Bears coach Matt Eberflus defends playing Caleb Williams to the end
Bears coach Matt Eberflus stood by his decision to play rookie quarterback Caleb Williams in the waning moments of Sunday’s 29-9 loss to the Cardinals.
Williams said he “tweaked” his left ankle on the final play when Cardinals linebacker Julian Okwara grabbed his leg and pulled him to the ground after a six-yard pass to wide receiver Keenan Allen. Williams grabbed his leg but got up and walked off the field with a slight limp and said afterward he was “OK.”
CBS analyst Charles Davis and many others criticized the Bears for putting their franchise quarterback at risk in that situation after Williams already had been sacked six times. Starting offensive tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright were both out with injuries. The Bears even had a walk-through last Wednesday instead of their regular practice because of injures on the offensive line.
But Eberflus, though not exactly running hot, wasn’t worried about tempting fate.
“The starters were left in the game because we’re going to fight to the end,” he said Monday. “Those guys did a nice job with that on defense. Offense, we’re working operation . . . so it’s important that we have that mentality going forward.”
Eberflus declined to say directly whether general manager Ryan Poles was in agreement with that decision.
“I’m not going to get into private conversations with Ryan in terms of exactly what was said or not said,” Eberflus said. “We’re always on board for getting better. And we’re always on board with competing to the very end — I’ll tell you that.”
Circling the wagons
The Bears are 4-4 for the first time in Eberflus’ three seasons (they were 3-5 after eight games in 2022 and 2-6 in 2023). But relative to expectations, this is a low point. And it has Eberflus in full old-school coach mode about keeping this thing together.
“Just rely on the men in the room,” he said. “Like I said to the guys after the game, it’s all going to be about us. It’s going to be about the character and toughness and the determination each guy has and collectively we have as a football team.
“What you can rely on is the people that we’ve brought into the building and really, that’s all we need. We’ve got to do a great job of coming together, staying connected and doing a good job of the execution and improving on the aspects we need to improve on.”
Bears are hurtin’
Injuries threaten to derail the Bears’ ability to regain their form after back-to-back losses to the Commanders and Cardinals. A key player on each side of the line — Wright (knee) and defensive tackle Andrew Billings (pectoral) — left Sunday and didn’t return. Eberflus had no update, but both players could miss multiple games.
Zacch Pickens, a 2023 third-round draft pick who played 22 snaps Sunday in his second game back from an injury, figures to get even more if Billings is out. Veteran Jake Curhan played 17 snaps in Wright’s place against the Cardinals. He made nine starts in three seasons with the Seahawks under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
The Bears already were without three starters on defense: defensive end Montez Sweat (shin), safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon. Sweat and Gordon are possible, if not likely, to return this week at home against the Patriots.