David Banks-Imagn Images

Declan Doyle explains Caleb Williams 'unacceptable' blunder

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Pete Martuneac | Last updated Aug 25, 2025 10:31 PM ET

Consistency at the quarterback position has been a huge problem for the Chicago Bears for a while now, and Caleb Williams fell victim to this trend in the preseason. Against the Buffalo Bills, Williams silenced his critics by opening up the game with a nearly perfect touchdown drive. Less than one week later, Williams and the Bears struggled mightily as they took on the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

It all started with the very first play from the line of scrimmage, an egregious error that set the tone for a shameful outing from the Bears' starters . The Bears attempted to run a jet sweep to receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, but Williams and Zaccheaus fumbled the exchange, and the ball dropped to the ground. Luckily, Williams fell on top of it and saved the Bears from a complete disaster, but the damage was already done as the Bears went three-and-out.

On Monday after practice, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle spoke to the media and addressed this botched play. According to Doyle, the snap to Williams was late, which resulted in the fumbled handoff.

Bears OC Declan Doyle diagnosing what happened on the 1st play of the game in Kansas City, which resulted in a fumbled exchange on a jet sweep: "We end up snapping the ball a little bit late, we end up having to rush the ball handling a little bit and the ball ends up on the…
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 25, 2025

After watching press conferences from the last regime and the utter lack of accountability taken by coaches, it's refreshing to see this kind of honesty from Doyle. It'd be easy to deflect blame away from Williams, given how critical he is to the Bears' playoff hopes in 2025, but it wouldn't be honest. Williams is still a young player, and he's going to make mistakes, and the coaches need to be able to call him out.

On the flip side, this kind of brutally honest critique gives the coaches more credibility when they praise their players. If fans can trust the coaches to be truthful about the bad things, then they can trust that the good things the coaches say about the players are also truthful.

Hopefully, Williams and Zaccheaus keep working on that handoff. Zaccheaus has proven to be a weapon with the ball in his hands, and a play like that has the potential to be explosive if they can catch the defense off guard. But the Bears only have a few more practices to iron out these issues. Starting next week, they'll have to begin game-planning for the season opener. Chicago welcomes the Minnesota Vikings to Soldier Field on September 8th, and they can't afford to start another season with a flat-footed performance.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: