Bear Digest

How Shane Waldron Sees Caleb Williams Handling Early Struggles

Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron finds plenty of ways Caleb Williams has progressed even after a 13-point effort last week and no offensive TDs in Week 1.

Gene Chamberlain

The seven sacks, like this one by Danielle Hunter, are being treated as isolated occurrences by coaches and not a trend.
The seven sacks, like this one by Danielle Hunter, are being treated as isolated occurrences by coaches and not a trend. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
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Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has watched two weeks worth of his side of the ball trying to move with what seems like training wheels on under quarterback Caleb Williams' direction.

He's not about to panic over the way the Houston blitz got home seven times for sacks and how Williams threw two interceptions in a 19-13 loss. Williams can't afford to do it, either.

"I think Caleb has done a great job with what he's been asked to do, don't feel like it's too much and I think more of it is the game reps, the live reps so to speak in regular season here," Waldron said. "And he's continuing to grow. I can't say enough about his attitude. Each day he comes into work ready to learn, ready to continue.

"You know, you're going to see different blitz patterns, you're going to see different front structures, you're going to see game plan elements every single week and I think for him the more reps he gets, the more times he sees it in those game scenarios the better he's going to continue to get every single week."

It's the time-on-task explanation for why Williams' career started with the worst passer rating (53.0) for the first two starts of any Bears QB in a rookie season since Cade McNown in 1999 (49.5).

Progress on offense will ensue when positive plays replace negative plays.

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"I think every week we're learning as an offense, as a whole, is to be eliminating negative plays," Waldron said.

First it was simply getting plays in and being executed in what Waldron called "a timely fashion." They've accomplished this and he, Williams and coach Matt Eberflus all commended the rhythm and timing of the passing game last week compared to the first effort.

Waldron said there are still things the coaching staff can do to expedite Williams' development within the offense.

"I think for us as, for myself personally but us as a coaching staff, having good variety, having a good mix of what we're asking him to do in different known passing situations right there," Waldron said. "Obviously having the run game come to life in some of those scenarios as well and really being able to mix and match and play with some variety."

Waldron has called plays for over three seasons in the NFL so it's something he can address with some authority.

What isn't quite in the Waldron handbook is how they solve the seven sacks. It seems like a trend and the offensive line can be the easy out as scapegoats.

"I think the sack thing, we're going to look at those all as individual entities right there," Waldron said.

He pointed out some sacks come due to blown assignments, blitzes, stunts by defensive linemen or others due to more circumstantial situations like no running game for support.

The sacks themselves don't necessarily threaten the offense. Something else does.

"The sacks can be a sack number, but the pressures is more the thing we're focused on," Waldon said.

Possibly the best and fastest way to solve it is run the ball.

"Well, if we can go ahead and lean on the defensive line in the run game, that's going to directly correlate to less pressures," Waldron insisted.

The other key is helping Williams himself avoiding frustration until he can progress within the offense.

"I think the turnaround in the NFL is so quick," Waldron said. "It's a long season. There's going to be good and bad that happen for every single team across the league right there.

And how can you come back in on Monday, whether it's after a great win or after a loss that–there's no such thing as a great loss. It's still not what anyone is looking for–but how do you show up for work Monday with a positive mindset looking forward? Be where your feet are planted. You can’t change the past, but you can impact the future by your actions that you take during that day."

As long as Williams is taking that attitude to avoid frustration, the Bears coaches can avoid being frustrated by growing pains.

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.