Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams on 4,000 yards: ‘I was brought here for those types of things’

Caleb Williams knew what he signed up for when he came to Chicago. As his own father told author Seth Wickersham in his book released earlier this year, Chicago is where “quarterbacks go to die.”

In a way, the Chicago Bears’ futile quarterbacking history was part of the draw for Williams. He has embraced the challenge of being the quarterback who finally changes that narrative. His coach, too, is here to flip the script. That’s what Ben Johnson said in May when an excerpt from Wickersham’s book “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback” noted the comment from Caleb’s father Carl Williams.

“I love it,” Johnson said then. “I love the opportunity to come on in and change that narrative. That’s where great stories are written.”

Williams and Johnson are trying to write their own.

When the Bears face the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Soldier Field, Williams will be staring down history. With 3,730 passing yards this season, Williams is 108 yards shy of tying Erik Kramer’s franchise record of 3,838 passing yards from 1995. He’s also 270 yards shy of becoming the first Bears quarterback ever to total 4,000 passing yards in a regular season.

The Bears are the only franchise to never have a 4,000-yard passer. When Carson Wentz threw for 4,039 yards in 2019 with Philadelphia, becoming the Eagles’ first 4,000-yard passer, the Bears were left as the only team still looking for its first.

It’s a remarkable stat, considering the 100-plus-year history of the Bears franchise.

“It’d be cool just in the sense of there’s never been one here,” Williams said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “I think I was brought here for those types of things and those types of moments, the things that haven’t been done here, to try and be able to accomplish.”

Williams has never been shy about his goals. In a 2023 interview with GQ magazine while he was still in college, Williams said his goal was to win eight Super Bowls, surpassing Tom Brady’s seven. This is a quarterback who is well aware that he’s on the cusp of history in Chicago.

Williams will almost certainly set the franchise passing record on Sunday. He needs 108 yards, something he’s surpassed in every game this season. Whether he throws for 270 or more (which he’s done four times this season) is a bigger question.

Johnson, though, is much less interested in such numbers. The coach hasn’t been shy about the fact that the Bears are “playing to win.” They have playoff seeding on the line. They’re also looking to avenge their most lopsided loss of the season, a 52-21 drubbing in Detroit in Week 2.

Johnson went so far as to call 4,000 passing yards an “arbitrary number.”

“If it were to happen that’d be great,” Johnson said. “But he would agree with me when I say that our No. 1 objective is to win this ballgame. Whatever that takes, that’s our goal. We’ll see where it’s at at the end of the year. That’s a tertiary goal, if you will.”

Upon being reminded that the Bears have never had a 4,000-yard passer Wednesday, Johnson said this: “There are probably some (teams) who don’t have a 5,000-yard passer. Right? So. It’s just a number.”

There have been only 15 instances of a quarterback throwing for 5,000 passing yards in a season — Drew Brees holds five of them. But on some level, the coach has a point. Other than being a round number, 4,000 is somewhat arbitrary and the 2021 addition of a 17th regular-season game will already change all the record books and benchmarks over time.

But this is Chicago. “Bear weather” and poor quarterbacking are part of the city’s identity at this point. Asked about that history, Williams himself pointed at the cold temperatures and the franchise’s propensity to run the football over the years.

If nothing else, though, having a 4,000-yard passer would be like a monkey off Bears fans’ backs. Williams certainly believes he’s the right quarterback for the city.

“I want to be the best quarterback not only for Chicago, but in the league,” Williams said. “And that starts with consistency, that starts with me preparing the right way. It’s important to me. I don’t get up to be mediocre.”

Williams is coming off a season-high 330 passing yards in Sunday night’s loss to San Francisco. Over his last three games, he has averaged 274 passing yards per game with six total touchdown passes and zero interceptions. It has been, possibly, the best three-game stretch of his young career.

Johnson sees a quarterback who is grasping everything he has been preaching since the Bears returned to the practice field in the spring.

“The conversations we have now are a little bit more advanced than they were earlier in the season in terms of what we’re trying to get done with these plays,” Johnson said. “I think you’ve seen the pre-snap penalties start to go down. And when you see things over the last half of the season where you’re getting these free plays and you kind of feel his control at the line of scrimmage starting to come out. I think he feels very much involved in the process. I think he feels like he has a great grasp on what we’re trying to get done.”

Barring something unusual happening, the franchise record is in sight on Sunday. That first 4,000-yard season isn’t out of the question either.

Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams on 4,000 yards: ‘I was brought here for those types of things’

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