Caleb Williams' doubts about Bears a non-issue, but still a story

It's a generalization, but I don't think it's inaccurate: Bears fans have unusually guarded optimism following the hiring of Ben Johnson — a modest improvement to 8-9/9-8 will still be seen as progress; dreams of 12-4/13-3 are the exception if they even exist. But don't get them wrong — those same Bears fans still see Johnson as the firewall to Halas Hall's historic dysfunction that renders any comparison to past coaching/quarterback failures as illegitimate.

So while it's OK to predict an 8-9 or 9-8 season in 2025, don't you dare suggest that Caleb Williams' issues as a promising but developmental rookie last season were anything but the fault of Luke Getsy and Matt Eberflus. Or suggest that the Bears' failing to make Williams available to address the revelations in ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham's upcoming book — which he'll have to do eventually — is an indication that even with Johnson, it's still business as usual at Hall when it comes to managing even a minor adversity.

The response/blowback from Bears fans was notable on those fronts this week. Whatever issues Williams and his father, Carl Williams, had with the Bears prior to the draft are moot — because Williams is now in the hands of a proven coordinator in Johnson. In fact, any issues the Bears had before now seem moot because Johnson is in charge.

We'll see about that. There is no doubt that new[-coach faith in Ben Johnson isn't just because he's not Matt Eberflus, but because he comes to Halas Hall with credentials — at least as a coordinator — that previous new coaches have not had.

Johnson was the architect and play-caller of the Lions' offense that finished fifth, fifth and first in scoring in his three seasons. Matt Nagy was not that in Kansas City. Johnson's sustained success in Detroit (three years is a lifetime in terms of Bears' offensive success) is arguably better than Marc Trestman's NFL resume in 2013. And as an offensive coach with quarterback-development credentials, he has a bigger hand in improving a chronically, historically poor offense — an upgrade the Bears need more than anything in today's NFL — than Dave Wannstedt, Dick Jauron, Lovie Smith, John Fox or Eberflus. Johnson arrived at Halas Hall as a legitimately different animal.

But after 14 consecutive seasons without a playoff victory — and without more than two consecutive winning/playoff seasons since 1988 — skepticism is fair game with the Bears until Johnson proves he's as different as he appears to be. If Bears fans want to think this is the dawn of a new era, go for it. But there's also a faction of Bears fans — and much of Bears media — that rightfully have to see it to believe it. Bears skeptics since Lovie was fired are 11-1 — they've earned the right to be the default narrative on anything Bears.

Johnson still has to prove he can change Halas Hall before it changes him. He was credited with "getting in front" of the Williams/Wickersham story by addressing it before being asked about it at a press conference during OTAs on Wednesday. But if he really wanted to get in front of it, he would have made sure Williams was available to the media to address it and get it over with.

That Johnson didn't have the authority to make that call, or had the authority to make that call and declined, was a disappointment — if not a red flag that the Bears' public relations playbook is still written in crayon. One of the differences Johnson needs to make — besides improving the offense and the quarterback — is managing the bumps in the road that have flummoxed the Bears from the top down for decades. Poles has been surprisingly disappointing in this area. Kevin Warren — ever the politician supposedly aware of public perception — was expected to change all that, but also has come up short.

The notion that the Bears erred in not making Williams available drew a strong response — and rebuke — from Bears fans who for some odd reason are much more tolerant of a team that hasn't won a playoff game in 14 seasons than the media whose coverage of the Bears is based on that history of chronic failure.

Here's a news flash: It's still a story even if it's not an issue. And even Williams knows he will have to address it, even if the main issues — his father's desire to avoid the Bears, his preference to play for the Vikings and Caleb's dismay at getting no guidance in film review — are moot issues. It's not news? We'll check the numbers when those inevitable stories are published and get back to you on that.

Now, about Caleb's footwork issues ...