What Caleb Williams, Bears Offense are Emphasizing in 2026 OTAs

Ben Johnson's displeasure with his offense was clear as day during organized team activities (OTAs) this time last year. 

The Chicago Bears' offense struggled to break the huddle during the spring and training camp in 2025, and Caleb Williams played his part with the sloppy operation. 

Before Johnson's team practiced for their second OTA practice, the Bears' coach shared how Day 1 went on Wednesday, and the quarterback's involvement in the practice. 

"Like I said, one day down, but we didn't have that issue," Johnson said. "The communication in the huddle, what it looks like to break the huddle, the urgency to line of scrimmage, the tempo that we want to stress the defense with. The quarterback plays a huge part in that. He orchestrates the whole operation, and those guys have taken that to heart. From that aspect, we feel really good about where we're at. Now it's the next level of each concept, what are we trying to do, potentially expanding on, here's your progression, 1, 2, 3, to how can we accelerate our eyes, our vision, what are we looking for, some coverage indicators to where we might take more alerts, things of that nature. A little bit more minutiae with it. Those guys have been really receptive to it.”

[READ: Where Chicago Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson Has Seen Luther Burden III Grow]

Although the offense is expanding on its areas of focus in Year 2 of Johnson's offense, there are still details that are being emphasized like ball security and takeaways, something the Bears excelled at last season, leading the league with just 11 total giveaways. 

But there is one aspect of the Bears' offense that is on the forefront of the coach's mind. 

"Completion percentage is something that we're going to emphasize," Johnson said. "What did they get when they came into the offensive meeting today? They got the chart of what was our completion percentage yesterday? Who had drops? What did our scramble drill look like when those naturally occurred? That's really our first objective is just drawing more attention to it. Those guys are really critical of themselves in drill settings, routes on air, where the ball placement is. We want to give these pass catchers - we have so many talented ones – opportunities to run after the catch. So we're being very critical on where we're putting that football with them. That's something that we grade every day.”

Williams ended his first season in Johnson's offense with a 58.1 completion %, one of the lowest in the NFL in 2025. But Bears quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett told the media last week that he has "no doubt" Williams' will improve that area of his game because he has more familiarity of the offense. 

Since Johnson became the Bears' coach, he has established details will not be overlooked on his team. The Bears fell way short of their 70% completion percentage in 2025, so Johnson is ensuring he and his coaches are doing everything they can to address the issue for the upcoming season.