LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The partnership between Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams was questioned frequently at the start of training camp, if not earlier.
Coach and quarterback alike are now heralding their relationship as a tremendous success after the team clinched a playoff berth, even though the Bears have struggled at times in the passing game.
“Every single day, we’re spending one-on-one time, quality time together, to where we can be very transparent with each other,” Johnson said. “And I think what I’ve grown to love about him — and I hope he would echo the same thing — I think we’re mentally very similar.
“We share a lot of the same competitive drive and we think very much the same way in a lot of regards.”
Williams has completed only 57.8% of his passes (285 of 493) for 3,400 yards with a passer rating of 89.5, just 1.7 higher than his rookie year. Yet he's made huge plays late in games, and the Bears (11-4) have won 11 of 13 since their blowout loss at Detroit in Week 2.
Williams acknowledged his relationship with Johnson didn't start the way it turned out, and recalled a point early on when things didn’t go smoothly. It typified how both QB and coach could work past their issues for the common good.
“Something happened, I ended up like, I got (ticked) off, too, and I ended up waving him off,” Williams said.
Waving off the coach at practice probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.
“And then he lit a fuse into the (helmet) mic,” Williams said. “I think it was in training camp.”
Johnson’s attention to detail with his offense frequently resulted in blowups at camp. It even happened in OTAs. He let his anger flow freely after mistakes.
Williams was often described coming out of college as lacking discipline, but he and other players learned to respond to Johnson's demands and appreciated what the new coach brought to the team.
“He likes things the way he likes things to be done and we understand that and everybody wants to go out there and win and play for him, and I think we’ve shown that so far,” Williams said.
Williams and the Bears go into their game at San Francisco on Sunday night with a chance to become the NFC’s top seed one year after finishing 5-12.
They need wins over the 49ers and Lions and a loss by Seattle to finish atop the conference. To win the NFC North after finishing last in 2024, they need one more win or a loss by Green Bay.
Williams, meanwhile, is enjoying how he has proved the doubters wrong regarding the Bears and his own career.
“I’ve said it in a couple speeches that I had before, that I wasn’t the biggest, I wasn’t the strongest, I wasn’t the tallest, fastest, whatever the case may be,” Williams said. “I get drafted here, told that I’m not a special player, told then I’m not a good fit here, told that coach and I won’t work, told that I won’t win here.
"And so, I know that it’s going to keep going on but I do take a little satisfaction in things like that and being able to help this team and help this organization be a part of it, to get to the playoffs.”
And he believes reaching the postseason is only a start.
“My goal isn’t just to get to the playoffs,” Williams said. “My goal is to win, and to win big.”
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Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams celebrates with fans after an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson watches during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)
Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams talks after an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)
ATLANTA (AP) — Three inmates who escaped from a jail east of Atlanta, including a murder suspect, commandeered a terrified Lyft driver's car to reach south Florida before she was rescued and they were captured, according to details revealed in court records.
The driver told FBI agents that the men used a fake name to order the ride, put a rope around her neck from behind her, dragged her into the backseat and threatened to kill her, according to a court affidavit filed late Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press.
The inmates were able to “compromise” a portion of a cell inside the DeKalb County Jail to make their escape, said DeKalb County Chief Deputy Temetris Atkins. He didn't provide more specifics because jailers don't want other inmates to know the facility's weaknesses.
“We repaired the area that was compromised, and we’re looking at other areas that are similar to that to fortify them to make sure that they are not compromised in the same manner,” Atkins said at a Tuesday news conference.
DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox described the jail as an “aging facility that’s deteriorating right before our eyes.” The jail is in Decatur, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of downtown Atlanta.
The escape was discovered early Monday during a routine security check, authorities said. After jailers realized the three were gone, investigators listened to recordings of conversations they'd had on recorded phone lines. They learned that one of the inmates had contacted people on the outside who helped them evade capture after the escape, U.S. Marshal Thomas Brown said.
The inmates were picked up by an unnamed man and taken to one of their girlfriends’ homes, Brown said. Then, a Lyft ride was ordered using a fake, female name.
Officers tracked the car as it traveled to south Florida with the aid of license plate readers, devices that can alert law enforcement to the locations of wanted vehicles. When they caught up with the car and tried to stop it, one of the inmates jumped out and ran but was arrested along with a second inmate, according to a court affidavit.
Investigators also learned that the men used the Lyft driver's credit card for a short-term rental of a home in Miramar, Florida, where officers apprehended the third inmate and rescued the driver, court records state.
The driver told investigators that she was held in the car for six to 10 hours as they tried to gain access to her phone and online banking records. After trying to escape once, she endured “increased threats of being shot, raped, and tortured,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.
“As you can imagine, the Lyft driver is very traumatized by this,” Brown said.
All three inmates were charged with kidnapping as well as the escape, according to criminal complaints.
A lawyer with the Federal Public Defender's Office in Fort Lauderdale appointed to represent one of the men, 24-year-old Stevenson Charles, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday evening, nor did a Miami attorney representing a second, Naod Yohannes, 25. There was no lawyer listed in court records for the third, Yusuf Minor, 31.
Charles was being held before the escape on charges including murder and armed robbery. The other two faced charges including armed robbery and arson.
The sheriff’s office had warned that the men might be armed and were considered dangerous after their escape.
Before they were captured, federal authorities had issued particularly strong warnings advising the citizens to be wary of Charles, who has had several run-ins with law officers in Georgia and Florida. He had been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of kidnapping and bank robbery, a federal agent wrote in a Monday affidavit regarding the recent jail escape.
After being sentenced, the agent wrote, Charles was turned over to DeKalb County authorities on Dec. 5 to face the murder charge, details of which were not immediately available.
In one of multiple cases involving Charles in South Florida, he is accused of meeting a man through the Grindr online dating application and then pulling a gun on him when they met in person at a Miami residence in 2022. Charles then drove the man to various Miami area banks, withdrawing money from the victim’s accounts, court records show.
DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox speaks to journalists Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, during a news conference in Decatur, Ga., about the escaped inmates who were captured late Monday. (Ben Gray /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox speaks to journalists Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, during a news conference in Decatur, Ga., about the escaped inmates who were captured late Monday. (Ben Gray /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
U.S. Marshal Thomas Brown speaks to journalists Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, during a press conference in Decatur, Ga., about the escaped inmates who were captured late Monday. (Ben Gray /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
