Why J.T. Barrett says (doing) less is more for Caleb Williams

LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS - JULY 24: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears talks with quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett during Chicago Bears Training Camp at Halas Hall on July 24, 2025 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images

All in all, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams' second NFL season was a rousing success.

Not only did he and the Bears win their first playoff game since the 2010 season, but Williams set the single-season passing yards record while proving himself one of the best clutch quarterbacks in football.

Now, Bears QB coach J.T. Barrett has another challenge for him heading into a critical third season: do less."

Well, more specifically, Do more' of the little things right so you can do less' of the Superman stuff."

We don't have to work as hard for our money. There's times where we could just work through our progression and get the ball out on time instead of having to create and extend plays," Barrett told Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun Times, via NFL.com.

Though Williams showed remarkable improvement as his sophomore season-his first under head coach Ben Johnson-went on, it's hard to argue with Barrett in the grand scheme of things.

#DaBears QB coach J.T. Barrett on Caleb Williams' confidence/command of the #Bears' offense: pic.twitter.com/TRuCkpA84U

- Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) May 21, 2026

While no one in the league can make some of the plays Williams made down the stretch of last year's playoff run, there were also quite a few plays that left us scratching our heads with him, especially earlier in the season. His big-game-hunter style and need to firm up his mechanics led him to complete just 58.1% of his passes and the second-highest time to throw in the NFL behind only Shedeur Sanders, giving the Bears' passing game a boom-or-bust quality for portions of the year.

Obviously, he often made up for it at the end of games by willing the Bears into scoring position in clutch situations, which is great. What Barrett is saying is that Williams' hero routine should be more break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" than the default setting.

Late in some of those games, we were making some heroic plays ... but it wasn't necessary if we execute in the first quarter and second quarter," Barrett said. We might be up two touchdowns by the time we get to the fourth quarter. We can be efficient and take what the defense is giving. You don't necessarily have to put the cape on and make those crazy plays because you already were killing them in the first three quarters."

Again, this is not meant to be a knock on Williams, who already looks like the best Bears quarterback we've seen in our lifetimes to this point. It's an area of emphasis that a young player can key on to get better-one that he almost certainly agrees he needs to work on.

Being able to do the spectacular increases his ceiling to that MVP-caliber level. But doing the small things-taking what the defense gives him, getting the ball out on time and into the hands of playmakers, and continuing to avoid sacks the way he does-elevates his floor to make the MVP level of play that much more attainable on a week-in, week-out basis. Should he merge the two, that MVP discussion won't seem crazy in a few months.

The best part: Barrett's not asking him to do anything groundbreaking or particularly crazy. Williams can do all the insane stuff. He just has to do the easier stuff now. While that in itself is harder than it looks, Williams has proven he has all the tools to make that leap.