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Justin Fields: Caleb Williams Will 'Get Most of the Blame... I Think He'll Be Fine'

Joseph Zucker

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields is confident that Caleb Williams, his replacement on the Chicago Bears, is "going to be fine" amid a tough start to his NFL career.

"Of course, it's just not him, but he's going to get most of the blame just because of the position he's in," Fields said to Fox News Digital's Chantz Martin. "But just as a whole … the guys over there I know … they want to be better, and I think they're going to be better. So, I'm hoping that they start getting [the things] done on offense that they need to do.

"[Caleb] played two pretty good defenses coming out, so I think he'll be fine."

Williams is certainly getting his fair share of criticism. Through two games, he has 267 passing yards and two touchdowns along with 59 rushing yards on 10 carries.

The concerns about whether the No. 1 overall pick might try to improvise too much have been well-founded so far. He's learning the hard way that extending plays for too long in the NFL can have disastrous outcomes.

Amid the discourse around Williams, however, is an acknowledgement that he's not solely to blame for the struggles of the passing game. When some of the same problems that hampered Fields in Chicago are carrying over to this year, clearly the quarterback isn't the sole source.

Overreactions are a hallmark of the first few weeks in any given NFL season, and rookie quarterbacks, once offered a reasonable level of leeway in terms of their performance, are expected to hit the ground running now.

In the case of Williams, some of his flaws should be ironed out as he gains more and more experience. In particular, he'll better understand what he can and can't get away with as a playmaker.

But some of the issues affecting the Bears offense require solutions from much higher up in the organization.

   

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