Vikings 30, Bears 12
CALEB WILLIAMS: How is everybody doing? All right.
Q. How are you feeling physically right now?
CALEB WILLIAMS: I think I got a couple bruises and contusions. I think I got to do a better job of hydrating throughout the week, you know, to try and flush out some of these bruises and things like that that I have, and contusions and all that.
You know, being able to keep our muscles and everything where they need to be for these last couple games of the regular season and being able to stay strong and feel good and healthy, you know, these last couple games as I did in the first half of the season.
Q. Has there been a accumulation effect, all the sacks and hits you're taking? Have they taken a toll on you physically and mentally as well?
CALEB WILLIAMS: I wouldn't say mentally. Obviously physically, let's put it in this context. Say you get in three car accidents in a month; you're going to feel it. That's what a hit is in football, if ya'll didn't know. Getting hit, especially when you can't deliver a hit to somebody as in like run the ball, you take those over an amount of time and it builds up.
But like I said before, got to do well with hydrating, do well with working out and all that, and stay to my routine. You know, it's kept me healthy throughout the whole year, and got to keep going.
Q. How do you make sense of where you're standing right now? You guys are out of the playoffs; you're 4-10. Offense just scored 12 points. I am sure none of this is what you expected. How do you make sense where you are and where to go from here?
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yeah, where to go from here is I have another game coming up in a few days, so got to go and watch the film, got to find ways to get better. They did well on defense today. Didn't bring as many cover zeros as I thought they would bring. They played a little bit more coverage and zone. They dropped out and did a couple interesting things on defense.
You know, it's something that I'll go back and look at, and once I see it - and I kind of figured it out a little bit at the end of the game - but once I go back, watch it and see it, figure all that out, when it happens again and when I see that look again or teams are probably going to do it because it -- they ended up stopping us a few times on some of their exotic looks they brought and had in coverage.
So just being able to find ways to get better myself and the team. Looking forward to this week.
Q. What about the first part of the question, the reality of where you are and how your rookie year has gone; it's almost over now.
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's been frustrating and encouraging. I would say the frustrating part is obviously we were on a -- how many games now? 8? Yeah, 8-game losing streak. Like I've said before it's new to me. I haven't experienced anything like this. That's the frustrating part.
The encouraging part is how much we fight as a team. The encouraging part is us as a team being able to go through -- and myself included being able to go through kind of all of what's happened this year, me not playing well in the beginning of the season and feeling like I was seeing it well and then been able to find ways to keep growing, keep progressing through those times that I was frustrated then. And then coaches getting fired and all this stuff going on, 4-10 right now.
So being able to wake up, be consistent, do that every day with how it's been going is encouraging for me. It's encouraging for this team. We got to keep going. But, yeah, it's been encouraging and also frustrating for myself.
Q. Two short weeks coming up back-to-back.
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yep.
Q. What's the process of troubleshooting and also growing when you got a tight time frame to do it?
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yeah, obviously it's a quick turnaround, these next two I believe. Being able to get in there, watch the film, go over that quickly, figure out ways that I can be better, the team can be better, coaches, everybody.
And then from there, obviously we got to get going on this game plan for Detroit I believe in a few days.
So being able to correct and then move on very fast is something that we have to do right here, right now, and so I think that's the next step.
Q. The amount of times you have been under pressure this season, regardless of the line or play or what have you, how much has this hindered or kept you from getting that rhythm that you talked about this week? How difficult is that when you have been pressured as much as you have?
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yeah, obviously that's the defensive coaches and players job, is to not allow offenses and QBs and running backs, wide receivers, everybody to get in a rhythm.
We just got to find ways to be efficient in the first half, find ways to keep the ball moving, find ways to simply put points on the board.
You know, it's tough when the other team is scoring in the first half and you're not scoring and you got to come out in the second half and have these comeback games. You put pressure on the offense and the defense to hold them to where they are at and you got to go now score.
So just playing efficient football, us, all of us respecting the game and what it takes to win.
So I think that's the answer to that one.
Q. On the touchdown that was called back for the illegal substitution, can you describe the self-inflicted nature of that? Just being that close and it's a penalty there, it's a holding penalty later and you guys can't capitalize and settle for the field goal.
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's frustrating because we practice so much, and I don't know if we reported, that's what we call it, report to the ref while running on the field or not. The ref didn't see it. I believe right in that moment I heard him say that he reported when he was on the field and ref didn't see it.
So having self-inflicted wounds right there on that touchdown and then we get backed up, we score again, and have another self-inflicted wound, it's challenging because scoring in this league is tough. Winning games is tough.
You got to score to be able to win. Taking those points off the board I think it was obviously -- I think it obviously hurt us in that moment. We end up having to settle. We got to get better and not have self-inflicted wounds whether it's penalties or face masks or, you know, illegal substitutions, whatever the case may be.
We can't have those because of how hard it is to win games and score.
Q. (Indiscernible.) How do you think you saw the field today in terms of what they were doing?
CALEB WILLIAMS: Yeah, the first quarter I think he got me a few times. Didn't turn the -- I mean, the sack fumble I did turn the ball over, but didn't throw the ball to their guys and have an interception.
I think protecting the football in that way I did well in the first quarter, but he had a few wrinkles which every coach will, and he's one of those coaches that he'll have a few unique wrinkles.
He did today, and I'll definitely go back and learn something. Definitely something I'll have in the memory bank for when I play them again at some point, you know, and if another team uses those two defensive looks he had today.
But other than that, right after the first quarter went to the iPad, figured it out, and figured out what those two wrinkles were. Definitely something that, like I said, I'll throw in the memory bank. When these happen again, definitely execute and figure out a way to make them pay.
But I think he did a good job today. Defense did a good job over there the first quarter and throwing a few wrinkles in. And then we got to find ways to respond myself. We got to find ways to -- I got to find a check down in that moment or anything like that when those moments happen.
We'll get better. I'll get better and move on from there.
Q. This downturn the last couple weeks has coincided with Thomas Brown having head coaching responsibilities in addition to OC, and also being on the field as opposed to upstairs. Is there a correlation there? Has the dynamic changed, and is it affecting the offense that he is in a different position than he was before?
CALEB WILLIAMS: I couldn't tell you if it was a correlation or anything. I think he's calling the game the same way I think that as he would then. I think he's still getting the plays in fast. Still calling the same plays he would've called or calling it the same way.
I think we just got to go out there and execute. I think there was a few times where even myself didn't execute, whether it was a motion, whether it was the timing of the play.
I know I had two today where I kind of messed up the time of the play, which is frustrating. But I think we just got to go out there and execute. I think we got to be better overall, just all of us, players, coaches, you know.
And then from there, got to find ways to win the game and be efficient on offense.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports