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Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show

Does Bears quarterback Caleb Williams need to 'do less'?

27 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What improvements do Bears coaches suggest for Caleb Williams?

4.25 - 16.947 Unknown

You're listening to Rahimi Harrison-Grody on Sports Radio 104.3 The Score. Doors closing. Nah, I can make any throw.

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16.967 - 33.97 Leila Rahimi

I mean, I believe you, Caleb Williams, but I just don't necessarily know that they are all necessary. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. And Mark, you spent a lot of time at Hallis Hall last week talking to Bears assistant coaches, and I think you got some really good answers out of it.

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33.95 - 53.055 Mark Grote

Yeah, you know, Dan and I, Weider, that is, did an episode recently on the Take North podcast. You can go check it out if you want, wherever you get your podcasts. We did a whole Caleb Williams episode, and it was based on some of the plaudits that Caleb Williams is deservedly getting from the national audience, including Mike Florio, who's got him down as, I think, his number two quarterback.

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54.157 - 57.561 Mark Grote

Colin Cowherd had him in the top five, I think.

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57.541 - 63.549 Leila Rahimi

Colin Cowherd, also, we might have to talk about his amount of bears because he's getting real bears-y. Okay.

63.669 - 66.372 Mark Grote

And he is based here, I think, too, and loves Chicago.

66.392 - 67.995 Leila Rahimi

His wife is from Chicago. Right.

Chapter 2: How did Caleb Williams perform in his previous NFL season?

68.015 - 71.599 Mark Grote

There's a lot of bears to be had for Colin. You are right about that. Write that down.

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71.799 - 75.264 Leila Rahimi

That Colin Cowherd. I hear people might be into that show. It's got a future.

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75.284 - 97.711 Mark Grote

He knows what he's doing. A lot of people say he's like the original hot take guy, too, like before even Stephen A. Smith and everybody. But anyway... And Dan and I, we did a podcast again about three weeks ago saying, look, yeah, it's all great. He had seven comeback wins last year. And six of the games trailed in the final two minutes.

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98.111 - 111.306 Mark Grote

And a lot of the reasons that they won those games is because of the throws by Caleb Williams. Led the Bears to a playoff win after being down 21-3 against the Green Bay Packers. So I know all the great things that Caleb Williams did last year.

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Chapter 3: What does 'doing less' mean for Caleb Williams on the field?

111.627 - 123.368 Mark Grote

It's just a little bit quick to be like, yeah, he's top three all of a sudden. And the reason we said that is because there are three quarters that you still have to work with before you get to the fourth quarter of the game.

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123.388 - 129.059 Leila Rahimi

I mean, that's a compelling thought process that there are three other quarters of a football game. There are.

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129.74 - 151.032 Mark Grote

Big if true. Wouldn't it be nice to be blowing these teams out as opposed to biting your nails and being stressed out at the ends of games as rewarding as they were last year? So JT Barrett, second year quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears, was expressing the do less attitude for Caleb Williams. Listen to this.

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152.108 - 170.833 JT Barrett

For him, it was one of those things where we just don't have to work as hard for our money. There's times where we can just work through our progression and get the ball out on time instead of having to create and extend plays. So I think that was more of a conversation where it was like, hey, my guy, I'd I know you just made this crazy play. That was really cool.

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170.853 - 174.021 JT Barrett

But we had a guy come up wide underneath it and just pop into it.

Chapter 4: How can Caleb Williams be more efficient as a quarterback?

174.061 - 186.469 JT Barrett

Then he does the running, and now you're not as tired. So having those conversations with him helped me realize, like, hey, I don't have to do as much compared to maybe the past years or just him playing in general.

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186.449 - 195.001 Unknown

He gets that even when it's like a really impressive highlight reel. Absolutely. You're explaining it the easier, more efficient way.

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195.041 - 209.703 JT Barrett

Straight up. Absolutely. Because, I mean, there's come a time where y'all saw it late in the game where our guys bent over huffing and puffing. It's like, yeah, it's because you're running everywhere when you didn't have to. So I think those conversations. With him, he wants to be more efficient, right?

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209.723 - 224.708 JT Barrett

He wants to have that ownership where he doesn't have to necessarily always take off and run and try to extend plays in that aspect. So with that, I think for him, it's been really good being able to see those clips again and be like, oh, I could just get to my tight end here and kick it to my back here.

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224.688 - 232.198 JT Barrett

instead of trying to also figure out what the defense is doing, like what's the coverage, where it's like, hey, I'll go through my progression, boom, boom, boom, there's going to be somebody that's going to be available for me.

232.219 - 235.503 Unknown

This is married up with that, but Teron Armstead, I think you played with him in New Orleans, right?

