Caleb Williams did not agree with the criticism surrounding his uneven preseason debut. After the Chicago Bears’ 27-9 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the quarterback pushed back when questioned at a post-game press conference about his accuracy on routine throws.
Williams defends his preseason performance
Williams and Chicago’s starting offense played only one possession Saturday. The group moved 33 yards over eight plays before settling for a 45 yard field goal.
The drive started well. Williams found Rome Odunze for 18 yards and followed it with a 10 yard completion to Colston Loveland. He then missed his final three attempts, including a high throw toward Loveland after Cincinnati blew its coverage.
Williams finished 2 of 5 for 28 yards. Those numbers were not spectacular, especially with Chicago using its starting offense against several Cincinnati reserves.
One reporter asked Williams why the Bears could produce explosive plays while struggling to complete easier throws underneath. The quarterback rejected that characterization.
“Felt like I was pretty on today,” Williams said. “Had one or two batted balls and then had the Rome incompletion on purpose just because the backer got up under it.”
Williams explained that Cincinnati sent pressure on the final play. The running back remained in protection, allowing a linebacker to follow Williams’ eyes toward Odunze. Williams saw the defender during his throwing motion and deliberately pulled the pass away from danger.
It counted as an incompletion. Williams viewed it as a smart decision.
Bears offense still has obvious problems to correct
Williams may disagree with the accuracy concern, but he did not pretend Chicago played clean football.
A holding penalty against left tackle Braxton Jones stalled the opening possession after the Bears reached Cincinnati’s 17 yard line. That became a recurring problem throughout the night. Chicago committed 11 penalties for 81 yards and converted only two of its 14 third down opportunities.
Williams placed some of the responsibility on himself.
“It started with the head of the snake, and it went all the way down to the tail,” Williams said. “We’ve got to fix that.”
The quarterback also acknowledged that Chicago cannot depend upon spectacular throws to rescue the offense whenever a penalty or mistake creates second and long. Every player must handle the smaller assignments that keep a possession alive.
That is the larger concern surrounding the Bears offense. Williams has already demonstrated that he can produce plays few quarterbacks would even attempt. Chicago’s ceiling will be determined by how frequently it can avoid needing those miracles.
Williams does not sound worried about the regular season. He believes recent conversations with Ben Johnson and Chicago’s receivers have the offense moving in the right direction. The goal is to be “rolling” when the Bears open their season Sept. 13 against the Carolina Panthers.
One choppy preseason possession will not define Williams or the offense. Still, dismissing every concern because the calendar says August would be foolish.
The explosive plays are already there. Chicago now needs everything between them to stop looking so difficult.
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