Declaring Caleb Williams the starter from day one wasn’t an accident. The Chicago Bears wanted to make it clear that he was the guy. There would be no superficial camp competition, no veteran starting ahead of him so he could sit and learn. Williams would get every meaningful rep in training camp and learn through experience. However, that wasn’t enough for head coach Matt Eberflus. He knew the challenges awaiting the rookie once the regular season began. So, he decided to take things a step further. Williams would practice all of training camp against the starting defense.
However, Eberflus wasn’t done. He had to do something else to help simulate actual game conditions to illustrate what Williams will be up against. That meant doing something he almost never does: blitz. Recent reports out of Halas Hall have indicated the defense is throwing tons of different blitzes at the offense, working to confuse the quarterback and his protection. Keep in mind the Bears had a 22% blitz rate last year, which was a distant 21st in the league. This is not something Eberflus does a lot.
That gives you an idea of what he’s trying to do.
Minnesota (#1), Detroit (#10), and Green Bay (#11) were all among the league’s more active blitzing teams last year. There is no question they will hurl extra rushers at Williams as early and often as possible. It would be malpractice if the Bears didn’t work to prepare their young quarterback for this. Yes, the execution on offense hasn’t been smooth since the start of training camp. Anybody who expected it to be was a little too optimistic. If a rookie quarterback is combined with a new offensive scheme against a talented defense, these results should not be shocking.
Matt Eberflus is playing the long game. He’s not focused on August. Everything is geared towards helping Williams ascend over the course of the season. If that means absorbing hiccups in training camp, so be it. The head coach believes facing these challenges now will make his quarterback better once the real games start. There is no reason to think he’s wrong. Williams is mentally tough. Teammates have insisted up and down that he is handling the pressure really well. It is all about learning to process information at a speed that is high enough to make it second nature.
That takes time.
