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Chicago Bears Correcting More Than Caleb Williams' Accuracy Issues

Throwing the ball to the proper place for receivers to get it is important but one teammate of QB Caleb Williams has assisted him in another way.
Gene Chamberlain|
Being a stoic is not quite what the Bears want to see from Caleb Williams but his emotions need to be displayed better.
Being a stoic is not quite what the Bears want to see from Caleb Williams but his emotions need to be displayed better. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Caleb Williams' body language often seemed to draw attention through his rookie season and even into Chicago Bears training camp last year.

Sometimes Williams didn't exactly exude confidence or leadership the way a quarterback in the NFL needs to, but seven fourth-quarter comebacks last season/postseason took care of allthis and certainly being put on the cover of Madden couldn't hurt anyone's swagger.

People often need refresher courses, though, and it appears Williams did already in this offseason. He already addressed it through the help of a new player, former Lions receiver Kalif Raymond.

“Kalif has only been here for, I don't know, a couple months or so," Williams said at minicamp. "But Kalif came up to me and it was a day I wasn't having the best practice. So, I got really frustrated. Kalif came up to me and said, ‘You know everybody's looking at you.’

"That really resonated for me. Because that's been something that from my first year to now that I want to be as stoic as possible. Good, bad, or indifferent, not be too high or too low for the guys. So when he said that to me, it stuck with me and it bothered me. Just every day having that type of mindset, be as stoic as possible, be as strong as possible for the guys because they're looking at me. It takes a lot to do that because the passion and the energy in the sport is so strong. But it's important to me, it's important to guys, it’s important to coach.”

Williams doesn't want to eliminate the way his passion for the game is visible. After he was fiery throughout last year's postseason run, that would be a disaster. A quarterback can't be this way all the time, though. And they can't be sullen or pout above all else.

"I would say I'm pretty always even keeled," Williams said. "It's just this sport, it's the thing I care about the most. So I get really passionate about it. I get fiery and there's times for it, there's times to be fire, there's times to not be.

"It's just finding a good balance for it. It's showing that you care, but it's also showing and knowing, like I said earlier, that everybody's looking at you. It's important to be able to not be too high, not to not be too low. Because you know it affects other guys."

The coaching impact

Knowing this and keeping this in mind is something coaches should have addressed extensively during Williams' rookie year when he and DJ Moore sometimes seemed at odds or when Williams would sit alone and brood a times. Of course, Bears coaches were in the midst of a total meltdown after a 4-2 start and couldn't keep the most simple things in order.

When Ben Johnson came on board, one of the things he did first was make certain everyone knew he was holding Williams accountable. Perhaps players need reminders at times but it's a positive that Williams has advanced to the point where he can recognize this from a teammate and not need to be hollered at about it by coaches.

"It's just being able to be conscious of it," Williams said. "Notice it when it does show up. And if I don't notice it, I’ve got coaches that I care about what they say and when they say things like that or teammates, when they notice it bothers me so I want to correct it immediately and move on from it and be better.”

The Bears don't really need a quarterback who is "stoic," so to speak. They often referred to Justin Fields in this way, and how did that work out for him and them?

Williams just needs to be responsible, and even third-year QBs need reminders.

In this regard, the acquisition of Raymond already looks like it's paying dividends. He has been around a veteran quarterback in Jared Goff and saw what it's supposed to look like. Having someone else who reminds him besides Johnson or QB coach J.T. Barrett, can't hurt.

They thought they had this with veteran third QB Case Keenum but sometimes it takes someone from outside the inner QB circle to deliver the message. It did in this case.

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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.

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