Caleb Williams doesn’t have a great poker face. Frustration was plain to see especially during tough times, though that’s not unusual and forgivable considering he got sacked 68 times and lost 10 straight games as a rookie, sometimes in devastating fashion.

That’s still an area new head coach Ben Johnson would like to tighten up. He made a point to include the entire team in this effort, but a quarterback’s the public face and typically a team leader who Johnson believes must project confidence and stability.

“There’s adversity that’s going to hit every team, every season,” Johnson told reporters after Wednesday’s OTA practice. “You don’t know when it’s going to happen. We might lose a few games, we might have some turnovers, and yet just the wherewithal of we’re steering the ship, we’re going the right direction. It’s not, woe is me. We are going to take everyone around us.

“We’re going to elevate them and we’re going to look to forge ahead to what’s next. It’s not dwelling on the past. Whether it’s last season, last play, last game, we learn from it, we grow and we move on. Our body language needs to reflect that as well.”

This offseason initiative came from the coaching staff watching last year’s tape, especially when things got rough. Williams’ negative body language was so pronounced at points that it became a national talk-show topic. According to Sports Illustrated, the Bears showed Williams clips of being slow to get up or signs of not moving on quickly.

“It’s like, ‘is this what we want to look like or not?’” Johnson said. “We came to an agreement. No, it’s not. We learn from it, and we move on to the next thing. Body language is a huge thing. Demeanor. We don’t want to be a palms-up team where we’re questioning everything. That’s a little bit of a sign of weakness. We don’t want to exhibit that from anybody on the team.” 

Williams was far from the only culprit last season, when struggles came and the 2024 coaching staff had lost the locker room’s confidence. Johnson wants his team to project confidence even during difficult moments. That’s important from player leadership, to help weather storms and emerge victorious. The message has been spread from team meetings to position groups: how you carry yourself matters.

“That’s what good teams do, what playoff teams do,” Johnson said. “This is the example we’re setting, and this is the direction we’re going. The good news is this: we have a phenomenal coaching staff. A lot of (coaches) were former players in this league and did it at the highest level. What they say carries weight with our guys. They know what it looks like. We have a number of guys that we brought in free agency this year that know what good football looks like as well. It’s all about educating, showing them what we’re going to be about going into next season.”