Cubs News: Waldron on Williams’ progress, building chemistry with playmakers |
CHICAGO—Shane Waldron has had a rough start to his first year as the Chicago Bears' offensive coordinator. The run game struggled at the start of the season, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams appears to be regressing, and the offense as a whole is not clicking at all.
Williams has been having issues with accuracy, particularly in the last two games against the Washington Commanders and the Arizona Cardinals. The offense has been worse on the road than at home. However, his performance is still incredibly concerning for Chicago Bears fans. “I think for Caleb, every week is going to be a new set of circumstances that he’s dealing with - different defensive structures, different blitz patterns, all the things that play out, and so for him, each week, just continue to work playing (with) clean eyes, clean feet, playing fast in the pocket right there and it’s something that looking through all the different young quarterbacks, there have been some ups and downs as (the) process has taken place and the thing that gives me all the confidence in the world in Caleb is his dedication to his craft, the way he comes into work every single day and so, we’ll keep working and coaching him and the guys surrounding him working their butts off to get this thing going and get it going in a consistent manner,” Waldron said. Part of the problem is that the ball is not getting to the right playmakers. Tight end Cole Kmet has been targeted just once during Chicago’s two-game losing streak. Veteran receivers DJ Moore and Keenan Allen each have six receptions despite both of them having over a dozen targets. Williams does not appear to have chemistry with any of them, although he has been able to connect with rookie receiver Rome Odunze on a few explosive plays. “I think for us on offense (whether) it’s Cole, DJ, Keenan, these are guys that want the ball every single play and should want the ball every single play because they are great playmakers in this league and I think it’s not just for Cole, it’s for all the guys. When we’re getting the ball spread around, we’re playing more efficiently, it leads to the touches and those are the guys making those plays come to life,” Waldon said. “So, whether it’s any of our guys on offense, I know Cole hasn’t had the ball go his way these last few weeks right here, but not by intent, but by the way the plays have played out. I think he’s another guy that’s done a great job of working at it, trying to find where he can go ahead and improve every single down and collectively as a group. The more efficient we play, we know the more touches, the more yards, all the things that come into play when we go that direction.” Chicago’s bright spot on offense has been running back D’Andre Swift. Granted, the first few weeks were rather dismal, but Swift was better during Chicago’s three-game winning streak. However, his performance against the Cardinals was his worst game since week three, when he only had 20 rushing yards. “He had a tough start to the season (when we were) looking to get the run game going and then had a span there (where) he’s over 100 total yards and in multiple games in a row. You see him, his toughness, his quickness, his ability in the run game and the pass game to be a multifaceted player for us,” Waldron said. “So, everything he does, some of the hurdles that he’s had within the course of the games or some of the special runs he’s had like in the Washington game down the left sideline, I think are just a product of how hard he works and how hard everyone plays for him because they see what he does.”
