Bears' Caleb Williams says 'good amount' of sacks on him

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is within striking distance of becoming the NFL's most sacked quarterback in a season. The prevailing narrative around the hits taken by the first overall pick is a point of contention for the 23-year-old.

Williams has been sacked 67 times through 16 games, which is nine shy of the record that has been held since 2002 when former Houston Texans quarterback David Carr was sacked 76 times.

Williams' total grew when he was sacked seven times in Chicago's 6-3 loss to Seattle on Dec. 26. That's happened two other times this season (at Houston and the San Francisco 49ers) and is two shy of the season-high nine sacks he endured in a Week 10 loss to the New England Patriots.

Not all sacks are created equal in the eyes of the rookie quarterback, who took exception to the idea that the blame lies solely on the Bears' offensive line.

"There's been a stupid -- excuse my language -- but a stupid idea behind my offensive linemen," Williams said after pausing multiple times. "The connotation behind my offensive line has been annoying and frustrating because they work their tail off to be able to go out there. The negative connotation behind them, they come in and work their butt off each day, each week.

"I've taken sacks, yes. And a good amount have been on me, whether it's small things of getting the ball out of my hands and maybe dirting it, not trying to find the perfect route, perfect play, maybe it's just throwing it out of bounds, dirting it, finding the checkdown faster. And the other one is not trying to make plays all the time."

Against Seattle, the Bears were down two starting linemen with left tackle Braxton Jones on injured reserve and left guard Teven Jenkins ruled out with a calf injury. Williams took responsibility for not getting rid of the ball quickly enough several times.

"The stupid connotation behind my offensive line being bad is not the truth," Williams said. "I've taken a good amount of sacks that have been my fault, and a couple throughout that last game were mine.

Williams noted other instances from the Seattle loss where he could have operated differently to combat the Seahawks' pass rush, including one instance when the Bears were in an empty formation and the quarterback didn't flip the protection or check into a different play at the line of scrimmage.

"Tried to make a play and took a sack instead of, OK, I messed up, didn't make the flip or check, throw it out of bounds over the dude's head, or over the hot or checkdown's head," Williams said. "Took a 14-yard sack on that one I think it was, put us in a bad situation. There's been many times this season where, yes, people have given up sacks, sure. Myself is completely a part of that."

The Bears (4-12) close out the season at Lambeau Field where they'll face a Green Bay Packers defense that ranks seventh in sacks with 44.