The Chicago Bears offseason program officially got underway on Monday. The majority of teams will not start their program until April 21 or 22, but the Bears are one of the teams permitted to start earlier since they have a new head coach in Ben Johnson.
In just the first two days leading his new team, Johnson is already making his mark on the Bears, and particularly on quarterback Caleb Williams. Johnson was renowned for his work on the Detroit Lions in scheming the team’s creative offense and working with the strengths of Jared Goff, and now is primed to do the same for Williams.
On Tuesday, Williams shared that Johnson has already "quizzed" the quarterback room and began challenging the team.
“Today we had our first quiz in the quarterback room,” Williams said, via The Associated Press. “It’s not like a real quiz where you have to write stuff. It’s just us. We went over a few things yesterday, talked about a few things and Ben walked in this morning, flung open the door, made a grand entrance and then we got to work, of him testing us about what we talked about yesterday."
“Already, first day in, and challenging us," Williams said. "Everybody loves a challenge in this sport. It’s one of the great things about this sport. Every day is a challenge and today we got our first one.”
“I think us growing together is key, starting now,” Williams said. “Him pushing me is key. I know that and he knows that.
Among the ways Johnson plans to push Williams to help him and the offense improve is to put more focus into EPA (Expected Points Added) in the passing game and dial up more plays from under center.
"Whatever team has the higher passing game EPA at the end of the game, they generally win that game, it's over 80% of the time," Johnson said at the NFL league meetings last week. "It's a huge stat and that's where we look to, how do we help inflate that number? Higher completion percentage, more run after catch opportunities."
In contrast to Bears general manager Ryan Poles admitting "steps were skipped" in preparing Williams for his rookie season last year, the attention to detail and focus Johnson is already bringing should be a breath of fresh air for Chicago.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caleb Williams Reveals How New Bears Coach Ben Johnson Is Already Challenging Him.
