For a third consecutive week, Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus showed up at Halas Hall on a Monday with a tone of frustration or plans for changes to spark the offense.
But Eberflus maintained on Monday that moving rookie No. 1 pick Caleb Williams out of the starting lineup is not one of the many changes he’s considering as the Bears shift their attention to the Green Bay Packers.
“Caleb is our starter,” Eberflus said, but declared an evaluation of the process of almost everything the team does offensively would be evaluated on Monday.
“There’s got to be a change and adjustment,” Eberflus said. “There’s also the sight that we’re 4-5, we haven’t played our division yet. … We’re in the process of getting (that evaluation) done. There will be changes and adjustments being made.”
Williams and the Bears were dominated by the New England Patriots (3-7) on Sunday, Chicago’s third consecutive loss, and head into Week 11 with a run of 23 consecutive possessions without a touchdown. The Bears scored three points against the Patriots, one week after putting up nine points at Arizona, and were held under 17 points for the fifth time this season. New England sacked Williams nine times one week after the Cardinals posted six sacks against Chicago.
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron received a vote of confidence coming out of the loss to Arizona. But Eberflus didn’t guarantee Waldron would be calling plays when the Bears host the Packers (6-3) this Sunday.
“The process of that, we’re going through that right now. All those adjustments and changes and things that we’re gonna do, we’re still in the evaluation phase of that,” Eberflus said.
Eberflus, 14-29 since he was hired in 2022, is 0-4 against the Packers. His only win against the NFC North to date was 12-10 at Minnesota last season.
Williams threw four touchdown passes in a Week 6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London and none in the three games since the bye week. He’s on pace to be sacked more than 70 times, and the Bears were 1 of 14 on third down against the Patriots, producing 142 total yards and 2.4 yards per play. Williams had 69 net passing yards when the 51 yards lost on New England’s quarterback sacks were eliminated.
Multiple questions were directed to Eberflus on Monday about whether Waldron would call plays and even remain on his coaching staff. Waldron was selected from a pool of candidates to replace Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator. He was previously with the Seattle Seahawks from 2021-23.
“It’s important that we’re using all the people in the building on the coaching staff, getting all the input, putting our minds together to come up with the best answer,” Eberflus said. “That’s where we are right now. We’ve got to look at that this afternoon as well.”
