic.”

Williams has referenced Stafford several times when asked about his footwork this season.

Johnson made a minor change over the offseason in that area. When Williams lines up in the shotgun, he stands with his left foot forward. Last year, Williams started with his right foot forward in such formations.

It’s a minor adjustment. But in May, Johnson said this was one of the philosophies that he felt “pretty strongly about.” A right-handed quarterback with his left foot forward is more or less already in a throwing stance when he’s looking to throw the ball quickly.

“A lot of times, people being even-(footed), you take too big of a cheat step and it might throw your rhythm off,” Bagent said. “With (the left foot forward), it’s easy because you can kind of just hop into it.”

With any quarterback making a change to his footwork, it’s all about repetition. It’s going to take time for him to become comfortable with the new footwork — and Williams believes his footwork was part of the reason why his accuracy was so poor in the Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Asked what he wanted to improve after the opener, Williams mentioned the footwork.

Johnson said that when the footwork was good, William was delivering an accurate throw. The coach is encouraged by the development he’s seeing even from Week 1 until now.

“I see him playing the game with his feet much more so than what we had in the spring or during training camp,” Johnson said. “He’s trying to tie in No. 1 in the progression with the first hitch, No. 2 with the second hitch, and we’re trying to throw on time a lot more often than maybe we were initially. I see it coming along.”

Williams noted after the Raiders game that he wants to get more out of the quick-passing game, which is tied to that left-foot-forward approach. So far, that hasn’t been his bread and butter.

Per NFL Pro, Williams’ expected points added per dropback on quick passes (2.5 seconds or less) ranks 32nd among 33 qualified quarterbacks, ahead of only the Cleveland Browns’ Joe Flacco.

“People don’t realize that the short-yardage or the fast completions and things like that, it’s also the same as those deeper routes,” Williams said. “It’s a lot of timing. The reads, actually, are a little bit faster. But (it’s) timing to it. Footwork and all of that.”

So far this season, Williams is holding onto the ball longer than every NFL quarterback except for the New York Jets’ Justin Fields.

3. Connection with Rome Odunze and DJ Moore.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams celebrates his touchdown pass to wide receiver Rome Odunze in the first quarter Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams celebrates his touchdown pass to wide receiver Rome Odunze in the first quarter Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Odunze burst by Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs — and Diggs lost his footing for a moment. It was just enough time for Odunze to blow past him. Odunze threw his hand up in the air and adjusted his route, breaking for the end zone.

Johnson called it a “mailbox” play, with the receiver throwing up his arm like the little red flag on the side of a suburban mailbox.

Williams was looking to his left and saw it develop. He let it rip and it ended with a 35-yard touchdown. Williams had missed a similar “mailbox” throw in Week 1, when DJ Moore tossed his hand up and adjusted his route. That time, Williams put a little too much air under his throw to Moore, and it was off the mark.

“Just ended up not being on the same page,” Williams said of the Week 1 toss to Moore.

Not so against the Cowboys.

Bagent noted that an overlooked aspect to the touchdown with Odunze was that Williams began the play by looking to his left. He watched Odunze beat the defender. In the similar “mailbox” attempt to Moore in Week 1, Williams had his eyes elsewhere before looking up and seeing Moore open deep down the field.

Sometimes the stars have to align in subtle ways to hit on those opportunities.

“It’s just a matter of Caleb wanted to work Rome’s side,” Bagent said. “A lot of comfortability, (Odunze’s) been playing at a high level.”

The connection between Williams and Odunze was apparent during camp in August, and that has translated to the regular season. Odunze leads the Bears with 20 receptions for 296 yards and five touchdowns. He has converted 16 first downs through the air, twice as many as any of the team’s other targets.

“I think (it’s) just time on task,” Bears passing game coordinator Press Taylor said. “You see the connection, just the understanding of how he’s going to run a certain route, the depth he’s going to be at. How he likes a certain throw.”

Odunze entered Week 5 ranked second in the NFL with five receiving touchdowns behind only Amon-Ra St. Brown. Williams is tied for third in the league with eight touchdown passes behind Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff.

So far it has been a quieter start for Moore, one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers. Moore has 16 catches for 173 yards and one touchdown. His target rate of 16.9% of passes is on pace to be his lowest of his career, either with the Carolina Panthers or Bears.

Moore’s usage in this offense will be something to watch as the season progresses. Moore said Williams has taken ownership of the offense and is building a rapport with his targets.

“It’s been steady growth and he’s been on top of us to just be better, elevate our game so he can elevate his,” Moore said.

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