Bears veterans turn on Caleb Williams, and he only has himself to blame

The Chicago Bears are heavily invested in Caleb Williams' future, as they should be. Williams was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Bears traded their previous first-round QB, Justin Fields, to make room for Williams on the roster.

Some veterans didn't sound thrilled with that trade. Namely, wide receiver DJ Moore was a big believer in Fields just last offseason. Jaylon Johnson, a team leader, called Williams out before he even had a chance to defend himself.

"You just humble yourself coming into the building. You can't bring that Hollywood stuff into the building especially with guys who have played the game at a high level for consecutive years – Tremaine, TJ, Keenan Allen. We going to see through that. What you did in college, the Hollywood, it's like nah, you gotta prove yourself," Johnson said back in March.

Caleb Williams teammates reportedly wanted him benched

Chicago fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron on Tuesday morning, which was a long time coming. The Bears haven't scored an offensive touchdown for 23 straight drives. It's that bad. However, some Bears veterans think Williams play is a problem, and wanted him benched for Tyson Bagent, per Chicago sports radio host Marc Silverman.

Now, as is the case with any sports radio personality, this report should be taken with a grain of salt, but it's not a good sign such details have been leaked to the media.

What's wrong with Caleb Williams in Chicago?

It should again be noted that Williams is a rookie. There's always a learning curve in the NFL, and despite his talent, the USC product is no exception. As Jeff Howe of The Athletic pointed out, some of Williams flaws have followed him from the collegiate level to the NFL. One rival executive was happy to point them out.

“He is doing the same things he did in college in terms of holding the ball and being inconsistent with his reads,” a rival executive said. “He could get away with running around, throwing the ball up for grabs, throwing across his body, and he had some success doing that. You don’t get away with that at the NFL level too often. I’m a little surprised they haven’t been able to clean some of this up.”

The more telling piece from that quote is the last sentence, which is that said executive is surprised the Bears haven't helped Williams make the necessary adjustments through 10 weeks of regular-season football. I would agree, and it speaks to Chicago's initial mistake, which occurred months before they even drafted Williams.

Why in the world did they bring back Matt Eberflus AND let him hire another offensive coordinator? Your guess is as good as mine.