Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams shows 2 familiar problems Justin Fields has during OTAs

A Chicago Bears quarterback enters OTAs in Year 2 looking to change up a few parts of his game with a new head coach. That sentence would have fit perfectly for Mitch Trubisky in 2018 and Justin Fields in 2022.

Now, first-year head coach Ben Johnson is working on correcting two issues Caleb Williams has that mirror what Fields worked on in Year 2 with head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Williams was one of the best quarterbacks to throw in the middle of the field in college. That didn’t translate to the NFL in his rookie season. Fields’ issues throwing over the middle were well documented during his time with Chicago, especially when opposing defenses heavily used zone defense.

Caleb Williams is having issues with throws over the middle

During Wednesday’s practice, both of Williams’ interceptions came on throws across the middle.

“One main takeaway from today’s Bears practice is that Caleb Williams had a tough time throwing in the middle of the field when Tremaine Edmunds was covering the intended target,” Nicholas Moreano posted on X.

“Williams tried targeting Devin Duvernay, but Edmunds got an INT. Jaquan Brisker got an INT on Williams after he tried connecting with Rome Odunze in the middle of the field. Edmunds was, again, in coverage.”

One main takeaway from today’s #Bears practice is that Caleb Williams had a tough time throwing in the middle of the field when Tremaine Edmunds was covering the intended target.

Williams tried targeting Devin Duvernay, but Edmunds got an INT. Jaquan Brisker got an INT on…

— Nicholas Moreano (@NicholasMoreano) May 28, 2025

Interceptions during OTAs aren’t necessarily a bad thing, as that’s when quarterbacks can figure out what works and doesn’t work against NFL defenses. As Williams bragged after practice, he only threw a total of six interceptions in 2024, a number he appears proud of.

The Chicago Bears need to utilize the middle of the field

But the problem is that Williams kept his interception number down (and also his touchdown passing number, 20) because he didn’t have the confidence to make throws in the middle. For him to become an elite quarterback in the league, he will have to make throws in tight windows in the middle.

Eventually, Williams is going to need to make those throws in practice so he can trust himself to make that throw in a game.

One way Johnson is trying to develop Williams to become a better passer is through his footwork. Like Fields in 2022, the Bears are asking Williams to put his left foot forward. He had put his right foot forward all of his career before this offseason.

The Bears hope the change will allow Williams to get the ball out quicker on short passes.

“I’ve done it a number of ways in my time in the league,” Johnson said. “Really, over the last few years, I’ve kind of gravitated towards that. It’s something that I feel pretty strongly about. (Williams) and I talked about it, the reasons why we want to do it. I think it helps out, certainly, with the quick game from the gun, and then it helps us be in a little bit better throwing posture for a lot of the other things that we’re asking him to do.

“When we talked about it initially, he was already kind of exploring that himself, so it wasn’t so much us telling him to do it, it was more of a mutual, ‘Yeah, let’s see what his looks like.’ I think he’s taken a knack to it.”

It’s always a mutual change until it comes out in the media that it wasn’t.

Justin Fields never liked putting his left foot forward

“Justin loves it,” Getsy said in 2023 of the change to putting his left foot forward.

Except he didn’t love it.

Fields told ESPN’s Brooke Pryor in 2024 that the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff didn’t care about his footwork and told him to do what was more comfortable for him, which was putting his right foot forward.

Fields’ trainer, Oliver Bozeman, argued that changing up Fields’ footwork caused the quarterback to be hesitant, an issue the Bears hope Williams can get past in 2025.

“We wanted to kind of move back to what was comfortable for him when he was in college, when he excelled a lot on the field,” Bozeman said. “It seems like every time with the left foot forward, it was always a slight hesitation or a thought to what he was doing just because he wasn’t so comfortable with what he was doing because he was so used to having his right foot forward.”

Johnson is asking a lot from Williams this offseason. Williams is learning a new offense, trying to master the pre-snap routine (something that has been an issue so far this spring), all while changing up his footwork.

We’ve seen this show before. Hopefully, the results with Johnson and Williams are different.

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