Bears
Bears QB Caleb Williams got the win in his first NFL game and admitted he knows he has to get better heading into Week 2, as Chicago’s defense played a big factor in getting the victory against the Titans.
“I sat down, enjoyed the moment, just watching all the guys celebrate understanding that I need to be better, I will be better,” Williams said, via Josh Schrock of NBCSportsChicago.com. “Whether it’s a win or loss, you expect to play a certain way, you expect yourself to perform a certain way, to make passes, whether it’s just a routine pass or an insane kind of whatever the case may be kind of play itself. That didn’t happen today, so it’s enough motivation for me. We’re going to somebody else’s home this week and so it’s enough motivation for me to go out there and get better this week and make sure I perform differently next week.”
Lions
Lions WR Jameson Williams had a career-high 121 receiving yards and one touchdown on five catches. Williams’ performance drew praise from HC Dan Campbell and he plans to keep the ball rolling beyond just the first game.
“This is just Game 1,” Williams said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “Like I said, I put in a lot of work. I expected to have a big game. Me personally, I expect to have a big game, I guess, it’s just big to the world just cause it’s my first one. But I plan to have a lot more. I don’t plan on this being the best game of my career. I plan on this just being a start of me being me.”
“I expected him to play pretty good, to play better, and he showed up,” Campbell added. “I mean, that was a big game to be able to catch some of these and go through it. And the best part of it was he didn’t even play his best ball. There’s still so much to clean up, but it also shows the work that he’s put in, and he is improving, and he’s an improved player, and he wants it, and he keeps working on it. And he just, he keeps taking these steps. So as long as he keeps doing it, and keeps making plays, he’s just going to continue to get better. So yeah, I’m proud of him, I’m proud of where he’s at, but he’s got so much room to continue to grow.”
Vikings
Vikings rookie QB J.J. McCarthy said his season-ending meniscus tear was a “kick in the balls.”
“I just wanted to play it safe and play the long game and understand I could be a tough guy and tough it out and try to grit out that first start that I was going to get [the following week],” said McCarthy, via ESPN.com. “But at the end of the day, what’s best for this organization and this team is me making smart decisions, especially early on in my career.
“And that was one of them, to just figure this out before a landmine goes off in my knee.”
While his rookie season was over before it began, McCarthy is staying optimistic about how things will go from here.
“There’s a lot of different ways that you can find the truly amazing things that we overlook in life in times like this,” McCarthy said, “because just being able to walk is such a blessing, and I don’t know that unless I don’t have it. So just going through stuff like that has been what I’ve been doing.”
McCarthy is hanging around the team and HC Kevin O’Connell is happy to see it.
“I want to see him,” O’Connell said. “I want his teammates to see him every day. I want him in meetings. I’m going to … make sure that I can be personally challenging him on his ownership of the game plans, the why behind things we’re doing, play intent for me, making sure he’s still having a major role leadership-wise with especially that young rookie class. …
“I want J.J. to feel like he’s a support system for Sam, part of the quarterback room … that culture of that quarterback room. At the same time, bigger picture, making sure we don’t waste one moment where you know there could be some growth and development and really continue the positive momentum that I think a lot of us saw in training camp before the injury.”
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