Sports

Bears Coach Ben Johnson Gets Honest About Caleb Williams

By Robert Marvi

Copyright newsweek

Bears Coach Ben Johnson Gets Honest About Caleb Williams

Last season, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams struggled as a rookie in the NFL, and through two games this year, he hasn’t been much better.Granted, he hasn’t been outright terrible, but there are definitely reasons to be concerned, especially after head coach Ben Johnson pulled him from Sunday’s 52-21 loss to the Detroit Lions. Williams has completed 61.5% of his pass attempts, and while he has thrown just one interception, he has also been sacked six times.While Johnson couldn’t have been happy with how Williams did in Week 2, he did admit he saw some progress from the 23-year-old.”He took a big step from Week 1 to Week 2,” Johnson said. “I’m expecting the same from Week 2 to Week 3. His approach to the game right now is what it needs to be. He’s coming in and doing the work. Eventually these results will speak for themselves. As long as he keeps putting in the work, we’ll be OK.”Read more: Former NFL Scout Offers Brutal Assessment of Vikings’ JJ McCarthyIn that loss to Detroit, Williams went 19 of 30 for 207 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception. The week prior, he completed 21 of 35 pass attempts and had one touchdown pass and one rushing touchdown in a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.Last season, he had a 62.5% completion rate and threw for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions, but he was sacked 68 times, which was more than any other quarterback in the league.Chicago revamped its offensive line during the offseason in order to give Williams more room and time to roam around and go through his progressions. But perhaps he’s still trying too much to make something out of nothing rather than looking to master the mundane and throw the football away when nothing is there.It’s not like he doesn’t have any help. In D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze, Williams has two very solid weapons at the wide receiver position. Odunze leads the team with 13 catches, 165 yards and three touchdowns, while Moore has posted eight receptions for 114 yards. Running back D’Andre Swift hasn’t been too shabby either.In fact, it could be argued that Chicago’s defense is at least as big a problem or concern as Williams is right now. Its loss to Detroit notwithstanding, it gave up 21 points to the Vikings in the fourth quarter of Week 1 as it blew a 17-6 lead.Read more: Vikings QB JJ McCarthy Gets More Bad News After First Two StartsThe Bears will host the Dallas Cowboys this weekend and visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 28 before they have their bye week. The hope is that by Thanksgiving, Williams is showing some definite signs that he can be a franchise quarterback after all.For more on the Bears and general NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.