Chapter 5: What role does pocket vision play in Caleb Williams' performance?

235.523 - 242.773 Unknown

Yeah, yeah. He said he really wants to see Caleb be more boring as a quarterback in 2020. Is that essentially what you're saying there? Yeah, do less.

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243.374 - 266.928 JT Barrett

This is a conversation we have where we're like, do less. Like, you're doing a lot right now, just do less. And do less is as simple as, like I said, keeping it to flat or – you know, like just taking what's given more so where it's like, yeah, could you hold on to the ball and make a crazy play? You could, but right now it's not necessary. Second quarter. Yeah. It's not necessary.

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266.948 - 278.577 Mark Grote

JT Barrett bears quarterbacks coach right there. And I will say specifically to that, I don't expect this to be something that Caleb Williams just gets down right away.

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Chapter 6: Why is it important for Williams to take simpler plays?

278.717 - 299.667 Mark Grote

Because, look, the reason he was considered to be a generational quarterback and a consensus number one overall quarterback is because of the off-platform spectacular throws that he made at USC. It was not because he was a pocket quarterback. It was not because he was in a pro system at USC. It was because of the spectacular. So I got time for...

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299.647 - 316.744 Mark Grote

for Caleb Williams to work on that and to not always make the easy play because he wants home runs, Ben Johnson wants home runs, but there are times when you have to take your layups, and that's what, in a very transparent and very easygoing way, JT Barrett made the point.

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316.758 - 338.673 Leila Rahimi

Well, and he's right. He's right. Receivers want to run those routes. A 50-yard pass and catch doesn't have to be 50 yards in the air. And I talked to DJ Moore about this, and he's like, you know. Essentially saying he wants to run. They want to catch that ball on the runner. They want to catch and then run. That is something that receivers do want to do.

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Chapter 7: What are the expectations for Caleb Williams in the upcoming season?

339.094 - 350.617 Leila Rahimi

And how much can you do that when you're 24 yards? You can do that a lot. But when you start to get older, you have to reserve your energy. The fourth quarter comebacks become physically that much more taxing.

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350.737 - 360.619 Mark Grote

And his teammates, too. He said he kind of said with a laugh, you're tiring guys out of these scramble drills when you could have just thrown it 10 yards to Cole Komet up the middle and he could have gone for 10 more.

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360.599 - 382.699 Leila Rahimi

Now, granted, I think there's also a pocket vision discussion that has to be had. How well is he seeing in the pocket? Not just because of his height, but just in general. If that's not something he's used to doing, if he's not used to physically making a reprogression in the pocket as routine as what he is forced to do as an NFL quarterback, then that's something that plays into this as well.

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382.959 - 404.528 Leila Rahimi

I've seen him do it, though. He was in the quarterback and threw that ball to Colston Loveland over the middle, who took advantage of a misalignment by the Bengals and got the touchdown in overtime so I've seen it it's not like I don't think he can't do it I think he can but he's right Barrett is right you don't always have to be the one doing all of this to get the plays that work

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404.643 - 417.822 Mark Grote

To your point, too, about staying in the pocket and what his vision is like, I believe he led the league for starting quarterbacks in deflected balls. All the times that batted balls with defensive linemen getting their arm.

Chapter 8: How can Caleb Williams balance spectacular plays with efficiency?

417.922 - 419.464 Mark Grote

Max Crosby had a couple, I think.

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419.544 - 420.826 Leila Rahimi

Especially on the left side.

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421.286 - 423.409 Mark Grote

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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423.63 - 426.514 Leila Rahimi

Oh, no, Max Crosby had at least two in that single game.

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426.534 - 453.769 Mark Grote

Didn't he have the fumble, the strip sack? The strip sack fumble in the end zone. And he had at least one more... batted ball and by the way and I know like at this point it's the it's the easy thing to go with Caleb Williams a 58.1 completion percentage which actually got worse than his rookie year that'll be a lot better if Caleb was willing to concede to the simple and look I I

453.749 - 479.639 Mark Grote

We all want the downfield passing game. It's why everybody's in love with Caleb Williams because of his arm. And he can make any throw. And he can throw the ball as far as his arm strength is probably top three in the league. So we all want to see that. There are just many times throughout a game where you can do the simple and be better, as he said. I just love it. JT Bear. Hey, my guy.

479.839 - 480.6 Mark Grote

Hey, my guy.

480.631 - 491.706 Leila Rahimi

TJ Watt was the strip sack. Max Crosby had a near one, but it was TJ Watt who got the one that I was thinking of. But the point is, no, Max Crosby definitely had batted passes at the line of scrimmage.

491.726 - 495.732 Mark Grote

Oh, yeah, he was in Caleb's face all day that game when the Bears did come back and win.

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