“He’s the starter”: Caleb Williams and fellow rookies take to Halas Hall on day 1 of rookie minicamp
CHICAGO — After the first day of Chicago Bears rookie minicamp, head coach Matt Eberflus put the kibosh on any controversy surrounding the Bears’ quarterback position.
“No conversation,” Eberflus said during media availability Friday. “He’s the starter.”
“He” being No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, which should come as no surprise to absolutely anyone.
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Before the Bears made him the top pick in this year’s draft, they shipped incumbent starter Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a sixth round pick, and then signed quarterback Brett Rypien to serve as their third-string QB behind backup Tyson Bagent, laying the groundwork for Williams to be QB1 the moment he set foot in Halas Hall.
That moment was Friday, as Williams and fellow rookies Rome Odunze, Kiran Amegadjie, Tory Taylor and Austin Booker — Along with a contingent of undrafted free agents — took to the practice fields at the Bears’ facilities in north suburban Lake Forest for the team’s rookie minicamp.
“Right now, I feel pretty good,” Williams said Friday. “We’ll go out here today, I’m going to have a few mess ups probably, and things like that, working to eliminate those as fast as possible.”
Williams told media members Friday that he had started receiving notes and ideas of how Chicago’s offense runs as far back as his Top 30 prospect visit with the Bears in the beginning of April.
Those notes included everything from “verbiage, drops, cadence and all the things that really matter — Breaking the huddle, getting in the huddle, being able to communicate, and how those things go,” according to Williams.
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Once he gets those touchpoints down, Williams said he hopes he can get to a point where he can “teach” because that would allow him to both help other guys take the next step within the Bears’ offensive scheme, and give himself a measuring stick of how much he knows.
“Being able to teach is always big because it’s also another way for you to learn,” Williams said.
Even with how aggressively his new starting quarterback has attacked preparing to be under center for the Bears, Eberflus fell back on one of his calling card colloquialisms to describe how he want’s Williams to be as they head through rookie minicamp.
“Just be where your feet are,” Eberflus said. “Be in that moment, be in the play, execute that play, turn the page, go to the next play, and that’s what the elite guys do, and that’s what we expect from him.”
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