If we’re going to discuss Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, we might as well begin where we left off last season. Think back to the final minute of the final game, at Green Bay.
A Williams rollout and pass to Rome Odunze along the right sideline for 15 yards. A 20-yard pass over the middle to DJ Moore. A spike of the football with one second to go. A Cairo Santos kick from 51 yards out. A 10-game Bears losing streak: over. An 11-game losing streak against the despised Packers: buried. A No. 1 overall QB’s first game-winning drive: in the books at last.
Oh, the many wonderful moments Williams had as a rookie. Well, there were at least a few. Hitting Odunze for career touchdown pass No. 1 in Indianapolis. Connecting with Moore twice for scores against the Panthers at Soldier Field. Have we mentioned the last-ditch drive to beat the Packers in the finale? Look, we said “a few.”
In fact, there were more than that, especially given the ineptness and chaos that surrounded Williams. His passing numbers — 3,451 yards, 20 touchdowns, six interceptions, a rating of 87.8 — hold up to reasonable scrutiny. He got his aspirations handed to him in the win-loss department, but he also survived an NFL-record 68 sacks, made it to the finish line of the season without having thrown anyone under the bus and came back for more. If that’s not reason for Chicago to throw its meaty arm around Williams in support, what is?
We’re not exactly overrun with excellence in this nape of the neck. Williams, an emerging talent at the most important position in any team sport, remains the best thing the city’s sports scene has going for it.
We can talk about new coach Ben Johnson, new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, a rejiggered offensive line and a purportedly deeper, better roster all we want, but as soon as the opener arrives Monday night at Soldier Field, it’s back to being a Williams story.
If Williams ascends, it might finally be morning in Beardom.
Until then, there will be scrutiny and plenty of it — some of it over-the-top, as may have been the case on at least one notable occasion last season. If Williams could handle 68 sacks, he ought to be able to withstand that, too.
“I understand where I’m at and the position I’m in,” he told the Sun-Times. “At certain points last year, I was just confused sometimes because I didn’t understand as well as I do now where we’re at. We’re in Chicago, third-biggest market, and, at this point, [I’m a] popular guy. I’m not a famous guy, but a popular guy … [and] I play for the Chicago Bears, so it’s going to be there.”
Williams got a stiff dose of it last December after a loss at the Vikings, the Bears’ eighth in a row. During that game, also a Monday-nighter, cameras caught Williams on the bench sucking wind and appearing physically uncomfortable.
Television analyst Troy Aikman, on the call in Minneapolis, said, “As I watch him, you can tell that he’s a defeated guy. … He hasn’t been through anything like this at any point in his career. What you worry about is a rookie quarterback losing confidence.”
Fox Sports’ Emmanuel Acho posted a clip of Williams in that moment and observed that it “didn’t look good” for the rookie.
“I was just tired,” Williams said. “I was tired and got hit a little weird, so I was just trying to catch my breath. That was really it.”
Before practice Wednesday at Halas Hall, teammates shared with the Sun-Times what they thought of Williams’ toughness last season.
“So tough, man,” running back D’Andre Swift said. “Just to keep getting back up time and again, putting it all on the line for his teammates, man, it speaks volumes about who he is and how he’s wired. That was the first time I’ve been through that many [sacks as a teammate]. It made me want to be there for him as a teammate and a friend.”
Said linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, “Just seeing him come out week after week, no matter what happened in the previous week, show up and be there for [his] teammates, man, those are the type of guys you want around.”
Likely to be mentioned on Monday’s telecast is the book on quarterbacks by Seth Wickersham that involves Williams and created a stir during the offseason. According to the book, which comes out a day after the Bears’ opener, Williams hoped not to be drafted by the Bears and had specific interest in playing for the Vikings and coach Kevin O’Connell.
Juicy? It was, kind of. Mostly, it has blown over.
If there’s a bus coming, meanwhile, Williams isn’t throwing anybody under it.
Of the offensive line that will try to protect him against an aggressive Vikings defense, Williams said, “Excited to go to war with them.”
And this: “I need to be able to deliver the ball whether it’s under pressure or not.”
Pressure is being the story no matter what happens. Williams hasn’t mishandled the burden yet.
Contributing: Jason Lieser