LONDON — As Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore stood at the podium Wednesday giving a candid evaluation of starting quarterback Caleb Williams, an interested observer stood about 15 feet away, creating an awkward situation.

One of the adjectives Moore used to describe Williams was “bossy.”

“What I mean by bossy is that if we don’t see something in practice, he’s going to tell us how to handle it,” Moore said. “And we just look at him and say, ‘Okay.’

“When we go out for the game, make sure you work because he’ll have some words for you if you don’t. That’s he’s a leader. He’s a little bit bossy. It’s the little little brother.”

DJ Moore on Caleb Williams taking a leadership role on offense. Or as he jokingly put it: ‘being bossy’. 😂 pic.twitter.com/eYoAOGoA1R

— Bears on CHSN (@CHSN_Bears) October 9, 2024

For Williams, who at 22 years old is the second-youngest player on the Bears roster, learning to give constructive criticism has been an emotional process.

“Certain people you can be a little bit bossy with, certain people you have to talk to in a very monotone and keep yourself under control, and sometimes there are people you can just lash out at a little bit,” Williams said. “I don’t really get much out of it. That’s not really my feeling.

“But I always come over and talk to the guys when I can. I’ve grown up a little bit. Understand that even if I’m frustrated about a drive or a play we had, maybe we messed up or whatever. “We understand there’s another drive coming and there’s still a part of the season we need to focus on. We can talk to them and understand how and what they need to hear and go from there.”

Williams laughed at Moore’s “bossy” characterization, describing it as “cheeky.” The Bears had a few laughs while snapping a two-game winning streak into Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (9:30 a.m., ET, NFL), and much of that success is due to Williams’ development.

Despite being only five games into his career, Williams has already reached or is on his way to several milestones:

• He is the first Bears rookie with 300 yards passing and zero tips in a game. That came during the Week 5 win over the Carolina Panthers when he led the NFL with a QBR of 83.9.

• He set the franchise rookie single-game record with 363 passing yards in the Week 3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

• He is the only Bears rookie with multiple 300-yard passing games.

• He is one of five players with multiple 300-yard passing games this season.

• He is on pace to finish with the third-most passing yards in Bears history (3,709).

He has come a long way from his NFL debut, when he was 14 of 29 for 93 yards and had a QBR of 28.5 in a win over the Tennessee Titans.

“I think he’s learning professional football,” general manager Ryan Poles said. “And when I say that, it means you have to have a winning mentality in terms of, what does it take to win football games from the quarterback position?

“And you’ve seen that in terms of efficiency, protecting the football, taking what’s given to him and going into this last game, explosives are starting to appear now. So I really like his progress, I like the work ethic.” and the time he puts in, the courage and the strength, the ability to bounce back from tough matches. He is exactly where he should be and he is getting better.”

One area where Williams’ progress has been most notable is on the deep ball.

After completing five of 29 attempts on passes of at least 15 air yards in Weeks 1 through 4, with the lowest completion percentage (17%) and worst TD-INT ratio (0-3) among qualified quarterbacks at such throws, Williams was 4-of-4 for 108 yards and two touchdowns against Carolina.

That was the goal the Bears offense had been working toward for weeks, and Chicago is looking to do the same against a Jaguars defense that has the most gains of 20+ yards this season (24), along with 287 passing. 8 in the league. meters per play.

“We all know he can play a big role,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “We’ve seen that in recent weeks.”

When the Bears drafted Williams with the No. 1 overall pick, there was speculation that he could become the franchise’s first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. He needs to average 242 passing yards over the next twelve games to reach that goal.

He’s also three 300-yard performances away from setting that franchise record.

That shows how low the bar is for quarterback play in Chicago, and how quickly Williams is moving to change that narrative.