Open Extended Reactions
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams learned an important lesson about leadership during mandatory minicamp.
"I wasn't having the best practice, so I got really frustrated and [wide receiver] Kalif [Raymond] came up to me and said, ‘Everybody is looking at you,'” Williams said Thursday. “That really resonated for me because that’s been something from my first year to now, I want to be as stoic as possible, good, bad or different. Not be too high or too low for the guys.
"So when he said that to me, it stuck with me and it bothered me. So, just every day having that type of mindset. Be as stoic as possible, strong as possible for the guys because they are looking at me."
That message delivered from the 10-year NFL vet was one Williams took to heart. Ahead of his third NFL season, Williams' comfort level — from his understanding of the offense to his leadership style — has strengthened as he's gotten a better grasp of expectations.
"It's a hell of a lot more fun for me than it was last year just because it was — I was saying it to [running backs] coach [Eric] Studes[ville], 'Dude, I feel like I was drowning trying to breathe or stay alive and wait for a boat to come around last year,'" Williams said. "Now this year it's being able to start where we finished last year, play calls and words and verbiage and speak the same language and now it's being able to grow more from an earlier stage than maybe doing it a little bit earlier in the season or halfway through the season, speaking on things that really help throughout the year. That's the advantage."
Williams put his leadership on display during the four-minute drill on Thursday.
Wide receiver Luther Burden III hauled in a deep ball from Williams and ran through the back of the end zone and began celebrating. The quarterback aggressively waved his arms to “reel” Burden back to the huddle after seeing conflicting signals from two officials.
"That's a part of growth," Williams said. "Being in the position, you don't just get those nuggets and things like that just because of the position. You've got to work hard, you've got to grow and you've got to go win games on Sundays, and I've said that before. That's always my mindset: Win games on Sundays, be the same guy every day, come in here and work, do all the things right that I'm supposed to do.
"If there's extra that I need to do, if it's sitting down and talking to them, if it's on the field and we've got to yell and get them back to the huddle, any of those little things, it's whatever it takes to get to the end goal."
While being a vocal leader isn't a new trait for Williams, his knowledge of the offense has allowed him to take his leadership to the next level.
"I think it comes with the comfort level in terms of knowing what's being asked in terms of the offense," coach Ben Johnson said. "We're all aligned on what we want a certain route to look like, where we want the ball to be thrown and so, you know, routes on air he can go out there and tell the receiver, 'Hey, you're missing your depth,' or 'Expect the ball to be at this spot.' Whether we're out there in a practice setting or he likes to keep those guys out there after and work a little bit more after practice. I think he's stepped up and he's continuing to get better every single day and it's just a better of how many reps can we continue to pile on over the course of training camp.
"He's certainly is a vocal presence within our offense and our entire team."
