WARE, England — Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles noticed something about quarterback Caleb Williams over the past two weeks, both turnover-free victories.
The touchdowns were huge, but mechanically, Poles saw other signs of progress from the No. 1 pick.
“His operation part I thought was really clean,” Poles said Wednesday. “I thought from watching his eyes and just going through the process, it was more poised and controlled, and he knew where to go with the ball faster. Those are all promising things to see.”
Poles kicked things off from Hanbury Manor outside London, where the Bears are practicing ahead of Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Poles and president and CEO Kevin Warren both addressed the media, with the GM giving some roster updates and offering his observations through Week 5, and Warren took questions about the status of the stadium plans.
Here are five takeaways from our time with the Bears’ executives.
1. Caleb’s growth
In Week 1, Williams passed for 92 yards in a Bears win. He threw one touchdown pass but only 157 yards in the Week 4 win. Then he went off for 304 yards and two scores against the Carolina Panthers.
To Poles, it’s “learning how to play professional football.”
“And when I say that,” he continued, “that means to have a winning mentality in terms of, what does it take to win football games from the quarterback position. And you’ve seen that in terms of the efficiency, protecting the football, taking what’s given to him and then going into this last game, now the explosives are starting to show up.
“So I really like his progress, I love the work ethic and the time that he’s put into it, the grit and toughness, the ability to bounce back from tough games. He’s right where he should be and he’s continuing to get better.”
2. The Daniels comparisons
The Washington Commanders have been the talk of the NFL over the past month, as they’ve won four in a row while scoring at least 34 points in their last three games. No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels has completed 77 percent of his passes while rushing for 300 yards.
Poles was asked about guarding against weighing Williams’ start against Daniels’.
“The human side of it is you want your guy to just take off and roll, but everyone’s journey is gonna be different,” he said. “I think the important thing is for Caleb to understand that as well and run his own race, and he’s done that well in terms of just focusing on how can I get better, how can I put our team in a position to win games.”
The “everybody’s journey is different” is a similar refrain we heard from coach Matt Eberflus in September when talking about Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. It’s clearly a talking point in the building to make sure expectations are tempered with Williams.
The Bears travel to face the Commanders after their bye.
3. A stadium (non-)update
While conversations are ongoing, as far as any news on the stadium, there is none. Warren said the plan remains to have a shovel in the ground in 2025 and the focus is still on building at the Museum Campus in downtown Chicago.
“This is a long journey,” he said. “On any of these stadium projects you try to make it as straight of a journey as you possibly can, but this takes time, it takes a lot of effort, it takes a lot of energy. I’ve been there before and so we’re exactly where I thought we would be at this point in time.”
At some point, the Bears might fall behind Warren’s schedule. For now, he pointed out upcoming legislative sessions that would be key in the next steps.
“The theoretical next step is to continually work forward and ultimately get approval from a political standpoint, and there’s some political milestones (upcoming),” he said. “You have a fall veto session. You have a session in January. You have a session next year. So there are steps, but we want to make sure that we’re prepared at that point in time. But I feel if I go back and look at my notes when I even started this job in regard to the stadium, right where we are right now is where I thought we would be. And we’re gonna continue to stay positive and push forward.”
4. Waldron’s ability to adapt
The Bears’ struggles on offense over the first three weeks led to the much-discussed extra communication between players and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
What did Poles learn about Waldron during that critical point early in the season?
“His openness,” Poles said. “We all, from scouting to coaching, we all have these philosophies … but at the end of the day, it’s about the players and putting them in a position to be successful. So just identifying where Caleb’s at in his process. Do we need to slow it up? Do we need to speed it down? Do we need to make decisions like getting into no-huddle and a tempo situation so he can get into a rhythm? Changing the cadence up. Different things like that.”
It was interesting for Poles to frame it in that way. We’ve often seen in Chicago the idea of a coach having to adapt his own system — and others who don’t. We just don’t usually see it acknowledged in that way. Waldron has gone from city lightning rod for three weeks to looking like the play caller the Bears hoped for over the past two weeks.
“His ability to adapt on the fly has been impressive as we’ve gone,” Poles said.
5. Injury updates
Safety Jaquan Brisker, who self-reported concussion symptoms Monday afternoon and was later diagnosed with one, did not travel with the team and has been ruled out for Sunday, Poles said.
Brisker, who had his best game in Week 4 and forced a fumble in Week 5, has had multiple concussions in his career. The forced fumble led to it, but Poles was pleased with Brisker’s technique.
“I thought he did a really good job actually of getting his head out of it and using his shoulder, but unfortunately the offensive player hit the side of his helmet,” Poles said. “There’s always the human side and the health side and we want to make sure he’s in a good place and stays healthy.”
Defensive end Jacob Martin, who has been sidelined since the beginning of camp, is available to begin practicing. The Bears are opening the three-week window, at the end of which they’ll have to add him to the active roster or keep him on injured reserve. In the spring, Martin was the No. 3 defensive end. Darrell Taylor has had that role this season and is second on the team in QB hits.
Offensive tackle Larry Borom and offensive guard/center Ryan Bates remain on IR despite being eligible to practice. Poles said both players are getting closer.
The Bears did bring back tight end Tommy Sweeney, signing him to the practice squad.
(Top photo: David Banks / Imagn Images)
