Short game is key to Bears QB Caleb Williams' development, but only part of his endeavor

The highlight reel from Caleb Williams’ two seasons at USC is stacked with one “hero” play after another as he lit up opposing secondaries. No wonder he was one of the most popular college athletes of his era.

That’s not typically how NFL games are won, though, and Williams is learning that in his rookie season with the Bears. There’s little thrill in checkdowns, but deciding to take the easy passes was key in his efficient performance to beat the Rams last week, and it’s critical that he continues to show proficiency in that area Sunday against the Panthers.

But no one should misunderstand what he’s trying to establish at this early phase of his career. The Bears absolutely aren’t trying to coach the fun out of Williams.

If anyone needs total clarity on that, passing game coordinator Thomas Brown recently reiterated that there are higher levels to this job than simply avoiding mistakes, even for a rookie.

“You can’t be scared to throw the football and take chances,” Brown said, speaking specifically to how the team is coaching Williams. “You would never make any plays.”

While they want Williams to be effective in the short game and minimize turnovers like any successful pro, that’s merely one piece of his education.

“Definitely a key step,” Williams said.

Certainly not the whole thing, however, and Williams readily agreed with that.

In a way, he’s learning the hard part of the job first. He was a deep-ball artist in college and mentioned recently he knew that recognizing checkdown opportunities “was a knock on my game” in the pre-draft analysis.

He went 15 for 15 against the Rams on passes shorter than 10 yards and averaged 8.4 yards per play on those. Again, that alone won’t get the job done, but the best quarterbacks spend much of the game making so-called layups and seize on a few big-play opportunities.

Williams’ playing style is often likened to Patrick Mahomes’, and his favorite quarterback growing up was Aaron Rodgers. Both win predominantly by consistently making small gains and dropping in just a few big ones.

Consistent passing underneath was key to Williams posting a 106.6 passer rating, the seventh-highest by a Bears rookie, on 17-of-23 passing for 157 yards and a touchdown.

A week before, when he piled up 363 somewhat empty yards in a loss to the Colts and committed three turnovers, he completed 84% within 10 yards and averaged just 5.9 yards per play. He also threw an interception just past the line of scrimmage.

None of this would be exciting if it was indicative of the finished product, but the goal at this stage is to grow and lay the foundation for a long career.

“Not holding the ball, not taking those sacks, finding checkdowns, getting the ball out of your hands and letting guys that you have go make plays — that’s what I’m here to do,” he said, adding that he also has to create plays himself.

As Williams continues to lock that in as a core component of his game, the next steps are to play effectively in the intermediate range and make good on opportunities deep.

When will those parts click for him? There’s no obvious timeline, but it’s clear he is a quick learner. He might’ve gotten off to a slow start, but don’t be surprised when there are sharp upticks.

The Panthers come in with a susceptible defense that has allowed the most points and fifth-highest opponent passer rating and gotten the fewest sacks. That was always the upside to the Bears’ backloaded schedule this season: Williams would face many manageable tests as he acclimated to the NFL.

This is the time to reinforce what he’s learning in the short-range passing attack and start taking steps in other areas. And it’s fine for him to be a work in progress — as long as there actually is steady progress.