Firing Shane Waldron won’t fix everything for the Bears.
Tom Waddle, a former Bears receiver and ESPN Chicago radio host, reported on Tuesday that not only did some Bears players want the offensive coordinator to be fired, but “a few veteran players requested” that the team bench rookie No. 1 pick Caleb Williams.
While head coach Matt Eberflus decided to fire Waldron on Tuesday, he had already confirmed earlier in the week that Williams would remain the starting quarterback.
After the Bears’ 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots, some players reportedly asked Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles to make a change at offensive coordinator. Waddle also wrote on X that “a few veteran players” were asking for backup quarterback Tyson Bagent to start instead of Williams.
Bagent, an undrafted rookie, played respectably last season for five games while Justin Fields was injured. He completed 66% of his passes for 859 yards, three touchdowns, and six interceptions.
This comes after Williams was sacked nine times in the loss to the Patriots, and he struggled with accuracy. The Bears’ offense, along with Williams, has regressed during a three-game losing streak after starting the season 4-2.
Williams said after the loss, “Definitely this game is a lot to learn from for myself, just speaking on some of the situational things…
Obviously, there’s a few passes every game that you wish you could have back and things like that. But I think situationally, this game was a great learning experience for me with some of these situations that I could have done better for sure.”
Now, the responsibility falls on Thomas Brown, who is replacing Waldron as the offensive coordinator after serving as the pass game coordinator. Brown will need to help turn around Williams’ rookie season.
Williams has been sacked 38 times this season and has been criticized for holding the ball too long. The Bears’ offense has failed to score a touchdown in the last two games, a streak that the team hasn’t had since 2004.
