In a deeply emotional announcement, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and his family are facing a devastating personal challenge. Williams’ mother has been diagnosed with a serious medical condition, and the family is coming together to provide her with all the support and love she needs during this incredibly difficult time.
Caleb Williams, known for his resilience and leadership both on and off the field, shared the heartbreaking news today through a personal statement on his social media. While the specifics of his mother’s condition have not been publicly revealed, Williams expressed his gratitude for the support they’ve already received and emphasized his commitment to being there for his mother as she navigates this difficult journey.
“My mom is my everything—she’s been my biggest supporter and my role model,” Williams shared in his emotional post. “This is the toughest fight we’ve ever had as a family, but we’re going to stick together and stay strong. I’m asking for your prayers and support as we face this battle. We will fight this together, and we’ll get through it as a family.”
The message quickly spread across social media, with Bears fans, teammates, and NFL fans alike offering their support, prayers, and encouragement to Williams and his family. Known for his leadership on the field, Williams’ vulnerability in sharing this personal struggle has only deepened the respect and admiration of his supporters.
The Bears organization has issued a public statement of support, with head coach Matt Eberflus saying, “Caleb is not just an incredible player but also a tremendous person. Our thoughts are with him and his family during this challenging time. The entire Bears organization stands behind him, and we’ll support him every step of the way.”
This news comes during a season when Caleb Williams has been playing at an exceptional level, emerging as one of the NFL’s most promising young quarterbacks. However, his focus now shifts to his family as they face this emotional trial.
As Caleb and his family navigate this difficult time, football takes a backseat. The entire Bears community, along with the NFL at large, stands united in supporting Caleb and his family as they fight through this challenge together.
In the time leading up to the NFL draft, when the Browns probably reached a bit into the third round to grab Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, there were several items about his potential that came up in just about every scouting report that emerged from him. He was undersize, of course, but also experienced and a very quick processor. Gabriel was conservative–he did not gamble down the field much–but, as one site wrote, he “throws with reliable accuracy and ball placement.”
To which Browns fans who have watched Gabriel start five games, and anyone who watched the debacle against the Jets in New York in Week 10, would say, “Oh reaaallllly?”
Gabriel threw high in that game. He threw low. He threw wide. In all, he was 17-for-32 against a fairly slap-dash secondary that had just seen its best player, Sauce Gardner, traded away days earlier. In all, Gabriel’s completion percentage sits at 56.8% this season, which ranks 32nd in the NFL.
So, in addition to downfield throws not being his thing, short-yardage accuracy doesn’t seem to be his thing, either. This is why most of the Browns’ press conferences with coach Kevin Stefanski feature reporters asking, in as many veiled ways as possible, “What do the Browns see in this guy?”
Gabriel himself was asked about the accuracy issues this week. He said he hopes to improve, blessedly.
“It’s always something you continue to work on and want to get good at, and I think it’s striving for every inch, you know, and being able to catch runners and allow them to get more receiving yards after the catch,” Gabriel said. “So being accurate in that way and then giving guys a chance. So it’s something that you want to pride yourself on, continue to get better at.”
Asked if there were throws against the Jets he wished he could have back he said, “It’ll always be like that.”
Gabriel was asked, too, what is going on with his misses. Are the Browns seeing anything mechanical with his throws that he could fix. In a way, that might make the difficulty with accuracy more palatable, if there was an obvious hitch that could be fixed and push his completion percentage back up to where it was in college (72.9% last season).
Gabriel said it’s more mental than mechanical, though.
“Not overthinking it, but you just miss,” Gabriel said. “You know, sometimes you miss and you want to eliminate as many as you can. And definitely when you know you lose, it’s magnifying. And I think you’re always going to continue to work on that and that’s something you want to pride yourself on – which is making the throws.”
It was a topic that Stefanski, too, was peppered on. But the Browns coach had no more satisfying answers than Gabriel did. The rookie quarterback missed throws, Stefanski said, because quarterbacks miss throws.
“Any quarterback, young and old – you’re going to miss throws,” he said. “It’s an occupational hazard that you’re likely not going to go 100% completion percentage. It’s an occupational hazard that a corner is going to get beat deep every once in a while. So, you’re not going to make every throw.”