Th༒ere are obvious growing pains when you are a college quarterback making the leap to the pros.
And when you are a Chicago Bears quarterback, those pains are both metaphorical and literal.
Caleb Williams shared () how he felt after the Bears’ 19-13 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football:
"I'm a little bruised up, took a couple hits today."
Caleb Williams on how he feels after tonight's game. — Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee)
“I’m a little bruised up. You know, I took a couple of hits today. I’m going to get in the ice tubs, do all the things I need to do to make sure that my body’s ready for tomorrow, practice on the other days, and obviously, the next game.”
It would be a minor miracle if Caleb Williams’ body is just “a little bruised” up after that game.
The Texans defense pressured Chicago early and often. By now, you’ve probably seen the NextGenStats numbers showing how Williams was blitzed on more than 41 percent of his dropbacks and that Houston came through with 36 pressures on Caleb’s 37 dropbacks. You’re also probably familiar with how Williams was hit 11 times by Texans defenders. Seven different Houston defensive players registered at least one QB hit on Williams on Sunday night, with four (Azeez Al-Shaair, Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson Jr., and Mario Edwards Jr.) getting at least two. It was a catastrophic game for Chicago’s offensive line — and Caleb Williams paid the price.
Through two games, Chicago’s rookie quarterback has been sacked nine times and taken 15 quarterback hits. I’m not sure if ESPN’s hits counter takes into consideration when a quarterback is getting pushed or tackled out of bounds. If not, then those numbers probably need to be adjusted with a few more tallies tacked on. But I digress.
I hate that we are two weeks into the Caleb Williams era and we’re already back revisiting talking points similar to the ones that we saw when Justin Fields was quarterbacking. Don’t get me wrong. I think Williams did a better job dissecting, processing, and getting rid of the football in a timely fashion. But that he was still under pressure that much in Week 2 (despite those improvements) is problematic.
BEARS-TEXANS RECAP: Caleb Williams Takes a Beating | Initial Week 2 Grades
I suppose the good news here is that QB1 doesn’t sound like someone who is going to miss practice time after being nicked up on SNF. Maybe he’ll spend some extra time in an ice tub, getting massaged, and receiving an up-tick in whatever type of maintenance that happens between games. However, I am not expecting to see Caleb Williams pop up on an injury report this week. And after watching what the Bears offensive line allowed to happen last night, that feels like a blessing from above.
Caleb Williams speaks after Week 2 loss
You 💖🤡can watch the video below for more from Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams:
