Bears QB Caleb Williams on viral-video hullabaloo: ‘I just laugh at it’

Yes, quarterback Caleb Williams has seen the video of his emotional reaction after throwing toward a net — and missing — last week at Bears training camp.

No, Williams doesn’t understand what all the hubbub is about.

In the video, which went viral in certain corners of the Bears universe over the past week, Williams misses throws into a net and turns around, huffs and screams in frustration. Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd built part of his show around the video, saying Williams’ accuracy struggles were cause for concern. Others made more dire predictions.

Williams smiled after practice Thursday when asked about the reaction to his video.

“I just laugh at it,” he said.

Then he offered a context that social media videos rarely do: he was participating in a quick-release drill in which quarterbacks take the ball and immediately throw it, even if their hands aren’t on the laces. They aim for the target at the bottom left corner of the net, as if they’re throwing a screen pass.

The video shows Williams missing the target three times and then the net entirely on his fourth throw. He wheeled and stomped away from the drill screaming.

Williams and the fellow quarterbacks compete for playful stakes, including a punishment for missing the net entirely. His frustration, he said, stemmed from what awaited him.

“It’s something fun, something competitive,” he said. “I was competing and I missed it and it was fake anger that I had, that I showed. …

“You’re competing with your friends and something like that happens, you give maybe a little few words that you may say — choice words — after losing to your buddies.”

General manager Ryan Poles joked to ESPN that he “didn’t know it was a national crisis of Caleb struggling.” Williams found the panicked reaction funny, too — particularly when some tried to frame it as indicative of his training camp thus far.

“I just laugh at it,” he said. “I look at it and I laugh at ’em, as always. We’re out here working. We’re getting after it. We’re competing.”

Bears fans can be forgiven for being sensitive when it comes to the training-camp performance of their passers. For years, head coaches would leave an underwhelming showing by Justin Fields or Mitch Trubisky and say they weren’t worried. Williams has been disappointing at times during camp, too, though at least new head coach Ben Johnson doesn’t sugar-coat it.

Williams, who was maybe the biggest football star in Los Angeles while at USC, can’t be surprised when something he does goes viral — and he’s not.

Williams spoke after a light practice Thursday in which the team wore shells but not pads. He was sharp in the team’s two-minute drill, leading them to a field goal as time experience. The last drill of practice featured defensive players playing offense and vice versa; Williams converted a first down pass to cornerback Nick McCloud, who was playing receiver.

Williams will get a much tougher test Friday when the Dolphins come to Halas Hall for a joint practice. He said he doesn’t know if he’ll face the same team Sunday at Soldier field; Johnson figures to detail his playing-time plans for the exhibition opener publicly Friday.

Williams sounded up for playing a preseason game — at some point.

“It’s always good to be able to go out there and get a few reps in the preseason,” he said. “Rather than your first time getting real live reps or anything like that — or modified reps — is the first game of September and you’re going against the Vikings, an opponent like that. I’ll be out there whenever Ben says, and we’ll go out there and play however many plays he tells us to play.”