It’s usually total oblivion for the Bears once they reach the point of their season being wrecked beyond saving and another dark winter with no playoffs approaches. One way or another, they seem to end up here every December.
This time, though, is different.
This time hope still shines. This season is done, yes, but rookie quarterback Caleb Williams remains a beam of light illuminating a future that could be much brighter. Amid a six-game losing streak and a coaching change after Matt Eberflus was fired Friday, Williams was as confident Wednesday as the day he arrived at Halas Hall.
He will not, like many before him, be broken by the Bears.
“This is a stepping stone of development,” he said. “To be able to have all of this in my first year — I wouldn’t say that I’m happy for it, [but] having these moments is definitely something that will help me in the future.
“It would help me in the long run being able to handle all of this. Down the line, I’ll have different offensive coordinators or different head coaches or whatever the case may be, so being able to handle it my first year… definitely will help the development instead of hurting it.”
He closed his news conference the same way he always has: with a “Da Bears” into the mic. Nothing about this tumult seems to have worn him down. Even if you don’t trust this organization, you can’t help but believe in this kid.
Williams is irrepressibly upbeat, and the Bears have never been more desperate for that than they are now. No one in their building has as much influence over their future success than him, and at 23, he stepped in front of the microphone and struck the right tone better than anyone else in the organization who has tried this week.
Williams not only must sort through the chaos of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Eberflus being dismissed in his rookie season — he’d been planning his future with since February — but push through the unrelenting NFL schedule that has his team visiting the 49ers on Sunday and closing with four opponents currently in the playoff field: the Vikings, Lions, Seahawks and Packers.
Between dissecting the debacle at the end of the Lions game last week that was the final sweep toward the exit for Eberflus and approaching a rigorous home stretch, Williams propelled the Bears forward in the big picture, too.
He was accountable for his part in the Detroit game, saying he needed to move faster and show more awareness, and vowed to learn from it. He was sympathetic to Eberflus — “The human aspect of it weighs on you a little bit, especially this being my first year, this being my first head coach that drafted me,” he said — didn’t dodge any questions about cornerback Jaylon Johnson’s post-game confrontation with Eberflus.
“I’ve walked in and said things out of frustration, feeling like we should’ve won that game, feeling like we should’ve done this or that,” he said, not specifying whether that was with the Bears or elsewhere. “It’s tough when you don’t win. We need to do a better job of not doing that and things not getting out. It’s an in-house thing.”
Then he flipped it. In describing Johnson’s frustration boiling over, Williams noted it must be maddening to spend five seasons with a team in constant disappointment over the lack of victories and playoff success, admitting, “Right now, it’s kind of dark,” but said without hesitation, “That’s all coming.”
When else has the quarterback of a 4-8 team promised that — and you actually buy it? That’s what makes this different.
For all the soaring and plunging of Williams’ rookie season, he appears to have righted his trajectory and given the Bears something around which to build. Over his last three games, all against strong defenses, he has completed 64.1% of his passes, averaged 275.7 yards and thrown five touchdown passes with no interceptions for a 99.2 passer rating.
He’s one of the few things that looks right with this team. And if the Bears were going to get only one thing right, there’s nothing more important than quarterback.
Williams depicted a strong bond with interim coach Thomas Brown, who stepped in for Waldron three weeks ago and has been instrumental in his latest step forward. Brown will remain offensive play caller and promoted wide receivers coach Chris Beatty to offensive coordinator in order to delegate some responsibility as he took over the top job.
When asked about Williams’ trajectory and whether he expected him to now be past the typical rookie turbulence, Brown kept it simple and general.
“All I expect is everybody’s best every day,” he said. “I try to give them my best, Caleb and everybody else. It’s my job to bring the best of our players. Delivering information, hold them accountable, lift them up.”
He already has contributed to that in Williams’ progress with a more engaging coaching style that doesn’t let any mistakes slip by but still shows him grace and reminds him to breathe. He didn’t simplify the offense, but the play calls have gotten to him quicker and been smarter and he has helped clarify how Williams goes through his reads.
There’s nothing the Bears need more from Brown than to keep those gains coming. The final five games have become a runway for Williams to 2025, and a fantastic finish to his rookie season would pump optimism into an organization parched for it.
