Troy Aikman responds to backlash about his Caleb Williams comments

Troy Aikman has addressed the recent backlash to his comments about Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

Aikman drew heat for what some found to be overly critical commentary about Williams during the Bears’ 25-24 Week 6 win over the Washington Commanders. Bears fans, and even head coach Ben Johnson, felt that the ESPN broadcaster was overly harsh on Williams, especially compared to the praise he gave Commanders QB Jayden Daniels.

Aikman told The Ticket in Dallas that while he had not gone back to watch that broadcast, he did not understand what all the fuss was about.

“I’m still not real sure exactly what it’s all about, but it’s part of the job,” Aikman said, via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun Times. “People are motivated for different reasons, so however it got initiated, I’m not real sure. But it’s not something that I really lose much sleep over.

“I’m a fan of [Williams]; I like the way he plays.”

That last statement would come as a surprise to some Chicago fans, who felt that Aikman was really tough on the second-year quarterback. Aikman was frequently critical of Williams’ accuracy and seemingly blamed Williams for a few errors that were not necessarily his fault.

Williams later said he and Aikman failed to meet prior to the game, leading some to question whether Aikman took that personally and was harsher on Williams as a result.

Aikman has done thousands of NFL games as a commentator, and not all have been perfect. While Bears fans were not happy with how he depicted their quarterback, he clearly has no second thoughts about how things went.