If Chris Williams seems calm in the face of a perceived demotion from possible starting left tackle to third or swing tackle, its because hes been through this kind of thing before, even with JMarcus Webb.
Williams was the Bears No. 1 pick in 2008. He struggled with back problems his rookie season but wasnt able to beat out journeyman tackle John St. Clair by seasons end.
The Bears were not sufficiently convinced about Williams to prevent them from signing veteran Orlando Pace in the 2009 offseason. Williams was inserted at right tackle, then moved to left after 11 games when it became evident that Pace was done.
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Williams briefly held onto the left-tackle spot in 2010 but went down with a hamstring injury week two in Dallas. By the time he recovered, the Bears were satisfied with Frank Omiyale, and JMarcus Webb was playing well enough as a rookie tackle.
So Williams, whod played left guard early in his time at Vanderbilt, was sent there to open the season. That ended after nine games when he went on IR with a wrist injury.
Then came 2012 and he was back at left tackle but again facing Webb, who spent Wednesday with the No. 1 offense on a day that had been allocated to Williams based on previous schedules.
Williams attitude wasnt necessarily upbeat but it was direct:
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Just keep getting better, working the trade and getting better, Williams said. Im just a man out here working what coaches ask me to do.
We all push each other, the whole group, because we have an obligation to block people and that makes this team better.