William defends the Bears offensive line: "Everybody gives up sacks" |
CHICAGO - It is normal for a rookie quarterback to face challenges in his first year in the NFL. However, the turmoil and changes in the coaching staff during Caleb Williams’ rookie year are unlike what most quarterbacks face.
After firing Matt Eberflus mid-season, the Chicago Bears are in search of their next head coach. While it is unclear given how much of an influence Williams will have in that decision, when asked what he would want in a coach, he stated he wanted a coach that would challenge him and the rest of the team. “A coach that challenges myself, whether it’s offensive coordinator or head coach, challenges myself but also challenges us as players whether it’s on the field or character, doesn’t matter. Just a coach that challenges us, a man of his word, a disciplined coach meaning whatever his rules are or whatever he’s going to bring rule-wise or how he’s going to control the team and manage and control the team and things like that,” Williams said. “I would say another one would be a guy that wants to win and finding and helping and finding ways and helping us players and helping coaches or whatever the case was just to pull out wins throughout the season whether it’s a tough win or we blow out somebody. Just helping us and finding ways to win.” Kliff Kingsbury is one person in the conversation for the next head coach, who was also in the conversation for the next offensive coordinator. While his head coaching stint with the Arizona Cardinals did not end well, his time as offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders has been different, as their offense is one of the best in the league, particularly at running the ball. Williams is also familiar with Kingsbury from 2023 when he was an offensive assistant with USC in Williams’ final year in college. “I’ve been around Kliff. I know what type of guy he is. I know that he loves football. I know that he wants to win. He’s (a) competitor (in) many different aspects … I’ve been around him,” Williams said. “So, I would say that being around him, knowing him, asking him questions and things like that, I think obviously if he was here, I’d probably have more to say. But, I think he fits a bunch of those qualities that I said.” Whoever becomes the next head coach will have some work to do to improve this offense next season. That starts with having a better offensive line, as they have struggled all season. Williams has been sacked 67 times, the fourth-most in NFL history and the most in franchise history. It is hard to find fault with a quarterback who defends his players as Williams defended the criticisms directed toward the offensive line for these sacks. “There’s been a stupid (idea) behind my offensive linemen … Everybody gives up sacks. Everybody messes up. Everybody misses a block. Everybody drops a pass. Everybody throws a pick. I got six and I got a couple fumbles and things like that. So, the connotation behind my offensive line has been annoying and frustrating because they work their (tails) off to be able to go out there and the guys that whether guys are fighting injuries, whether guys (can’t) play and we got other guys stepping up or whether guys (have) been playing the whole season,” Williams said. “So, the negative connotation behind them, they come in here and work their (butts) off each day and each week and I’ve taken sacks and a good amount have been on me whether it’s small things of getting the ball out of my hands and just maybe dirting it. Maybe not trying to find the perfect route, perfect play, all of that for that situation. Maybe it’s just throwing it, throwing out of bounds, dirting it, finding a check down faster and then the other one is just not trying to make plays all the time and understanding that. So, like I said, (the) stupid connotation behind my offensive line being bad is not the truth. I’ve taken a good amount of sacks that have been my fault and a couple throughout that last game were mine.” One important attribute in a young player is recognizing your mistakes and learning from them. It should be considered a positive sign for the future that Williams is already identifying some of the problems that led to the high volume of sacks this season. “It’s a matter of getting better with a multitude of things, of getting better with throwing the ball out of bounds,” Williams said. “There’s been many times where my right arm is free, and I can chuck it out instead of trying to make a play. There’s been many times where a free guy comes, and that happens, and getting better at just not trying to hold in there and (find) the check downs.” Williams and the Bears have one final chance to win this season when they face the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field this Sunday (Noon / FOX). If the Bears pull off the upset, Williams would be the first Bears quarterback since Mitch Trubisky to defeat the Packers.
