Where the Chicago Bears stand in their primary objective of developing Caleb Williams

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Chicago Bears quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph knows the numbers don't lie.

People may lie, but the numbers don't, and to Joseph the numbers show Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has improved and will keep improving.

"I look at the beginning of the season to where he is at now of having a better understanding of the offense, what we want to try to get accomplished," Joseph said. "You see the growth, and that's the thing that's very encouraging for a rookie."

The Bears season hasn't grown, in fact it's devolved into a 4-10 record, a missed playoff berth and a coaching staff that could be gone in just a handful of weeks.

Still, the Bears have one objective: develop Caleb Williams.

So far, the team has developed Williams into a quarterback who now owns the majority of the Bears' rookie passing records. He's shown he can challenge for some single-season Bears passing records too, even in a dismal year.

Still, the Bears' offense is in a rut. Slow starts have doomed the Bears offensively, and in turn have stalled Williams' development. That kind of stalling opens the door for Williams to form some bad habits, such as forcing passes or trying to hit the home run big play instead of taking what in front.

That plagued Williams earlier this season, and he broke out of it when the Bears won three games in a row. The Bears have fallen behind early in games, forcing the Bears to pass more. Pass protection struggles have led to more off-script plays, which is where Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown said there needs to be a balance of both."

"I don't think all the issues as far as his pocket movement is always correlated with protection issues," Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown said. "Some of it comes with being able to try to do too much at times. I think from a standpoint of extending plays, there's a time in place to be able to have some off-scheduled throws but also be able to be patient, go through progressions."

Still, Joseph said getting to the next step comes down to taking what the defense offers. 

"You see guys open and, yeah, he'll miss one here or there, but it happens," Joseph said. "We talk about it on the sideline and ‘hey, why didn't you throw it?’ Or ‘What did you see? I got fooled there.' Okay, next time, 'Hey, this is what they're doing to you and that's how you continue to grow."

Games against the Packers and Vikings at Solider Field were examples of Williams' growth. The Bears had two late-game drives that Williams engineered with his arm.

The Bears didn't win those games. But, it was proof Williams could compete when the chips were down.

That's something the Bears can work with, but if the primary goal is to continue Williams' development then goal No. 1 would be to see the quarterback put together a complete game by the end of the season.

The Bears have three more games to see that development. One of which might be against a Packers team that has nothing left to play for being in the playoffs with no higher seeding to gain.

Williams has handled the mental aspect of his rookie season. Showing growth in games 15, 16 and 17 has to be the goal for both quarterback and coaching staff.

"The expectation of what we want in-house and what you want as a quarterback, everybody else's expectation doesn't really matter," Joseph said. "He's handled that pretty well. Then you continue to see his growth."