Lake Forest, Illinois (AP) Caleb Williams, the Chicago Bears’ rookie quarterback, has had some ups and downs over the first eight days of training camp.
Despite his periodic challenges, the first choice in the 2024 draft from Southern California believes he is making strides.
“I think I’m on track to be ready,” Williams added. “I am precisely where I should be and where they want me to be. I’m excited.
“Every day I wake up, I learn something new.” Getting ready for the season, preseason, and the upcoming practices. Very excited; we’re still making progress.”
The Bears have not decided whether or not Williams will play in Thursday night’s preseason opener, the Hall of Fame Game against the Houston Texans in Canton, Ohio. Coach Matt Eberflus was expected.
Williams will reveal his plans for the game on Tuesday, but he sees the benefit of playing against primarily reserves in an extra preseason game. “The reps are always paramount for anybody like myself — a young rookie, second-year guy, third-year guy — it’s paramount,” Williams told ESPN. “It’s really important and we’ll see about these preseason games coming up, how they play out.” Williams has battled with simple things like cadence and completing plays before the play clock runs out. At other times, he displays brilliance with his throwing.
During Monday’s practice, he completed two passes into tight windows for scores at the back of the end zone. Linebacker Jack Sanborn had to marvel at one.
“I mean, he made a throw in the back that I even gave him a little high-five for, cause it’s impressive,” Sanborn told me.
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has been encouraged by Williams’ willingness to acknowledge and work on areas where he can improve.
“I think that daily improvement and that positive mindset that he shows up with every single day, both of those things give him a chance to be great because he works hard and he does all the right things around and leading up to every single practice,” Waldron told ESPN.
At Saturday’s practice, Williams was intercepted by reserve players on consecutive plays and had a football knocked out of his hand by edge rusher Montez Sweat, who is not supposed to touch the quarterback during practice. It was not Williams’ greatest day, but he rebounded on Monday following a day off.
“I’m always tough about the mistakes,” Williams stated. “That’s the part about me that drives everything, being tough on myself, being tough on the mistakes that happen, whether it’s (missed assignments), a turnover or anything like that, being tough on myself and understanding that there are going to be mistakes.”
Williams keeps looking ahead when he’s fixing mistakes.
“I know it’s preparing me for those games late in the season, those preseason games coming up,” according to him. “Obviously, I go versus this defense every day, so they make it tough on me.”
Williams’ ability to prolong a play beyond the pocket and improvise for a big throw was most noticeable during the first week of practice. Last week, he connected with Tyler Scott on a deep ball off of one of these plays.
That talent helped Williams win the Heisman Trophy at USC in 2022 and again last year.
“It’s a healthy combination of working on it and understanding, feeling the offensive line and where they’re going, the defensive line and stuff like that, the play, the
Williams stated that you have been running that play, getting after it, and letting it rip. Perhaps the most difficult aspect for Williams is meeting his own standards.
“Obviously there’s going to be challenging times,” he told me. “It’s not that it’s arriving any faster or slower than I expected.
“It’s more or less just myself; when I walk out on the field, I expect to not make mistakes. It’s just the way I am.
The two interceptions were examples of this.
“And so when I do, it’s annoying, and I would believe for any quarterback in the league—there’s only 32 of us that are starting—for any quarterback in the league, I would want it to be the same as when you go
Out there, you hope to have no (failed assignments), interceptions, turnovers, and so on.
“When you do, it’s frustrating. But it’s how you respond to those frustrating times that allows you to grow and improve.”
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