Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked about what what quarterback Caleb Williams could’ve done better on a pair of failed fourth-down conversion attempts in Sunday’s victory over the New York Giants.

The query focused on Williams’ decision-making in those moments but Johnson’s broadened his answer, purposely mentioning his play calling as a factor in regrettable moments overall.

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“(Caleb and I) just watched the whole game together,” Johnson said in a Monday press conference. “He made a number of really, really good plays that we needed in the moment. And there’s a handful of them that you know we talked about, and in hindsight, you might play them a little bit different. Same thing for me as a play caller. There’s a number of calls that I probably want back.”

This was not the first time the team’s offensive architect was critical of his own play calling. Johnson has done so several times this season, something that should be considered a rarity across the NFL.

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Coaches generally have a fallback that execution is more important that the play call or design, a degree of separation that creates distance from blame.

Johnson doesn’t do that. He’s also a harsh grader of his own performance and owns up to his perceived mistakes in meetings and public comments.

“It’s the first thing you look at when things aren’t clicking and you don’t feel like you’re in a rhythm as an offense,” Johnson said. “I always look in the mirror, what could I do a little bit better there.”

Johnson is as critical a member of this Bears team as anyone at Halas Hall. That’s why he’s accountable when things don’t go right.

Johnson didn’t like the team’s performance on critical downs. That’s fair, considering the Bears were 3-for-11 on third down and 1-for-4 on fourth down.

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“I didn’t love our third-down plan,” Johnson said. “When I go back and I looked at it, I thought they did a really nice job defending us and we didn’t do enough to counter that, and that’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job of that.”

Saying such things out loud also sends a message to the roster that accountability goes in all directions. No one’s exempt, not even the man at the top.

“I know why I did everything in the moment, why I call things,” Johnson said. “Everything has a reason and yet when it doesn’t click the way we want it to, then I just question whether I should have done something or done something else. End of the day, we’re all in it together. I want those guys to understand that I take a lot of ownership in what we put on tape as do they. It’s really important they all understand we’re all in the same boat.”

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