Whether he wanted one or not, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson got a history lesson from the team’s media on Wednesday.
Johnson was asked if there was any added incentive to get quarterback Caleb Williams over 4,000 passing yards for the season during the team’s final game. The Bears are the only NFL franchise to never have a 4,000-yard passer, an infamous stat that the fanbase is all too familiar with.
Johnson said it would be great if it happened, but he is putting no added importance on the number.
“I think it’s an arbitrary number,” Johnson said. “I don’t know. What would that mean? You tell me.”
Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times drew some laughs with his response to the first-year head coach.
“You’re new, but that’s kind of a big deal here,” Lieser said.
BEN JOHNSON AND THE REPORTERS GOING BACK AND FORTH ABOUT CALEB WILLIAMS POTENTIALLY THROWING FOR 4K YARDS.
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) December 31, 2025
Johnson: “We’ll see where it’s at at the end of the year. But that’s tertiary.”
Reporter: “You're new, but that's kind of a big deal here.”
😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/RYcneN66Gk
Fundamentally, Johnson gave the correct answer. Both he and Williams are focused on getting the win. There will definitely be some Bears fans who will have one eye on the passing yards stat, though.
Williams has thrown for 3,730 yards this season. That would mean he needs 270 yards to achieve the mark, a number he has hit four times this year. In other words, it is possible, but not necessarily likely.
This is not the first time Johnson has had an awkward interaction with a reporter this season. This one wasn’t quite as weird, but if nothing else, Johnson is now very familiar with how many Bears fans feel about that statistic.
