Caleb Williams's rookie year in the NFL has not gone as well as both he and the Chicago Bears had hoped after he came to the franchise as one of best quarterback prospects in a long time. The Heisman Trophy winner out of USC has proven to be human and dealt with the type of on-the-job training that has tested every young signal-caller to come into the league before him. That's not to say he's played poorly as there are some things to like—16 touchdown passes against five interceptions—it's just that offensive line deficiencies and other Bears weaknesses have stood in the way of winning.
Headed into the weekend Chicago has a 4–9 record in the tortuous NFC North. They'll close out with road games in Minnesota and Green Bay while playing host to Detroit and Seattle. None of those will be easy and the bright spot is a reimagined Bears franchise will have improved draft position going into next year's continuation of the rebuild.
Still, losing with frequency is not something Williams, like a lot of other elite players pre-NFL, is very familiar with so he's been forced to seek counsel from his teammates more well-versed in the situation.
"This is my first time being part of something like this, of losing and this streak going, so I ask questions to the guys that may have lost a bunch of games in a row like this or had losing seasons," he told the media. "I ask them questions because the more knowledge that I have prepares me for the future if this ever comes close to something like this again."
Introducing the saddest quote of this Bears season, via rookie QB Caleb Williams-- pic.twitter.com/srHms2BIO9
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) December 12, 2024
And sure, seen through a specific prism, this sounds sad. But spin zone here: isn't this the exact type of maturity the Bears and their fans would want a rookie quarterback with the keys to the franchise to show? Expectations were elevated this year after Chicago's impressive offseason but it was still a longshot that Williams would simply step into the league and hit the ground winning. He has a ton to learn and those lessons aren't always fun.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Caleb Williams Asked Bears Teammates for Advice on Being On a Losing Team.
