Caleb Williams took a moment Monday afternoon to consider his growth through the first week-and-a-half of his first NFL training camp.
“I think I’m on track to be ready,” the Chicago Bears rookie quarterback said after completing practice inside the Walter Payton Center. “(I’m) exactly where I need to be and where they want me to be. I’m excited. Every day that I wake up, I’m learning something new.”
That’s a self-evaluation, obviously, and an early one with plenty of nuance beneath the surface. But Williams hasn’t been frazzled by the training camp roller coaster to this point, with his periodic flashes of brilliance in practice often accompanied by predictable rookie struggles.
Williams said he has continued working to find a balance between being tough on himself after mistakes and having a big-picture perspective to focus on his response.
As for whether he will lobby to play in this week’s Hall of Fame Game against the Houston Texans in Canton, Ohio?
“I would love to get out there and play,” Williams said. “It’ll be pretty awesome to be at Canton. But it’s coach’s decision.”
Whether it’s Thursday night in Canton or nine days after that in Buffalo, Williams’ preseason debut is coming. And that introduction to live NFL game action will have value, even if the quarterback’s playing time will be limited.
Coach Matt Eberflus has been on record with a set target of 45-55 preseason game snaps for Williams.
“Especially for a young guy like myself, the reps are always paramount,” Williams said. “For anybody like myself — a young rookie, a second-year guy, third-year guy — it’s paramount. It’s really important.”
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron agrees, sharing his perspective on what can be learned about a quarterback during preseason game action that extends beyond what can be judged in the practice setting.
“It’s a live pocket situation,” Waldron said Monday. “Ball security is at a premium. So now with the live rush, when the play ends, if there is a potential for a sack, how does that play finish out when it’s real and it’s not just the whistle blowing on the practice field? We’ve got guys trying to strip the ball, trying to finish the play on defense. So how do you react to that? How do you react to the collapsing pocket?”
For Williams, only time will tell.
Eight practices into training camp, he continues working to improve that pocket feel, a noted strength in his game. Williams is also being pushed to improve his cadence at the line of scrimmage and his overall command of the operation. On Monday, he also singled out his pre-snap reaction to blitz looks as the one area of his game that’s farthest away from being regular-season ready.
Still, as Waldron has gone about installing his system since the spring, Eberflus has emphasized the coaching staff’s desire to “push the envelope” with how much they pour into Williams and, by extension, the rest of the offense. That has been a show of confidence in the rookie’s ability to take in a high volume of information, process it and apply it on the field.
“Caleb’s ability to improve daily shows that, hey, we’re not taking a step back every single day with this stuff,” Waldron said. “We can keep going forward.”
Waldron highlighted Williams’ continual growth as one of the two biggest signs that the young quarterback is on track with his early maturation. The other, Waldron noted, has been Williams’ positive mindset.
“Both those things give him a chance to be great,” Waldron said. “Because he works hard and he does all the right things around and leading up to every single practice.”
In these early stages of Williams’ orientation, Waldron continues to speak highly of the quarterback’s bounce-back ability.
“He has a great sense of urgency with that,” Waldron said. “I (like) his ability to play with energy and emotion. But also, if something goes wrong or if something’s off a little bit, he’s looking you right in the eye. He wants to know, ‘What’s the why behind why that went the wrong way? How can I fix it? How can I make it better the next play?’ And he does have that ability to move on and play the next play.”
