Bear Digest

How Caleb Williams appears to have emerged from rookie mishandling

Analysis: Where events described in the coming Seth Wickersham book and the bungling by Matt Eberflus' staff seem to have left Caleb Williams for Ben Johnson.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams says nothing he endured last year damaged his approach to the game.
Caleb Williams says nothing he endured last year damaged his approach to the game. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Probably the best aspect of the uproar over Caleb Williams and the upcoming Seth Wickersham book is how the past doesn't need to be prologue.

What all of the predraft anxiety and subsequent mishandling of a rookie QB last year served to do was provide an understanding of how poorly prepared the Bears really were to bring in a top draft pick at quarterback last year.

This should have been recognized by general manager Ryan Poles at the time. More importantly, they still can change this situation and seem well on the way to fixing any damage done.

While the general public sits back and condemns the Bears for a season when they might have ruined yet another quarterback, it's refreshing to know they not only have a sharp offensive mind in Ben Johnson directing Williams' development but also that the QB himself doesn't feel damaged by last year's inept handling.

"I wasn't at a point (last year) where I looked at it and was like, 'I knew this would happen,' " Williams said. "Nobody, I think, would sit back, and especially after you go, you know, four and two (record) in the first six weeks.

"You don't sit back and wonder and ponder on the bad. You face it when the bad comes, and that's what we did."

As Poles told ESPN AM-1000 in an interview, "steps were skipped" with Williams last year.

This became obvious.

Poles himself could have done something about it but failed. Of course, the first thing he should have done was change head coaches. That option ignored, then the next would have been leaning more heavily on Matt Eberflus to bring in an offensive coordinator with a more distinct track record for success with young quarterbacks than Shane Waldron.

The other things Poles could have done was entirely his own job. He needed better offensive line perosnnel and he brought them in now. Just as important was bringing in the veteran mentor QB in Case Keenum.

How could they have ever gone into last year's training camp with a rookie starter and two backup QBs who had started a grand total of four NFL games apiece? This veteran guidance not only helps Williams but the coaches.

"I can say from my experience of being in the room with him, he (Keenum) finds a good way to ask questions that I might not–or (offensive coordinator) Declan (Doyle) or J.T. (Barrett, QB coach)–we might not have provided the answer to prior," Johnson said. "He does a good job of filling those gaps."

Coaches can only be around the players a certain amount of time in offseason because of the collective bargaining agreement and this helps as a coaching replacement.

At least to Johnson, Williams himself appears to have the right approach to turning it all back the right way.

"He's been very attentive," Johnson said. "He's been very detailed in terms of the meetings. He's taking great notes, he's asking excellent questions."

Williams is as impressed by coaches as they are by him.

"One, I have utmost respect," Williams said. "There are things that I've done throughout my years of training and learning and working hard and things like that–and this past year was a bump–there was good, bad and indifferent. Being able to look at that and understand that I still threw six picks in the National Football League, and I had 3,500 total (yards), or something like that, or whatever it was, and 20 touchdowns. That's not where I want to be, that's not where I'm going to be, but it's a step in the right direction.

"Like I said, there was some good, bad and indifferent, and you have to look at those things and you have to understand that all the good, all the bad and all the indifferent is going to be good for me in many years to come. That's how I look at it. I still have all the confidence in myself. I think my teammates believe in me. I think that's shown on game day. How much I love and care for those guys and want to go win, I think it shows up on gameday."

It's easy to say all of this now when no games are played, but they have a full training camp and more offseason work to discover otherwise.

For now the quarterback handed over from one coaching regime to the other doesn't appear too badly damaged to be operational. It also appears Johnson's staff knows how to prevent future damage.

Much more obviously will be known when actual games are played, but it would take something substantial, even drastic, to slow the momentum the Bears QB seems to be building under Johnson.

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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.