Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams addressed the media Wednesday for the first time since April 8. Some big storylines have been discussed since then, including one that directly involves him and became a national conversation topic.

There were several offshoots of this main point: Williams’ family explored possible ways to avoid the Bears picking him No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL draft. That information came to light in an excerpt released May 14 to promote Seth Wickersham’s new book, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback.” Other notable nuggets included that he often watched film alone and his father, Carl Williams, said the Bears were where quarterbacks “go to die.”

Coach Ben Johnson deftly responded to it last week.

Now it was Williams’ turn, and he wasted no time. He didn’t even wait for a question.

His opening statement lasted nearly four minutes and acknowledged the “whole storm” that took place a few weeks back.

“We’re focused on trying to get this ship moving in the right direction. And I think so far, that’s what we’ve been doing,” Williams told reporters in a press conference at Halas Hall after a Bears OTA practice. “But for this to come out, it’s been a distraction, so coming up here and talking about it and addressing it is important today.”

Williams wanted to express a few main points. He knows how to watch film, but he hoped for more help from the previous regime to increase efficiency. Yes, he thought highly of Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, but he emerged from his Bears visit resolute on helping Chicago turn around things. The concept of possibly avoiding the Bears were factors to evaluate, and nothing more.

“All of the things that were supposed to be these big things … never happened, in the sense that they were all thoughts,” Williams said. “They were all ideas. I think, if you’re in the situation … you think about all the options and you look at the history and the facts and all these different things, those are thoughts that go through your head. …

“And then, after I came on my visit here, it was a deliberate answer, a deliberate and determined answer that I had in wanting to come here.”

Then Williams made another key point. He’s excited to work with Johnson. He believes he’ll change the narrative surrounding Bears quarterbacks. He fears with the team’s previous quarterback development, as he pointed out, “some of them seem to be justified.”

The Bears haven’t had a 4,000-yard passer in their history. They haven’t drafted a first-round quarterback who has achieved legitimate success since Jim Harbaugh in 1987.

Williams didn’t run away. He decided to come to Chicago and be the change.

“The main goal and the main objective of being here is to turn around,” Williams said. “That’s why I was selected No. 1. And so, you know, that’s what we’re here to do. That’s what they brought me here to do. …

“It’s a challenge. We look at those challenges and we don’t laugh. We look at them really, really seriously and attack them to the best of our ability, to go and change and turn things around.”

That didn’t happen in Williams’ first season, when offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus were fired in-season and the Bears went 5-12.

The Bears have built some solid offseason momentum since Johnson’s hiring. They followed that with a solid coaching staff and then by adding big personnel via trades, free agency and the draft.

The spring was soaked in positivity from all angles. Then this Williams story came up and sent the Bears narrative down into this weeks-long digression.

Williams said he met with general manager Ryan Poles, chief administrative officer Ted Crews and Bears brass about the book excerpt, which the quarterback didn’t see coming from a publication that won’t be released until September. He wanted to get things “cleared up and clarified,” with the team and by speaking about it publicly. Williams has asked his father, Carl, one of his best friends and biggest defenders, to tone down his public comments.

Now Williams wants to focus on the future and get things back on track.

“We’re on this freight train, and, you know, starting to pick up speed,” Williams said. “It’s a lot of learning, a lot of things going on. I think the timing of it, it’s not ideal, but we’re here. It happened, and we learned from it. I think it’s an experience for myself and, obviously, for everybody else. You know that we’re focused on now, the present day, and we’re not here to talk about the past and discuss the past anymore (after Wednesday).”