telling his father, “I need to go to the Vikings.”

That quip did not sit well with Bears fans, so Williams used a microphone Wednesday to clean up the rumor.

Caleb Williams Clears the Air on Vikings Report

Williams told reporters about the Vikings draft rumors: “Yeah, I had a good visit at the other place, Minnesota, with Kevin O’Connell. Good staff and all of that. Obviously, he just won Coach of the Year award, and things like that. So, obviously, good staff and things like that.”

“Something that keeps getting lost, something that keeps getting, I think, not being addressed the way it needs to be, is the fact that I went on that visit first, came here, and then after I came here. I went back home, talked to my dad, and all of the things that were supposed to be these big things that everybody’s been talking about recently — one, never happened in the sense of they were all thoughts, they were all ideas.”

Johnson said.

“But from my four months on the job, he’s been outstanding to work with. And we just are focused on getting a little better every day. … He’s his own man. He’s going to be treated as such. I think we’re both really looking forward to turning the page on years prior and focusing on the here and now.”

Luther Burden III, and Colston Loveland.

Justin Fields had no such accommodations.

Bears-Themed Media Ready to Move On from Vikings Mess

After Williams’ clarification this week, it became rather evident that Bears-themed media was ready to conclude the Vikings chapter of their offseason. Many Bears fans and analysts used Williams’ comments to dismiss the ESPN report and book excerpt as a nothingburger.

Ryan Heckman wrote, “Caleb Williams obliterates Vikings draft rumor with brutal honesty. As it turns out, much of the media blew this entire thing way out of proportion. There were plenty of reasons for fans to raise an eyebrow thanks to Wickersham’s report, but the Vikings aspect was the one that hurt the most.”

“For fans who took it to heart, Williams’ candid response was welcomed. There are others who didn’t give this report a second thought, of course. It seemed odd for this report to surface over a year after he was drafted and also after the Bears had put together an entirely new staff.”

A franchise quarterback saying, “I need to go to the Vikings,” isn’t a good look. So, it made all the sense in the world that voices like Heckman were eager to move on.

Heckman added, “Things had changed drastically. And, to be frank, no one would have blamed Williams for not wanting to come to Chicago if it had been true. In other words, the only thing that matters is the here and now.”

“Fortunately, though, Williams never desired to go to Minnesota over Chicago. He was set on changing the tide. He wanted to turn things around. After all, that’s why the Bears brought him in at no. 1 overall, and he also said as much within his response.”

The offseason talker will come to a head on September 8th when Williams’ Bears host J.J. McCarthy’s Vikings on Week 1 Monday Night Football.

Vikings Provide Major Injury Update