Troy Aikman has an encouraging message for Caleb Williams amid a tough rookie campaign

Troy Aikman thinks Caleb Williams needs to keep his head up. In a difficult first year as a signal caller for the Chicago Bears, Williams faced an uphill battle against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night football.

On ESPN’s national broadcast, Aikman gave Williams some words of encouragement. Aikman recalled his own rookie year after being the first overall pick in the draft, as did Williams. Aikman started 11 games as a rookie in 1989 and lost all 11. Just two years later, he started a streak of being named to six consecutive Pro Bowls.

“This is the time of year when the college seasons end,” Aikman said when discussing Williams’ rookie year with Chicago. “They’re long years. And you have the year (the Bears) have, they’re just so much longer. What you worry about for a young quarterback, and I went through that, I was 0-11 as a starter and (Williams ) has had a much better rookie season than I did.”

Aikman shared his only concern about Williams moving forward, hoping the losses and difficulty moving the football don’t eat away at the rookie’s confidence.

“We saw him on the sidelines, he was grimacing and in tremendous pain,” Aikman continued. “When I watch him, you can tell he’s a defeated guy. I mentioned he hasn’t been through anything like this at any point in his career, and what you worry about is that a rookie quarterback lose confidence.”

Williams looked defeated on the bench after taking a huge hit from Vikings linebacker Jihad Ward.

With the 30-12 loss to Minnesota on Monday, the Bears fell to 4-10 on the season. Williams went 18-for-31 passing for 191 yards and a touchdown. The road won’t get any easier for Chicago in the immediate future as they head home to play the Detroit Lions (12–2) on December 22nd.