Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and some teammates met with reporters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Monday as the team started its offseason workout program.

Monday marked the official start of the Bears turning the page on last season. Players and coaches will try to build on last season, when the team accomplished plenty of firsts in head coach Ben Johnson’s first season in charge, including reaching the NFC Divisional Playoff.

But a lot has changed after plenty of turnover because of trades and free agent signings. The Bears will now work on getting acclimated before the start of organized team activities at the end of May.

Here are four of the most interesting things the Bears said Monday.

Caleb Williams’ development

On Monday, Williams entered a critical offseason program as he prepares for what will be an important season.

Williams proved that he could play to his potential under Johnson’s direction last season by leading seven comeback wins and a playoff win. Now the former No. 1 overall pick will need to elevate his game to another level to not only help his team go further in the playoffs but to earn himself a big contract next offseason.

“I would say for me, personally, it’s a big year in the sense that I get to grow more. I get to step into the role that I spoke about for the past two years being up here,” Williams said. “That’s important for me. I’m really excited. I’ve been itching to get back, honestly, since the [Rams] game, and trying not to text Ben too much or anything like that to be around it. Excited to be back.”

He’ll have the benefit of familiarity as he starts this offseason program. Although Williams will have to build a rapport with new center Garrett Bradbury, he won’t start from the ground up learning a new offense. Williams showed comfort in the offense late last season, which should continue to grow.

After a few months away from football, Williams looked forward to building off last season’s success with Johnson.

“He is going to push me,” Williams said. “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.”

Moving on from last year

Johnson’s mindset for this offseason became clear a few days after last season’s playoff run ended. The Bears were moving on and not resting on their laurels based on last season’s success.

Bears players embraced that mentality Monday. Instead of remembering how fun last year’s two home playoff games were, they focused on how to guarantee they can secure more of those games next season.

“We understand that Chicago and the city of Chicago is very excited about what happened last year, but last year is over with ...” tight end Cole Kmet said. “We’re looking to not only get back to where we were last year with a chance to go to the NFC Championship game, but to exceed that and go win a Super Bowl.”

New veterans such as safety Coby Bryant and center Garrett Bradbury echoed their new team’s motto. Both Bryant and Bradbury played against each other in last season’s Super Bowl, with Bryant’s Seattle Seahawks beating Bradbury’s New England Patriots.

Neither player thought it would be too hard to move on from their successes last year.

“Once I sign here, everything I’ve done in Seattle is behind me, honestly,” Bryant said. “I’m looking forward to, like I said, being a part of this team and this organization. Plenty of special things are ahead of us, just scratching the surface and taking it one day at a time.”

Filling leadership holes

Chicago’s large roster turnover means different players are going to have to fill leadership roles.

The Bears lost leaders such as center Drew Dalman, safety Kevin Byard and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds over the offseason. They will rely on returning players like Kmet and new players like Bryant to fill those voids.

“Biggest thing right now is I just need to lead by example,” Bryant said. “I feel like the guys need to see my work ethic, which is nothing new, honestly. I’ve always been that guy, lead by example first and then be more vocal, and then, once they see the work ethic and me making plays, et cetera, then they’ll start to gravitate towards it.”

Williams has taken more of a leadership role as well.

Both Bryant and Bradbury said that Williams reached out to them after the team acquired them during the offseason. It’s not uncommon for a quarterback to want to speak to his future center. But it’s less common for the quarterback to reach out to a team’s defensive signing, something Bryant called rare and a sign of the kind of leader Williams is at a young age.

Williams felt it was important for him to reach out as he takes a bigger leadership role this offseason.

“I think it’s important for me to be able to reach out as one of the guys on the team, one of the leaders on the team, and also I want to know, I want to be cool with all my teammates in that sense of, I’m no bigger than them,” Williams said. “I’m just a teammate. I’m one of the guys in the locker room. We have one common goal – it’s to win here. I think my reaching out is just setting the vibes, setting the energy for what we need them to be here."

Cole Kmet returning

The Bears had to make some tough roster decisions during the offseason to manage their salary cap. They traded wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills and didn’t re-sign Edmunds. But the Bears kept some players who were considered to be potential cap casualties.

Kmet was one of those players. Kmet is set to have an $11.6 million cap hit this year with a $3.2 million dead cap hit if the team cuts him after June 1, according to Over The Cap. But after meeting with Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles at the end of last season, Kmet didn’t think he would be anywhere else.

“Look, Ryan and Ben, I really take them at their word for what they say,” Kmet said. “They’re very honest guys. They expressed an interest in me being here, staying here and all that. But I also understand if an offer comes across their plate for them to make a move or them to make a change, they would definitely do that. No, I never really felt I would be playing anywhere else this year.”

Kmet instead will turn his attention to replicating the success he and tight end Colston Loveland had last season.

The duo became one of the NFL’s best. Loveland led the team with 713 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his rookie season, while Kmet embraced his role as a run-blocker and made critical catches down the stretch.

On the surface, it might’ve made sense not to keep two starting tight ends with cap restraints. But the Bears showed how much they value two-tight end sets and how important it is to the offense’s success.

“I think the two tight ends are paramount, and I saw that,” Kmet said. “It might not always be in the passing game. There were a lot of things I had to do in pass pro and the run game that proved to be very valuable for the team. I saw that, and more importantly, Ben and Ryan really recognized that as well.”