“Don’t Change a Thing” - Rich’s Message to Caleb Williams after His Big WK6 Return from Injury

Caleb Williams is a little too online for Rich's taste. After Sunday in Atlanta, Rich doesn't care.

Williams missed weeks three, four and five with a hamstring injury, and during that stretch he pushed back on the reporting about it. Then he posted a comeback video. Rich's first reaction was that the Bears quarterback was getting a little too wrapped up in the noise. Williams feels disrespected, and as someone in the studio noted, he was the butt of a lot of jokes. Not on this show, though.

Rich had poked at it the week before, wondering why Williams was arguing with the media. The quarterback's message had essentially been: unless you hear it from the boss man or the horse's mouth, don't believe it. So somebody asked the horse's mouth, and he wouldn't answer. "Nay, I will not answer," Rich said. "See what I did right there? A little dad joke mixed in with a sports take."

Then came the return. And Rich's verdict was blunt. "If this is what it takes for him to get ready for a game and then we see the results, like his return in Atlanta, don't change a thing, man. Don't change a thing."

The results were hard to argue with. Williams went 30 for 36 for 305 yards. He completed all 26 of his attempts when the Falcons failed to generate pressure, and when they did get to him, he simply ran away from it and made plays. He completed his first 12 passes, the most by him at any point in his career. His completion percentage was 83.

Rich made the point that this kind of line is unique. Not a lot of quarterbacks do that. And it might reveal Williams' superpower: accuracy.

The receivers ate, too. Luther Burden had 95 receiving yards. Colston Loveland posted a season-high 65 yards and caught Williams' first touchdown. That last one was personal for Rich. A texter on Overreaction Monday had wanted his fantasy money back after Rich went to bat for Loveland. "All right, I'm not giving you a darn thing," Rich said.

The run game kept humming even without its top back, the one who ran for nearly 200 yards against the Jets a couple of weeks ago. In came Roschon Johnson, and the show was impressed.

The Bears' defense did take its foot off the gas late, the studio agreed. Chicago was all over Michael Penix Jr. for the first two or three quarters. Penix spent time in the blue tent right off the bat, then made it a game, handing some late fantasy points to anyone starting him, Kyle Pitts or Drake London. Not Bijan Robinson, though. The Bears took Bijan out of it, and he didn't rip off any of his monster 60- or 70-yard runs. Seven fantasy points.

So the Bears have re-entered the chat in the NFC North. The Vikings are coming off a bye to face the Indianapolis Colts. The Packers are taking on the Lions in a big one in the division and the conference.

And Chicago opens week seven with a Thursday nighter at home against a Patriots team that has won three in a row. That sets up Caleb versus Maye, one versus three in their draft class. Number two in that class was set to take the field Monday night when the Commanders faced the 49ers.

"What a fun Thursday nighter," someone said in the studio. Rich's message to the Bears quarterback heading into it remains the same: whatever you're doing, keep doing it.