Chicago Bears kept saying Caleb Williams is progressing, and we saw that tangible growth Saturday

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - With about five minutes left in the first quarter of his first NFL action, it all came together for Caleb Williams.

Williams, who had not played in a live game in nine months, took the snap, rolled to his right and delivered one of the off-balance-yet-pin-point-accurate throws he's known for.

Tight end Cole Kmet hauled it in for a 26-yard gain. An entire fan base felt a gleam in their eye.

"We've been repping this play for a while now," Williams said. "Getting those reps in has been key, and then you come out and game day and the seas part, and Cole was running down the sideline and my job is just to give him the ball in space and let our players like Cole, just do their magic."

All the NFL action in July and August is always accompanied by an asterisk.

It's Chicago Bears football*. *It's also preseason Chicago Bears football.

Those covering the Bears since training camp opened have kept this in mind while also stressing it when the Bears' offense has sputtered in training camp.

On Saturday, getting a look at that same Bears offense against a different defense would be a telling point when it came to properly evaluating just where Williams is in terms of his progression from the college game to the NFL.

On Saturday, we saw that it is indeed coming together for the No. 1 overall pick.

"There is an understanding that it is preseason that everybody's not going to show their looks and what they would do versus, and vice versa," WIlliams said. "But it definitely feels good to get out there."

Williams has been with the first-team offense since May. He's taken every snap with the likes of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Kmet, Gerald Everett, D'Andre Swift and more.

There have been days when the offense strings success together. But those days are few and far in between. 

On Saturday, Williams had 18 snaps, 20 if you count snaps negated by penalties. He had three great plays: the throw to Kmet, a 40-yard screen to Swift and a 13-yard scramble for a first down.

But, Williams' best throw was the one to Kmet.

"The DB ran past him, pump fake and then tossed it to Cole," Williams said. "He was wide open, did a great job selling it and then breaking to the corner."

Williams passed for 95 yards in Buffalo on Saturday. It's the preseason, sure. But, it's time to put this into perspective.

When Justin Fields played his first full season as the Bears' starting quarterback in 2022, he threw for less than 180 yards 12 times. Fields threw for less than 180 yards six times in 2023.

Williams' 95 yards all came in the first quarter. That put him on pace for 388 yards passing had he played the entire game. 

That's pretty good considering this is the first time Williams has played in a football game since Nov. 2023.

"You have to understand where we are and understand what we have and where we're headed," Williams said. "That's the most important thing, but you also have to be where your feet are. So, when you're out there in the field, when we're preparing for this game, you're enjoying it, you're having fun, you're having a blast."

The Bears coaching staff has told us that Williams is headed in the right direction. It's difficult to see it, especially when Williams struggles.

Take, for example, Thursday's practice. Williams threw three interceptions and was forcing passes against a Bears defense that took advantage. 

Those are just the bumps in the road that Williams needs to learn from, and the coaches have seen that growth first hand, whereas the rest outside of Halas Hall or on the outside looking in don't see.

"I tell you what he's doing; he's doing a tremendous job," Bears quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph said on Wednesday. "From day one that he walked into the building to where he's at now, he's doing an amazing job and he's working through the kinks."

Those kinks are things Williams takes it upon himself to correct.

"It's funny, because if he messes something up, he's frustrated about it because he corrects it himself," Joseph said. "When you get to that point – ‘okay, I made that mistake and I know why I made it’ – and he can correct it himself. Now, you're making those strides."

Those corrections were clear on Saturday. 

There have been days in practice where Williams wasn't quick enough to pull the trigger on throws, forced a pass where he shouldn't or struggled with poise in the pocket.

He had all of that on Saturday. He was poised. He was accurate. He was mindful.

That's the kind of tangible growth that can make Bears fans believe Williams is finally the quarterback the team has been hoping for.

"It's only going to get better," Williams said. "We can't wait."