Caleb Williams: Bears' MNF victory is 'who we are' — Press Conference

[0:00] Obviously a tough place to play. You guys come in and put your fingerprints all over this game. [0:04] Yeah, that's who we want to be known as when we come in that we're also a force to be reckoned with. [0:11] I mean, that's a I mean, they just won a Super Bowl last year. They got a bunch of guys back. [0:16] That's a worthy opponent on all sides of the ball, offense, defense, special teams. [0:21] They got all pro guys. They got, you know, a bunch of a bunch of talent over there. [0:26] They got the scheme. And so we knew it was going to be a challenge. [0:29] We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We knew that our identity, our identity, you know, had to show up for us. [0:35] And, you know, I think it did today. [0:37] Take away the opening draft, 17 players that are going to skip down. [0:41] Yeah, that's us reverting back to our training. [0:44] We we we do these long drive drills that, you know, in training camp and OTAs that you hate, that you that you dread at the end of practice. [0:55] It's hot. It's, you know, all of that. And, you know, they show up in big moments for us like today. [1:00] And we've got to keep going. We've got to keep believing. We've got to keep trusting each other. [1:04] Can you go back here? Ben talked about putting in a pretty involved game plan, especially given how loud the crowd was and all of that. [1:10] Pretty involved. What are you saying? [1:11] He said it was more complicated. [1:13] Oh, yeah. Yeah. OK, OK. [1:15] What was the challenge there for you? And it seemed like a lot of a lot of calls were gone. [1:21] Yeah. Yeah. I'm putting more on my plate. [1:25] I, you know, just keep working my tail off. I want to I want to be at my best for these guys. [1:31] I want to be at my best for Chicago, the organization, my teammates and things like that. [1:35] And so, you know, the more that I can more that I can do to be able to help this team. [1:41] You know, I'm going to spend extra time, extra hours, extra walkthroughs, extra just mental time to be able to, you know, have all the checks, have all that the line stuff, have, you know, these these these, you know, funky formations and all these different things to be able to put the, you know, make it seem super complex for the for the defense. [2:01] And, you know, playing in a loud place and having all the a bunch of new checks and all these different things. [2:05] And, you know, just to just to have this feeling at the end of it is it's nothing like it. [2:10] That's what I said to the guys in the locker room. [2:12] You put in all the work throughout the week to be able to have this feeling. [2:15] And, you know, you you want to, you know, keep having these moments. [2:18] And so you got to keep putting in the hard work as a team collectively. [2:21] And that's what we're going to do. [2:23] I think you said elaborate for the record. [2:26] Elaborate, I think. [2:26] Elaborate game plan. [2:27] Yeah, yeah, it was yeah, it was it was it's a fun week. [2:32] Caleb, you had the adverse moment with Colson's humble. [2:38] You guys responded with that scoring series. [2:40] What was that conversation? [2:42] And what do you make of that, you know, including Khalees, 39 yarder? [2:48] Yeah, that's that's that's who we are. [2:52] We don't waver and we believe in that we we know who we are. [2:57] You know, when things go bad, things are going to go bad. [3:00] It's it's it's an emotional game. [3:02] It's it's football. [3:02] Things happen. [3:03] It's it's 11 people on the field and offense, 11 on defense. [3:06] And so there's there's a lot that can, you know, can go wrong. [3:09] And so, you know, when things do go wrong, it's it's stand steady. [3:12] It's it's not overreacting. [3:14] You know, one of the biggest things when that I told the guys is when an event happens, I told the guys after Packers game. [3:21] You know, when when an event happens, you know, something happens. [3:26] Cool. [3:26] The reaction is the most important thing. [3:29] And that equals the outcome. [3:30] And so being able to react a certain way, being able to respond a certain way, the way we did is is really important for us. [3:38] That's who we are, like I said. [3:39] And so we're going to keep doing that when bad things happen. [3:40] We obviously don't want those things to happen, especially in those moments. [3:43] But when they do, let's let's respond. [3:46] Let's stay steady and be who we are. [3:47] I thought that opening drive of the cameras on the sideline caught you saying something like, I don't give an F who they are. [3:55] I guess. [3:56] Do you remember that? [3:57] I do not remember that. [3:58] Oh, well, I guess maybe just how much is that maybe just an embodiment of the confidence that you guys have as a team, as an offense specifically at this time? [4:07] Yeah, we believe in in each other. [4:09] And it's not just offense. [4:11] We wouldn't have this this belief without the defense. [4:16] We wouldn't have this belief without the special teams. [4:17] And so we know we have each other's back. [4:21] We work our tail offs as a team, the details, how detailed we are. [4:26] It's it's you know, it's it's really cool to see those things come to life and big moments and just throughout the game. [4:32] And so, you know, it's that's that's who we are. [4:35] We want to go out there and it doesn't it's it's a faceless opponent for us. [4:38] Each week is going to be a tough opponent. [4:40] And that's that's what this year is. [4:42] That's what it's going to be. [4:43] And so, you know, we've got to go out there. [4:45] We've got to execute. [4:45] We've