We have come a long way from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams tossing four touchdowns in a dominating Chicago Bears win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Since that win, things have gone downhill in a hurry. Losers of three-straight and, specifically, not scoring a touchdown in their last two, Chicago is in some serious trouble. Head coach Matt Eberflus teased on Monday that there would be changes on the way, but no one was quite sure exactly what that meant.
On Tuesday, the Bears finally made a change when they announced the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
It was, at least, a start. But, the Bears have many more issues to fix, problems to address and moves to make after this one. Firing Waldron was a good start, but what other changes will we see between now and the start of next season? Hopefully, there are some more notable changes on the way.
One of the changes that could have happened this week, other than Waldron getting the boot, might surprise some fans. There were rumblings of some veterans coming to Eberflus and asking him to make a quarterback change; meaning, Caleb Williams being benched in favor of Tyson Bagent.
At first glance, this seemed crazy. But, when you account for all of the dysfunction and seemingly split locker room, it's not that hard to believe. There are some serious issues going on within the walls of Halas Hall.
Caleb Williams was nearly benched before the Shane Waldron firing
Sure enough, on the latest episode of the NFL Insiders Podcast, one individual very close to the Bears went ahead and confirmed what Bears fans likely thought not to be true:
"It's my understanding there was consideration for the backup quarterback (Tyson Bagent) to possibly get some reps this week and potentially play ... maybe have Caleb Williams sit and kind of watch, and learn a little bit," Stacey Dales told the crew.
More Bears news:
How have we come to this point after just nine games? The fact that anyone within the building is even entertaining the idea of benching Williams, at this point, is indicative of a toxic, divided and borderline bipolar locker room.
It's indicative that Waldron is not the only one who needs to go. Clearly, Eberflus has lost this locker room as many have guessed to be true over the past few weeks. With what certain players have said, speaking out or being coy with their feelings on the state of the team, this really isn't a surprise.
None of what's happened is surprising, for that matter. When you don't have the correct leadership in place, things fall apart.
But, thinking of benching your no. 1 overall pick just nine games into his career? What are we doing, here? The only logical explanation of making such a move would be to preserve Williams rather than allowing him to be behind that sad excuse of an offensive line.
In no way does it make sense to bench Williams. That would surely be a way to divide your locker room even more, at this point.