Ben Johnson Admits Mistakes With Caleb Williams & Locker Room After Bears HC Shared Week 1 Regrets

Despite holding a 17-6 advantage over the Vikings early in the game, the Bears lost their grip and were handed a 27-24 defeat in their home opener. “Everybody’s focus kind of went away…we got to finish games,” the dejected QB Caleb Williams said when asked why the lead flipped. But not only the QB. The first-year head coach, Ben Johnson, was quick to reflect on his regrets, too, and, most importantly, on the costly mistakes of his team, after the boos from Soldier Field died on Monday, September 8.

Johnson knows he cannot allow the same collapse when the Bears face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Hence, while stressing the importance of using a “silent Cadence” in the upcoming challenge, he also acknowledged the mistakes with the quarterback and the team. “Certainly, we haven’t been good enough over the course of camp. We haven’t been good Week 1, and so this is going to be a huge point of emphasis for us going forward,” Johnson explained.

The coach has worked closely with Williams throughout training camp. And it wasn’t easy for him as he tried to install a complex offensive system with the young quarterback. Hinting at the slow process, he said, “We really need to start playing as a more cohesive unit. We just haven’t done that. Everyone is kind of taking their turn of not so good. . . We’re just not, we’re frankly not there, yet.”

We all know that Ben Johnson isn’t just bringing a new offense to Chicago; he’s bringing one of the most advanced and detailed systems in football. It’s even more complex than what he built in Detroit, the same offense that transformed a three-win Lions team into one of the most efficient units the league has ever seen. But there’s a big difference this time.

Back in 2022, Johnson inherited Jared Goff, a veteran with six seasons under his belt and years of guidance from Sean McVay. In Chicago, he’s working with Caleb Williams, a second-year quarterback who walked into chaos as a rookie. The Bears’ staff had to strip down his mechanics and rebuild him from the ground up, molding him into someone who can actually run Johnson’s system. But fortunately, the QB was welcoming to every new technique. His staff worked on breaking the previous mechanics and footwork for the QB and helped him fit into the new system. It sparked both doubts and anticipation around the offense.

The result was evident in Week 1. Williams completed his first 10 passes, leading to an opening-drive touchdown. However, the offense stalled after that and failed to reach the end zone again until late in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Bears gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter. Williams finished 21 of 35 for 210 yards and one passing touchdown. Critics pointed out more mistakes.

Nevertheless, the good thing is that the QB has shown steady progress during camp. “I had a couple of those practices throughout training camp where I feel like I took two steps forward. Maybe a bad practice or small things that I felt like I got over. And then I took a step back,” Williams told reporters back on August 18. Although there were some hiccups early, he bounced back and made an impressive preseason debut against the Bills with a 6-for-10 performance.

However, now, after the loss, Johnson explained that Williams must continue to elevate his play. “I thought he started off really well. I don’t know. I’ll have to go back and look at exactly where those incompletions came in. It certainly felt like it dried up a little bit. Probably a credit to Flores and the Vikings, as well, making some adjustments on their end because things tightened up as well,” Johnson noted. And not just the quarterback and the coaching staff, he also reflected on his contribution to the team.

Ben Johnson regretted a few decisions in the Bears’ upsetting loss

Johnson admitted that he went against the advice of his coaching booth when he challenged a play in which T.J. Hockenson lost the ball after contact from linebacker Noah Sewell. While the coach was hoping for the call to be ruled as a fumble, the ruling stood as Hockenson’s knee touched the ground.

As Kevin Fishbain reported, the coach regretted some of these instances. “Bears head coach Ben Johnson regrets the challenge flag he threw, saying it was not the recommendation he got from the booth. Another one he wants back is the kickoff decision at the end of the game — the call should’ve been to kick it out of bounds,” Fishbain wrote on X

That mistake came after their late touchdown when the Bears kicked off with 2:02 on the clock. Now, if things had gone right, it would have helped the team. Unfortunately, the kicker, Cairo Santos, wasn’t able to kick it through the end zone. The coach later admitted, “At the end of the game, felt like we could kick it out of the back. We weren’t able to get that done. In hindsight, I should have kicked it out of bounds,” Johnson said

One of the reasons the Bears hired him was his reputation for play-calling as the Lions’ offensive coordinator. But that was the area where he felt he fell short this time. He admitted he struggled to adjust to Brian Flores’ defensive scheme. So, the entire team will have to level up to avoid a 0-2 start to the season.