Bear Digest

Caleb Williams Departs Knowing Now How Much He Still Had to Learn

After a season when he gave some impressive performances and some disappointing ones, Bears QB Caleb Williams now says he realizes what he must do in Season 2.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams at his final home game of his rookie year, the 6-3 loss to Seattle.
Caleb Williams at his final home game of his rookie year, the 6-3 loss to Seattle. / Talia Sprague-Imagn Images
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Like all the other Bears, quarterback Caleb Williams cleaned out his locker at Halas Hall on Monday.

He's no longer a rookie and seemed to enjoy the end of Year 1 more than most parts of it.

"Yeah, I don't think it's hit me yet," Williams said. "I think it will fully hit me when I fully pack the car and I roll out back home and ah I do know that getting that win yesterday was big, at least for me just because you never know who's going to be here, you never know how long somebody is gong to play."

The win over the Packers let Williams come away with a positive feeling heading to the offseason.

"So, being able to get that win at least for me was big internally, just because of, like I said, the guys, they've been great, they've been awesome in that locker room," Williams said. "So being able to end with a win in Green Bay was ... I couldn't ask for a better way.

"We've been through a good amount this year and um to be able to go out there and fight and go out with a win and do it the right way was really cool to see, really cool to be a part of and important I would say to me."

Williams completed 351 of 562 for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns and six interceptions for an 87.8 passer rating.

He had a better passer rating and completion percentage than No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton did in 2011 as a rookie. His TD pass total was the same as Kyler Murray had in his rookie year of 2019. He had 12 fewer interceptions than No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck in 2012 and a far better completion percentage.

What Williams failed at was getting the ball downfield more, and his mediocre 6.3 yards per attempt told that story.

The errant deep passing has Williams' attention, although he appears perplexed as to why it occurred.

"I haven’t been able to go back and look at it yet but I think it starts from detail between the receiver and I and then from there just technique and all of that," Williams said. "And then being able to get on the same page early on, find what type of throws and things like that that the receiver can and cannot adjust to, or what he and where he likes the football to be thrown, and things like that."

Williams anticipates being able to improve next season even if it is in a new offense because he knows the receivers better and also his other teammate, from linemen to defenders.

"You've got to, first, know your guys and also you've got to be on point each day," he said. "And so going through this first year I knew that I was going to have mess-ups, rookie mess-ups and things like that.

"So being able to sit back and learn the guys, being able to sit back and, you know, figure out what type of guy this guy may be and how he responds to this and how he responds to that is going to be good for us next year."

When Williams began the season, there were many questions about whether he could play the way he did in college and ad-lib much of the time. He could sometimes and couldn't, and it required an adjustment.

"I mean I knew that it was a big task at hand," Williams said. "I knew what were some of the things that I couldn’t do from college, some of the things that I could do, a bunch of things that I needed to learn on and off the field.

"You know, I’d say there was more lessons this year that I would say that I’ve had and one of the things was all of the different things throughout the week that are needed to take for me to be able to go out there and play well, for the team to play well."

The amount he had to learn didn't necessarily surprise him.

"I knew that there was going to be a lot that I had to learn in a fast amount of time to be able to go out there, play and try and play well, play efficient, play efficient football and try to win games, so I knew there was going to be a tremendous amount and there’s still a tremendous amount," Williams said.

Williams definitely didn't have all the answers and soon found this out.

"There’s many things that throughout this season that I didn’t know or I didn’t do well and to be able to have the time now and most of those things are things I didn’t know," he said. "So to be able to have the time now to go back and look myself, look at other QBs the way they’ve done it and also just sit down and get in the books and learn some of things that I didn’t know throughout the year, some of the things that I really want to know by next year, to be able to will help the team."

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.