Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Bears' Ben Johnson talks improvement in Caleb Williams' accuracy

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

Rahimi Harris and Grody. I love being here. Midday's 10 to 2 on 104 3, the score. You know, my limit maybe 75, 80, you know, passes, but I end up getting to 100 or 90 or whatever because it's not where I wanted the ball to be. And so, you know, next rep, next rep, next rep. And being able to mentally put myself in that position,

being able to mentally put myself in those positions, like games on the line, let's go make this play. Let's go, you know, put the ball as accurate needs to be. That's Caleb Williams. talking about the finer points of improving his completion percentage, which we know is a big goal of the Bears this season. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 to score. And we heard a lot about joint practices with Cincinnati. We will get an update at the top of the hour from Chris Emma. He is there. And in the meantime, we heard from Ben Johnson. He spoke this morning and was asked about Caleb Williams' accuracy as it compares to the expectation.

Well, it's trending upward. And that's really what we want to see. It continued to get better. I just told him this morning, I thought the last two days, even though it was abbreviated practice yesterday, they were really good. And so Red Zone was a big emphasis for us. Last year, we got a few good reps of that yesterday. I think he's shown significant strides there. He's taking a lot of pride in where he's putting the ball throughout practice.

You see it early on in our warm-up periods to routes on air, and it's translating over to the team periods as well. and yet he still hasn't lost that stinger of being aggressive and trying to push the limits a little bit. And so I think that's healthy, particularly in practice, just seeing how tight of windows we can fit these things into. And there's a good, delicate balance. And we're doing our normal day off, player day off meetings and able to assess what we previously put on tape. And, you know, that's where a day like yesterday was so good because there's a few things that we talked about. the last player day off that showed up yesterday

that gets you excited as a coach. And so he's making significant strides each and every day. Okay, so that reminds me, Marshall, of the warm up that we saw, you know, the video before the preseason game at Soldier Field. You remember seeing Caleb Williams out there, Roman Dunzee. I think that kind of speaks to this that Ben Johnson was talking about.

There was a lot going on before the game in addition to the actual game itself that didn't have the quarterback. I love that we want the aggression. and I say we, like you and me and Ben Johnson. And Caleb Williams obviously does. And remember, there was a point where we're like, hey, man, it's okay if you throw an interception, if you're being aggressive and trying to throw it, I don't know, down the field.

I love listening to that sound from yesterday and understanding that this happened today. Jeremy Rouch of Fox 19 in Cincinnati says, unbelievable play by Caleb Williams in the Red Zone 11 versus 11. Dexter Lawrence beat the double team. He had a hand in his face. Williams threw a laser that whizzed over Jordan battles head to Colston Love on the end zone, an impossible completion. And he made it.

First of all, if it was an impossible completion, he couldn't have made it. It was a tough completion, not impossible because clearly Caleb Williams made it possible. I'm not going to, yes, but I'm not going to harp on humans using descriptive words when machines are trying to take over. I'll let him cook. That's fair, actually. That is probably the most selying point I've heard today

from anyone in this area. It's the most salient point I'm going to make in years, so we'll just go with that for now. It's a scary point. Take that machines. Yes. I have seen the Terminator.

I would encourage you all to see the Terminator and all the movies that came after. I got fresh water right here. It's Lake Michigan. Pack a lunch. You can't. You can't eat.

Also, the Matrix is a good watch as well. I worry people got ideas from these movies and not the other way around. I just think they're repressing it. That's all. That's all. But Ben Johnson. You have to find other creativity.

from other people and steal it. Okay, okay, I'm done. I'm not done because Caleb Williams needs to keep doing what he's doing. And Ben Johnson needs to keep coaching him to do what he wants him to do to get this offense to be the quote-unquote best, highest scoring, record-breaking offense in the league. That is the goal, not to mention the goal is to win. But if you do that, you'll have a much better chance of winning.

