If anybody has a right to be frustrated with Ryan Poles, it is the quarterback he drafted into this mess. The Chicago Bears GM thought he had the table set perfectly. Shane Waldron was hired as an experienced offensive coordinator. The offensive line was the deepest it has been in years. They had actual weapons at wide receiver. Everything was aligned. Except no, they weren’t. Waldron was fired after nine games for incompetence. Matt Eberflus followed a few weeks later. Williams has been sacked 56 times with four games remaining. Even the fancy receivers have disappointed.
One would understand if the quarterback was angry with Poles. He certainly has viable grievances to be. However, Williams didn’t take that road. He told the Chicago media on Thursday that people don’t understand the Bears GM. While he may come across as relatively unemotional to the cameras, nobody is more committed to making this team a winner than him.
“Being able to be around him, being able to see the type of guy he is, how much he cares. You all only get to see a glimpse of it from [an outside] perspective. And then obviously in the media, we did ‘Hard Knocks’ recently and you kind of got a glimpse of it. The amount that he cares about us, the Chicago Bears and wanting to win is why my faith is in him and believing in him and making sure that we get it right. That’s my short answer to it.”
Caleb Williams appreciates that Poles is determined.
The quarterback has stated many times his goal is to win championships. Nothing else matters. If he senses somebody around him isn’t dedicated to that same task, he won’t have much to say to them. The fact he was willing to stick up for Poles says a lot. It may also explain why team president Kevin Warren made it clear the team isn’t moving on from the GM. While some mistakes have been made, he’s still young and has done good things as well. Caleb Williams is one of them. Fix the coaching staff and plug some holes on the roster and this team can make the jump to playoff contention. Williams seems to believe that despite recent events. Sometimes, when you have patience with a person, they figure it out. Maybe the quarterback is hinting that should be the case with the GM.
Bad coaching, scheming and play calling IMO is where frustrations originate, for me. The talent on defense went from terrible, to top 5, to TERRIBLE AGAIN, with basically the SAME players. How did that happen? Play calling, IMO. They also had a top 5 rushing offense for the last two years, and then they DIDN’T. How did THAT happen? Play calling, and scheming, IMO. Williams has had as much time to throw a pass, as the league average, but leads the league in sacks. How did THAT happen? Well, you get the picture. I believe the talent is there. Get… Read more »
I know, @Tred. I enjoy our discussions because I appreciate the different perspective. I’ve always thought JF shoulda been a centerfielder or rightfielder. I think he had HOF potential in baseball. Big market, cold weather Chicago. Team President, GM, HC, OC…I do not care when they were hired, or in what order. They all need to be on the same page regarding the Bears, and that is: “We get off the bus running the football.” -L. Smith The last time we won a SB, we could run the football. We need to strengthen our middle and pound people. Even when… Read more »
@jmscooby – agreed. You know I was a big JF1 fan. But I understood Poles didn’t draft him, and wasn’t committed to developing such a raw, under-coached, talent, so I understood he didn’t immediately pull out all the stops to fix the OL for him.
But CW was Poles own pick. And the investment was huge. How do you NOT fix the OL for him? That was it for me.
@Tred. The hope Poles had in our interior 3 OLmen to start the season when all 3 had huge red flags. You can’t do that to a rookie QB. Houston didn’t do it with CJ and Washington didnt’ do it with JD. It’s shortsighted.
@jmscooby – it does read better.
But are we sure that CW has any hope left at this point? I’m guessing Washington looks pretty good right now. And not just for the home cooking.