LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Caleb Williams’ mantra for weathering tough times is straightforward and simple.

Keep going.

That’s what Lincoln Riley told him to do during his freshman year at Oklahoma, when he wasn’t starting and wanted that job. The simple phrase has carried him through the ups and downs of a college career that involved a transfer from Oklahoma to USC. It helped him when Riley left for the Trojans in Nov. 2021, and he stuck it out before eventually joining his coach several months later.

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That upheaval is nothing compared to what he experienced in his first 12 NFL games. Williams lost his offensive coordinator and play caller on Nov. 12, when Shane Waldron got fired. His head coach went next, with Matt Eberflus getting let go roughly three weeks later.

That’s a lot for a young quarterback trying to find his way in the league, with the immense pressure/burden of being the No. 1 overall pick.

“The human aspect of it weighs on you a little bit, especially this being my first year, this being my first head coach that drafted me,” Williams said in his Wednesday press conference. “So there’s a human part of it, and then the business side has to kick in and say, ‘I understand it.’ I don’t really have control of it, but I have to roll with the punches and understand and move on and try and help this team win the best way that I can.”

The first way to do that is focusing on what he can control. Williams had no say in Waldron or Eberflus getting fired. He spent significant time building relationships with those two this spring and summer for what the quarterback believed to be long-term working partnerships. Then that gets cut way, way short and leaves Williams forced to adapt.

He adapted to Brown’s promotion to offensive coordinator with an element of “blind trust” between the two, who didn’t speak much leading into Brown’s promotion.

“We have to just believe in each other regardless of the amount of time we’ve gotten together, the amount of time that he’s been able to call plays or scheme things together for us and things like that,” Williams said. “It has been good so far, our communication on a bunch of different things, throughout the weeks, throughout game days, halftimes, you know whatever the case may be. It’s us being truthful to each other. Us being, him being demanding of me and us going out there and executing the right way and it starts with me. So that’s where the blind trust comes from.”

Williams is committed to the “keep going” mantra through the next five weeks, even after dealing with so much change. That’s not ideal for a quarterback’s development, but he has persevered to this point.

“It is the hardest thing to do is keep going and keep going is being consistent as a human,” Williams said. “Human nature, we’re not necessarily meant to be consistent for 365 days. So that is the battle to fight for myself, for my teammates and coaches and everybody. I will say it’s not easy to keep going and roll with the punches and keep fighting and things like that, but you have to do it. It’s part of it.”

Williams is also choosing to look at it as a learning opportunity, knowing the NFL sees significant turnover on a regular basis.

“I think this is a steppingstone of development, to be able to have all of this in my first year,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t say that I’m happy for it. Having these moments is definitely something that will help me in the future. Having these situational moments that it’s hard to rep in practice, having some of these moments, having your coach fired or coaches fired and people being promoted. You know, things like that all happening within a couple weeks of each other, you know I think it would help me in the long run being able to handle all of this, being able to handle this first year and being able to grow from it.

“…Down the line I’ll have different OCs or different head coaches or whatever the case may be. And so being able to handle it my first year, handle a new playbook, handle all these different changes, handle all of this I think it definitely will help the development instead of hurting it or anything like that.”

Bears injury update

Several key Bears players didn’t participate in Wednesday’s practice, which came six days after when Chicago last played on Thanksgiving. There was star power on it as well, with RB D’Andre Swift (quad), WR DJ Moore (quad), RB Roschon Johnson (concussion) and WR Keenan Allen (ankle) among those who didn’t do on-field work with the team. Interim head coach Thomas Brown said that everyone currently banged up has a chance to play on Sunday against the 49ers. Click here for the full participation report.