Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has always been a lightning rod for debate and opinion. Whether it be from his quirky fashion choices, painting his fingernails, or some of the quotes he’s made over the years that could be interpreted as poor in taste. What happens when those topics take over the general discourse, the most important thing to evaluate, the film that’s put on tape each week.
There are good to great flashes throughout the tape and there are poor to terrible displays on the film. Caleb Williams’s rookie season will be one that will go down as one of the more contentious seasons in recent memory. Part of the disdain is due to the aforementioned quirks that Williams naturally presents. The other side has to do with the hype from media, analysts, and coaches in the pre-draft process. At the end of the day, the win-loss column is the biggest factor.
“Losing, it’s one of those things that actually really affects me. It’s tough. But I do have the understanding of where I’m at in my career and where I'll be at…So, having all that in mind, there’s a lot to be optimistic and positive about, because I’m not my best self yet, and that’s soon to come. I’m working towards that every day, and going to keep working towards that." said quarterback Caleb Williams in the mid-week presser.
The Bears were a play away from being 5-2 before the Commanders Hail Mary conversion changed the course of their season. Then there was the meltdown against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving day. There was also the Vikings overtime loss in which Williams brought the Bears back from almost three scores down. There was also the one-point loss to the Green Bay Packers after a missed field goal as time expired.
To add insult to injury, three of those matchups were in the NFC North division. How different would Williams’ season be viewed if the Bears had pulled those games out and are sitting at 7-7 with three division wins? Williams hasn’t been perfect and there’s obviously room for growth. Accuracy and footwork mainly, which are mainly intertwined. But, the constant sideshow is him, and the narratives that existed before he ever took a snap loom large.
"For people to say, 'He's fine, this does not affect him, the chaos in that building.' You got to be kidding me. His offensive coordinator is gone, his head coach is gone. We saw during Hardknocks him meeting with coach Eberflus. All of sudden he gets fired. As a player you never feel good when a coach gets fired. You feel like you had something to do with it." said Bears legend Olin Kreutz about Williams’s surroundings.
Change has been the only consistent part of Caleb Williams’ rookie season. It’s what to expect on some level, but going through multiple head coaches and three offensive coordinators in one season is unprecedented. Add in the injuries to the offensive line and other key positions, it can be difficult to keep your head above water, especially if you’re experiencing self doubt along the way.
The head coaching search continues for Chicago and hot names rumored for the job are Ben Johnson, Kliff Kingsbury, Mike Vrabel and Joe Brady.
"You motivate yourself, you encourage yourself. You have positive affirmations that you say to yourself. With that, it makes the days better, it makes when you’re going through a tough patch, it makes those days a little bit easier rather than pulling yourself down, telling yourself you’re this and that. ... I tell myself certain things: ‘I am great. I will be great.’ All these different things. So, I think that’s one of the biggest things, is not pulling yourself down and being gracious with yourself,” Williams continued.
Williams has already had the best rookie season in Bears franchise history: 2,937 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 62 percent completion, five interceptions, and 408 rushing yards is very respectable at face value. What’s been used as a negative in the daily discussion should actually be the most encouraging part, that there’s so much room to get better.
