Chicago Bears No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams will make his regular season debut this week with a showdown against the Tennessee Titans. And leading up to the matchup, Titans first-year head coach Brian Callahan acknowledges that it’s a big week for Williams – but he hopes his coming out party can wait for another week.
During his press conference this week, Brian Callahan had a pretty clear message for Caleb Williams as he said that the young quarterback will “have to earn” respect in the NFL, but he hopes that he doesn’t earn that respect during his first week in the league.
“He’s everything a No. 1 pick you would expect to be,” Callahan said according to Nick Suss of the Tennessean. “You have to treat him as such and treat him with that kind of respect. Obviously you have to earn that in this league. He’s got to do it in regular-season games. I just hope it isn’t in the first week.”
Williams has looked impressive throughout the preseason, but it’s obviously quite a bit different than playing an entire game against NFL-caliber talent. It will certainly be interesting to see how the rookie is able to perform in the game.