Ben Johnson took over the Bears this offseason and teamed up with Caleb Williams to give the Bears their first winning record since 2018.

The coach praised Williams on Tuesday after what seemed like indirect criticism the day before. The quarterback went 5-12 in his rookie season, his second.

The comments came during Johnson’s press conference on Tuesday.

“He’s improving every week. I was really pleased with his performance last week,” Johnson said. “He’s been really good this week. I think he’s going to continue to improve whether the statistics say that or not.”

Johnson Criticism of Monday’s passing attack Chicago defeated Philadelphia 24-15 on Black Friday.

“We have to get it fundamentally right,” Johnson said. “Everyone has a responsibility to clean up this passing game. That’s not where it needs to be. We won despite the passing game, not because of it, and now none of us are happy with that.”

Veteran NFL coach credits Ben Johnson for transforming Caleb Williams

A veteran coach spoke with The Athletic’s Mike Sando on the condition of anonymity about Ben Johnson’s impact on the team Caleb Williams.

“The first thing Ben Johnson did with Caleb was teach him how to play quarterback,” the coach said Tuesday. “He’s not doing anything different with his throwing motion or anything like that. What’s the down and distance? If it’s second and third, we don’t need to throw a hook here.”

Williams threw for just 154 yards against the Eagles. In windy conditions at Lincoln Financial Field, he completed 17 of 36 passes and threw one touchdown.

The Bears (9-3) have won five straight and sit atop the NFC North. Williams had 2,722 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions in 12 games.

Chicago will face Green Bay on Sunday. The Packers (8-3) have won three straight games and are second in the division.