LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams‘ choppy start to training camp isn’t drawing concern from Chicago Bears coaches after three practices. The Bears held their longest practice of the week on Friday, a two-hour session open to fans with a heavy emphasis inside the red zone. Williams did not complete any of his passes inside the 20-yard line during 7-on-7 where he went 0-for-5 with back-to-back interceptions and a dropped pass.
Including full team periods in the red zone, Williams did not complete his first pass until his tenth attempt. The 23-year-old quarterback responded with consecutive touchdown throws to wide receiver Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus.
“No, I wouldn’t say that right now,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said when asked whether he’s concerned about the state of the Bears offense. “This whole thing is a progress, and for the next six weeks we’re going to get a ton of reps on all of these plays. We’re going to try to master these things. The first time you guys did anything, you know, you’re not quite a master at it yet. It takes a little bit of work and progression to get there.”
Added wide receiver DJ Moore: “We had a few hiccups, defense getting the better of us with the picks, but it all comes with the days of training camp.”
The Bears have only installed a portion of their new offense under first-year head coach Ben Johnson and won’t hold their first padded practice until next week. Players have repeatedly addressed the intensity of practices and Johnson’s attention to detail, which caused the starting offense to get removed during a drill during the first practice of training camp.
“Y’all saw him kick the ones off,” Moore said. “We’re not wasting no time, so that’s how detailed you’ve got to be. You’ve got to know what you’re doing on that play, and you better get it right the first time or you’re off.
The momentum built during the final 11-on-11 period on Friday tapered off during a two-minute drill at the end of practice where a pair of drops by running back D’Andre Swift caused the first-team offense to settle for a field goal.
“The biggest thing is there is a problem if you repeat mistakes,” Doyle said. “So, the next time we run that play if we make the same mistake, that’s an issue. But the first time, we’re kind of getting this thing rolling all right and we’re going to come in and get this going.”
Doyle also noted how the Bears are working through various scripted scenarios. During the first team period, defensive end Montez Sweat burst off the right edge unblocked twice and into the backfield. The result was two incomplete passes by Williams.
“That’s very intentional,” Doyle said. “That’s trying to get our defensive pressures in against some of the stuff that we’re going to do offensively. We have contingency plans for what they are going to bring at us, so the quarterback operating getting the offense on the same page as far as checking plays, checking protections, things like that, but that’s all a part of the scripted practice, is trying to get the defense right with their pressure patterns and the way they’re going to play coverage on the back end and then it’s getting our quarterbacks used to whether we’re throwing the ball or up front handling the movement with those run schemes.”
Williams’ appears to understand the objectives of his coaches after reposting a message on X from former Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, who expressed disdain for training camp statistics.
“Practice is for practicing. You’re supposed to fail. You’re supposed to try new things, see what works and what doesn’t work, etc,” read a portion of Watt’s post.
Ahead of training camp, Johnson addressed his goals for Williams and said he wants the quarterback to complete 70% of his passes during his second NFL season. Coupled with Williams’ goal of becoming the first player in Bears’ history to throw for 4,000 yards, the expectations are increasingly high for the No. 1 overall pick in 2025. Only four quarterbacks reached both of those thresholds last season, including Detroit’s Jared Goff, who was coached by Johnson.
In tracking Williams’ completion percentage, Doyle said the Bears are accounting for every throw Williams makes during 7-on-7 and team periods during training camp to gauge the quarterback’s progress.
“That information is really helpful, because obviously it’s one thing to say that, it’s another thing to walk into the quarterback meeting and hand them a sheet that says, ‘hey, you’re above or below championship standards,” Doyle said. “It’s something we’ll track throughout camp. Obviously that’s our benchmark, our goal. But that’s the biggest thing — we have to track all of it and make sure our players are aware of what we’re going to ask them to do.”
