Millions of people watched Caleb Williams pass for 298 yards and four touchdowns in last Sunday's 31-14 rout of the Cowboys. But the performance—which earned the Bears quarterback NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors—would not have been possible without the work he put in out of the spotlight.
On-field preparation for Sunday games typically begins on Wednesday with a walkthrough in the morning and a practice in the afternoon. Mistakes are made because it's the first time the players are being introduced to that week's game plan. But Williams' ability to decipher the information and make corrections has enabled him to excel so far this season. The second-year pro ranks sixth in the NFL with a 107.6 passer rating and is No. 1 on third down with a 123.7 rating.
"What I'm most impressed at with him and his process is the next day, he really locks everything in from the day before," said coach Ben Johnson. "He really locks everything in from the day before. We don't have to go back and revisit it again. He's a quick study in that regard, and because of that, we can load up the game plan more each week."
The belief that Johnson has in Williams was evident against the Cowboys when the coach kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-goal from the 4 late in the third quarter. The quarterback responded by throwing a touchdown pass to receiver DJ Moore.
"Him and I talk and meet every single day," Williams said of Johnson. "And then getting out there on the practice field builds a lot of confidence in him to be able to call the plays whatever moment it is … whether it's fourth-and-4 on the goal line and the trust between us to be able to try and go get it. A lot of it is practice and a lot of it's us, the afterhours that we spend here."
Williams acknowledged that he was "a little bit more frustrated" with mistakes in Wednesday practices last year as a rookie but has since learned that they are inevitable and just part of the preparation process.
"There are going to be hard moments in practice like today," Williams said Wednesday as the Bears prepared for Sunday's game against the Raiders in Las Vegas. "It's probably one of the hardest days of a quarterback's job because all of the game plan that's going in."
Williams said that it's important "being able to be positive, being able to understand that it is Wednesday and a bunch of it is new and not get too frustrated and give myself a little grace on Wednesdays to be able to understand I'll go back study tonight, study tomorrow and keep studying throughout the week. And then we'll get to Sunday and be able to rep it and get out there and call those plays and be efficient and do whatever we need to do to win the game."
Williams' mindset to turn the page to the next game has also enabled him to succeed.
"He won offensive player of the week for the NFC, and he came in [Wednesday] completely unfazed by it," Johnson said. "I tried to recognize him in front of the group, and he wasn't having it. Very stoic. He's already on to the next game. He knows he needs to have an even better performance here this week to give us the best chance to win."
"It's time to move on and focus on the Raiders," Williams said. "We have a tall task at hand with [edge rusher] Maxx [Crosby] and those defensive players and that explosive offense and guys on special teams. Every week is important. Every game. Every moment. That was a good moment we had Sunday and it's time to move on to the Raiders."
