When Bears coach Ben Johnson compared the mobility of quarterback Caleb Williams to the lack of mobility of Jared Goff in 2025, Johnson promptly explained he wasn’t taking a shot at Goff.
“It was not a shot at Jared,” Johnson said in early 2025. “I’ve talked to Jared about it. Sometimes your comments get skewed a little bit. That was not my intent. He certainly understands that. It was more directed towards Caleb and what he brings to the table.”
Fast forward to last night, and Johnson took another apparent shot at Goff.
“Well, I’ve got a little history with that, of calling plays for someone not so mobile,” Johnson said regarding the different playing styles of Williams and Case Keenum.
Johnson likely will say again that it wasn’t a shot at Goff. And it really isn’t. Everyone knows Jared Goff isn’t Usain Bolt.
Still, watch the video. Johnson knew what was coming. And he smirked a couple of times while the question was being asked. He knew exactly what he was going to say. And he seemed to enjoy it.
There’s a refreshing cheekiness to Johnson that often shines through. Indeed, Johnson added another remark about the fact that, for the first time in his career as a play-caller, he was working with someone who wasn’t the first overall pick in the draft.
“Now, I don’t have a history with someone that’s not a number one pick though,” Johnson said after his latest non-shot shot at Goff. “So that was apparently a big deal.”
It wasn’t necessarily a “big deal.” But it was, you know, a fact. The latest fact is that it doesn’t matter, and that Johnson was able to take a guy who hadn’t played in a regular-season game in 1,009 days and make him look like a Pro Bowler.
It’s no surprise, given that Johnson took a guy the Rams couldn’t wait to get rid of and turned him into a high-end starter.