Bear Digest

Caleb Williams Takes Lessons Learned into Preparation for Texans

No one said it would be easy and the Bears rookie found it wouldn't be as he ranks last in the NFL among starters in yardage heading into a tough Sunday night matchup.

Gene Chamberlain

At least Caleb Williams could say he won his first start and didn't turn over the football if he could say little else positive.
At least Caleb Williams could say he won his first start and didn't turn over the football if he could say little else positive. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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If Bears quarterback Caleb Williams drew anything from his first start, it was the difficulty of the task at hand.

Not that he thought it would be easy, but the best thing he did wasn't throw the ball or run the ball while facing his first NFL opponent.

Until Williams knows more about facing NFL defenses, the Bears will need to continue seeing the one thing from him they appreciated most about his effort in Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans.

"He protected the ball well, and that's what it came down to at the end of the day—turnovers," wide receiver DJ Moore said.

Williams' 93 passing yards ranked last among all NFL starting quarterbacks in a week hardly emblematic of the NFL's normal commitment to passing. Less than half the quarterbacks threw for 200 yards or more in Week 1 and half of them threw an interception.

Moore called it only natural for Williams to struggle.

"We've been going against (our) defense so long during camp that we kind of got used to seeing it," Moore said. "Then you get to live action. You can watch a bunch of film on a team, but you have to go out there and play. And, with Caleb, this was his first week of live action for four quarters, and they were throwing some stuff at him.

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"That's probably a little difficult, but he'll bounce back and have a good one."

Moore cited the inexperience as an issue.

"You need to understand that not everybody coming straight from college will understand the NFL, like, instantly," Moore said. "It's way more complex than just having five receivers on the field and spreading it all out.

"Now, it's everybody who's just as fast and they're disguising different things and you have to see it as fast as possible. Kudos to him. Glad I don't gotta do it, but it is hard on them."

Williams agreed with Moore's assessment of the difficulty, but it's not going to get easier in Week 2.

"I more so was looking at the NFL this past weekend and looking at all the teams and realizing—like I've said in many other interviews–the job is hard," Williams said. "The NFL is hard. The defense is going to make it tough on you. That's what they are going to do week in and week out.

"Comparing that to myself and his rookie year, typically guys coming in may have to figure it out. That's what we are doing right now. I don't have the performance I wanted to. Trying to figure it out as fast as possible and make sure we are on the same page. Making sure we are handling that things we need to handle. Like I said, all the small things become a lot larger on game day. We're going to make sure we handle those things, myself included and progress from there."

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It's not likely to be easier facing a Texans defense with Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr on the edge, rushing, and with a solid secondary. Colts QB Anthony Richardson did put up a 101.2 passer rating against them with one interception last week. The inteangibles are working against the Bears, too, as they've lost nine straight Sunday night road games dating back to the Marc Trestman coaching era.

"They play well, play together, fly around, tackle, all these other things," Williams said. "We get to go against a great defense again this week. We’re excited, I know they’re going to be excited; I know that the stadium is going to be rocking. Getting to practice, preparing for that."

Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had the rookie year of all rookie years last year but started out humbly with a 78.0 passer rating and five sacks in a 25-9 loss to the Ravens. As late as his 13th game, Stroud was putting up a 54.8 rating and throwing for 91 yards in a loss to the 7-10 New York Jets.

The one thing Stroud did well in those two forgettable efforts was avoid throwing interceptions.

The 93-yard effort definitely didn't wreck Williams confidence.

"There is always going to be a little rough patch, so I understand that," he said. "Maintaining your confidence if not growing it, realize that you can keep getting better, that's what we're doing. That's what I'm doing, and we are excited about it."

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.