Caleb Williams will make his regular-season debut against the Tennessee Titans. The entire offseason program, training camp, and preseason have been building up to this when the Chicago Bears can showcase their wares in earnest. They flashed in the preseason, but that is an openly vanilla period.
That and Williams? college tape is all the Titans have to go off of for now, and Tennessee head coach Brian Callahan spoke candidly about his plan to overload the rookie QB with information.
Caleb Williams, Bears in for ‘Holistic Approach’ From Titans
Titans HC Touts Caleb Williams’ Talent
?You try to watch him play NFL football as best you can. Obviously, played just a little bit in the preseason. I don’t know that ?Hard Knocks? gives you a whole lot. I know that’s out there, but I just think you have to go off with what type of player he is, the caliber of quarterback he’s been over his career. And you saw glimpses of it in the preseason,? Callahan told reporters on September 2.
?He can make off-schedule plays, he can stand there and deliver balls. He’s everything at a No. 1 pick you would expect to be, and so you have to treat him as such and treat him with that kind of respect. Obviously, you have to earn that in this league. He’s got to do it in regular-season games. I just hope it isn’t in the first week.?
Williams? preseason production belies the optimism and anticipation around his debut.
He completed 50% of his passes for 170 yards with 0 touchdowns or interceptions in the preseason. However, he led four scoring drives in seven series, including a seven-yard touchdown run versus the Buffalo Bills.
The Bears have echoed a top-to-bottom message of relying on his playmakers like Cole Kmet, DJ Moore, and Keenan Allen as well as a revamped run game featuring D?Andre Swift.
He will need to will all that Calahan plans to throw at him.
?I think we’re in the beginning stages of the plan,? Callahan said. ?But there’s certainly things that he’s probably seen before and some that he hasn’t. And I think ? there’s an adage in football where you kind of, you see things until you prove you can handle it. And I think that that’s all part of putting a plan together for a young quarterback is making sure they’re not seeing it very clear. Whether that’s pressure, or coverage, or disguise ? whatever that looks like. For us, it?s, ?Try to keep him as off balance and uneasy as possible.?
?Again, it doesn’t mean just pressuring. That just means how we’re handling our defensive structure in the game as well. So it’s a holistic approach, obviously. But we’re going to need all of it to go up to Chicago and win.?
Jeffery Simmons Eager to Face Caleb Williams, Bears
Callahan figures to have little trouble getting his defense to buy in. Titans star defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons already said he is eager to face Williams and the Bears.
?When you got a first-round pick like Caleb Williams himself, which is a great player. Watched him a couple games when he was at USC and he?s a hell of a player.? Simmons said on ?The Rich Eisen Show? on June 25. ?But it?s a different league and I?m excited to play him the first game.?
Simmons said is charged by being an underdog in the game and has a message ready for Williams, whose style has gotten a lot of attention.
?Painted nails,? Simmons said. ?I can?t wait to say that to him.?
?It?s going to be one of them games, especially, I mean he probably get smack-talked to by his teammates right now. But it?s going to be ? especially a game like that? My first game [back from injury]. Of course, I missed the end of the season. It?s going to be the first game of the season. They got us coming to Chicago. All the hype going to be around them, of course.?
The Titans revamped their roster, adding wide receivers Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd, running back Tony Pollard, and center Lloyd Cushenberry to the offense.
They added cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and L’Jarius Sneed and safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs to the defense.
Caleb Williams Gets Shout Out From Former Backup
Williams drew criticism for sitting out of USC?s Holiday Bowl victory over Louisville. He explained wanting to give then-backup Miller Moss a chance to play. Moss completed 69.7% of his passes for 372 yards and 6 touchdowns with 1 interception in the contest.
Moss is off to a hot start in 2024, completing 75% of his passes for 378 yards and 1 touchdown in the Trojans? season-opening victory over LSU.
The true senior, Moss, gave Williams a shoutout for the early exposure.
?I think it helped me a tremendous amount,? Moss told Matt Barrie on ?College Football Countdown? on September 2. ?Me and Caleb are very close. We text back and forth throughout the week and stuff like that. I think we’re always rooting for one another. But I think, really, those practices going head-to-head ? because our first spring together, we were the only scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, so we took every single rep.
?Just going back and forth with him for those two years really helped shape me as a player, really push me competitively, and I think ? really helped mold me into not only the person but the player I am today. So I’ll always be grateful for those times.?
Williams can check off the receipts from those who doubted his decision to skip the Holiday Bowl. Next up is proving that he is indeed the distributor and playmaker he is billed to be with a defense very much looking to stifle him and the Bears.