Bears can’t rely too much on Caleb Williams’ scrambling

Caleb Williams’ second act was the Bears’ best play Monday night.

That can’t continue to be the case, both for Williams’ own health and the development of the offense. The Bears’ quarterback looked a bit too much like Justin Fields against the Vikings, eager to flee the pocket and make something happen with his legs. Williams scrambled six times, which were about 1/10^th of the team’s plays. His 58 rushing yards were almost half the team’s total.

Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle calls Williams’ scrambling his “second act.” But it has to remain that way — the thing Williams does only when his receivers are covered or his protection breaks down.

“It’s something that you don’t want to lean away from,” Doyle said Thursday. “You don’t want to say, ‘Hey, be a robot and sit in there.’ However, we want to be playing within our scheme, the plays that are designed for certain coverages. Then, at quarterback, you’re the eraser. You erase mistakes and you go make it happen. We’ll encourage him to do that, to extend plays and go make yards.”

But only within reason. Williams has missed only 13 snaps in 18 NFL games. If he wants to keep it that way, he can’t become too reliant on scrambling.

“You do understand the position that you’re in,” Williams said. “If it’s fourth down or third down … you go get the first down. Or if it’s fourth and goal … you go get it. In any other case, or anything like that, you protect yourself. You get down. If you have a chance at the end zone, you go for it.”

He didn’t run solely in gotta-have-it moments Monday night, though. Williams scrambled on first-and-10, second-and-6, second-and-9, second-and-14 and third-and-10.

His first-quarter touchdown run came on third-and-6 from the 9. The Bears quarterback took a shotgun snap, scrambled left, turned upfield at the 15 and eyed the front left pylon. He sprinted at 20.29 mph — the fastest he’s ever run in the NFL — with only cornerback Jeff Okudah between him and the end zone. Williams tucked the ball into the crook of his right arm, hunched his body and plowed ahead, scoring as Okudah could only muster a glancing blow on the back of his right shoulder.

Williams protected himself, and the ball, by tucking it into the arm. He knows he can’t expose himself to unnecessary risk — and didn’t think Okudah represented one.

Beside, Williams said with a smile, he’s about 230 pounds — or 25 pounds heavier than the cornerback.

“I’m a larger, condensed human … ” he said. “You do understand who you’re attacking in those situations. If you’re attacking a (linebacker) who’s larger than you or a D-lineman or a safety or whatever the case may be, you go down. Or if it’s a cornerback who maybe isn’t known for tackling, you try to go for it sometimes.”

That’s living dangerously. Bears fans have lived it before, too, whether Matt Nagy was trying to train Mitch Trubisky to keep his eyes downfield when he scrambled or Luke Getsy did the same with Justin Fields.

Coach Ben Johnson wants Williams to keep his eyes up when he leaves the pocket, but what he does after that depends on the situation.

“We do have some rules that tell us to go eyes up and look for a big play downfield — and then we’ll end up looking top-down from there,” Johnson said. “And then at other times, we’re looking to go take off and run on our own. It really depends on the play, the situation, and the defense.”

Williams’ scrambles were effective Monday night. He was sacked only twice — half as many times as he averaged last year — and finished fourth in rushing yards among Wek 1 quarterbacks.

The Bears, though, would rather him throw on the run.

“That’s his superpower,” Doyle said.

On third-and-5 on the Bears’ first drive — really, their lone effective possession of the game — Williams was flushed right and threw a dart down the right sideline that Odunze corralled, dragging his feet before he fell out of bounds, for a 17-yard game.

“A piercing throw,” Odunze said. “He threw it on the money, right on a laser. …

“There’s not too many arm angles he can’t throw from — [or] body positions. Whether he’s throwing left or on right, whether he’s going backwards or forward, he always generates the power to be able to get the ball where needs to be. So you always have to be ready.”

That’s what made some of Williams’ inaccurate throws from the pocket so maddening. On the run, his throws can be perfect.

Then there’s the matter of the pocket. Only two quarterbacks in NFL history were sacked more than Williams’ 68 last year. It’s natural for him to hear footsteps.

“Last year he got hit a lot,” Doyle said. “So that’s something that, especially young quarterbacks, they start feeling that and they start wanting to evade or back up, and they’re early to take their eyes away from down field. … He’s doing a better job of playing through those things downfield.”

Scrambling is a short-term solution. It can’t come at the expense of mastering the offense.

“Trying to stay ahead of the sticks,” Williams said, “and help the team stay on the field.”