Also, I really think this is a case where we need to keep in mind. progress and perfection are two different things. You can strive for 70. You can point to the people who do it in the national football. One of them comes from your quarterback class and almost got MVP. Also made the Super Bowl. But at the same time, I think we have to understand what progress looks like, both when we're watching it, just play to play on the field,

but then also how it's going to reflect in the scoreboard. When we hear Ben Johnson talk about starting quicker, and Caleb Williams talking about starting, starting faster. Well, that involves making some of these completions that we didn't see previously. If you're up to 64, which would be a big jump. From 58 to 64, yeah, that would be six points. So if you're up to that, if you're up to 63, we'll say five. Okay. How's that? Yeah. If you're up to 63, still seven away from 70. But think about the difference that will make day to day for the bears breathing easier in games. And then also successful drives that lead to

touchdowns earlier in games. So once you consider that, 70 might be the indicator of an MVP type of season for him. But in the meantime, progress has to be the goal here because perfection, I think, is the end game you can envision it. But we would be very happy. I think watching games, the teams would be really easier if we're seeing him complete to even that rate. And that's just a couple of made passes here and there.

is it a couple screen passes? I know the screen game is still something they're really working on. That keys in for me. But this is doable in a way that I think really would make a big difference in games. And I don't know that we're really understanding it fully as to how that would play out until we actually see it happen. Eight teams last year scored more than 27 points per game. The Bears were the ninth ranked scoring offense last year at 25.9.

And I know there's plenty of times we've looked at it and understood hey, if that completion percentage goes up, whether it's four, five, six percentage points, that's points that are going to be on the board as well. And if you want to be the best team that you can be next year, especially knowing that your defense is certainly in flux from just a who's available standpoint. The offense has to be that much more consistent because those are the knowns. You do know pretty much everything on this offense outside of a couple of things. one being the center position and what kind of chemistry there will be or lack of chemistry

to start the season. We expect it to get better always. And then left tackle, who's going to be available, how healthy they'll be, and how effective they'll be. But I like their chances of being better on offense than I do on defense because of everything we've heard Ben Johnson say, Caleb Williams say, and the fact that they're on the same page. The thing that concerns me about left tackle is I don't want half the field being taken away again every other play.

It wasn't every other play last year. It just felt like it. But I don't want half the field being taken away again on so many plays. Or I feel like he immediately is flushed out of the pocket, has to roll right, make something happen. And yeah, he can throw downfield and across his body. There's no doubt about that in my mind. But schematically, I would like all of the field to be available for him. So that way he's able to make the ideal plays there.

Yeah, I'm both run plays and not just, you know, throwing it back across to the left side for a screen pass or something like that. you want to be able to use the entire field. Well, and also we've heard from Antoine Randall L, for example, from J.T. Barrett about not tiring out your players, too. You know, everybody's young right now. You can still do this in the fourth quarter. You get to be Joe Flacco's age and things look a little different. Yeah, that's an extreme example.

A mobility issue for Caleb Williams. If he's as effective mobility-wise, then as he is now, he'll have had a pretty good run in Chicago. Right. But I think at some point, you know, you have to. marry your physical skill with your schematic skill. And that has to happen, I think, earlier rather than later to help add yours to your career. Caleb's just like the rest of us. He's got the physical tools now in his prime. And he's trying to make that last while the mental catches up, just like all of us. Like, we all get to a point where we're like, dang, I wish I knew what I

know now back then when I was in my physical prime at my peak. Right. I mean, now I'm washed. You withstood injury. What are you talking about? Yes, yes. You're healthier now than you were a couple years ago. Again, guys, not thriving over here. We are surviving. But the point is like even now, compared to two years ago, you're in a much healthier

spot physically. Yes, that is absolutely true. So that defeats your theory right there. It doesn't defeat the theory, though. I still wish I had the same that I had my late 20s, early 30s. Youth is wasted on the young. It is. cherish it Caleb Williams

and in the meantime I think two or three more passes in a first half things change remarkably on a first drive things change remarkably I'm not even asking for the drive I'm just asking for a half how's that I'll take the quarter baby steps friends baby steps let's get a report from Chris Emma

he is in Cincinnati he watched the joint practices he'll be next with us on the score