Caleb Williams just needs time? With Ben Johnson, that could be

The aftermath of Caleb Williams' hot-and-cold performance in a 27-24 loss to the Vikings on Monday night — like the performance itself — was hauntingly familiar to Bears fans.

Footwork. Mechanics. Inconsistency. The "very positive" response in the day-after meeting.

And an oldie-but-goodie: The play that works in practice that failed in the game — like Williams off-target miss to Cole Kmet over the middle late in the third quarter. "Frustrating. Something that you practiced and hit throughout the whole week," Williams said. "Move the [line] backer, whipped it in there. Just missed."

That was too reminiscent of Mitch Trubisky's lament after missing Taylor Gabriel on a key third-and-5 play in a 36-25 loss to the Saints in 2019. "Ripped it all week in practice," Trubisky said. Do they not realize what an indictment that is, when you execute a play to perfection in practice but can't do it when the lights are on?

Even Ben Johnson seemed to channel his inner Matt Nagy when asked about rookie Kyle Monangai getting zero carries against the Vikings: "I need to call more runs."

Even if the context was inexact, that was just too reminiscent of Nagy's infamous lament — also in that 2019 loss to the Saints — "I know we need to run the ball more. I'm not an idiot," he said after the Bears set a franchise record with just seven rushes in that game.

For a coach and a quarterback who are expected to be so much different from their recent predecessors, there were an awful lot of blasts from the past. It's almost as if Johnson skipped past the good part of the Nagy era (12-4, "Willy Wonka," "Santa's Sleigh," Trubisky in the Pro Bowl) right to the turning point in 2019. It's been a skeptics dream so far.

Ben Johnson's admission he needed to call more running plays was reminiscent (but not quite the same) as Matt Nagy's infamous "I'm not an idiot" lament in 2019.

When Williams met the media via Zoom on Wednesday, he waved a particularly dubious red flag when asked about his off-target throws. "I think it came from something as simple as footwork," he said, "and just being on top of that and being smooth with all that. Even if the footwork was right, it's just being smooth with it and not being hesitant and letting it rip."

There's a lot to unpack in that comment: footwork, mechanics and the quarterback instinct of knowing when to let it rip. Footwork in particular has been a red flag for Bears quarterbacks. Rex Grossman, Jay Cutler, Trubisky and Justin Fields all had footwork issues at the NFL level and never quite solved them.

Footwork is one of the most under-appreciated traits of quarterbacking. It's a huge factor in accuracy, but it's difficult to discern in live action, or even in slow motion. All the great quarterbacks of the modern era — where completion percentage is the foundation for success — have it. But in Chicago, footwork is like the weather — everyone talks about it, but nobody can do anything about it. For Bears fans, footwork seemed like instinct with a quarterback — you either have it or you don't.

But as it turns out, that's not true. With the right quarterback and the right coach, footwork issues can be solved. The latest example? Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, whose improvement last season (a career-high 101.7 passer rating) was partially credited partially to better footwork. For what it's worth, Herbert completed 73.5% of his passes — 25 of 34 — in a three-touchdown performance against the Chiefs in the season-opener.

It's not a coincidence that Herbert has taken that important step under head coach Jim Harbaugh, noted for maxing out his quarterbacks. Not only Josh Johnson, Andrew Luck, Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick, but J.J. McCarthy — the No. 10 pick in the same draft that Williams went No. 1 — who needed all of three quarters to figure things out in his NFL debut against the Bears on Monday night.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles passed on the opportunity to court Harbaugh after the 2023 season ("He's the coach at Michigan"), but still ended up with an offensive/quarterback guru in Johnson. Johnson inherited a veteran quarterback in two-time Pro Bowler Jared Goff when he became the Lions' offensive coordinator in 2022, but Goff's improved footwork was a foundation of his success in Johnson's system.

In his first five games in Johnson's offense in 2022, Goff completed 59.7% of his passes and had a 92.9 passer rating. In his final 12 games that season, he completed 67.6% of his passes and had a 102.3 rating. In three season under Johnson, Goff's accuracy improved from 65.1% to 67.3% to a career-high 72.4% last season.

Goff is a former No. 1 overall pick who has played in a Super Bowl, has a 95.6 career passer rating and made the Pro Bowl four times. But Williams is just as much, if not more, for Johnson to work with. It might turn out that Williams doesn't have the quarterback instincts to take his game to that elite level. But if it's footwork and accuracy that are the issue, with Ben Johnson guiding him, it might actually be a matter of time.

Patience is a big ask for Bears fans these days. They've seen this movie too many times — the boos from the Soldier Field crowd at the end of Johnson's first game (and a general perusal of social media comments in the aftermath of that game) tell that tale. And the general caution and skepticism of Bears fans is fair. But Johnson's resume has earned the benefit of the doubt. So it's also fair to ask for a little time for Williams to develop in his offense. He's literally done this before.

And if it doesn't happen, this isn't likely to linger. The early indications are that Ben Johnson is watching the same game that we are — and might run out of patience before you do.

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