LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams bounded into the media room and greeted reporters with his customary and enthusiastic, “How’s it going, everybody?”
With that, 2025 training camp got underway.
Williams is in his second NFL training camp with his second NFL head coach — who is already his third play caller. He’s the latest in a long line of Bears quarterbacks who will be monitored, scrutinized, followed and analyzed over the six weeks of training camp as fans and observers look for signs that Williams is on the right path.
“We’re not looking too far ahead, but as we know, we have the Vikings first game Monday night, 8 p.m.,” Williams said. “So obviously you don’t look too far ahead, but you do understand … you’re on a time limit.
“And so the race is here.”
We heard from general manager Ryan Poles, head coach Ben Johnson, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and Williams, as the full team returned to Halas Hall to get set for the opening practice on Wednesday morning. Here are five observations from the kickoff to training camp:
1. QB1 sets franchise-historic goals — and they should correlate to wins
Williams has said it before, but he wants to be the first 4,000-yard passer in team history. Erik Kramer has the current record (3,838 in 1995), while Williams’ rookie season (with one extra game) ranks fifth.
The other goal is to complete 70 percent of his passes.
“That helps the team, keeps us on the field, puts us in better positions,” he said.
Mitch Trubisky holds the franchise record for single-season completion percentage (minimum 10 starts) when he completed 66.6 percent of his throws in 2018.
That also happened to be Trubisky’s second NFL season with his second NFL head coach, and the Bears went 12-4 and won the NFC North.
“We certainly have goals that we strive for. It’s not a secret,” Johnson said. “I told him I would love for him this season to complete 70 percent of his balls. So, you would like to think that over the course of practice that we’re completing 70 percent or more, or that’s hard to just magically arise in a game. It’s a lofty goal, but it’s one we’re going to strive for. Because of that, we’re going to use that as a benchmark and kind of work from there.”
Five quarterbacks completed 70 percent of their passes in 2024 (minimum 10 starts), including Jared Goff, who played for Johnson in Detroit and went 15-2. Baker Mayfield’s Bucs made the playoffs while he had a rate of 71.4. Joe Burrow’s Bengals came a game short of the postseason, finishing 9-8, when he completed 70.6 percent of his passes. The leader, Tua Tagovailoa (72.6), was 6-5 before his season ended. Miami went 8-9.
All six quarterbacks who threw for 4,000 yards in 2024 had winning records. Geno Smith (10-7) and Burrow didn’t make the playoffs.
It’s not always the perfect correlation, but the Bears would seemingly be in pretty good shape come January if Williams hits those goals.
2. Williams more than ready for the camp roller coaster
Last summer was rocky for the rookie quarterback. That was to be expected for all the obvious reasons (new offense, first-year QB against a veteran defense), but there were the proverbial growing pains.
Johnson, for as intense as he is, knows that the six weeks of camp are “not linear. There’s going to be some bumps.”
While 2024 training camp might have prepared Williams for that, nothing has him more ready for managing the highs and lows than what was the 2024 regular season. We don’t need to rehash all of it, but it was turbulent.
“Yeah, I mean I’ve played, I think, 17 games now, and those are a little more strenuous, and I’m not going to say more important, because practice is probably equal, but that goes on the record,” he said. “I’ve had some ups and downs in games myself and team-wise. I think all of last year was great for us and great for me to be able to manage these next six weeks. … I think it’s going to be fun too.
“That’s the fun part about it is having these ups and downs and figuring out how to manage those and deal with them and come back the next day or next play or next drive or next situation that we have and go out there and execute and be that guy and teammate that they depend on and believe in for those moments.”
The Bears say they’re not overly concerned about Jaylon Johnson’s leg injury, but it’s less than ideal for their best defensive player to miss training camp time under new coordinator Dennis Allen. (David Berding / Getty Images)
3. Pro Bowl cornerback’s absence mars start of camp
Poles said Jaylon Johnson injured his leg in training. He wouldn’t offer any other details about the injury but said the two-time Pro Bowl cornerback will be out “a few weeks.”
“We’ve got a lot of faith that he’s going to put in the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes back,” Poles said. “I’m sure we’ll have updates as we go through training camp, but it’s going to take a little bit of time, but not overly concerned about long term.”
Johnson is entering his sixth NFL season — with his third head coach and fourth defensive play caller — so if anyone can afford to miss time, it’d be him. But this is a new scheme, one that will allow Johnson to travel with opposing teams’ top wideouts.
In the meantime, it should open the door for Terell Smith to get starter reps opposite Tyrique Stevenson. Smith has played well when he’s had to step in, but injuries have hampered him. Rookie Zah Frazier could get a long look, too, after missing spring practices.
4. Open competition at left tackle … but for how long?
Braxton Jones is ready to go after recovering from an ankle injury, and he’ll enter the three-man battle to protect Williams’ blind side.
He brings 40 career starts as he competes against rookie Ozzy Trapilo and second-year pro Kiran Amegadjie (one career start).
“I would like to think his experience will help him, but we’re coming in with blank slates right now,” Johnson said. “And so just because a guy’s played and another guy hasn’t in this league, we’re going to let the competition play out and we’ll see where it goes.”
Johnson said that everyone will “have a fair shot.” With Jones missing spring practices, Trapilo got a majority of the snaps as the first-team left tackle. He certainly looked the part, but Jones has done a solid job in his career. Amegadjie came in with high hopes, and his season is probably unfairly judged by a difficult spot he was put in when the Bears traveled to Minnesota.
“By Week 1, we’ll know exactly who our starting five are gonna be, and if that takes three weeks to figure out, great. If that takes six weeks to find out, no problem,” Johnson said.
Surely he wants to know sooner to let that group jell quicker. Answers could come quickly once the pads come on next week.
5. Fans will get to know — and enjoy — Grady Jarrett
In his 11th NFL season, Jarrett is beginning his first training camp outside Atlanta. The free-agent acquisition has the personality of someone who will be heard and noticed easily during fiery practices in camp.
The way he approaches it, too, is something the Bears would love to be contagious.
Asked about how he “ramps up” during camp, Jarrett said that’s not how it works. He doesn’t ramp up. He goes.
“I think the key is not ramping up, the key is going balls to the wall every day,” he said. “I think that’s what has really helped me in my longevity is just going hard day in and day out. This is the time when you really callous your body, get it right so you can go sustain a long season (and) be healthy, because this is going to be the hardest part of the season.”
Jarrett has two Pro Bowls and a trip to the Super Bowl to his name. The only other defensive lineman with a Pro Bowl is Montez Sweat. Jarrett’s five playoff games are four more than the rest of the defensive line combined.
They can learn a lot watching him work.
“It’s up to us to really push ourselves daily and not reserve nothing, not ramp up,” he said. “Obviously there’s sports science to it. I’m not talking reckless, but from the mindset and the effort standpoint, why not put your best foot forward every day and let the rest of it take care of itself?”
(Top photo of Caleb Williams: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
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