Bears QB Caleb Williams amped to play in hometown

Sunday’s Bears-Commanders showdown may or may not feature a matchup of quarterbacks selected with the top two picks in this year’s draft.

While Williams is set to start for the Bears (4-2), the Commanders (5-2) aren’t sure whether Jayden Daniels will be able to play. The No. 2 overall pick exited last Sunday’s 40-7 rout of the Panthers with a rib injury in the first quarter and did not practice Wednesday.

If Daniels is unable to start, he’ll be replaced by veteran Marcus Mariota, who led Washington to points on six consecutive drives against Carolina.

The Bears are preparing for both possibilities this week in practice.

“It’s a similar offense when you watch the offenses,” said coach Matt Eberflus. “Of course, the different types of players in terms of who they are quarterback-wise, but our plan will be our plan, and we’ll adjust. We’ll have contingency plans for that, for who’s in there. But we’re going to stick with what we’re doing.”

Last Sunday Mariota completed 18 of 23 passes for 205 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 132.8 passer rating. He has appeared in 92 games with 74 starts over 10 NFL seasons, previously playing with the Titans (2015-19), Raiders (2020-21), Falcons (2022) and Eagles (2023).

“I thought he really did a nice job if you look at his rating last week,” Eberflus said. “Efficient, effective during the course of that whole game and pretty much he was in the whole game, and you saw the score. He did an outstanding job.”