Cubs News: Moore on Williams being “bossy” in practice, Williams getting more comfortable |
LONDON, U.K. - The chemistry between rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and veteran receiver DJ Moore was lacking in the first few games of the season. Now, they are on the same page.
However, Moore said Williams has been a bit “bossy” in practice the past few days, showing how he is stepping up as a vocal leader. “He’s doing a good job. Everybody’s happy, we (are) winning and we just got to keep it up … He’s been bossy lately, telling us that we need to be on the details. But, we really do for him to be the best player he needs to be,” Moore said. “He’s been a leader. So, what I mean by bossy is we don’t hit something in practice, he’s going to tell us how we need to run it, this this that and we just look at him and be like, ‘Okay’ and then when we get out there on the game, you just got make sure it work (because) he going to have some words for you if you don’t. So, that’s him being a leader. He’s a little bossy, just a little bro … You do want to see that. Like I said, he’s like (a) little bro. So, you (are) looking at him like, ‘Dude, don’t be talking to me like that.’ But, I understand (because) we need to really connect on that and that’s what we did this past week. So, I took his advice, I listen and old bro had to take a backseat for a second.” For Williams, it has been a little bit of a journey to go from soaking everything in and learning to being “bossy” and stepping up as a leader like Moore described. When making the jump from college football to the NFL, there is always a learning curve in learning a new playbook and getting to know the players around you. While this took a little longer than Chicago fans would have liked, the Heisman winner said that he is more comfortable now. “It’s been great, just getting more comfortable, understanding how my offensive linemen block, understanding and feeling it out in the pocket. When I’m back there in practice, games,” Williams said. “So, just getting used to everybody and I think they’re all getting used to me, how I throw, where I tend to be in the pocket and I think things have been settling down for all of us, I would say. It’s been a joy from the first game to now to be able to progress, have constant communication from the teammates and from the coaches all together. That’s huge.” Traveling to another game in your rookie season could be jarring to some rookie quarterbacks. That is not Williams. In fact, he is used to traveling all over the world to places like Paris, although he had never been to London before. Traveling is something he likes to do to mentally reset before football season starts. “I think the first thing I’ve learned from traveling is there’s a bunch of different cultures. I love food,” Williams said. “I love architecture and everywhere you go, there’s a bunch of different things and then it’s just something I like to do in my off-time, kind of reset, kind of get ready for doing this for the whole year, whole rest of the year and so, it’s just one of my things that I’ve learned over the years that I really enjoy and something that helps me reset for when it’s time to do this for the rest of the year.” Now, for the first time in Williams’ NFL career, he is combining travel and football into one. With the NFL’s global expansion, this surely will not be the first time in his young career. In fact, there will be the first ever game in Madrid, Spain next season and the Bears along with the Miami Dolphins are the only two teams with media rights there, suggesting that they may possibly be the two teams playing against each other in Spain next year. But right now, the goal for Williams, Moore and the rest of the Bears is to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars this coming Sunday (8:30 a.m. / NFL Network). “To win out here and then going on a bye week happy is a must,” Moore said. “Even if we (weren’t) going on the bye week, back-to-back (wins) would be amazing just to stack those wins, keep that feeling going for the rest of the year.”
