Chicago Bears’ rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has already dealt with a lot of turmoil just 13 weeks into his NFL career.
After his ninth start in the league, Williams was already forced to adapt to a new offensive play-caller after the team fired former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Three weeks later, the team also made the decision to fire his head coach Matt Eberflus following a sixth straight loss.
Now, heading into Week 14 of his rookie season, Williams will be working with his second head coach and third offensive coordinator of his career. It’s easy to see why that can be concerning for a young player.
However, while making his first public appearance since being named interim head coach, Thomas Brown offered a simple message for the team’s rookie quarterback.
“We all have to make adjustments. Life is ever changing. That’s not an excuse,” Brown said on Monday. “Don’t make excuses.”
As for the rest of the team, Brown hopes to unify the locker room back together over the final five weeks of the season.
“We’re in this thing together,” Brown added. “We communicate together. I want those guys to understand that we always have a door and path to come communicate with me. I will not just do whatever they ask me to. That’s not how it works.”
Amid all the outside noise following this change, Brown challenged all his players to control their thoughts and focus on the task at hand.
For Brown, obviously there’s going to be more added to his plate but he’s still going to remain as the primary offensive play-caller now on the sidelines. During the week, Brown noted he still met with the quarterbacks on Monday and will continue to work closely with the position group alongside quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph.
Under Brown as the play-caller, the Bears’ offense was able to get back on track despite the final scores over the last three games. Earlier on Monday, wide receiver DJ Moore noted he doesn’t believe there will be any differences for the offense when it comes to Brown calling plays from the sideline opposed to the box.
It’ll be interesting to see how Williams and the rest of the team respond to Brown’s message and leadership on Sunday against the reigning NFC Champions
