Ten weeks into his rookie season, Caleb Williams is already on his second offensive coordinator.
"I obviously saw what happened," the rookie quarterback said on Wednesday. "It's tough just because you work months and kind of knew Shane (Waldron) before being drafted here because all of the process and stuff. Just trying to build that relationship and then the guy you've been trying to get on the same page with isn't here anymore. So, now you kind of have to adjust and adjust fast because we are in divisional play and playing the Packers this week."
Tuesday's firing of Shane Waldron thrust Thomas Brown into the play-calling role in Chicago.
"I don't get to choose decisions, nor do I get to choose whether decisions are good, bad, or indifferent," Williams said. "My job is to listen, and from there, go do my job."
He's struggled to do that job the past month behind a struggling offensive line in an offense with no cohesive plan. Waldron's scheme rarely gave Williams easy answers, and some design flaws were stunningly poor.
The issues led the rookie signal-caller to hold the ball far too long and rarely trust his reads.
"It's tough not scoring as much as you feel you should or moving the ball as well as you should. I think that's where the frustration comes from," Williams said.
Following a 4-2 start to the season, the bottom fell out in Chicago. After the bye week, the Bears are 0-3, averaging a futile 9.0 points per game, 156.0 passing yards per game, and haven't scored an offensive touchdown in 23 possessions.
Williams' struggles are at the heart of the issue. He's thrown zero touchdown passes since the bye week and been sacked an average of six times per game with a passer rating of 64.7 over that span.
The talent is there, but there's been little tangible growth over the course of the season. At times, the rookie looks like he's overthinking and not playing up to his natural ability. The issues prompted the change.
The Bears have allowed pressure on 40.0 percent of dropbacks (fourth highest) and 31 unblocked pressures in 2024 (fourth-most in NFL), per Next Gen Stats. The blocking has been porous, but not all the sacks and pressures are on the offensive line. Some of the problems were Williams not finding his outlet and, at other times, the offense not providing an answer for the rookie quarterback.
The Bears have to hope Brown provides a friendlier offense for Williams the rest of the season.
"I think we'll do a good job of marrying everything up together," Williams said of working with Brown. "Making everything look the same and then from there you'll get a few easier passes, a few extra layups. I think it will help us in the run game, it will help us in the pass game. From there, I think it provides more explosiveness for us as an offense."
The first outing won't be easy against a Green Bay Packers club that has dominated the rivalry. The last time the Bears beat the Packers (Week 15, 2018), Williams was a sophomore in high school at Gonzaga Prep.
