Bear Digest

Caleb Williams turning to the bottom line for proof of progress

The statistics say it's been a rocky ride in Year 2 for Caleb Williams, but he's pointing to one key number as a sign he has advanced as a player.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a pass during the first quarter against the Browns last week.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a pass during the first quarter against the Browns last week. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Some numbers say Caleb Williams has actually regressed, others say he has improved.

Williams has reached a point in his Year 2 success where he doesn't seem to care about statistics and on Saturday night he's hoping to go with the bottom-line answer to all of those who question his progress. That, of course, would simply be a victory over the Green Bay Packers, the first by the Bears at home over their rivals since 2018.

"I felt this way the whole season, is that I've been improving even if it's in ways that people can't see or maybe feel," Williams said. "When I go back and watch (game film) or when coach (Ben Johnson) and I go back and watch, we can look at things that maybe y'all don't know, maybe the outside world doesn't know in ways that I've been getting better.

"I think the confidence in myself, but also within the offense and trust with coach has grown. With all of that, the constant mindset of growing, the constant growth that I've had I think is going to keep growing over time. It's something that I'm focused on."

Williams showed he can throw under pressure from a good defensive front last week, like he did against Philadelphia and in the second half of the first Packers game.

His completion percentage is only 59th best among all QBs this year at 57.95% but he does enough with his completions to produce points. It's why he's a respectable 14th among starters in expected points added (EPA). He needs more plays downfield or shorter with yards after catch, but the bottom line has been the passing game has blended with the running game.

"If I play how I played this past game, or if I play better than that, we’ve got a  real shot to do whatever we want in this league," Williams said. "I'm going to keep focused on trying to grow, trying to be better, try to be my best self.”

Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle sees the low completion percentage as a necessary hurdle to overcome, but one they anticipated.

“Caleb's accuracy, week in and week out, continues to improve as far as his processing and those things go," Doyle said. "I don't know if you can attribute it to anything other than just his continued work into the process.

"We've come a long way from the very beginning of the spring when we started with him. And I think that you're going to have these ebbs and flows throughout the process, but he just continues to come back to work and get better, really, every week. And so, we really continue to expect that moving forward throughout the rest of the season.”

The key here is making sure that rest of the season keeps going as long as possible.

“My confidence in myself probably more than last year," Williams said. "I always have confidence in myself."

That much was apparent by his miraculous 22-yard touchdown throw to DJ Moore last week.

"My confidence is always strong," Williams said. "I believe in myself, I believe in who  I am, I believe in how I work and all these different things.

"Then, having the group around me only strengthens that for me. It's always strength in numbers, it's always one, it's always us. With that being said, my confidence has grown and it's going to be through the roof.”

The Bears need to see that occurring Saturday night rather than continue to talk about how his confidence is something they'll see lead to production in th future. If it occurs, they could be on the verge of a division title.

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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.