LAKE FOREST, Ill. — With their mandatory minicamp wrapping up on Thursday, the Chicago Bears get some time to rest before offseason programming kicks back into gear. But looming in the distance is another Ben Johnson-led training camp, and quarterback Caleb Williams was already breathing a sigh of relief when asked how his second time around would compare to the first.“It’s a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year,” Williams said. “I feel like I was drowning, trying to breathe, or standing around waiting for a boat to come around last year. Now, this year, it’s like I said earlier, it’s being able to start where we finished last year — play calls, words, verbiage — and speak the same language.”At this time last year, Johnson had been the Bears’ head coach for less than six months. The team was coming off a 5-12 season, which saw the first in-season coaching change in franchise history. Williams was entering his second season as a pro, but learning a new system around a new coaching staff put many things back to square one.Things feel different this time around at Halas Hall. While, as Williams puts it, he still has “so much to unlock,” there’s a level of comfort that comes with one season as a unit fully under their belts. Among the focuses of Williams’ offseason development — ball placement, completion rate, avoiding turnovers — is translating that comfort into leadership.During team drills on Thursday, Williams completed a 40-plus-yard pass to second-year receiver Luther Burden III. It was Williams’ best completion of the day, and also gave him a chance to showcase authority in the huddle.Burden seemed to believe the play resulted in a touchdown, but the refs marked him down at the 5-yard line. While Burden celebrated what he thought was a score, Williams directed the rest of the offense down the field, yelling at the unit to get lined up so they could spike the ball and stop the clock.“(Burden) thought he scored. When you’re at practice, you deal with those things, not knowing if you scored or not, not being in pads,” Williams said. “I saw from a distance that two different refs were saying two different things, touchdown on one side and the other side was not. So just being able to reel him back in and get ready to go score again. I think that happens often; it’s just doing my part in better communication.”So, how comfortable does Williams feel as the authority figure?“That’s a part of growth being (the quarterback),” Williams said. “You don’t just get those nuggets and things like that just because of the position. You have to work hard, and you have to grow, and you gotta go win games on Sundays.“I’ve said that before, and that’s always my mindset: win games on Sundays, be the same guy every day, come in here and work, do all the things right that I’m supposed to do. If there’s extra that I need to do, if it’s sitting down and talking with them, if it’s on the field, we gotta yell and get them back to the huddle or any of those little things. It’s whatever it takes to get to the end goal.”One thing that has become clear among Johnson and Williams is their shared level of intensity that fuels the Bears during under-pressure moments. Johnson said Williams and the coaching staff are aligned on what they want from the offense, which gives them the confidence in their quarterback to give on-field critiques. When asked how Williams embodies leadership, Johnson said he is “certainly a vocal presence within our offense and our entire team.”“It comes with the comfort level and knowing what’s being asked in terms of the offense,” Johnson said. “Whether we’re out there in a practice setting or he likes to keep those guys after and work a little bit more after practice. I think he’s stepped up. He’s continuing to get better each and every single day, and it’s just a matter of how many reps we can continue to pile on over the course of training camp.”When not focused on the off-the-field stadium debacle — which, on the potential of playing in Indiana, Williams said: “I’m going to play wherever there’s 120 by 53 and a third, and it’s marked up with white lines and two end zones.” — it’s been an offseason of hype for Williams and the Bears.Williams was revealed as the Madden cover athlete last week, adorned during an event at Navy Pier. The late June release of the “NFL Top 100” will reveal where Williams’ peers across the league evaluated his 2025 performance, but rival Packers star Micah Parsons seemed to reveal “Iceman” as his No. 1 vote in the trailer.In terms of keeping Williams in check with the season of work ahead, Johnson said it all goes back to their first conversation.“He wants to win here in Chicago, and he wants to win Super Bowls. That’s really his motivating factor,” Johnson said. “His portion of that is to be the best leader that this team can get from the quarterback position, excel this offense to the next level, be a good supportive teammate throughout the whole thing. I think he continues to make significant strides and very happy with where he’s at.”As for the next few weeks, Johnson said he’ll work on getting ahead for the season, and yes, get away “for a minute.” Williams, meanwhile, is completing his coach’s orders.“Get away from the coaches,” Williams said. “That’s what Ben said.”