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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterDec 17, 2024, 03:07 AM ET
- Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.
MINNEAPOLIS — In the wake of the Bears‘ eighth straight loss, a 30-12 defeat in Minnesota which marked a season sweep by the Vikings, Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams took a moment to reflect on his rookie season.
The reality of Williams’ first year is a team in freefall as the Bears dropped to 4-10 on Monday night. While Williams’ teammates Cole Kmet and Jaylon Johnson experienced the turmoil of a franchise-worst 14-game losing streak that spanned the 2022-23 seasons, this is unfamiliar territory for the No. 1 pick, who reflected on his rookie experience with an honest yet optimistic outlook.
“It’s been frustrating and encouraging,” Williams said. “I would say the frustrating part is obviously we’re on a — how many games now, eight? — yeah, eight-game losing streak. Like I’ve said before, it’s new to me. I haven’t experienced anything like this. That’s the frustrating part. The encouraging part is how much we fight as a team.
“The encouraging part is us as a team … being able to go through all of what’s happened this year. Me not playing well at the beginning of the season and feeling like I was seeing it well and then being able to find ways to keep growing, keep progressing through those times that I was frustrated. Coaches getting fired and all of this stuff going on, 4-10 right now. Being able to wake up, be consistent, do that every day with how it’s been going is encouraging for me. It’s encouraging for this team and we’ve got to keep going. It’s been encouraging but also frustrating for myself.”
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Williams appeared visibly frustrated and in pain on the Bears’ bench early in the fourth quarter. After taking a devastating hit from Minnesota linebacker Jihad Ward, cameras showed a visibly shaken Williams laying on his side.
Williams was hit three times and sacked twice by the Vikings, bringing his sack total for the year to 58, most in the league.
When asked about the accumulative toll of the hits he’s taken through 14 games, Williams declined to point to any mental strain he may be feeling, but noted how the physical impact is one he’s battling through.
“Let’s put it in this context,” Williams said. “Say you get in three car accidents in a month, you’re going to feel it. That’s what a hit is in football. … Getting hit, especially when you can’t deliver a hit to somebody as in like run the ball, you take those over an amount of time and it builds up.”
The Bears offense struggled to score against the Vikings and had a rushing touchdown by D’Andre Swift wiped away after backup center/fullback Doug Kramer admitted he forgot to report to the official on the field and was flagged for an illegal substitution.
“100 percent on me,” Kramer said. “Forgot to report. Ran on the field, clock was running down, got in the huddle and ran the play. It’s an unacceptable mistake. Obviously I apologized to all my teammates, everyone on the offense. Things like that can’t happen.”
Concerns over Chicago’s execution issues have been discussed for weeks, but the tone expressed from several players inside the visitors’ locker room at U.S. Bank Stadium was harsher.
When asked whether he could tell the difference between his teammates’ lack of effort or execution, DJ Moore did not mince words.
“No. You can’t (tell the difference),” Moore said. “We don’t know where it’s coming from but if you don’t got no effort, you don’t got no execution.”
Added Kmet: “I think what I’ve learned through it all is you’ve got to be on your own s—. Trying to get other guys to do certain things or other people to do certain things, it takes away from your own preparation. So you’ve got to take care of your own s— and just do your job. And if other guys aren’t doing their job or other people aren’t doing their job, that’s on them.”
The Bears posted one of their worst games on third down (1-of-12) in Minnesota; their only third-down conversion came when there was 14:52 left in the fourth quarter. It was the Bears’ second game this season in which they had just a single third-down conversion. Chicago has a 32% conversion rate on third down, the second-worst rate in the NFL behind only the Cleveland Browns (29%).
Many of Williams’ struggles occurred on third down. The rookie QB was 2-of-7 for 34 yards with two sacks, two scrambles and a fumble on third down and was pressured on 8-of-11 third-down dropbacks (73%), his highest pressure rate faced on third down in his career.
