Jaylon Johnson Warns Caleb Williams May Receive Icy Locker Room Welcome
Caleb Williams’ pro day at USC was a success. He was sharp throughout drills and seemed to get along well with the coaches and GMs in attendance. Nothing happened that would indicate he’s less of a favorite to go #1 overall to the Chicago Bears next month. If anything, the presence of new wide receiver Keenan Allen at the event strengthened it. Maybe something will change in the next 30 days, but it feels like a runaway train at this point. That said, it doesn’t mean the Bears locker room is anxious to roll out the red carpet for him. Jaylon Johnson made that clear.
The All-Pro spoke to Kay Adams on her Up And Adams Show about the Williams situation hovering over the franchise. His words were blunt and carried clear intent.
“You just humble yourself coming into the building. You can’t bring that Hollywood stuff into the building especially with guys who have played the game at a high level for consecutive years — Tremaine, TJ, Keenan Allen. We going to see through that. What you did in college, the Hollywood, it’s like nah, you gotta prove yourself. That stuff like that doesn’t matter. You gotta get to know him, too. I think there’s a fine line between trying to prove a point to him but you also gotta get to know him. Because at the end of the day, we want him to be the absolute best he can be. That’s what we’re bringing him in for to win games.
I think truly just learning who he is as a person and learning him deeper than all the Hollywood stuff you see, but actually trying to learn and get to know him and then knowing from there what pushes him. If it is trash talk, if trash talk makes him crumble, then I mean, I feel like we gotta push that button because people in the game, they’re gonna push that button. Depending on whatever it is that he needs to be pushed at, that’s our job and that’s our duty as his teammates to make him better to strengthen his weaknesses.”
The Bears have no intention of letting their locker room become a circus.
These are grown men with families. They’ve done a lot of losing in recent years. Now, the roster is finally getting to a place where it can compete. Talent is arriving in bunches. Williams is supposed to be that final piece of the puzzle. The Bears got rid of a guy in Justin Fields that everybody in that locker room loves. They don’t care who Williams was in college. He better be ready for a lot of prove-it stares from his new teammates.
Jaylon Johnson reflects something the Bears have been through before.
It is eerie how similar this situation feels to 2009. That year, the Bears traded multiple high draft choices and quarterback Kyle Orton to the Denver Broncos in exchange for quarterback Jay Cutler. While the move was made with the intent of upgrading at the most critical position, it wasn’t well-received in the locker room. Orton was highly popular with teammates. They felt he was the perfect leader for them. That led to a cold reception of Cutler from the jump, which created some animosity.
To be fair, Cutler had personality quirks that made him questionable as a leader. There haven’t been any such reservations about Williams. Yet the warning from Jaylon Johnson remains. Nobody in that Bears locker room wants any part of the celebrity stuff. They’re all about winning football games. It comes down to whether Williams is ready to work or not. If the quarterback can’t handle the scrutiny, that will be the first red flag that Chicago might’ve made a mistake.