LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The solution to quarterback Caleb Williams’ accuracy issues has Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson bringing up a familiar number.
With training camp underway in his second season, Johnson said he is again expecting a 70% completion rate this year after his third-year quarterback failed to come close to that designated figure last year at 58.1%.
Williams believes he can record a higher percentage without flat-out predicting he’ll approach the magic number.
Achieving it will require something he didn’t do in his first two seasons, after being the No. 1 pick of the 2024 draft and then leading Chicago to an NFC North title in 2025.
“Just hit the easy ones when they’re there,” Williams said. “Be in rhythm with myself. Be confident in my guys, be confident within the play. Deliver a good ball. Deliver a catchable ball.
“And then from there, when things happen, I put on the cape and do my thing, but it’s not something that needs to be on or showing until the moment shows up.”
Williams’ cape came on for seven fourth-quarter comebacks last year, counting the playoffs.
Throughout their first season together, Johnson brought out the tough-love style of coaching for Williams. He had no problem raising his voice repeatedly at practices and being tough in meetings.
Whether he would take the harder line again in Williams’ second year within the Bears’ offense wasn’t entirely clear before camp, but Williams had to laugh Wednesday when asked about it after the first practice.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I know we have a real common goal and it’s to find a way to make the Chicago Bears champions at the end of the day. So everything he says and what he says to me, I’ll do it at 200% and won’t look back.
“That’s kind of how it is now. If he yells and curses at me or anything like that, I know it’s for the greater good of the team and so whatever it takes is what it’s going to take.”
Although Johnson named 70% again as a target, he isn’t defining anything else specific beyond that number. He sees general improvement possible from Williams within Year 2 of the offense because of simple repetition.
“I have this urge as an offensive guy to want to continue to evolve and innovate and push the limits a little bit,” Johnson said. “And yet at the same time, in the back of my mind, what’s best for him is to continue to bank some of these (play) reps.
“He’s had two offseasons and one training camp so far, and a full season obviously, to where he’s had a lot of the similar concepts repeat for him. Now we’re at the point where he’s not thinking about the play call, he’s not thinking about the cadence, the motion, and all the rigamarole before the snap. Things are starting to slow down (for him). So, what we need to see here in camp is that anticipation, take it up a notch."
Completion percentage also could improve because Williams’ receivers are more familiar with him and the league. Tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden were sensations in the season’s second half as rookies. Rome Odunze is now the veteran of the group in his third year after the team traded DJ Moore to Buffalo.
“They’re second-year receivers, most of the guys out there, second year or more, so the confidence with them, the confidence within themselves to be able to run the right route, how to run it and create space when they run the route, they’re not just running a route off the board,” Williams said. “So a lot of confidence goes into the work, a lot of confidence goes into myself and then to coach and everybody else.”
Williams never actually thought Johnson was going to go easy on him in Year 2. He wouldn't have it any other way, as the two have forged a good coach-player relationship.
“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be tough like it is every year,” Williams said. “That’s what you embrace, that’s what you enjoy. Because when it shows up on game days and Sundays or whatever day we play on, it’s really rewarding.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson watches players during practice at the team's NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams works on the field during practice at the team's NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti is still recovering from his team's round-of-16 loss to Norway in the World Cup.
But as the 67-year-old Italian turns to the next four years on the job, he pledges to closely watch youth division players and the country's squad at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to spearhead an overhaul.
Ancelotti also said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press at the headquarters of the Brazilian soccer confederation in Rio de Janeiro that the five-time World Cup winners don't need to copy defending champion Spain or high-powered France to win a sixth.
“We don't need to copy — we need to learn where we can improve,” Ancelotti said in the confederation's museum, where much of Brazil's national team silverware is kept. “Some positions are well-covered, both in defense and attack. We are looking for improvement and development among the midfielders. And the Olympics could be a crucial moment (to find players).”
Ancelotti, who returned to Brazil on Sunday, has heard a lot about the Tokyo Olympics gold medal match since he arrived. Five years ago, Brazil beat Spain 2-1 to defend its title. Eight of the Spanish players in that game plus coach Luis de La Fuente and are now World Cup winners, but Brazil only took midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and striker Matheus Cunha to the 2026 World Cup.
“We are in contact with the U-15, U-17, and U-20 coaches to identify talent and track their progress, ensuring they are prepared for the next World Cup,” Ancelotti said. “Four years ago, Rayan was playing U-17. It is vital to look at youth development now so that by 2030 we have another generation of players progressing like him.”
Many Brazil fans might not be that patient; they often expect stars to deliver and players to have leading roles wherever they play. But Ancelotti says the set up he plans is different from that.
“At this moment, football doesn’t need one single star — we need to reinforce the concept of the team,” the coach said. “Brazil doesn’t have a single reference point right now, and it doesn’t need one. We have many great players. The goal is to build a strong, cohesive team.”
Three friendlies, two against Australia in September and one against India in October, will mark the beginning of the new cycle for Brazil's first-ever fulltime foreign coach. He knows pressure will be on until the 2028 edition of Copa America. Ancelotti says a combination of players that make it to the continental tournament and those younger going to Los Angeles could make the 2030 World Cup roster.
Striker Neymar, who made Ancelotti's squad for this summer's tournament despite serious doubts about his fitness, is not in coach's plans going forward. The 34-year-old star repeated earlier this week that he thought his time with the national team was over.
“That's part of the natural trajectory of a great talent like Neymar,” Ancelotti said. “It is like it is for others who finish an important time with the national team. We spent little time together, but I have only good things to say. He was serious, professional, he helped in whichever way he could. Too bad he had this injury that did not allow him to be 100% since the first game.”
Ancelotti said his decision to coach Brazil until 2030 and reject an offer from the Italian soccer federation to take the same job in the same national team he played for “has nothing to do with contracts, it has to do with commitment." Italy soccer executives said Brazil's coach was in considerations for the position, which ultimately went — once again — to Roberto Mancini.
“The Brazilian soccer confederation has always supported me, especially after the defeat against Norway,” the coach said in his ever-improving Portuguese, which he has learned from a teacher and also a language app. “The commitment I have is because of the reception I had here this year.”
Ancelotti has the experience of losing a World Cup final with Italy — to Brazil — in a penalty shootout in 1994, when he was an assistant coach for the Azzurri. But he says this one hurts more, though it also opens his perspective for 2030.
“It is a tough time to digest this defeat. I was used to defeats at clubs because you can seek payback quickly. Now I have to wait. Sometimes I think about the defeat more than usual,” Ancelotti said. “You have to have the strength to have an eye in the past and another one in the future. Each day that goes by I am thinking more about the future than the past.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Brazil's national soccer coach Carlo Ancelotti gives an interview in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Brazil's national soccer coach Carlo Ancelotti smiles during an interview in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Brazil's national soccer coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during an interview in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Brazil's national soccer coach Carlo Ancelotti speaks during an interview in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
