Even at his most discouraging times as a rookie, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has already demonstrated a great deal of progress and maturity in his game in just three games.
Williams still has his shortcomings, but overall, he is been moving in the right route. In Week 3, he passed for a Bears rookie record 363 yards.
Now that the Bears have a critical early-season home game against the inexperienced Los Angeles Rams scheduled for Week 4, Caleb Williams is looking to advance in his career. The first step in that direction is to gain more control over an offense that has only scored three touchdowns in the 2024 season so far.
According to Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Patrick K. Flowers of Bleacher Nation), Williams stated, “It starts with me.” “Being able to communicate more effectively with the coaches, players, and other relevant parties regarding matters that I would like to discuss a little bit more in specific situations, as well as conversing with the guys who are out there with us about what they are seeing and managing matters appropriately on the sideline.”
Of course, a team’s ability to communicate better on gameday is essential to their success, especially when their quarterback is a rookie. But in the week leading up to the game, there should also be more focus on Caleb Williams assuming command of the Bears attack. It appears that Shane Waldron, the offensive coordinator, and Caleb Williams have found themselves here.
Shane and I have discussed it. We have discussed it over the weeks, but after this last game, we have kind of settled on the need to go into a little bit more detail. The changes we made following this past game are to talk about [those conversations] a little more in-depth.
The team’s most recent game, a 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, revealed a rookie quarterback who was not following the game plan and a perhaps incompetent offensive coaching staff. This was demonstrated by Williams’ obvious amazement, when learning after the game that he had attempted 52 throws against the Colts—who, heading into Week 3, had the worst rushing defense in the league. In their game against Indianapolis, the Bears only gained 63 yards on the ground.
Caleb Williams making notes about the Bears’ opponent in Week Four
Chicago defense will play against a fantastic example of what they should be aiming for on Sunday afternoon as Caleb Williams, Shane Waldron, and head coach Matt Eberflus continue to work out the wrinkles in their attack. Quarterback Matthew Stafford and head coach Sean McVay collaborated in Los Angeles to design an offense that plays to each player’s skills.
Stafford is in charge of the game, according to Williams. He can move defenders on a string because, as a quarterback, he is adept at getting in and out of situations quickly. He also understands where players will be.
Even if Shane Waldron is obviously nowhere near as good of a playcaller as Sean McVay is, and even though Caleb Williams might end up being a better player than Matthew Stafford, he still needs to be monitoring how Stafford, McVay, and the Rams offense function.
