Ben Johnson essentially made the final trio of Bears OTAs optional. A mandatory minicamp last week ended the offseason program for most veterans, with open sessions remaining that would be focused on young players and special teams.

He didn’t have to, but quarterback Caleb Williams stayed for this final week despite the fact most of the Bears’ starters (save Rome Odunze) weren’t around.

Johnson was asked about Williams being there, and the head coach’s answer was stern and matter-of-fact.

“He’s committed to learning the offense,” Johnson said in a Tuesday press conference, his last one until training camp. “We’re not where we need to be yet, as a team, and he understands that. Any chance he gets to get a few more full-speed reps, it sounds like he wants them.”

Williams needs them. Learning a new offense is hard, especially for a quarterback of whom so much is expected. Williams made some mistakes throughout the offseason program, which is no shock. He also made some nice plays, but must continue to be focused on the details Johnson requires of the position.

The Bears’ coaching staff has thrown a ton at their quarterbacks, testing to see how they’ll operate and what they can handle from an operational standpoint.

“We’ve loaded him up,” Johnson said. “We’ve tried a number of different things: long play calls, multiple plays at the line, tempo. We’ve dabbled here, there and everywhere, really, throughout the springtime. Some come a little bit more natural than others, for him, but I do think we’ve seen him get better in really all facets. We’ll have to sit down, as a staff, before we leave and when we come back, just to make sure we’re honed in on what direction we want to go all together. But, I feel pretty confident in the things that he’s put on tape that we can go ahead and get after it a little bit.”

Johnson has mentioned that there’s plenty of teaching tape to pull from each practice session. There’s plenty of it with Williams, too. There are a few wow moments mixed in, especially with what Williams can do off-schedule.

“The movement stuff, outside of the pocket, it’s what we thought coming into town here was the ability to create,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you get wrapped up, when you’re in the multiple play call game, being in a perfect play all the time for the perfect coverage, that look at the defense, and really, with him, it doesn’t matter so much what the play call is, if it’s the perfect play versus the first, then it’s great,  it’s there, and if it’s not, then he’s able to find a way to make it work.

“I think there’s a little bit of that that’s going on right now and figuring that out, but he’s done a great job so far. He’s digesting, he’s working hard. There are still some hiccups out there, when you’re watching it, some turnovers or needs the play one more time, and that’s part of the growing process.”