Bears' Ben Johnson gives update on major Caleb Williams concern

It is no secret that numerous members of the NFL community believe that third-year Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will make a major leap while having Ben Johnson as his head coach for a second straight season. 

That said, Williams' accuracy issues have remained a significant talking point through the summer. While speaking with reporters on Thursday, Johnson was asked about where Williams is regarding that stage of the signal-caller's ongoing development. 

Caleb Williams "trending upward" toward becoming a more accurate passer

"It’s trending upward, and that’s really what we want to see is it continue to get better," Johnson said, per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "I just told him this morning, I thought the last two days, even though it was an abbreviated practice yesterday, they were really good. Red zone was a big emphasis for us last year. We got a few good reps of that yesterday. I think he’s shown significant strides there." 

The combination of Williams and Johnson helped the Bears earn seven comeback victories after trailing in the fourth quarter of games last season up through the club's wild-card playoff win over the Green Bay Packers. That said, Pro Football Reference shows that Williams ended his second pro regular season ranked 32nd out of 33 qualified quarterbacks with a 58.1 percent completion percentage. 

J.J. McCarthy of the Minnesota Vikings was last on the list (57.6 percent), and he may soon be that club's QB3. 

Caleb Williams is "making significant strides" in improving his accuracy

Johnson wants the 2026 Bears to be responsible for "the highest-scoring offense ever." For Chicago to achieve such a goal, Williams will likely need to complete better than 58.1 percent of his pass attempts.  

"He’s taking a lot of pride on where he’s putting the ball throughout practice," Johnson added about Williams. "You see it early on, in our warmup periods, to routes on air, and it’s translating over to the team periods as well, and yet he still hasn’t lost that stinger of being aggressive and trying to push the limits a little bit. I think that’s healthy, particularly in practice, just seeing how tight of windows we can fit these things into. There’s a good delicate balance. . . . He’s making significant strides each and every day."

Williams' first opportunity to show off his newfound accuracy will come when the Bears open the regular season with a matchup at the Carolina Panthers on Sept. 13.