If you had any doubts that Ben Johnson would be reconsidering his decision to join the Chicago Bears instead of sticking with the well-established Detroit Lions, let today’s news be your perfect opportunity to rethink that doubt.

In today’s first day of training camp, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams – the prized signal caller that Johnson is anticipated to help get turned around this season – threw an interception on his very first pass attempt in 11v11 drills. He was so disorganized, along with the rest of the Bears’ offense and first unit, that Johnson actually pulled them off the field in frustration.

First day!

Now, we’ve got to give Williams time to reacclimate to NFL speed and training camp after a pretty disappointing rookie season for him and the Bears. Williams looked completely fine when given a clean pocket in 2024, but the issue was that he barely ever did – he dealt with more unblocked pressures than any other quarterback, rookie or veteran, in 2024.

Now, the team has a revamped offensive line featured by Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson, and seemingly rookie Ozzy Trapilo, who has been taking reps at tackle with the first team. So, maybe Johnson can squeeze far, far more out of Williams than what he witnessed on day one of camp.

However, this also wasn’t the first time Williams had ever met or interacted with Johnson. He has to know by now just how strictly Johnson conducts his practices, and yet, he came out completely unprepared for his first day of training camp.

Ben Johnson experiencing growing pains with Caleb Williams
That’s a huge deal if you’re trying to turn the page on a rookie season allegedly tarnished by previous head coach Matt Eberflus, who wasn’t even going over the playbook with Williams.

Johnson might not be calling up Detroit to see if he can rescind his deal, but he has to be experiencing some light levels of whiplash going from such an organized offensive system helmed by Jared Goff to one that’ll need some tough love and heavy handed tweaking on his part.

 
Earlier today, news came out that Williams had also been given “homework” by Johnson. This included reading the playbook daily for at least 30-40 minutes per day, working on his foot work, and honing in on his passes to the left as he had struggled with those in OTAs earlier in the offseason.

Clearly, Johnson has a vision for year two Williams. It’s completely up to Williams if he actually wants to harness his talent using the tools Johnson is providing to him, though. That’s quite the culture shock from a Lions quarterback willing to do whatever it took to wash the “bust” label off of himself.