It's easy to explain why Caleb Williams has made major strides in recent weeks.
The Bears quarterback entered his rookie season without having played a meaningful game since last Nov. 18 when he led USC against crosstown rival UCLA.
Williams needed some time to assimilate to the NFL, especially digesting a new offense and developing cohesiveness with teammates and first-year coordinator Shane Waldron.
"Throughout these past four weeks, I've been getting more comfy," Williams said. "Just getting back into the flow of playing football, getting back in the flow of getting up there, making checks, taking a few hits, all of that.
"I think the biggest thing is just getting back into the flow. It's a new everything for me being here. Getting into the flow, making sure Shane and I are on the same page [so] when he calls a play and we have alerts that we're on the same page."
Williams has shown marked improvement since the start of the season. His completion percentage has increased each week from 48.3 to 62.2 to 63.5 to 73.9.
Over the last six quarters, he has completed 70.8% of his passes with three touchdowns, one interception and a 99.9 passer rating. In his first 10 quarters, he connected on 57.0% of his passes with no TDs, three interceptions and a 57.6 rating.
In Williams' last two starts, he set a Bears rookie record by passing for 363 yards against the Colts and then posted a career-high 106.6 rating versus the Rams.
The long layoff since his last college game impacted his start to the season.
"It's definitely real," Williams said. "I mean, you can prepare all you want. If you look at all the injured guys or all guys who stopped playing for a year, whatever the case may be, when they come back, the football shape, it's different. You can run all you want. You can run the hills, you can lift, do all these things, be on such a tight routine with yourself and the team, then you get into a football game and you're tired, you're exhausted in the game, taking a few hits and your body hasn't adjusted to that yet.
"It's a real thing. You feel it all. After the first two games of my career here, I was a little more sore than I was the past two weeks."
Williams' increased familiarity with the offense has been reflected in his improvement against the blitz. When blitzed by the Texans in Week 2, he completed just 3 of 12 passes with one interception and five sacks. But when blitzed by the Rams last Sunday, he connected on 8 of 9 passes for 75 yards.
"For me, it's understanding what we need as a team right now in the moment, which is no turnovers, protecting the football and then being smart with the football," Williams said. "Regardless of what the score is, first half or anything like that, all of our games have come down to the wire. So understanding that and if I cannot turn the ball over and find a way to get those extra points, those extra three points, that extra seven, removing those interceptions, it helps the team in a long way."
Gaining more experience has also helped Williams make strides.
"You learn from all your mistakes, and that's what I've been doing," he said. "Those interceptions, those messed up plays that I may have had, the rookie mistakes as they call them, just learning from those as fast as possible. Not hanging my head for too long. Obviously frustrated about them because it's not a characteristic I've been used to—turning the ball over—so making sure I protect the ball, not having mistakes overall and doing whatever the team needs me to do."
After throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble a week earlier in Indianapolis, Williams didn't commit any turnovers against the Rams.
Coach Matt Eberflus praised the rookie for "dispersing the ball around like we're supposed to, playing point guard like we talk about, and playing clean football. That's what last week was. We played good, clean football from that position."
Williams told reporters that he doesn't feel limited by Eberflus' philosophy that the most important thing for a quarterback is to not turn the ball over.
"You honestly have to measure your attack and when is the best chance," Williams said. "I think that's the toughest thing. You may want that shot. You've got to measure your shots.
"Obviously, there's going to be turnovers, things that happen, but [it's important] not making a bad play worse, not making the situation worse. And then also even if the situation is bad, understanding the situation. We may have just had a turnover, three-and-out on defense, keeping them off the field, keeping that offense off the field, understanding that taking the checkdown right there might be best and just measuring when to take that knockout shot."
