The Chicago Bears’ passing game isn’t where quarterback Caleb Williams wants it yet.

Williams had his worst passing completion percentage of the season and the second-worst of his two-year career against the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday. It also marked Williams’ worst quarterback rating 13 games into the season.

But Williams remained confident that the team was close to a breakthrough in completing passes at a consistent rate.

“We’re so close,” Williams told reporters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Tuesday, “and we’ll be hitting here soon.”

A dive into the numbers leaves little to be confident in.

Williams completed 47.2% of his passes for 154 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Eagles. He’s had his four worst completion percentages over the past four games, all less than 56%. Those totals are well below the 70% goal Johnson set for Williams to aim for this season at the start of training camp.

But Williams said to look beyond the statistics when looking at film, especially Friday’s. He admitted there were a couple of throws he missed that Williams should’ve hit on, including to a wide-open Rome Odunze in the end zone in the first half.

At other moments, however, players slipped, went the wrong way or there was some miscommunication.

“We were in the right spot, right time, and it’s just not on the same page,” Williams said. “So that’s really what it’s come down to. So us going back and watching film and looking at it and all that.”

When Williams does sit down to watch the tape, he’s intent on searching for what went wrong, starting with himself. Was he in the right spot on a high throw? Was his drop right? Once he , himself, he’ll look to see where his receivers were and ask the same questions.

Williams said he focuses on the details when trying to improve those inaccuracy issues. He wants his footwork to be clean as he’s moving through the concepts and getting repetitions during practices. Williams also visualizes the different concepts and completing those passes so he feels confident that he can make them in games.

Fixing those mistakes is what he considers the fun part of football and the quarterback position.

“It’s the fun part about a long season, is you have these ups and downs, you also have these moments where you may not be hitting on all cylinders,” Williams said. “And then you have these moments where you know it feels like you can’t miss. We’re trying to get to the point where we feel like we can’t miss. We got a bunch of young guys, including myself, that are out there trying to make plays. It’s a lot of film, it’s a lot of talking, it’s a lot of open communication that we’ve been having and have to keep having to get to the point where we’re hitting on all cylinders at the right time this year.”

The Bears’ passing inconsistencies have bothered Bears head coach Ben Johnson as well. On Monday, he told reporters that the team is winning in spite of its passing game. Johnson called it a collaborative effort to fix the issues, including working on ball location for Williams and route discipline for his receivers.

On Tuesday, Johnson wanted to clarify that he wasn’t upset with Williams and said to throw the stats out the window. He praised Williams for the way he managed the game Friday, which Johnson considers to be the most important part of being a quarterback.

“He’s gonna continue to get better,” Johnson said. “The process is really good right now with how he approaches the week, the way he’s taken the coaching, the way he’s applying the coaching. I’m very pleased with that. I think we’re going to continue to see him ascend, whether the stats tell the story or not.”

Managing a game has been an important part of Williams’ development under Johnson this season.

Williams took more responsibility this season than he had previously with different play calls, motion and other intricate details involved in Johnson’s offense. He’s learned that throwing the ball away at times or running out of bounds are also important parts of the game. It’s all looked smoother for Williams compared to the start of the year.

“We’re so close and we’ll be hitting here soon.”

—  Caleb Williams, Bears quarterback

Now Williams will try to make the consistent passing more consistent, too, whether it’s in the second quarter or the fourth. The Bears will need him to improve to keep up in their push to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

“We’re going to keep doing that as a team,” Williams said. “I’m going to keep trying my best to do that, and then when the time comes, go end the game.”