Bear Digest

Jaylon Johnson Details His Discovery About Caleb Williams

The hype about Caleb Williams' personality are anything but true Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson tells Jim Rome, and describes his QB as your typical "hard-nosed"Chicagoan.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams warms up with other Bears QBs during minicamp. The Bears find Williams' work ethic runs contrary to rumors.
Caleb Williams warms up with other Bears QBs during minicamp. The Bears find Williams' work ethic runs contrary to rumors. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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First it was Bears tight end Cole Kmet saying the team has found quarterback Caleb Williams to be different than originally advertised.

Now, it's Jaylon Johnson saying something very similar.

Johnson actually is saying he finds Williams to be different than ways other people described. And that was very close to what Kmet was saying.

This all goes back to when it was Johnson who said he didn't want to see Williams trying to bring "Hollywood" stuff into the locker room back before the start of offseason work.

In an interview on Jim Rome's podcast, Johnson admitted to a degree that he hadn't been taken out of context but clarified that he had never accused Williams of being a "Hollywood" type of player or a prima donna who "big-timed" people. He was only saying if Williams was that way.

Johnson also made an appearance on Colin Cowherd and said something similar.

Now, after a few months of work and a summer vacation, Johnson says they've found Williams to be a much different player than anyone had said back when the painted fingernails, crying in mom's arms, and alleged desires to own part of an NFL team were getting pre- and post-draft attention.

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"I feel like even with it being reality, now having him in our locker room, he's not like that," Johnson told Rome on the podcast. "I think that's something that the media, that certain people, put on him from the outside looking in and people kind of see the way that, I guess, the way that he carries himself and they could feel like he's Hollywood, I guess. But, I mean, actually being around him, talking to him, being seeing him with his family and different things like that, talking to the rookies, I mean he's not like that.

"So I think for me I think it's kind of a weird situation to be able to see him in person and kind of think what was everybodytalking about, what was the issues, the concerns?"


Now, Williams just seems to be one of the guys, like at trips to Cubs and Sox games and the much-publicized competition at Top Golf. And more than anything else, they've discovered this for themselves on the practice field.

"But, I mean he fits in perfect," Johnson said. 

It almost sounds like Johnson is saying Williams is more of a Grabowski than a Smith, to borrow ancient phrases from Da Coach, Mike Ditka.

"I mean, he comes in to work, I mean, I feel like with coming to the Bears and the city of Chicago and things that we're kind of like fighting against, it's really just a hard-nosed city," Johnson said. "Our fans are hard-nosed, our team is hardnosed, and has been built on that.

"And I think he's coming in and fitting in perfectly. I mean, we were able to push him as a defense and then be able to see how he bounces back and responded and is doing certain things back. So I think he's fitting in perfect.

"I cant wait for this camp to be able to see him take those next steps and to lead us to some wins."

Probably more important is the last part of it when Johnson says Williams has taken the defense's shots at camp and responded.

Actions speak louder than words about such things.

Williams will get a real chance to start showing what he can do in a little over a week, when camp starts, and in less than three weeks now when the first Bears game of 2024 is played at Canton, Ohio against the Houston Texans.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.