Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams struggles, but veterans go great job of helping him

In the third and final practice of OTAs this week for the Chicago Bears, quarterback Caleb Williams had a rough time. Despite that, the veterans rallied around him and gave him pointers.

Even before the end of the 2023 season, the talk around the Chicago Bears was that they would go after USC quarterback Caleb Williams. With all the talk about him being a “generational” talent, the thinking was that General Manager Ryan Poles planned to go after him and make moves to make sure he had the tools to succeed.

Poles revamped the offense, adding weapons and protection. Also, once he traded previous starter Justin Fields, he was free to go all-in. It became the NFL’s worst-kept secret that Williams was on his way to Chicago. From the moment Poles shipped Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, all we heard was about how great Williams was. Stories about him made him look like a legend in the making.

Once the Chicago Bears selected Williams with the top overall pick in the draft, hope has been at an all-time high. With the new-look offense behind him, many fans are on the “playoffs or bust” bandwagon. With D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome

Odunze as the trio of wide receivers, many people expect the Bears to be throwing the ball all over the field. In 2024, 2e may see an offense we are not used to seeing from the Chicago Bears.

We have heard so many great stories about Caleb Williams in the past several months that he already seems larger than life. It seems that he can do no wrong. That is why it was big news when reports out of the final OTAs session of this week stated that he suffered mightily.

In the seven-on-seven session on Thursday, Williams had a lot of trouble. He went just 3-for-20. A lot of his passes were nearly intercepted. Additionally, the reporters said that he had trouble finding receivers. He ended up holding the ball too long. As we know, that was a major knock on Fields.

The reports described a rookie having a tough time early in his career. Since all we heard was how he was nearly perfect, and how Chicago Bears fans are used to being disappointed, many fans were ready to jump off the ledge over these reports.

We have to keep in mind that Williams is a rookie. He will have his ups and downs as he gets a better handle on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s system. Additionally, he has to jell with his teammates. It is important to indicate that Williams did not have two of his best targets, Odunze and Allen.

Also, a quarterback Williams is compared to, Patrick Mahomes, threw seven interceptions in his first six training camp practices. The ups and downs are part of the rookie’s life.

Veterans are quick to go to Williams to help him

One of the most interesting battles people look forward to seeing is Williams against

the vaunted Chicago Bears secondary. With Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and Tyrique Stevenson as the top three cornerbacks and Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker as the starting safeties, the Bears have a tough, young secondary.

The Chicago Bears ranked number one in interceptions last season. That happened despite the lack of a pass rush from the defensive front. With an improved pass rush, the secondary can really feast on opposing quarterbacks’ mistakes. For now, however, the secondary is trying to give the rookie Williams his first lesson.

The reports from camp indicated that Williams looked human throughout the day. He looked confused and indecisive at times. The secondary took advantage of that and had a big day.

While the defense had a big day, the veterans still went to Williams to give him pointers. It is great to have a defense like this to help Williams. This could be a top-ten or top-five defense this year. Having Williams try to beat it will only make him better.

Byard, a new addition who signed as a free agent this offseason, reminded Williams of that. He went to the rookie after practice to give him a pep talk.

I said something to him at the end of practice like, ‘Keep it going. We’re going to keep making you better.’ And not necessarily saying he had a terrible day, but days like this are going to make you better.

We had a good day. I’m not going to sit here and lie about that. But to be honest, it’s to be expected. You have a returning top-15, top-10 defense, obviously going against a younger rookie quarterback who’s getting acclimated and learning things. That’s what it is supposed to look like.

Moore also went up to Williams to try to keep his head up. He knows that it is not only Williams learning a new system. This is Waldron’s first season in Chicago. That means all the offensive players are learning the system, not just Williams. He noted that he had to talk to Williams to keep his frustrations low after seeing how the defense celebrated.

It’s frustrating, but we also know that we’re learning a new system… Yeah, you’ve got to because our defense can get pretty rowdy, as you all know out there. Just calming everybody down in the huddle and just refocusing is the best thing.

When the OTAs started earlier this week, Williams received rave reviews on his throws. He was easily beating the defense. On Thursday, the defense had its revenge. Byard said he was impressed with some of the throws Williams made. He added that sometimes the offense will have its way and other times the defense come out on top.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus echoed what Byard and Moore said. He noted that this was the first time Williams went against a professional defense. He wanted to see progress from Williams. The coaching staff is not easing him into the offense. He was already declared the starter. It is his job and the Bears are putting a lot on him.

Eberflus says he feels that Williams is doing a pretty good job of handling all the information given to him.

This is the first time going against a pro defense, and a pretty good one. It’s going to be learning for everybody. They’re getting everything together. It was progress. I saw progress from the first day to the second, [and] the second to the third. So it’s good.

This is when you want Caleb Williams to go through the tough times. He can learn from his mistakes now so when he sees the same thing in a game he is ready to handle it. As he goes through the sessions next week, the minicamps, and then training camp, he should get better. He has plenty of tools to show that he can handle whatever a defense throws at him and succeed. The question is how quickly he adjusts.

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