Thank Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson for Bears' low-stress season recap

The last time the Bears had a season-ending press conference this chill, Caleb Williams was in grade school.

After the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2021 seasons, the Bears fired their head coach. After last season, they explained why they couldn’t wait until the end of the season to do so. After the 2011, 2014 and 2021 seasons, they fired their general manager.

Their 2013 season ended on a 48-yard Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Randall Cobb with 38 seconds to play that knocked the Bears out of playoff contention. In 2018, their playoff game ended on Cody Parkey’s “double-doink” — and then he went on the “Today” show to talk about it.

In 2015, the Bears lost 5-of-7 games to end the season. In 2016, they lost 7-of-8. In 2022, they lost 13 of their last 14. In 2019, 2020 and 2023, they had to explain why they weren’t firing their coach — and what they were doing with their disappointing first-round quarterback.

And then there’s this quote from after the 2020 season.

“Have we gotten the quarterback situation completely right? No,” then-president/CEO Ted Phillips said. “Have we won enough games? No. But everything else is there.”

Wednesday’s press conference, by comparison, could have been held at a day spa, with light music in the background and one of those singing bowls balanced precariously on the podium.

As disappointed as Bears coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles were by how Sunday’s playoff game ended, they couldn’t hide how encouraged they were by the direction of the team.

Try as Johnson might to declare that momentum dies for every team, every offseason — “We go back to Square 1,” he said — the Bears’ starting point is in a better place than it’s been since they came off a conference title game loss 15 years ago.

That’s a credit to Johnson — and his quarterback.

“I’m Caleb Williams’ No. 1 believer,” Johnson said. “I have a lot of faith in him and what he’s capable of doing and the player that he’s still striving to become.”

End-of-season press conferences are about big-picture issues and the direction of the team. The Bears’ answers to those questions were self-evident Wednesday.

Johnson didn’t act like a first-time head coach at any point during the season, Poles said.

“His messaging to the team, it moves the team,” Poles said. “They're locked in. They listen. They take it back to the locker room and to the field. The buy-in was incredible.”

Most coaches post inspirational slogans on the walls of meeting rooms; Johnson puts them into action, Poles said. Even in exit meetings, players were leaning into the messages Johnson taught them.

“There was no hesitation, there was no gray area,” Poles said. “(The players) pushed forward because they believed in what he was saying and what he needed from them, which was incredible.”

Johnson focused on three things: Physicality, sound fundamental play and poise. The latter became the Bears’ identity, as they rallied in the fourth quarter seven times. As Poles credited Johnson, the coach praised the GM for bringing in the right players.

“They’re wired the right way,” Johnson said. “They thrive in those circumstances. And that showed up for us in a big way. Our coaching staff tried to apply pressure on them early on in the springtime and throughout training camp. And I'm not saying they grew numb to it, but it's almost like they embraced it and, and that they were at their best in those moments. …

“Those are the three things that we wanted to be about. I think we brought that to light.”

Johnson’s final message to Williams on Monday was to get away from football for a bit. Williams obliged, sitting on the glass at a Blackhawks game Monday night and courtside at a Bulls game Tuesday night with buddy Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs center fielder.

Williams deserves a break, his coach said.

“He’s done a phenomenal job in terms of staying focused all year long,” he said. “He put in a lot of time, a lot of effort. I thought he grew up as a professional. I thought his communication to the coaching staff grew. I thought his communication to his teammates grew.”

The list of what Williams can improve will be expressed to the player and the quarterbacks coach in due time. Johnson believes he’ll be able to focus on them the way he did last season, when the Bears insisted he go under center, fine-tune his footwork and learn a new playbook

“That’s something we can build upon,” Johnson said. “And yet there’s still a lot more that we can push through in that regard. I’m really encouraged about the steps he took this year.”

That excitement permeates through Halas Hall, even days after a playoff loss.

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Poles said. “But I think that he gets you excited for what he can become, as long as he continues on the path that he was on before."