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Exhausting Caleb Williams narrative persists as 2025 Bears training camp nears

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI | By Bryan Perez | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 11:57 AM ET

The Chicago Bears can't get to training camp fast enough. At least, Caleb Williams is probably counting down the days.

Once training camp kicks off, the tired and exhausting narrative surrounding Williams' turbulent offseason should (hopefully) end.

Williams came under fire in May after it was revealed that he and his father attempted to avoid being drafted by the Bears. And, once the 2024 first overall pick was in Chicago, his revelation about Bears coaches not showing him the right way to watch NFL film was unsettling, to say the least.

Additionally, new Bears coach Ben Johnson made it a point to say that he and the rebuilt coaching staff were working with Williams on his body language and overall on-field emoting, which, according to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, continues (painfully) to be a talking point inside league circles.

"Football maturity is going to be a big thing for him," Fowler said during a recent appearance on SportsCenter. "Leaguewide, talking to other teams who are watching it closely because the ability is massive but how does he comport himself on the field? The Bears have already been working with him on body language, how you're handling yourself in the huddle, on the sidelines when a play doesn't go right. And the word out of Chicago is he's handling himself well there."

Even the Chicago Bears' former coaching staff, the one led by the bumbling Matt Eberflus, were unhappy with Williams' comments about watching film alone. But, hey, the truth hurts sometimes, right?

It feels like this national narrative about Williams won't end until he proves on the field that he is, in fact, a superstar. His rookie season was fine, but it fell short of the Mahomsian expectations that he entered the NFL with. Instead, it was Jayden Daniels, the quarterback selected second overall by the Washington Commanders, who was the instant superstar.

If there was one thing that ex-Bears coach Matt Nagy left fans with that can serve well during times like this, it's his 'earmuffs and blinders' philosophy: block out the noise and don't get distracted by what's going on around you. That's what Williams must do in 2025, and now that he has the right support system around him, there's plenty of confidence inside Halas Hall that he'll have a breakout season this fall.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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