Bears coach Matt Eberflus stood by his decision to play rookie quarterback Caleb Williams in the waning moments of a 29-9 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
Williams “tweaked” his left ankle on the final play of the game when Cardinals linebacker Julian Okwara grabbed his leg and pulled Williams to the ground after a six-yard pass to Keenan Allen. Williams grabbed his leg in the aftermath of the play, but got up and walked off the field with a slight limp. He said afterwards he was “OK.”
Putting their franchise quarterback at risk in that situation was criticized by CBS analyst Charles Davis and many others. Williams already had been sacked six times in the game. Starting offensive tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright were both out with injuries. The Bears had a walk-through Wednesday instead of their regular practice because of offensive line injuries.
But Eberflus, though not exactly running hot right now, was not worried about tempting fate.
“The starters were left in the game because we’re going to fight to the end,” Eberflus said Monday. “Those guys did a nice job with that on defense. Offense, we’re working operation … so it’s important that we have that mentality going forward.”
Eberflus declined to say directly whether general manager Ryan Poles was in agreement with that decision.
“I’m not going to get into private conversations with Ryan in terms of exactly what was said or not said,” Eberflus said. “We’re always on board for getting better. And we’re always on board with competing to the very end — I’ll tell you that.”
Circling the wagons
The Bears are 4-4 for the first time in Eberflus’ three seasons (they were 3-5 after eight games in 2022; 2-6 in 2023), but relative to expectations, this is a low-point. It has Eberflus in full old-school football coach mode when it comes to keeping this thing together.
“Just rely on the men in the room,” Eberflus said. “Like I said to the guys after the game, it’s all going to be about us. It’s going to be about the character and toughness and the determination each guy has and collectively we have as a football team.
“What you can rely on is the people that we’ve brought into the building and really, that’s all we need. We’ve got to do a great job of coming together, staying connected and doing a good job of the execution and improving on the aspects we need to improve on.”
Bears are hurtin’
Injuries threaten to derail the Bears’ ability to regain their form after back-to-back losses to the Commanders and Cardinals.
A key player on each side of the line — right tackle Darnell Wright (knee) and defensive tackle Andrew Billings (pec) — left the game with injuries and did not return. Eberflus had no update, but both players could miss multiple games.
Zacch Pickens, a 2023 third-round draft pick who played 22 snaps on Sunday in his second game back from an injury, figures to get even more if Billings is out. Veteran Jake Curhan played 17 snaps in place of Wright against the Cardinals. He had nine starts in three seasons with the Seahawks and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
The Bears already were without three starters on defense — defensive end Montez Sweat (shin), safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion) and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon. It’s possible, if not likely, that Sweat and Gordon will return this week against the Patriots at Soldier Field.