Bear Digest

Bears say Caleb Williams is putting in the work but will it pay off?

Last week's fast start was directly the opposite of last year but the Bears QB goes into Week 2 needing consistency to show his work is paying dividends.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams celebrates after a scramble to a first down in Monday night's loss.
Caleb Williams celebrates after a scramble to a first down in Monday night's loss. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

No one knows what was said in postgame film review except the Bears after their opening loss.

It couldn't have been too good for Caleb Williams considering how he tailed off as the game proceeded. Going into Sunday's game with the Detroit Lions, it essentially becomes a battle to see who bounces back the best in Week 2, Williams or the entire Detroit Lions team.

Sure, the Bears had other faults in their 27-24 loss to Minnesota, from their lack of a running game to the fourth-quarter defensive collapse, to special teams issues and even coach Ben Johnson's problems all together.

It's still about Williams coming back after disappointment and learning from the Bears coaching staff.

“I've been very happy with the process so far," Johnson said. "He's very intentional with what he's doing. He's putting in the time, there are no shortcuts right now.

"It's that balancing act for us as a staff. How much can we carry over from the previous plan, from training camp plays where we are still having some designer plays that are in to attack that particular defense. We're finding that right level to where he can still play fast and confident football but still give us enough in the arsenal for our guys to get the ball and do what they need to do."

Johnson sees Williams picking up what they're doing well, or at least better than some of the unnamed sources said he did last year in the controversial GolongTD.com story that popped up last week.

In fact, it sounds like he's putting in the proper time via a comment from teammate Jaylon Johnson during an appearance on the Pivot Podcast –at least more time than he did last year.

“I feel like for me, I’m not going to say, ‘Oh yeah, I see him doing it or I see him not doing it,'” Johnson told interviewer Channing Crowder. “I know he’s definitely taking steps. I definitely see his car in the lot a lot longer than it was, definitely taking those steps.

"But I can’t say that he’s progressing to be a TB (Tom Brady) and I ain’t ever really know what TB put in.”

The progress is apparently satisfying coach Ben Johnson for now, at least in terms of picking up on the offense.

"I've been very happy with how he's been downloading the information, and I thought for the most part last week was really good for him this week," Johnson said.

In Week 1, Williams did one thing very well that he couldn't do last year. The 10-for-10 start he had helped him achieve a 92.6 passer rating in the first quarter.

Last year Williams had a 78.8 passer rating in first quarters, a problem that persisted throughout the year and often was blamed on poor offensive game plans.

Of course, on the negative side was his performance after the initial burst against the Vikings. He had a passer rating of 55.4 for throws 11 through 20 and 47.9 for throws 21-30. Last year he had no similar drop off and, in fact, he got better later in games.

The hope must be that he didn't become better at getting ready to start games at the expense of being able to execute later. Last year he was at his best during the fourth quarter of regulation games with a 95.3 passer rating.

It could be something as simple as being more comfortable in the pocket as he works with his offensive line. Williams did appear to be shuffling his feet far too much when they should have been set to throw.

"Yeah, I think that comes with multiple reps with those guys and just being able to feel exactly when and where and being able to find–I think it’s something that people don’t realize or understand is being back there, you tend to realize where the O-linemen, necessarily not weakness, but their typical spot of where they may give a little bit of pressure or not, so it’s just being able to find that with our group and where we’re at and we’re figuring that out here pretty soon.

"We’ve got a bunch of game coming up and we’re excited about ‘em, excited about it, and the guys did great up there."

It's not an overnight process and requires time and reps. Like with patience, they're in short supply once the regular season is rolling.

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.