Bear Digest

Why Panic Over Caleb Williams' First OTAs Is an Overreaction

Analysis: Caleb Williams had one sluggish practice out of three in Week 1 of OTAs and it seemed to be an overreaction to the very beginning of a young player's career.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams works with the QBs during individual portion of Bears OTA practice.
Caleb Williams works with the QBs during individual portion of Bears OTA practice. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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The rookie Bears quarterback struggled a bit getting plays called out in time to teammates after being told which one to run.

Also, it wasn't always smooth when he had what they call the "wide vision" look at the offense lined up against the defense, as he tried to get the play off before the shot clock would expire.

There are always disguises by defenses so he needed to read this after the snap or as the snap occurred.

It's a lot to account for during the first few week of practices for a rookie quarterback as he fits into a new city, with new teammates, in a new offense and with new coaches.

"It probably looked a little more sloppy today than yesterday, which is OK and very normal," the Bears coach said after one of the first OTAs.

The coach who said that was Matt Nagy, not Matt Eberflus

The quarterback was Justin Fields and not Caleb Williams. It was 2021 and the Bears were trying to throw Fields into a quarterback room with Nick Foles and Andy Dalton, and with Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator and John "Flip" DeFilippo as QB coach.

Some of those early practices were pretty ugly for Fields, especially when they turned up the defense's coverage disguises.

After spring work ended, Fields had to bark out play calls into a recording and sending those by phone message to Bears coaches during his time away to make sure he was getting it all down to a level he needed to be at for training camp.

Fast forward to last week and the start to Bears OTAs and the national panic over Caleb Williams' struggles in Thursday's practice, after Bears safety Kevin Byard said the rookie had actually had the better of it against the defense in an earlier practice session.

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This kind of roller coaster ride is nothing new for rookie QBs. There's no reason to panic from something like this and here's why.

1. It's All New for Full Offense

They're all learning the offense in actual application at the same time. Coordinator Shane Waldron is putting it in for everyone now and it's no longer only a classroom setting. It's not just Williams. This is why none of the Bears quarterbacks looked significantly better than Williams. Even when facing second-string, third-string or cut-level players rather than starters, quarterbacks Brett Rypien and Tyson Bagent only made a few plays more that day than Williams. It also explains why Rypien looked a little better than the others, because he has been in this offense for a few months last year in L.A. and then with Seattle for two weeks.

2. Bears Defense Is Better Now

On certain days during OTAs or minicamp, the defense is working on specific parts of its game that need practicing or improvement. It might be an aspect of it beyond what a rookie quarterback can know or comprehend. They might be disguising coverages more on a certain day.

Also, they've been playing the defense since 2022. All the starters except one were in the defense last year, safety Kevin Byard. They know where they're going and what to do.

"You have a returning top-15, top-10 defense, obviously going against a younger rookie quarterback who's getting acclimated and learning things, that's what it is supposed to look like," Byard said.

3. Iron Sharpens Iron

The Bears know the quarterback without experience is not going to look especially effective against a strong, experienced defense and will gauge their level of play on that side of the ball accordingly as they progress. They don't want to necessarily smother Williams every day at practice. Then again, they don't expect to soften things up for him every day, just to accommodate a less experienced player.

"We all have a vested interest in wanting to see that young man grow and become battle tested and be ready on Day 1," defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. "We're going to give him everything that we have every day."

It's just that on some days, everything they have might be less because they're working on something they need to improve.

4. Level One

Remember, he is a rookie. Williams is starting from scratch in the NFL like the other rookie QBs and no one begins OTAs at an advanced stage. The Bears gave Williams a bit of a head start by getting him terminology and the concepts of the offense to work with his own QB coach, but that wasn't with the full team involved. It only made him a step above ground level walking in the door.

Where they expect him right now is a very basic level.

"Specifically with Caleb, it's really just about when he can rip the call, get the call in and out of the huddle, breaking the huddle, having that pace that we need to have," Eberflus said. "We've been doing the walk-throughs and he's been really good with that."

Eberflus summed it up well.

"This is the first time going against a pro defense, and a pretty good one," Eberflus said. "It's going to be learning for everybody. They’re getting everything together. It was progress. I saw progress from the first day to the second, the second to the third. So it's good."

5. It's 7-on-7

Or it's 9-on-7 or even if it's 11-on-11, there are no pads, there's no hitting and there is no running game threat to keep a defense honest. They might call a running play but the defense isn't tackling anyone anyway. It's basically touch football. Nothing resembles real football other than the quarterback throws and the receivers try to catch it while being covered by someone who won't hit them. And they can't lower their shoulder to run through someone. It's all limited.

6. Supporting Cast

The Bears surrounded Williams with good receiving talent, but he didn't even have it all at practice on Thursday when media saw the workout. Keenan Allen wasn't there for personal reasons. The same was true with Velus Jones Jr. Also, rookie Rome Odunze hadn't fully recovered from the tweaked hamstring suffered in rookie camp. He's expected back sometime this week.

This impacts Williams in a few ways. Not only does he have better targets, but experienced receivers are going to be able to work to help bring along a younger QB.

"We're going to use all the veterans to help all the young guys," Eberflus said. "With DJ and Keenan, he's gonna help Rome and they're also gonna help the quarterback."

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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.