Bear Digest

Why there's no Bears revenge game 'rabbit hole' for Caleb Williams

The painful memory of the Hail Mary loss for Chicago's quarterback also became a positive since it helped teach the value of not dwelling on past negatives in the NFL.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams admits to learning about pushing on in the NFL after last year's Hail Mary defeat.
Caleb Williams admits to learning about pushing on in the NFL after last year's Hail Mary defeat. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

When cornerback Tyrique Stevenson insisted the Hail Mary play last year made him into a better player, he meant it in terms of how it forced him thereafter to pay more attention to details.

While the Bears, by and large, say they have tried to brush aside the memory of Jayden Daniels' game-ending Hail Mary completion, Stevenson is not the only one who thinks he might have benefited from the sting of that 18-15 defeat as the team heads into a rematch Monday.

Quarterback Caleb Williams doesn't mind admitting it bothered him and saw it as a driving force in his ability to leave behind bad games, bad plays, to push on into the NFL season ahead.

There's no time to live with defeat in this man's league.  It's win, or learn and advance.

“I have to do a better job in those situations," Williams said.

After the Hail Mary last year, it took the Bears two more weeks before Williams and the offense regained their feet. However, that also occurred directly after they fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

Williams learned, although he did have another rough start this year before bouncing back in a big way. He attributed some of this to being able to push on, learn from the defeat and get on with the game plan for Week 3.

"We had those first two games this year," he said. "I  think I did a better job of being able to come into the facility and be able to move on. I mean, we got our tails whooped (by Detroit) the second game. We had a comeback game, that we allowed the team to come back on us (Minnesota). So, those are tough games, especially to start the season against divisional opponents.

"So, being able to come in here and be the same guy, but also understand my  energy, my attitude, how I come in here each and every day, whether it's a win or a loss, affects everybody. It affects the building. So, I think it starts with myself and being able to look at myself in the mirror in those ways when things aren't going right. Then, being able to come in here when things aren't going right and be the exact same guy.”

Even if the benefit was there by helping him increase his ability to move on, Williams had to admit the thought of that loss still hurts.

“Obviously you don't want to lose, especially in that fashion of a Hail Mary," Williams said. "I'm not going to speak for everybody else. Does it bother me? Yeah. I want to go out there and I want to win every single game that I have.

"I know that's not going to happen. So, being able to orchestrate the game, orchestrate this week, have the guys focus on what we need to focus on, that’s where I'm at. Not going down the rabbit hole of the ‘revenge’ title or anything like that. It's being able to focus on us, this team's different than last year. The coaching obviously is different. A bunch of things are different."

There’s no real problem with Williams' thinking here, but it’s not enough in the NFL to simply bounce back.

Because of the nature of league parity, flushing it and bouncing back is baseline for everyone. There are disheartening defeats and exhilarating bounce backs all of the time. Players who don't quickly flush bad or negative performances get weeded out by the competitive process.

What’s more important than simply bouncing back is excelling consistently and to a much greater extent than disasters take down the player or team.

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.