T.J. Edwards Admits Caleb Williams Is Already Pissing The Defense Off

Rookie quarterbacks almost always struggle in their first year. That is part of the process of going from the relatively basic defenses of college to the more complex and diverse variations they'll see in the NFL. Most expect Caleb Williams to endure the same. It isn't about whether he will have bouts of struggling. It will be how long he takes to get over those experiences. As the #1 overall pick, expectations for him are high. The Chicago Bears defense expected to teach him a lesson when encountering Williams for the first time.

To some extent, they have. Twice, the secondary took advantage of a late throw over the middle for interceptions. There is one problem, though. Williams is learning fast. T.J. Edwards admitted this during his press conference at mandatory minicamps. According to his testimony, the defense didn't hold back. From the start, they were throwing all sorts of different looks at the rookie, trying to confuse him. It worked at first, but soon Williams began using subtle tricks to counter them, much to the annoyance of the linebacker.

“This year we started off with a bunch of disguise and a bunch of movement, but I thought from day 1 he’s gotten better with it. You definitely see some things that you don’t really expect a rookie to do. He moved us a couple times with his eyes the first day. Had me and Tremaine hot about it.”

Caleb Williams isn't the type to linger on mistakes.

He gets over them quickly. People love to point out his ugly showing against Notre Dame last season for USC. He threw three interceptions in that contest. What people fail to note is all three came in the first half. In the second, Williams made some adjustments and started hitting on some impressive throws. He led a couple of big scoring drives. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't get any stops, preventing any hope of a comeback. That resiliency and adaptability were always there. People seemed too focused on the initial mistakes. Not the Bears. They saw how he responded to them.

The defense is noticing the same. After one of their interceptions of Caleb Williams in drills, he struck for a long touchdown on the next play. One of the critical attributes of a good quarterback is forgetting mistakes as if they never happened. Williams seems to possess it. He's also learning how to operate from the pocket far faster than anybody predicted. A talented veteran defense expects to dominate a rookie. Edwards isn't getting those results often enough for his liking. Not with this one.