The Chicago Bears aren't likely to press the panic button on their rookie quarterback anytime soon.
However, that doesn't mean others aren't ready to give the Bears some heat after Week 1 of the NFL season.
The Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 on Sunday, but it was a less-than-stellar NFL debut for first-overall pick Caleb Williams. The rookie looked uncomfortable all game, experiencing inaccuracy issues and resorting too often to a backyard football approach.
Williams' draft selection made former Bears 2021 first-round pick Justin Fields expendable. Though Fields showed some promise in his three years as the Bears starter, he was shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick in March.
When Fields also picked up the win in his first start with his new team, some saw the move as an apparent loss for Chicago.
Earlier this week, Ryan Pawloski of FanSided's "Still Curtain" blasted the Bears for trading Fields to Pittsburgh, saying the former Chicago quarterback's performance in Week 1 made his old team "look foolish."
"When you break down the numbers, Fields had a better start than Williams... The only reason Chicago won was because the Titans blew up on themselves," Pawloski said. "Fields had a solid start for the Steelers after a will-he or won't-he approach to whether Wilson would start for Pittsburgh."
In Pittsburgh's 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons, Fields went 17-for-23 passing with 156 yards, and rushed for 57 more. Williams was 14-for-29 with 93 passing yards and 15 rushing yards. Ironically enough, neither offense scored a touchdown.
Fields also only started because Russell Wilson, who they signed to a veteran minimum contract the day before trading for Fields, was inactive with a calf injury. The starting job could still be up for grabs depending on the performance of both in the coming weeks.
Judging rookie quarterbacks after one week is always a somewhat silly proposition. Williams certainly didn't get off to the start he wanted, but he has the full season left to learn and grow.
The Bears already had three years to find out what they had in Fields, and they weren't impressed enough by what they saw to keep him around. Williams has time, but his job is ultimately to prove his team made the right call.
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