The message in Chicago is simple: Last season was fun, but it's over, done with, and fell short of the ultimate goal.
The Bears completely flipped the script in Ben Johnson's first season, becoming a team that could win in crunch time instead of collapsing. Chicago rode a slew of comeback victories to an NFC North title and nearly reached the NFC Championship Game after an epic 14-yard TD pass sent their Divisional Round game into overtime, before falling, 20-17, to the Los Angeles Rams.
However, winning 11 games, the division and even a home playoff game against the rival Packers isn't where Caleb Williams and Co. see themselves.
"It was good for me to be able to see, to be able to feel, to be able to go out there and win games," Williams said Monday at the start of voluntary workouts. "But that wasn't my goal, that's not my goal. That's not where I want to be. I want to be the best. I want to win. I want to be, as we call it, a world champion, a Super Bowl champion. I want to be the best Bears quarterback, best quarterback. Yes, that was a good steppingstone for me, but that wasn't the last stepping stone.
"Being able to grow off of last year and be able to progress in ways that I want to. That last year wasn't really anything. It was a good year and we've got many more good years coming up."
That's been the mantra all offseason for the Bears, from Chairman George McCaskey to Johnson to Williams filtering through the rest of the roster. Johnson set the tone directly after the loss to the Rams, noting that it's harder to stay atop the mountain than ascend it. The second-year coach promised to push his players even harder in 2026.
Williams welcomes the challenge.
''My answer is, 'Yes, sir. Let's do it,'" Williams said of Johnson. ''He is going to push me. I am going to push myself and I'm going to push my teammates. And he's going to push my teammates and things like that. We're going to find ways to get better. We're going to find ways to reach where we want to reach. That starts with the detail. That starts with the everyday. That starts with the week-to-week of finding ways to get better."
With a tougher schedule and more film on Johnson's offense, the Bears will need to continually improve to keep their upward trajectory and avoid crashing back to earth in 2026.
