Bears' Johnson going 'back to the basics' with Caleb Williams

New Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson detailed his plan for building a foundation with second-year quarterback Caleb Williams this offseason.

"You go back to the basics," Johnson said Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings, according to team reporter Larry Mayer. "It's the fundamentals of the quarterback position: What's our footwork going to look like under center? From the shotgun? What are we calling the formations? What's the defensive identification going to look like? So that we're all speaking the same language."

Chicago hired Johnson earlier this offseason after the 38-year-old spent the last three campaigns as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator. Johnson, who will call plays for the Bears next season, led the Lions to the league's top-ranked scoring offense in 2024.

Williams went 5-12 as a starter last season amid a tumultuous rookie campaign. Chicago fired his offensive coordinator (Shane Waldron) and head coach (Matt Eberflus) midseason. The 2024 first overall pick threw for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions while completing 62.5% of his attempts. Williams added 489 rushing yards.

Johnson explained the importance of being on the same page as Williams as they work together to build a new offense for the Bears.

"You need to be able to see the game as a play-caller through the lens of the quarterback and vice versa," Johnson said. "He needs to see (the game) through the (eyes of the) play-caller as well.

"Why are we calling certain plays? What is the intent of the play? For me, everything that I do really is to try to set it up within how he sees the game."

Williams was also the NFL's most-sacked quarterback last season with 68 takedowns. Chicago has already added to its offensive line ahead of his sophomore campaign, trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signing center Drew Dalman. But Johnson pointed to the total team effort it'll take to reduce the hits on Williams next season.

"The protection up front can get better. The route-runners (can) get to their spots faster. We can move the pocket a little bit more. There's a lot of things that we have at our disposal that can help with that process," Johnson said.