Caleb Williams held his first weekly media availability of the regular season Wednesday at Halas Hall, a 12-minute session in advance of his Week 1 debut at Soldier Field against the Tennessee Titans. As always, Williams seemed confident yet relaxed, ready for the next step in his journey as the Chicago Bears franchise quarterback.
Williams has experienced a lot since the Bears drafted him No. 1 in April. Now he gets to the part of the test he’s eager for — games that count, starting first with Sunday’s opener.
To set the stage for that performance, here’s our Week 1 entry to the “Caleb Williams File.”
The buzz
Since setting his sights on becoming one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time as a kid, Williams has envisioned and later enjoyed some pretty monumental personal accomplishments. That includes winning the Heisman Trophy and being selected with the top pick in the NFL draft.
But as for how he visualizes his regular-season NFL debut unfolding, only one scene matters to the rookie quarterback. And that’s walking off the field victorious as a team.
A huge statistical output will mean little to Williams if it is not accompanied by a win. Likewise, he’s OK if his first performance as a Bear will require him to mostly manage the game, leaning on a strong defense and a reliable running game to do much of the heavy lifting.
“If that’s the case, that’s the case,” Williams said with a smile Wednesday afternoon. “As long as we get a win. Because last time I checked, the wins are the most important thing.”
Williams acknowledged he will take at least a small moment to commemorate his first start Sunday, sticking to his custom of taking a small spin as he runs out of the tunnel.
“Just to kind of see the stadium, take it all in, feel the the energy and the vibe and get going from there,” Williams said. “But once I do my spin and get down to the sideline, it’s go time.”
Spotlight play
Two days after Williams wowed the NFL world last month with a series of off-script magic tricks against the Cincinnati Bengals, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron praised the quarterback for two far less noticeable plays.
One was a 9-yard completion to Cole Kmet that started the Bears’ third possession of that game. The other was an 11-yard dart to Nsimba Webster to jump-start the touchdown drive on Williams’ final series of the preseason. Both were examples of the quarterback playing with timing and rhythm, understanding what he was seeing, processing quickly, reacting with decisiveness and throwing with precision.
Said Waldron: “He has shown that he can play in rhythm and find those throws.”
Those kinds of plays, when executed consistently, will become the key to unlocking the treasure chest of greatness the Bears are envisioning with their young quarterback.
Yes, Williams’ ability to operate outside the pocket combined with his gift for extending plays and terrorizing defenses with his arm talent are extraordinary. That’s his superpower. And it has been noted. But consider this feedback from backup Tyson Bagent, who was asked what trait from Williams’ QB toolbox he would steal for his own game if given the chance.
“His awareness in the pocket,” Bagent said. “I think he has a good understanding, while looking downfield, of the rush lanes that are being taken and the ones that could potentially be opened up. He does a good job of feeling his way through the pocket. And that’s something I’ve been looking at pretty closely whenever he’s in the game.”
Up next
Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson will be the first to take his crack at flustering Williams. But the Bears will have heightened difficulty anticipating Wilson’s strategies. After spending last season as the defensive backs coach under coordinator Mike Macdonald in Baltimore and the two years before that on Jonathan Gannon’s defensive staff in Philadelphia, Wilson is jumping into the defensive play-calling role for the first time.
First-time coordinator in his first game using a 3-4 scheme? That has heightened the degree of difficulty for Williams to paint himself a picture for what he expects to see Sunday.
“That’s the interesting part,” he said. “There’s not film to study from a couple years ago or anything like that. But we say, ‘We’re not hunting ghosts.’ We’re not hunting ghosts of things that they may run or may not run.”
The Titans, for what it’s worth, finished 18th last season in passing defense and 17th in sacks but last in interceptions. They have only four starters back from that unit, led by Pro Bowl defensive end Jeffery Simmons. The team also traded for standout cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in March and signed 10th-year safety Quandre Diggs last month.
Wilson, meanwhile, considers himself a student of Todd Bowles and Gregg Williams. So don’t be surprised if he deploys a heavy dose of blitzes at Williams.
“He’s going to have his own fingerprint (on things),” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “And we don’t have that fingerprint right now.”
Added Williams: “At noon on Sunday, we’ll be able to see what they’re actually doing and then we’ll make our adjustments in the game and go from there.”
The big number: 45
Length in yardage of Williams’ longest completion in the preseason, an absolute dot against the Bengals in which he avoided pressure in the pocket, spun out to his left and delivered an on-the-move, across-his-body strike to Rome Odunze. That play turned social media upside down. And as caught by the NFL Films crew for Episode 3 of “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears,” you can count Williams among those who were tickled by the completion.
In a casual conversation moments later with line judge Thomas Eaton, the Bears quarterback playfully asked: “Did you like that, ref? That was pretty sweet, huh?”
Pretty sweet, indeed.
Final word
Listen up, Chicago.
When it comes to setting expectations for Williams during his rookie season, this shouldn’t be about establishing reach-or-else totals for passing yards or touchdowns or even victories. It shouldn’t be about matching or surpassing C.J. Stroud’s 2023 breakthrough or rocketing into the MVP conversation by Thanksgiving.
As boring as it sounds, the evaluation of Williams’ 2024 season should center around progress with the rookie quarterback need to show continued and undeniable growth in the areas of playing quarterback that are prerequisites to unlocking team success on the NFL level.
That’s everything from pocket poise to processing speed to reaction quickness. It’s about consistently showing obvious timing and rhythm in the passing game and demonstrating a gradual increase in command as the season moves along.
At least two or three times every game, though, Williams also will need to deliver a crowd-rousing, off-script play that provides evidence of his greatest attribute.
For those wondering how the most important evaluators in Williams’ world — general manager Ryan Poles and Eberflus — are setting their expectations, Poles has emphasized the need, first and foremost, for Williams to lean on the playmakers around him for production and then to let his highlight-reel magic be timely and instinctual.
“That’s when you do the special,” Poles said. “(It’s about) balancing that. … Let those wild plays happen at the right time.”
Eberflus has echoed that sentiment, asking Williams to “play point guard” while resisting the urge to try to do everything himself.
“Get the ball to our skill (guys),” Eberflus said, “either by handing it off or throwing it to them and then letting them do the running and the moving around to gain the yards. … And then when you get to the point in the game where it is a critical down or a third down or inside the red zone or whatever that might be, then you might see that X-factor come out.”
