The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron partway through his first season in Chicago, but the team is not benching quarterback Caleb Williams. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft will remain the club’s QB1 moving forward.
Speculation to the contrary arose when it became clear that the possibility of a Williams demotion was discussed by Bears brass in advance of the Waldron dismissal. Rapoport says that while a benching was floated as a theoretical option as the team charted its best course of action moving forward, it was never truly considered.
The idea would have been to give Williams a “reset” like the one that the Panthers gave to 2023’s No. 1 overall draft choice, Bryce Young, earlier this year. Of course, Young started a full slate of games in his rookie season and two more to open the 2024 campaign before his “reset,” while Williams has just nine professional games under his belt. Between that and Williams’ off-the-charts prospect pedigree, even a temporary benching in favor of Tyson Bagent would have qualified as a major surprise.
Instead, interim offensive coordinator Thomas Brown – who, coincidentally, was Young’s OC in Carolina last year – will make some changes to allow Williams a chance to thrive as he continues to adjust to the professional game by learning how to (for instance) check into the proper play at the line of scrimmage and identify protections. He did not have to do those things while he was starring as a collegiate passer, and growing pains in that regard were always expected.
Brown’s changes will not include adding new plays or schemes; as he learned from his time with Young, that might complicate an already steep learning curve. He will, however, ask Williams to focus on getting the ball out of his hand more quickly – the rookie signal-caller has been sacked a league-high 38 times this year – and he will utilize motion and shifts to create more open looks.
Williams has certainly flashed this year; in the Bears’ three-game winning streak from Weeks 4 to 6, he threw for seven touchdowns against just one interception and posted quarterback ratings of at least 106.6 in each contest. But the last three games (all losses) have been a struggle, as Chicago is averaging just nine points per game during that stretch, and Williams has failed to record a QB rating above 68.9 or a completion percentage above 53.7%.
By all accounts, Williams has done everything in his power to hone his craft, and as such, he has the support of his teammates.
As wideout D.J. Moore said, “you got to have support for him, no matter what. He’s going out there, busting his butt, trying to learn everything at once, and the defenses are throwing a lot at him. So, you can’t really be mad at him. You just got to still back him.”
As FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer details, Williams also impressed teammates by apologizing to them after Waldron’s dismissal, accepting the blame for an offense that had regressed to the point that a firing became necessary.