Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams will not travel to Tampa Bay

LAKE FOREST – Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams will not travel with the team to Tampa Bay this weekend. Head coach Matt Eberflus, instead, will be making the defensive decisions during the game.

Eberflus said he did not have a timeline for when Williams might return.

“If I have more information, we’ll get it to you if available,” Eberflus said.

Before becoming the Bears’ head coach in January 2022, Eberflus was a defensive coordinator with the Colts for four seasons. He has called defenses before in the NFL and did so at the college level before that. Williams served as the defensive backs coach while Eberflus was the defensive coordinator in Indy.

The transition shouldn’t change much about what the Bears do on defense. With Eberflus calling the plays, however, it will take him out of his role as a game-managing head coach.

“With the defense up, I’ll be making the calls,” Eberflus said. “When we’re off the field, to make the corrections pretty quick, the guys on the sideline are going to help me do that with the players. And from there it’s just about setting up the next series.”

When we’re off the field, to make the corrections pretty quick, the guys on the sideline are going to help me do that with the players. And from there it’s just about setting up the next series.”

—  Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach

Safety Jaquan Brisker said the team knew earlier in the week that Williams would not be available for Sunday’s game.

“It’s going to be a smooth process,” Brisker said. “Really [Eberflus’] message was he just told us how the game was going to go. We all feel good, we all feel comfortable. So we’re ready to go.”