Bears take an unusual step to prepare Caleb Williams for the new season

Caleb Williams’ first year in the NFL was a mixed bag.

The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner was the No. 1 overall pick at last year’s draft and he was tasked with turning around a failing Chicago Bears team. He set countless franchise rookie records and even broke the NFL record for most consecutive passing attempts without an interception by a rookie (354).

But Williams could not turn the team’s fortunes and the Bears limped to a 5-12 record. This year significant improvement is expected and the team have made efforts to improve his body language, hoping that he can give a better impression to his teammates.

“It’s like, do we really want to ... is this what we want to look like or not?” new head coach Ben Johnson said of the player’s body language. “We come to an agreement, no it’s not. OK, we learn from it, we move on to the next thing.”

Williams is an expressive character and, at times, his frustrations became a little too obvious on the field. The Bears will hope that a subtle change in his demeanor might help to shift the atmosphere in Chicago.

“It’s not something you flip a switch and then it’s gone,” general manager Ryan Poles explained. “There’s going to be those moments and there’s going to be different triggers and ... as he grows, it’s going to get better and better.

“But I think you still want your quarterback to have a sense of fire. There’s a time and a place for showing your frustrations or showing your excitement on the other side of that, too. I think it is part of the progression.”

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