Before Williams’ Pro Day March 20 in Los Angeles, he dined with a large Bears contingent that included Poles, assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, coach Matt Eberflus, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph, passing game coordinator Thomas Brown and some USC receivers.
A main takeaway for Poles from that outing was that Williams is “really mature.”
“One of my guys kind of bumped me on it, which I think is rare these days for a 22-year-old: he never touched his phone,” Poles said. “Really intentional with his conversations and talking about his interests and things that he likes to do.”
Later in the pre-draft process, Williams visited the Bears at Halas Hall.
“Just another touchpoint,” Poles said. “I’ve done this over the years when guys come in, you can really do some installations, take a break, and then have them reinstall back to you just in terms of recall. Build relationships with coaches. Make sure that there’s compatibility there.”
During his visit to Chicago, Williams dined with a group of Bears veterans that reportedly included DJ Moore, Cole Kmet and T.J. Edwards. Asked about the impression that Williams made on the players, Poles said: “Really intelligent guy. Came across as a really good teammate, easy to talk to, down to earth.”
“He’s all ball, wants to work, wants to get better, wants to win as a team,” Poles said. “That’s the No. 1 thing for him on top of being successful. The biggest thing is, ‘Does he fit in our culture and what we’re trying to do?’ And all signs were that he does, so that was positive.”
During a recent appearance on “The Pivot Podcast,” Williams was asked by co-host Ryan Clark about joining the Bears.
“I want to play in one place for 20 years, and chase one guy, No. 12 (Tom Brady),” Williams said. “I want a place that loves ball. That’s all I’ve heard about Chicago so far, which is exciting for me.”
Intending to chase an all-time great quarterback who has won seven Super Bowls is certainly a lofty goal for an incoming rookie. But Poles is fine with aiming that high.
“I love it,” Poles said. “We all should have huge goals. We have huge goals here; win multiple championships, and that’s what we shoot for. You’re more intentional when you have these goals. You have to live a certain way; you have to practice a certain way in order to accomplish those. If everything else is in line underneath that, that gets me excited.”
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