Bears News: Williams on another loss: "I didn’t execute on many different occasions" |
CHICAGO—Quarterback Caleb Williams has had a difficult rookie season. He has been sacked a league-leading 67 times for a loss of 459 yards.
With one game remaining, Williams is already second among rookies for most times sacked in a season after being sacked seven times in Chicago’s 6-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. “I think anytime you take multiple hits throughout a season or throughout a game, they add up. Obviously, just as anybody, if you get hit more often, more often than not, you start to feel those a little bit (more),” Williams said. “Recovery and things like that is really important and when you take a bunch of hits or anything like that, whatever position you are, recovery and all of that (is) super important and got (one) more game and got to go back and recover and get ready for the next game.” Statistically, his performance was depressing, with only 122 passing yards, his first interception since mid-October, and a quarterback rating of 53. However, it was clear watching the game that the offensive line was completely failing him. Throughout the game, free rushers were coming at him because of missed assignments. They were also missing multiple starters, which has been a relatively frequent occurrence this season. Despite the line's performance, Williams continues to take the blame, although he is incredibly frustrated with his own play this season. “I was frustrated, still frustrated. I’m going to probably be frustrated until (Friday) after I get a good chance to watch it. So, I didn’t play well enough. I didn’t (help) put the team in a good position to win, a better position to win and that’s what it is,” Williams said. “Frustrated, annoyed, but learning, I would say. I think this is going to be good for me and excited about this last game and then excited about the future.” The city’s frustration with the Bears reached a boiling point in the fourth quarter when the fans started chanting, ‘Sell the team.’ Williams has been the recipient of much criticism throughout his football career, particularly in his first year in the NFL. However, he has never been one to listen to the outside noise and continues to have that mentality despite Chicago’s 10-game losing streak. “My job is to go out there and win games and we don’t focus on outside noise. The fans, (they are) going to cheer and maybe boo sometimes and you can’t react to that. It’s not something that we react to. We have a job to do and sometimes you don’t do so well on the job some days and some days you’re pretty consistent. Some days you play a great game. So, I think today was one of those games that I think we played on two sides of the ball today pretty well - special teams and defense - and then, offense, we didn’t play well. There was miscues. There was stupid sacks that I was taking, losing 10, 14 yards, which is frustrating. But, I will say that I’ll definitely take the heat for this one just (because) some of the situations that I put us in … Got to be better,” Williams said. “I think we simply didn’t execute. I think, obviously, there’s times where you can have a better call, want a better call, things like that. But, we didn’t execute. I didn’t execute on many different occasions this game and it’s frustrating but, got to find a way.” Chicago only has one game left this season, on Sunday, Jan. 5, against the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field. Green Bay already clinched a spot in the playoffs after their dominant 34-0 victory over the New Orleans Saints this past Monday. However, they are still trying to secure which seed they will be in the playoffs.
