Caleb Williams added some intrigue to the fury from Bears fans who thought Troy Aikman was overly critical of the team and quarterback during their “Monday Night Football” win over the Commanders.
Williams said on Wednesday that he and the star ESPN analyst were unable to connect for the standard production meeting that occurs between the broadcast booth and team’s coaches and star players.
“I didn’t get to meet with him, tried to meet with him, I reached out and tried to meet and that didn’t happen,” Williams said. “I was here late and times didn’t meet up, lifting or whatever the case may have been. I tried to call him after the day I was supposed to meet with him and didn’t get through.”
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky responded on X: “Maybe it’s nothing. This is odd.”
Aikman was critical of the placement of some of Williams’ throws in the 25-24 Chicago win, suggesting that even though the passes were completed, he was not giving his receivers a chance to advance the ball further.
“At the least, you try to give them a catchable ball,” Williams said, per the Chicago Sun-Times. “At the maximum, you want to give him the best ball, so he can go run. I think there were opportunities for that. I think there were opportunities we missed. I think there were opportunities that we’ll hit. It’s still our fifth game that we just played.”
The Hall of Fame Cowboys quarterback also said Williams’ 55-yard touchdown pass to D’Andre Swift that cut Washington’s lead to 24-22 in the fourth quarter was a “lucky” play.
Williams poked fun of Aikman’s comment on Instagram with a collage of photos from the game and of Washington, D.C., where he played high school football, with the caption:
“Nations Cap good being back!
‘It was lucky’ -TA
‘Whooptie Doo’”
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“D’Andre made a great play, and obviously [Aikman] had some stuff to say about us or me,” Williams said. “And, I mean, we came out victorious in the end. Made a little fun moment of it. That was about it.”
Williams finished the game completing 17 of 29 passes for 252 yards with one passing and rushing touchdown.
It was the Bears’ third straight win as they improved to 3-2 in head coach Ben Johnson’s first season.
“I think it’s [that] you go out there and play really well, there’s going to be someone who’s going to find something wrong, that it wasn’t that good — or, you know, you lose,” Williams said. “So they love you, and they hate you.”
