Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus has been throwing the book at rookie quarterback Caleb Williams as far as exotic pressures and more in practice. Eberflus is trying to teach Williams the hard stuff over grinding the easy early and often. Will it work? Only time will tell. What coach has ever tossed everything he knows at a rookie quarterback in training camp?
As Bears fans, we always hear, "We are dialing things back or making it easy." Williams hasn't been given that chance. I am not entirely sure if that is a good thing, but I can tell you that Williams hasn't shown that it's breaking him. Williams announced that he is focusing on who is blitzing, where he is going, and what plays he needs to check into for what he is seeing on the field. I am not trying to compare him to Justin Fields, but how can't you?
Matt Eberflus has learned from Justin Fields' experience.
Fields struggles to identify when he should rip the ball and when he shouldn't. His ability to read a blitz is almost non-existent. However, Justin Fields has great deep ball accuracy, arm strength, and the ability to get out of sacks and make plays with his feet. Eberflus seems to have learned from working with Fields for two years what he needs to teach his new quarterback.
Eberflus wants Williams to be able to identify what he is seeing on the field and make the correct decision. Don't shame me, but Fields' deep ball accuracy still looks way better than Williams's. But that won't matter if Williams can see that it's open faster. I kind of like what Eberflus is doing. I expected him to do that with Justin Fields, but sometimes, it takes time for coaches to learn what should be done to mold a young quarterback in the NFL.
Work smarter, not harder, to get better results. How can you not get excited about the coach learning to do things differently? I don't blame the coach for figuring it out later in life. We are all human. This article won't likely be out before the preseason game, but man, I would like to see him play to see if he can get even more impressive than he was in college.