Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was back at practice Wednesday at Halas Hall, working to get reset following the “mini-bye” weekend the team had after its 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
A lot had happened since Williams took his last snap last week on the final play of a bungled game-ending sequence at Ford Field. With the Bears staggering through a six-game losing streak and faltering in the biggest moments of close games, coach Matt Eberflus was fired Friday morning.
Thus on Wednesday, Williams went to work in Lake Forest with a new coach (Thomas Brown) and his third offensive coordinator of the past six weeks (Chris Beatty).
Good luck, kid!
As Williams prepares to lead the Bears into Sunday’s road game against the San Francisco 49ers, here’s our latest submission of “The Caleb Williams File.”
The buzz
Keep going.
That was Lincoln Riley’s advice to Caleb Williams in fall 2021, when Williams was a true freshman at Oklahoma and frustrated that he was stuck in a backup role behind Sooners starting quarterback Spencer Rattler.
Keep going.
That was also Riley’s advice to Williams on a phone call last month when, after three consecutive Bears losses, the team fired Shane Waldron from his offensive coordinator post, thrusting Williams into a whirlwind of adjustment.
Keep going.
That remains Williams’ message to himself this week as he works to regroup and steady himself after Eberflus’ firing.
“The human aspect of it weighs on you a little bit,” Williams said. “Especially with this being my first year and this being my first head coach who drafted me. So there’s that human part of it. Then the business side has to kick in and say, ‘I understand it. I don’t really have control of it. But I have to roll with the punches and move on and try and help this team win.’ ”
Still, how in the world does Williams — at 23 years old, in his rookie season and with all the chaos he has been forced to endure — keep going now with faith that his career is in good hands at Halas Hall?
“I understand that I can’t control it,” Williams said.
While labeling Eberflus’ termination as “interesting” and “tough,” Williams did his best Wednesday afternoon to express a growth mindset and to seek an optimistic lens through which to view all the hardship this season has brought.
He spun the abrupt exits of Waldron and Eberflus as “a steppingstone with my development,” identifying potential long-term benefits for when he may be forced later in his career to again deal with coaching changes of any kind.
Williams also acknowledged his vulnerability as he fights to keep going through the final five weeks of a head-spinning rookie season.
“Human nature, we’re not necessarily meant to be consistent for 365 days,” he said. “So that is the battle to fight for myself, for my teammates, coaches and everybody.
“I will say it’s not easy to keep going and roll with the punches and keep fighting. But you have to do it. It’s part of it.”
Spotlight play
Fourteen seconds before all hell broke loose at Ford Field last week, Williams had DJ Moore wide open for a potential 25-yard go-ahead touchdown pass in the final minute. Moore, creating separation on a rub route, was streaking across the field — from right to left in Williams’ vision and with rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold trailing him by 6 yards.
But Williams felt pressure from D.J. Reader inside a dented pocket, lost control of his throwing mechanics and skipped a ball short and behind Moore.
“Short-armed that one,” Williams said Wednesday.
He knows full well what he left on the table.
“Frustrated about that.”
Everyone knows the chaos that unfolded from there, a messy meltdown by the Bears that included a penalty, a sack and a very well-documented case of clock mismanagement.
Somehow, with their final timeout unused, the Bears let the game’s final 32 seconds tick away with only one snap being taken — a helter-skelter, audibled deep shot from Williams to Rome Odunze that fell incomplete as time expired.
With time to reflect on that sequence and revisit it with coaches, Williams knows now he could have had much better situational awareness down the stretch of the loss.
“I was moving well but not as urgent as I should’ve (been) in understanding the situation,” Williams said.
The quarterback also confessed Wednesday that he was not in lockstep with his coaches in their desire to get a short third-down completion and then take their final timeout to set up a game-tying field-goal attempt.
Instead, Williams let too much time tick away, went for it all and contributed to a debacle that ultimately got Eberflus fired.
“I thought when we called that last play, it was a no-huddle play that we wanted to get lined up,” Williams said. “I saw the clock winding down and wanted to try to take a shot at the end zone because I was expecting it to be our last play right in that moment. … Just not on the same page in that situation. I definitely can learn from it. Definitely will learn from it.”
Up next
The 49ers also are reeling. Maybe not as significantly as the Bears. But the reigning NFC champions have lost three straight, are 5-7 and seem to be in serious danger of missing the playoffs for just the second time in six seasons.
The Niners are particularly banged up on offense and placed running Christian McCaffrey back on injured reserve this week with a right knee sprain. Receiver Brandon Aiyuk also has been on IR since Week 8 after tearing the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee.
Defensively, standout lineman Javon Hargrave suffered a season-ending triceps injury in September and Pro Bowl safety Talanoa Hufanga has been on IR since Week 6 after tearing ligaments in his wrist. (Hufanga, it should be noted, was designated to return to practice this week. So his status for Sunday is worth keeping tabs on.)
Still, a 49ers defense coordinated by Nick Sorensen and led by defensive end Nick Bosa has plenty of teeth. Bosa and former Bear Leonard Floyd have combined for 13½ sacks. The 49ers also boast a top-five pass defense, limiting opponents to 190 passing yards per game with a passer rating against of 84.2. That’s eighth best in the league.
The Bears will have to be sharp to have any chance of ending their lengthy losing streak. A fast start also would be recommended with the Bears having totaled only 20 first-quarter points in 12 games this season.
Big number: 98.8
Williams’ passer rating in the fourth quarter this season, the eighth-best rating in the NFL among 33 quarterbacks with at least 60 fourth-quarter passing attempts. Williams has accumulated 31% of his passing yards in the fourth quarter and has thrown seven touchdown passes against just one interception in the final period.
Among quarterbacks with at least 60 fourth-quarter passes, fellow rookie Jayden Daniels has the highest passer rating (117.7). The six others above Williams are Lamar Jackson (115.8), Tua Tagavailoa (113.8), Jordan Love (109.0), Baker Mayfield (106.4), Patrick Mahomes (102.3) and Matthew Stafford (100.9).
Final word
Earlier this week, interim Bears coach Thomas Brown acknowledged his responsibility in getting Williams into the proper headspace despite all the commotion he has been forced to persevere through this season.
Brown’s direct advice, loosely translated? Deal with it. And let’s roll.
“We all have to make adjustments,” Brown said. “Life is ever-changing. That’s not an excuse. I don’t make excuses. So I think (my goal is) being able to communicate effectively to be on the same page and to continue to demand that we do things the right way. But it’s also taking this one play at a time, one day at a time.”
Brown was asked Wednesday whether he was concerned that his promotion from offensive coordinator to head coach might now spread him too thin and disrupt Williams’ development, which has been moving in the right direction in the three games since Brown became the play caller.
“First off,” Brown replied, “I am not the sole person responsible for Caleb’s development. He has a big part in that (too).
“Obviously I have been charged with kind of leading the way with him and the team now as well. But I think his response has been awesome. My job is to be an effective communicator, be honest and be direct about what he’s doing well and what he’s not doing well.”
That is occurring this week and will continue through the final five games. Brown also has encouraged Williams to stay mentally tough and to balance his perfectionist tendencies with some much-needed grace to help lessen his stress and mental exhaustion.
“The goal is not perfection,” Brown said. “The goal is to be excellent.”
That’s an important distinction for a player as reflective and self-critical as Williams tends to be. Now comes the balancing act for Brown and Williams in finding the new sweet spot for their relationship as they both push to finish a dizzying season with positive results.
