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Courtney Cronin, ESPN writer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — When the Chicago Bears selected quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick, expectations were for the team to emerge from a two-year rebuild and enter the ranks of NFC contenders.
The opposite has occurred through an eight-game losing streak that left the Bears with a 4-10 record after an encouraging start to the season. While fellow rookie quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix have their teams in line for the playoffs, Williams must resolve the infighting that comes with a losing season.
This is new territory for Williams, who played in 37 games between Oklahoma and USC. The Bears’ 10 losses in 2024 make up the total the rookie was a part of over three college seasons.
Learning to not let losing become overwhelming has been an added challenge.
“Losing is one of those things that really gets to me,” Williams said. “It’s difficult. But I understand where I am in my career and where I will be. Having that [understanding] It’s important for me, for me internally, because internally it’s hard. Internally, when tough times happen, human nature is to do the opposite of what you’re doing or what you’ve been doing and all those different things. The hardest part is fighting yourself, especially when times are tough.”
During tough stretches, Williams said he writes down specific things he plans to work on during the offseason, a list that currently has “five to eight” items he’ll focus on as he wraps up his rookie season.
“I would say everything from the pre-snap stuff to even after the snap, whether it’s footwork, whether it’s pre-snap and recognizing what they’re on, if they rotate to here, how quickly can I get to this, what as quickly as I can get to that route, to this alert, to that alert,” he stated. “I have quite a few things I plan to go over.”
The quarterback has also turned to positive self-talk to avoid the discouragement that comes with every loss.
“This is going to sound crazy, but to be honest, talk to yourself,” Williams said. “You motivate yourself, you encourage yourself. You have positive affirmations, that’s the word, that you say to yourself. With that, it makes the days better, it makes when you’re going through a difficult time, it makes those days a little more easier instead of getting depressed and telling yourself it’s this and that.
“Like I said, it sounds a little crazy, but I tell myself certain things: ‘I’m great. I’ll be great.’ All these different things. So, I think one of the most important things is to not get depressed and be kind to yourself.”
One of Williams’ main frustrations has been his accuracy issues. The rookie has missed on 21.4% of throws this season, which ranks 32nd among 34 qualified quarterbacks (Anthony Richardson, 25.5% and Bryce Young, 22.8%).
“It’s frustrating,” Williams said. “I hate missing passes, especially ones where I’ve been pretty consistent for a good amount of time. That’s coming. The progress, throughout this football season, has been growing for me and things like routes and route combinations. “Putting it together and seeing all these different defenses and combining all these footwork. The progress has been steadily trending upwards, but I would say it’s pretty frustrating to miss some of these passes that I’ve missed.”
Williams is also the quarterback with the most sacks (58) through 15 weeks of the season. During “Monday Night Football,” cameras captured the quarterback in visible pain on the Chicago bench after being hit three times and sacked twice.
When asked after the game about the cumulative effect of these repeated hits, Williams rejected the idea that they took a mental toll on his well-being.
While Bears interim coach Thomas Brown has talked about ways he can help Williams avoid taking big hits, he also agrees that the cumulative effect won’t faze the young QB. “Not with him, I don’t,” Brown said. “No.”
