Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams took his first sack of his NFL career during August 17’s preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but he made a point of blaming himself, not his offensive line, in the postgame.
Williams spoke about the Bears offense’s rough start following their 27-3 win, talking through his process of staying calm and focused after going three-and-out on his first three series of the game. The Bears steadied on their fourth drive and got into field-goal range for Cairo Santos to boot through a 37-yarder, but they still had issues — including when Williams got taken down on a 1st-and-15 following a false start on Teven Jenkins.
Williams, however, took the blame for the second-quarter sack — entirely unprompted.
“I gave up a sack, that wasn’t the O-line’s fault,” Williams said in response to a question about his internal drive to overcome his sloppy start during Saturday’s postgame. “I gave up a sack [where] I was in the pocket too long, trying to do too much.”
Technically, Pro Football Focus pinned the sack on starting right guard Nate Davis, who saw his first action of the 2024 preseason on Saturday. Bengals rookie defensive tackle Kris Jenkins used a spin move to get past Davis quickly and reached Williams less than four seconds after he snapped the ball, bringing him down despite his efforts to escape.
Even still, Davis and the rest of the Bears’ frontline blockers likely appreciate Williams showing leadership and taking responsibility for the mistake he felt he had made.
Caleb Williams Handling Adversity Impressed Bears
Williams and the Bears’ other offensive starters had a much better afternoon once they got past their first three drives. Following the 37-yard field goal on their fourth drive, Williams took them on an eight-play, 90-yard drive that featured a 45-yard connection with rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze and a 7-yard touchdown run on a scramble.
The touchdown drive had numerous plays where Williams showcased his special talent, but Williams’ poise is what impressed the Bears and head coach Matt Eberflus the most in the matchup, particularly how he handled himself in the face of early adversity.
“He had a nice professional day at quarterbacking,” Eberflus said during the postgame. “It’s not always going to be rosy, you’re not going to make all your completions or make these big chunk plays to start out. And so, I saw operation that was good, before the snap [and] in and out of the huddle, really good communicating.
“I thought his flow of the game was really nice. I also thought his disposition when he had a little adversity on the sideline was excellent, him working with the players, body language [and] demeanor never changed. He was always in there, working through the next one.”
Caleb Williams & Bears Offense Chasing ‘Perfection’
Williams punctuated his first game at Soldier Field with a spectacular final drive, but the 2024 No. 1 overall pick ultimately had an uneven day in Chicago’s home stadium. He went 6-of-13 passing for 75 yards and struggled with accuracy and overeagerness in the short passing game, looking a little out of sync with his pass-catchers at times.
Williams also received a lower PFF grade against the Bengals than in his first game, going from 69.3 to 60.9 as a passer and 73.5 to 64.1 overall. Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent led all Bears passers with a 93.3 overall grade on his 7-of-8 passing clip.
Still, there is something to be said about a rookie quarterback who can keep his cool and not allow early issues to define the remainder of his performance. Williams thrives off a leadership style in which he is not always the loudest voice in the room but happily seizes the opportunity to recenter his guys on their self-defined standard of excellence.
“I think in the offense, between the guys and myself, we have an understanding of excellence and perfection that we know we’ll never be able to fully accomplish,” Williams told reporters on August 17. “But with that mindset, it only pushes us to be better. It also allows me to be easy and be calm and when it’s time for me to speak up, when it’s time for me to say something, I’ll be right there to do so.”
