WARE, England — Spending the week overseas is nothing new to Caleb Williams. The Bears’ rookie quarterback has seen the world — he’s watched the Grand Prix in Monaco and gone to the Louis Vuitton spring/summer fashion show in Paris.
To his teammates, though, he remains “Baby Bro.”
That’s changing.
“He’s taken those strides that he needs to,” receiver DJ Moore said. “He’s been bossy lately, telling us that we need to be in on the details. We really do, for him to be the best player he needs to be.
“What I mean by bossy is, if we don’t hit something in practice, he’s going to tell us how we need to run it … When we get out there in the game, just making sure you work — because he’s gonna have some words for you if you don’t. That’s him being a leader. He’s a little bossy. It’s the little bro.”
Williams stood not far from Moore at the team’s hotel in the English countryside when he heard the receiver’s nickname.
“‘Bossy’ — sounds a little sassy,” Williams said with a smile.
Call him “Bossy Bro,” then. Williams has grown more assertive with each game during the Bears’ 3-2 start.
“You do want to see that,” Moore said, smiling. “He’s like little bro, so you’re looking at him like, ‘Dude, don’t be talking to me like that.’ But I understand, because we need to really connect on that. That’s what we did the past week.”
In Week 4, Moore and Williams weren’t on the same page when a surefire 22-yard touchdown pass fell incomplete late in the first half against the Rams. Moore beat the defender but didn’t run the route Williams thought he would.
Last week, Moore had the best game any Bears receiver has posted all season, catching five passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Williams played his finest game, too, throwing for 304 yards in the 36-10 win against the Panthers.
“I took his advice, I listened …” Moore said. “Older bro had to take a backseat for a second.”
When the Bears drafted Williams first overall, he vowed to listen to his teammates. Now the rookie has grown comfortable enough to talk — and even yell — during Sunday’s game against the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“It was me learning everybody and understanding how everybody reacts to certain things,” Williams said. “Certain people you can be a little bossy with, certain people you have to talk very monotone and in control of yourself and other times there’s people that you can just kind of lash out at. I don’t really lash out much. That’s not really my vibe.”
He’s learned to wait until Moore calms down after a drive — whether it was a good one or a disappointing one. Each offensive teammate has different personality quirks Williams knows how to maneuver.
“Being able to go over and talk to them and understand how and what they need to hear —and then, from there, moving on,” Williams said. “The other part of it is getting more comfortable in understanding the offense a little bit better and getting more comfortable calling it. Being in games, being in live action moments, I think, has helped me.”
The statistics support him. In the past four weeks, Williams’ passer rating has climbed from 51 to 80.8 to 106.6 to 126.2.
“These five games,” he said, “have been really important for me.”
His teammates see it, even when Williams bosses them around.
“You’re starting to see him more comfortable, settling in a little bit,” receiver Keenan Allen said. “We already knew once the plays started coming the floodgates were gonna open. We’re still working toward that.”
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