Bears plan to have Caleb Williams start their season finale at Green Bay

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears plan to have Caleb Williams make one more start rather than hold their prized rookie quarterback out of the season finale at Green Bay.

Interim coach Thomas Brown shot down the idea of having Williams sit out Sunday's game at Lambeau Field, saying it's not something he and management discussed. He said the team's other healthy starters will play, too.

“As far as Caleb goes, as far as dialog about him not playing, that’s never come up or been talked about at all,” Brown said Monday.

The Bears (4-12) are reeling with 10 straight losses. Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, has been sacked a franchise-record and NFL-leading 67 times. But the Bears believe the benefits of having him play against the Packers outweigh the potential injury risks.

“Obviously, part of the overall evolution of him being his best is to try to continue to find ways to help him continue to grow and be at his best week in and week out, part of it is going to be able to protect himself and also be better,” Brown said. "There’s an opportunity that’s not guaranteed. And I take it very seriously because opportunities aren’t guaranteed. And one thing I hate more than anything is wasted time. When time is going, you don’t get it back. So I’m gonna maximize every moment I have. And so it’ll be the same process as far as this team for this game on Sunday.

The Bears have never lost more than 10 in a row in one season. They dropped their final 10 in 2022, when they were tanking, as part of a franchise-worst 14-game slide that included the first four games last season.

Chicago came into this season with playoff visions. But things unraveled after a 4-2 start.

The Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron following a loss to New England in Week 10. They let a head coach go in season for the first time in franchise history when they showed Matt Eberflus the door the day after a painful loss at Detroit on Thanksgiving, following a series of poor late-game decisions. Chicago is 0-4 under Brown.

It's not what the Bears envisioned after a series of high-profile additions in the offseason, the headliner being Williams. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner out of Southern California has dazzled at times with his ability to avoid defenders and make throws.

Williams has started every game and thrown for 3,393 yards — fifth on Chicago's single-season list — with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He threw a league rookie-record 353 consecutive passes without an INT before getting picked off by Seattle's Riq Woolen near the end of a 6-3 loss on Thursday.

But his tendency to hold onto the ball too long has contributed to the hits he has taken. The Bears' previous record for sacks allowed was 66 in 2004, when they used four quarterbacks.

Williams is in a division where the other three teams have at least 11 wins. They also have experienced quarterbacks.

“Caleb is supertalented and he’s got all the tools that you need for a quarterback in this league,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “But that being said, you can’t replace experience, and all of those teams, they’ve got experienced guys and guys who have kind of been through it, so they definitely got a jump-start in that regard on him. But I do think you see the biggest jumps in guys from Year 1 to Year 2, and I’m sure Caleb is gearing up for that as well.”