Ben Johnson praises Caleb Williams' growth, calling himself the quarterback's biggest believer as the Bears build on a successful, playoff-bound season.
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson went to the podium for the final time in the 2025 season on Wednesday.
The season ended with a 20-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime at Soldier Field in the Divisional Round.
The head coach conducted exit interviews with various players on the team, including, of course, quarterback Caleb Williams.
Williams had a great season of growth, reaching new heights in Johnson's first year. The quarterback set a new career-high in passing touchdowns (27) in the regular season and made some Bears history along the way.
Williams broke Erik Kramer's 1995 record for single-season passing yards (3,838), ending with 3,942 before the playoffs. He needed to throw three more touchdown passes in Week 18 to set a new franchise record for single-season passing touchdowns (29).
As Johnson reflected on the 2025 season, he noted how much better his quarterback got as the year went on. He finished his remarks about Williams by expressing his excitement for the quarterback to continue improving.
"The things we highlighted for Caleb to start the season, I did think they improved as the season went along," Johnson said. "You know, we revamped the footwork last spring. I think the comfort level grew from that. He's certainly gotten more comfortable with the concepts we were running over the course of the season. That's something that we can build upon, and yet, there's still a lot more that we can push through in that regard. I'm really encouraged about the steps he took this year. I'm Caleb Williams' number one believer. I have a lot of faith in him, what he's capable of doing, and the player that he's still striving to become.
The 2025 season was a monumental one for the franchise as a whole.
The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018. Chicago reached the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season. Soldier Field even hosted two playoff games, and the fans didn't disappoint, making the arena very difficult for opposing teams.
The Bears now head into the offseason with some key contract decisions to make. Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker's contracts are both up, with each player stating that they would love continue playing for the franchise.
A case can be made that they've earned new contracts. Byard led the NFL with seven interceptions. Brisker was everywhere, recording 93 total tackles, one interception, one sack and one TFL.
Either way, the future is looking very bright for the Bears.