Caleb Williams questioned over ability to ‘handle himself’ as Chicago Bears prepare to implement significant changes

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A big sophomore season lies ahead for the Windy City’s franchise quarterback.The pressure is on Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears to be significantly better than they were last year at 5-12.It’s Year 2 of the Caleb Williams era in ChicagoGettyWilliams’ rookie season was extremely turbulent, with more downs than ups, including the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldon after nine games and the eventual dismissal of head coach Matt Eberflus weeks later.It was a dysfunctional disaster class on how to welcome in the number one overall pick to your franchise.As it turns out, it was even worse than anyone imagined, as ESPN’s Seth Wickersham’s book, “American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback,” revealed that Williams was often left alone to watch game film by himself, without a plan or guidance from the coaching staff.Williams’ father admitted a handful of nuggets in Wickersham’s book when it came to his son wanting to come to Chicago and just how rocky a first season it truly was.To no surprise, Williams’ former coaches weren’t thrilled with those details becoming public. NFL insider Jeremy Fowler has reported the changes that the new Chicago coaching staff is implementing for Williams and what they hope to see out of him in year two.“Football maturity is going to be a big thing for him,” Fowler said about Williams via Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek.“League-wide, talking to other teams who are watching it closely because the ability is massive, but how does he comport himself on the field?“The Bears have already been working with him on body language, how you’re handling yourself in the huddle, on the sidelines when a play doesn’t go right. And the word out of Chicago is he’s handling himself well there.“Fowler continued with his report about the quarterback’s former coaches being disappointed with how he handled himself at times in his first year.All eyes will be on Williams this season and how he conducts himselfGettyWilliams and new head coach Ben Johnson will look to take it to another levelGetty“Now, some of the previous Bears coaches were not overly thrilled, I was told, that he made public that he was watching film by himself,” Fowler said.“They felt like he could have handled that a little better from an accountability standpoint. So those are all things people are watching, but word is this offseason he’s been great, really taken to Ben Johnson’s hard, aggressive coaching.”The hope is that new head coach Ben Johnson can come in and unlock Williams and the Bears offense the way he was able to do with the Detroit Lions and quarterback Jared Goff.So far everything out of Chicago has been trending that way.One FS1 analyst (and noted Bears homer) even made a bold statement when it came to Williams and a certain division rival.Danny Parkins appeared on First Things First and wasn’t afraid to stick up for his quarterback. NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?“Caleb Williams, already better than Jordan Love,” Parkins said. “How about that?”Parkins’ main sticking point was the amount of interceptions Love has thrown versus Williams.“Jordan Love has played the majority of two seasons,” Parkins continued. “Both of those seasons, double digit interceptions.“Guy had 11 interceptions both years he played. Caleb Williams played 17 games last year, had six.”While it certainly seems like a bold and hot take on the surface, it may not sound so crazy by the time the season gets going and Williams is able to smoothly operate Johnson’s offense.The talent and arm are there, and if Williams is able to piece it all together, then look out Chicago. You may just finally have your franchise quarterback.