Caleb Williams is set to suit up for the first time as a Chicago Bear with Thursday's preseason-opening Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
Well, that is if he plays at all.
Williams' status for Chicago's contest against the Houston Texans remains to be determined, but he told reporters on Monday he'd play if the decision was solely up to him. The main motivation isn't difficult to find, either: He knows he needs live reps.
"I always think there's more pros than cons in anything, especially for a young guy like myself," Williams said. "The reps are always paramount for anybody like myself, a young rookie, a second-year guy, a third-year guy, it's paramount. It's really important and we'll see about these preseason games coming, how they will play out."
One could claim that Williams is getting all of the reps he needs in practice, but those are often controlled environments in which familiarity grows over weeks spent competing against each other. That's a main reason why joint practices are becoming increasingly appealing to coaches across the league. But nothing matches game reps, and Williams believes they'd help him advance the decision-making side of his game to the next stage.
"I would say working on my blitz and coverage looks and feeling the umbrella of the defense," Williams said when asked what he feels he needs to improve before Week 1 against the Titans, "and feeling that out to adjust protection; to adjust whether it's a run, flip the run into it, flip the protection, get to a quick gain, get to a cover-zero check, however the structure of it works out. Just progressing, and a lot of that comes with seeing it and reps, and that's why also preseason, those things are so important."
The opposite side of this argument concerns preserving Williams' health, a reasonable goal for a team that just traded away a former first-round quarterback in Justin Fields, spent the No. 1 overall pick on Williams and is pinning its future on his shoulders. But part of preparing a quarterback for the pro game is providing them with necessary experience. When Week 1 arrives, the gloves come off.
Williams made an all-but-bulletproof case for his participation in Thursday's game, but he knows he won't have the final say on the matter. That will be up to Matt Eberflus.
"I would love to get out there and play," he said. "It's pretty awesome to be at Canton, but it's coach's decision."
