'Professionalism' by Caleb Williams Leaves Positive Impression

Analysis: When Caleb Williams and the Bears offense couldn't get it done one way against backup Cincinnati defenders, they went out and found another way.

Cincinnati defensive tackle Kris Jenkins Jr. breaks through a block from Bears guard Nate Davis to sack quarterback Caleb Williams. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Caleb Williams' second preseason effort proved to be more a test of his patience and creativity than the first did.

A sputtering offense came around eventually after a boost from the defense, but the best aspect of it from an offensive standpoint might have been a young connection being built rather than the numbers and productivity in a meaningless 27-3 win over Cincinnati.

At first it was downright disaster for Williams and the offense. Instead of an efficient machine they more closely resembled a car with a bad battery. Three and out, three and out, three and out to start the game.

"He had a nice professional day at quarterback," coach Matt Eberflus said. "It's not always going to be rosy.

"You aren't going to make all your completions and make these big chunk plays to start out."

Chunk plays aside, first downs would have been nice. Professional or amateur, the QB is going to succeed with first downs. They put up three straight three-and-outs against Cincinnati's backup defense to start the game.

Williams took a sack and a few penalties caused problems.

"I gave up a sack that wasn't the O-line's fault," Williams admitted, although Kris Jenkins had beaten Nate Davis on the play. "I gave up a sack. I was in the pocket too long, trying to do too much.

"Other times, something always went wrong. There may have been a flag or the false start we had that I kind of rushed the cadence and the linemen tried to anticipate that. A couple of the other things, small things that always add up to be big things. Like me and DJ Moore not being on the same page. Keenan (Allen) and I not being on the same page. It always adds up. It's super minute, super small things, but in the game of football, you only have split seconds, and those little things add up. No, we're going to keep working to be perfect. We understand we won't be able to reach that. Up and down games and things like that, it's always, you can only win the game, as coach said, in the fourth quarter."

Eberflus saw Williams respond the way a more mature passer might. It's a positive when he didn't get frustrated by the start because making mistakes would hurt his own defense and they were the reason the Bears were still in a scoreless tie.

"You have to be the leader," Eberflus said. "He demonstrated that today by the way his demeanor was and the way he had poise and the way he came back. Eventually things are going to crack. He did a nice job with that today.

"We're always having conversations with that. I went back there one time and talked to him, just the interaction, hey, we'll get this next one going. We did, but it's been good."

It started going when the budding young connection got going of Williams and Rome Odunze. A 45-yard completion on the run to his left played a huge role in building the 10-0 lead.

"Things aren't always going to go our way," Odunze said. "What we're going out there to do our job and move the ball down the field, so we just needed to get in our groove and once we did that, I think we moved the ball pretty well."

Eberflus, to his credit, could have pulled the plug after those three-and-outs and chalked it up to preseason. Instead, they stayed at it and the long pass to Odunze helped his confidence.

think it was awesome for me. I can’t speak for everybody’s mindset. "I know everybody wants to go out there and make a play for sure, regardless of what quarter we're in or what type of game it is," Odunze said. "For me, preseason, regular season, playoffs—I want to be out there every play to hopefully make a difference.

"For me, taking every single rep is something that I'm grateful for and trying to make a play."

The two might have had a TD except for soccer. The field was lined in the back of the end zone with an added line for a soccer match, which had been held previously there. Odunze admitted to confusion and was thinking he was in the end zone when he actually wasn't.

"You know if I'm being honest it definitely was in my peripheral," he said. "I was like, 'OK, I seen the backline' and figured I was in by a comfy margin.

"But that's something that you can't have out there. You’ve got to be aware of the double lines and stuff like that."

Williams wasn't holding it against Odunze.

"We're going to be explosive," Williams said. "We're two rooks, but we're trying to catch up to the older guys as fast as we can to make sure that we're right there on par with them to be able to be efficient, function, go out there and be explosive, be on the same page and win games.

"That's ultimately what we're here to do. Having a guy like that that was drafted with me, we're only going to keep growing and keep building this connection.”

Williams wound up with a rushing touchdown on a 7-yard whirling scramble when he'd rather have had a passing TD. He hasn't had one in the two preseason games.

It's ironic, but before they had a quarterback in Justin Fields who would run it too much, but Williams admits he'd rather go out of his way to avoid it. 

"Yeah, it's a little tough because I like to pass the ball, even in scramble mode, things like that, I tend to lean a lot more towards throwing the ball, throwing the ball for completion, right in front of me, however it may work, something crazy or just throwing it to the end zone, things like that," Williams said. "They've been coaching me about attacking the line of scrimmage and things like that on my scrambles, on the rollouts, the keepers.

"So, I've been trying to get a little bit better with balancing that and taking what they give me, taking what the defense gives me, whether it's a run for yardage or quick pass in front of me. It's always a constant battle to do things like that. You just continue to get better at those situations."

The other thing Williams is learning is to do what he needs to do to support his defense. They supported he and the other two QBs Saturday with three takeaways and a second straight preseason game without allowing a touchdown.

"I learned our defense is really good," Williams said, although he's seeing that every day trying to battle them in practice. "They've done a great job helping me, preparing me.

"Defensive guys talking to me about things I do and things I can get better it, and obviously the offensive coaches and QBs and everybody talk to me. We have our meetings, but the defensive guys speaking up, telling me what they see from their lens, it's only made me better."

There are a lot of lessons from everyone still ahead for Williams, but coming away with positives in two preseason games only fuels optimism he can go from nice professional days to big days.

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