Just a few days after the Chicago Bears opted to fire former head coach Matt Eberflus, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was in full swing preparing for a Week 14 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers under interim head coach Thomas Brown.
When speaking to the media on Wednesday, though, Williams got honest about how this season has affected him. He's not only seen his head coach get fired, but former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as well.
Going through multiple firings in his rookie year hasn't been an easy process, but Williams has tried to handle it the best he can and "roll with the punches" as he put it.
“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,” the quarterback admitted.
Whether or not Eberflus was a competent head coach only matters to an extent, especially for a rookie. Williams is right to have strong feelings on the topic. This is, after all, the coach who drafted him and helped make one of his lifelong dreams come true.
“So there’s a human part of it, and then the business side has to kick in and say, ‘I understand it.’ I don’t really have control of it, but I have to roll with the punches and understand and move on and try and help this team win the best way that I can," Williams finished.
Caleb Williams idolizing Aaron Rodgers rings even more true after the Matt Eberflus firing
Williams has said multiple times that he watched a lot of Aaron Rodgers film growing up and was always a fan of the former Packers quarterback. But, aside from any on-field similarities, his response to this type of situation is also eerily similar to Rodgers' mentality.
Earlier this season, the New York Jets fired their former head coach, Robert Saleh, and when Rodgers was asked about all of the rumors and whispers behind the decision to do so, he was of course a bit upset. Folks questioned whether or not Rodgers' hand was in the decision to have Saleh fired, to which Rodgers then responded by talking about the "human aspect" of it all, as well.
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Rodgers told Pat McAfee how much he loved Saleh and went on and on about his wife and kids, detailing that very aspect of this difficult decision.
Say what you want about Rodgers, but his sentiments did seem genuine at the time and they brought to surface an aspect that many people don't think about.
Hearing Williams talk about this aspect of Eberflus' firing is refreshing for a rookie, especially. It can be easy for a rookie to be very self-focused. This is the early stages of his pro development, after all. The impacts of losing a head coach and offensive coordinator during your first NFL season can be extremely tough, but Williams is still focused on the human aspect of it.
That says a lot about who he is, Chicago. We've got a good one.