Williams’ confidence growing behind the "Avengers"

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - For the first time since 2020, the Chicago Bears are playing meaningful football in mid-December. They have a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win against the Green Bay Packers on Sat. Dec. 20 (7:20 p.m. / FOX) coupled with a loss by the Detroit Lions.

Especially after how the last game against Green Bay ended, quarterback Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears are excited for this rematch.

“Go out here, do my job, play well, start fast, get the energy going for the team and we got a real shot to go win the game,” Williams said. “I’m excited for it. I think everybody’s excited for it. I think even (wide receiver) DJ (Moore) said it after the game is we feel as if we let them off the hook and part of that was us starting slow. Part of that was the explosive plays and allowing something that we’ve been pretty good at so far this year for all sides of the ball and so, we want to go out there and play our brand of football and it gives us the best shot to go win the game and that’s starting fast, playing physical, executing plays the way that we know we can - offense, defense and special teams - and (we’re) excited to go showcase that.”

Last time against Green Bay, Williams was only sacked once. However, the Packers’ defensive end Micah Parsons was able to get two quarterback hits. That will not be the case in this rematch as Parsons is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL against the Denver Broncos in Green Bay’s most recent game.

Chicago’s offensive line will still face a challenge going against Green Bay’s other defensive linemen. Last season, this would have been an insurmountable challenge for the offensive line.

However, with the Bears’ revamped offensive line with center Drew Dalman, guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and rookie left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, this much-improved line should certainly be able to contain Green Bay once again.

“I call my o-linemen the Avengers and so, all of them collectively form a very formidable team to go out there and go to war with. But, Drew Dalman, I call Drew Dalman the Hulk. He’s the brains and all of it, but when he gets out there on the field, he’s strong as can be, fast and the right guy for the job for us and my future and our future here. So, I’m excited for that and I’m happy that he’s here with us and with me and we’re going to keep growing together and we’re going to keep finding ways to help each other out in this tenure that we have together,” Williams said. Ozzy is obviously, he’s not really Avengers, but Wolverine. Doctor Strange as left guard with Joe (Thuney). Obviously as center (is Hulk). I have the Red Hulk as Jonah (Jackson) and then I have Darnell’s Bucky because he has the one arm.”

Williams was dealt a bit of a raw deal as a rookie with Chicago’s poor offensive line.

With “The Avengers” protecting him this year and a new head coach in Ben Johnson, Williams’ confidence has grown this season.

“Having some confidence in myself has been probably more than it was last year. I think I always have confidence in myself and maybe a little bit, I think all quarterbacks have a little bit of (an) arrogant confidence about themselves (because) when everything’s going wrong, it’s all them and when everything’s going right, you know. I think I have a little bit of that in me and so, my confidence is always strong,” Williams said. “I believe in myself. I believe in who I am. I believe how I work and all these different things and then having the group around me only strengthens that for me. It’s always strength in numbers. It’s always one. It’s always us and so, with that being said, my confidence is growing and it’s going to be through the roof.”