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Just three games into his rookie season, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has already shown a tremendous amount of growth and maturity in his game even in the most frustrating moments of his young career. Williams, who threw for a Bears rookie record of 363 yards in a Week 3, still has his flaws, but all things considered, he's been trending in the right direction.
Now, with a crucial early-season home matchup against the short-handed Los Angeles Rams ahead in Week 4, Caleb Williams is aiming to take the next step in his development, which starts with having a greater command of a Bears offense that has thus far been responsible for just three touchdowns in the 2024 season.
“It starts with me,” Williams said, per Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times (h/t Patrick K. Flowers of Bleacher Nation). “Being able to be a better communicator to the coaches, the players, and things like that about things that I would like a little bit more for certain situations, being a little more communicative and talking to those guys out there with us, [about] what they’re seeing and then getting to the sideline and being able to handle things properly on the sideline.”
Of course, having an improved stream of communication on gameday is crucial to any team's success, particularly when there's a rookie quarterback involved. But there needs to be an increased emphasis on Caleb Williams taking ownership of the Bears offense in the week of preparation ahead of the game as well. From the sounds of it, this is where Caleb Williams and embattled offensive coordinator Shane Waldron have landed.
“Shane and I have talked about it. We’ve talked about it throughout the weeks, but [it’s about] being a little bit more in-depth, I would say, is what we’ve kind of come to after this past game. Being a little more in-depth about [those conversations] is the adjustments we’ve made after this last game.”
This last game, a 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, highlighted a potentially inept offensive coaching staff and a rookie quarterback not being on the same page with their gameplan. Evidence of this was when Williams was noticeably surprised after the game when he learned he had attempted 52 passes against the Colts… a team that came into Week 3 as the league's worst rushing defense. The Bears managed just 63 yards on the ground against Indianapolis.
Caleb Williams taking notes from Bears Week 4 opponent
As Caleb Williams, Shane Waldron, and head coach Matt Eberflus keep the lines of communication open and continue to work out the kinks of their offense, a great example of what they should be striving for is what Chicago defense will be facing on Sunday afternoon. In Los Angeles, head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford came together to craft an offense that suits the strengths of both the play-caller and the passer.
“He controls the game,” Williams said of Stafford. “As a quarterback, he knows how to get in and out of things efficiently; he knows where people are going to be and where the defenders are going to be so that he can move them on a string.”
For as good as Caleb Williams may end up being, he's not Matthew Stafford yet, and Shane Waldron is obviously nowhere close to being the play-caller that Sean McVay is, but that doesn't mean that Williams shouldn't be keeping his eye on how Stafford, McVay and the Rams offense operates.
