After Sunday's NFL debut, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has already seen and heard it all. The no. 1 overall pick is going to have his fair share of criticism, from now until he hangs up the cleats. It comes with the territory.
However, Williams remains his own harshest critic. The first-year pro is already a true professional. When everyone else is calling out the mistakes he made Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, Williams already knew what they were.
He was ahead of the critics, as a good quarterback should be.
On Wednesday, Williams met with the media and even called himself out for the mistakes he made against Tennessee. Fans watching his debut noticed Williams looked to be playing frustrated, jittery or even rushed.
Williams wouldn't disagree with that conclusion, either.
Caleb Williams said he "rushed his drops" a lot vs. Titans. Wants to clean that up in Week 2.
— Josh Schrock (@Schrock_And_Awe) September 11, 2024
Said he needs to trust the drops, trust the reads, and polish his finishes on his playactions
Watching his game film, Williams certainly missed some throws. However, take for example the one drop by Keenan Allen which would have been Williams' first career touchdown pass. Had that one been completed, the narrative could be far different this week.
One touchdown pass could have helped the offense get rolling. It's almost like a shooter seeing the ball go through the hoop; same difference.
It wasn't all on Williams, but he did play rushed. And the fact he admitted as much is a great sign of maturity.
Caleb Williams Week 1 struggles should be classified as normal rookie mistakes
Look, we all know Williams is as confident as they come. And, that's a good thing. But, no matter how confident he was going into his NFL debut, he still rushed some things.
To say that he was never going to struggle, especially as a rookie, would have been silly. So, all of the exaggeration throughought the Week, in reference to Williams' tough outing, has been quite funny. Rookie quarterbacks will struggle.
No matter what the national narrative tells you, rookie quarterbacks will struggle.
Even C.J. Stroud had his inadequacies as a rookie, finishing pretty high up on the list of quarterbacks with inaccurate throws leading to incompletions. Stroud is a great quarterback, but he's not perfect. Let's not act like Williams is expected to be all-world from the jump.
The fact Williams was able to identify where he struggled in Week 1 is a positive sign. Being able to correct those issues is another thing, of course. But, he has all the confidence there in order to make those necessary changes.
As he suggested, he just needs to trust his drops and his reads. Take that confidence and put it to further use.
The rook is going to be just fine.