Bears coach Johnson debating when to just let QB Williams be himself

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson and some players met with reporters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Monday a day after they won their fourth straight, beating the New Orleans Saints.

Sunday felt like an old-school Bears win. The defense continued its impressive play during the winning streak by forcing four more turnovers. Meanwhile, the running attack stacked another season-best performance by rushing for 222 yards.

Now the Bears will turn their attention to whether quarterback Lamar Jackson will play Sunday when Chicago travels to play the Baltimore Ravens. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Monday.

On Caleb Williams’ down day:

Despite strong performances from the defense and running game, Sunday was one of the worst showings for quarterback Caleb Williams this season.

He never truly seemed to find his rhythm Sunday. Williams missed receivers on the run, something he excelled at during his rookie season, and also couldn’t connect on others throws when he had a clean pocket. That resulted with plenty of season lows, including 172 passing yards, a 57.7% completion rate and a 61.7 quarterback rating to go along with an interception.

Williams took accountability for the performance after the game Sunday. For Johnson, it all comes down to everyone doing their jobs.

“Everyone is trying to be better in the passing game,” Johnson said. “So our route runners have to get open. Our pass protectors have to protect. The playcallers have to call good plays. And the quarterback has to throw completions. So that’s what it comes down to.”

Williams also reverted to some of his rookie scrambling habits Sunday, trying to make something out of nothing. There were plenty of moments where Williams made a nice move to escape pressure. But then he would hold on to the ball and keep running instead of picking up yards on the run, throwing it away or running out of bounds.

That was a point of emphasis for Johnson when he met with Williams on Monday. It’s been a balancing act of letting Williams escape and make plays that make him special and also when to fight for another play.

“I mean, that’s part of what makes him special as a player, and so you don’t want to neuter him,” Johnson said. “You don’t. That’s a dangerous road to go down, because he’s got this natural ability to feel the pocket and know when to escape and extend. And I think, more than anything, for us, it’s just making sure we’re on the same page of the time and the place, the situation for where that Superman cape comes out, and at other times, whether it’s we’re running with our legs a little bit more or throwing the ball away, where that needs to come into play.”

On not letting a win slip away:

History felt like it would repeat itself for the worst near the start of the third quarter.

The Bears had built up a 20-0 lead just over a minute left in the second quarter before the Saints made things more interesting. New Orleans drove 91 yards down the field to score a touchdown 45 seconds. Then the Saints went 75 yards to open the third quarter and scored a touchdown to make it a 20-14 Bears lead.

But the defense held on and didn’t give up anymore points after that. It was a sign of improvement after the Bears gave up an 11-point lead against the Minnesota Vikings in their season opener.

“You fast forward a few weeks later here and I just thought as a team we responded a lot better to not make it a game there necessarily in the final minutes of the fourth quarter; to close it out before that,” Johnson said. “It was good to see that. Proud of the guys. Proud of how they played.”

Chicago safety Jaquan Brisker said the two Saints scoring drives were a result of the Bears not making plays. Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler completed a 57-yard pass to move the ball on the first touchdown and then had little trouble throwing it on the second.

But the Bears didn’t panic this time and relied on their past experiences to hold on to a win.

“We just really had to settle, don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just stay neutral, which we did,” Brisker said. “We really didn’t panic. We’ve been playing with each other for so long now. We just got so much trust in each other and belief.”

On being at 4-2 once again:

For a second straight season, the Bears are 4-2. They’re hoping to have a different ending their season this time around.

Chicago went on to lose 10 straight last year after starting at 4-2. The losing streak included a Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders and late losses to both the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. It ultimately ended with coach Matt Eberflus being fired.

“I feel it’s different,” Brisker said. “And obviously, we’re creating turnovers, things like that. We’re feeding off each other — special teams, offense, defense. And we really haven’t played a complete game on defense and special teams and (Johnson) would probably say offense, too.”

A big reason for that is the coaching staff. Brisker said that everyone is on the same level and approaching things in the same way. But the coaching staff has also made this year’s team feel the confidence they have in the players.

For Brisker and others, that goes a long way.

“They have confidence and you can tell the way they talk that they believe in us, that we’re gonna win, that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be clean,” Brisker said. “It can be ugly. We just have to find a way to win. As long as we stay together, as long as we keep doing our jobs and things like that, we’ll have a chance.”