got to do our part as a team, as an offense to be able to help the team. [4:49] What was it like watching Jeffrey Simmons play football? [4:52] Yeah, it's I'm happy. [4:53] You know, he's hefe. [4:56] I'm happy he's on our side. [4:57] He helps everybody on that field, on the defense. [5:03] He helps the D line when he gets, you know, double teams, he frees up other guys to be able to go be special. [5:10] And then and then when he gets one on ones, he, you know, allows him to wreak havoc, havoc. [5:14] And so I'm excited he's on our team. [5:17] He's a big key piece for us. [5:18] And we've got to we've got to focus on keep going. [5:20] Caleb, with efficiency. [5:22] Yeah. [5:22] What is it doing for your confidence to take these things that you guys worked on all offseason and talk about a lot and then consistently do it? [5:31] How efficient was I today? [5:32] I don't know. [5:33] Well, 71 percent. [5:35] Cool. [5:36] Cool. [5:37] Yeah, it's it's awesome. [5:39] It's just, you know, the the the work that you put in when it shows up and you can find ways to be consistent. [5:47] It's another motivating factor for me that I'm doing something right, that we're doing something right as a team, as myself. [5:54] And so it's just another moment for me to realize that I need to keep going. [5:58] I need to keep finding ways to get better. [6:00] I need to keep finding ways to, you know, deliver a better ball. [6:04] There was one dagger out that I threw to Rome that, you know, he had to slide for. [6:08] And he could have, you know, possibly ran and got more. [6:09] So, you know, I think I think it's just constantly evaluating myself and being tough on myself, being a truth teller about about what I'm doing and who I am and find ways to keep being consistent. [6:22] He says he's not really like keen on time of possession, but I mean, the first drive, 17 plays, 80 yards, like six minutes. [6:30] Was that the most dominant drive you think you've led in your time in the NFL? [6:36] I sure. [6:38] I don't I don't know. [6:40] I think I think there's been times we've had more time of possession in one drive, maybe not as many plays, but, you know, maybe spent more time. [6:49] So, you know, we it's it's something that that we take pride in being able to have those long drives. [6:56] It's it's it's it's a part of us. [6:58] It's who we are when we need those moments, when we need those drives. [7:01] We understand we understood that that this team, they don't they don't allow deep shots a lot of times. [7:05] I mean, they're one of the best teams of just not allowing shots over the top. [7:09] And so, you know, just just being patient, being true to who we are and taking what they give us as running backs. [7:17] You know, they did a great job getting, you know, the three, the four again and again. [7:21] And then, you know, checking the ball down, guys knifing and getting vertical, protecting the football. [7:25] And then when we had our shots, being able to take those those those shots and, you know, either complete them or just just the threat of them was important. [7:34] And so we got to we got to keep finding ways to find explosives. [7:37] We got to keep finding ways to be consistent. [7:38] We got to keep finding ways to get better. [7:41] A couple more. [7:42] The play to Khalid. [7:44] It looked like. [7:45] Yeah, it looked like it during the delay game conversation. [7:48] But like he switched sides a lot of chatter while the refs were on the inside. [7:51] Well, can you walk us through like what was going on? [7:53] Yeah, yeah. [7:54] I end up. [7:56] Luckily, we got to play the game because I end up messing up a little bit. [7:59] And it allowed us a little bit, you know, more time to be able to fix it. [8:04] Proud was loud at that point. [8:05] And, you know, I missed I missed a word or, you know, one word or so. [8:09] And that's what happens. [8:11] And so we got we got to delay a game. [8:13] And then it allowed us to have a little bit more time because the refs were figuring something out. [8:18] What went into your decision to wear the shoes that you were? [8:21] Yeah, just to just to calm things down, man. [8:25] I'm you know, this is this is it was a big week. [8:28] And not not here to create any any B.S. towards the team. [8:38] You know, I want to I want to keep that to a minimum from my side. [8:41] Obviously, I get a lot of media. [8:45] And so just just trying to minimize that as much as possible. [8:48] The clip from early in the game that showed you passionately telling your teammates that it didn't matter who the other team was on the other side. [8:56] Coming into this type of environment as a team like that, do you feel like it's your responsibility to kind of? [9:01] Raise the confidence, raise that sense of arrogance that it's us. [9:05] It's not about them. [9:06] Yeah. [9:08] I like to say that I'm one of those guys that that steps up in the big moments. [9:13] I like to say I'm one of those guys that creates some energy for the guys. [9:17] I like to say I'm one of those guys that when we need to play, when we need some energy, when we need anything, I want to be there and I want to be that guy. [9:27] And so, sure, if that's if that's, you know, what it is and what it takes, that's that's I mean, I'll do whatever to to get the win. [9:35] What's the last thing on the cleats? [9:37] Do they they don't have the logo on them? [9:40] Uh, they they they they're the cleats. [9:43] Yeah, they're all blacked out. [9:45] Yeah, matte black. [9:45] Uh, the bears. [9:47] Uh, the bears. [9:47] Mmhmm. [9:47] Thank you. [9:48] Thank you. [9:48] Thank you. [9:48] Thank you. [9:49] Thank you. [9:49] Thank you.