Bears minicamp observations: Defense confusing Caleb Williams but flashes continue to grow

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams’ rookie education continued Wednesday at Halas Hall during the Bears’ second mandatory minicamp practice.

Facing a defense at full strength, Williams and the offense struggled during a 7-on-7 period that saw multiple passes broken up by the Bears’ sticky secondary and an interception by linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

Williams sat back and surveyed the defense before trying to fit the ball between Edmunds and safety Kevin Byard to Freddie Swain. The pass had no chance, and Edmunds easily picked it off.

Head coach Matt Eberflus viewed Wednesday’s interception similarly to the one Williams threw to Byard on Tuesday, in which he waited too long and threw the ball into the danger zone over the middle.

“The process and exposure and experimentation of the quarterback,” Eberflus said. “And that ultimately leads to that whole evolution of what he feels he can and cannot do. Maine is a big guy in the middle, and that’s an imposing figure in there, like the Chicago Bears have had in the past. And I think that’s an important part of it. He’s probably going to play most of his opponents and be like, ‘Wow, that Mike’s not very big.’ So he’s going to be like that. But yeah, balls that are thrown late over the middle, they’re usually put in harm’s way.”

Facing the Bears’ near-elite defense every day in practice will sharpen Williams. Byard has said it’s their responsibility to make every day hard for Williams so he’s ready when the lights come on in Week 1.

For the Bears’ back seven, the plan to prepare Williams is to constantly change the picture post-snap so that Williams can become proficient at diagnosing NFL coverage schemes.

“I think really just the biggest thing I feel like that I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older in this league is giving rookies different looks and I feel like we do a good job of that, of trying to really confuse them at practice,” star cornerback Jaylon Johnson said about how they are testing Williams. “And not even really just because it’s him but just as a defense you want to be able to confuse quarterbacks and I think that’s the biggest thing that comes with being a rookie quarterback is being able to analyze what the defense is in and then I feel like from there it’s easier to make the right reads, but I feel like it’s a lot harder when you’re doing that in the middle of your drop instead of at the line of scrimmage. Just trying to give them different looks. And then, of course, throughout the duration of the plays, we always want to be sticky in coverage. Be in the right spots when it comes to our underneath droppers and things like that.”

That confusion is evident at times, but the Bears’ defense isn’t pitching a shutout against the No. 1 overall pick. Williams’ arm talent, quick learning ability, and resilience keep shining through.

One play after throwing the interception to Edmunds, Williams dropped back and threw a dime to Velus Jones Jr. for a deep touchdown. Jones got a step on cornerback Terell Smith, and Williams put the ball on the money for the score.

“I think his arm talent shows immediately,” slot cornerback Kyler Gordon said of Williams. “He’s very poised. He’s just learning every single day, chipping away and slowly getting better, and we’re all surrounding him.”

While the 7-on-7 period was bumpy, Williams and the offense performed much better in the 11-on-11 portion of practice.

That included a successful two-minute drill in whcih Williams marched the offense down the field for a field goal. The drive included a deep completion to DJ Moore on a well-thrown ball along the left sideline. Moore made a fantastic leaping catch in front of safety Jaquan Brisker and got both feet down in bounds.

Williams followed that with two completions to Keenan Allen and a dart to Rome Odunze to set up Cairo Santos’ field goal attempt.

It’s important to note the pass rush did appear to be slowing up after their first two steps during the two minute drill. Still, the touch and precision were there against the Bears’ starting secondary.

The confusion the Bears’ secondary is trying to create is working, but it’s also allowing the Bears and Williams to work on their scramble drill, an area Williams can be special.

“Sometimes it’s really good coverage,” Eberflus said about Williams’ time to throw. “There are guys who have been around and been with each other for a while. So they understand our coverage concepts and how they complement each other and they’re on point in terms of that most of the time. So some of it is that.

“We just have to turn it into a scramble drill. We have to make that real because we’ll have some of that. He is very effective at that. Now obviously we want him to drop back and process and deliver the ball. But he is remarkable when it comes to throwing the ball on the move, so we’ll have to use that as a weapon for us.”

That scramble drill ability has shown up in each open practice, including Wednesday, when Williams surveyed the defense and bought time by rolling out of the pocket before hitting Odunze for a long completion down the field in between Byard and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

Williams is going through the typical rookie quarterback learning curve during his first offseason program.

That he faces an ascending, near-elite defense every day only adds to the challenge. But despite the rough patches, the Bears are seeing Williams progress and know the smooth waters will eventually arrive.

“That’s football. New face, new guy,” guard Teven Jenkins said about having patience with a rookie quarterback. “He’s coming in from college. It’s going to be a little different for him. I have all the confidence he’s going to get it down quick. I mean, he’s a quick learner. There’s always that patience in everybody. New offense, new playbook, new city. There’s a lot going on for him right now.”

Here are more notes from Day 2 of mandatory minicamp:

— Tight end Cole Kmet and left tackle Braxton Jones did not participate during Wednesday’s practice as a precaution. Eberflus said he expects both players to be full-go for their summer conditioning plans ahead of training camp.

— Right guard Nate Davis was a partial participant Wednesday.

The Bears have used multiple players at right guard this spring, including Matt Pryor and Ryan Bates. Eberflus is uncertain how that position will shake out at the moment.

“I really don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes,” Eberflus said. “I’m just thinking through my head a bunch of multiple combinations. I really don’t know exactly. Sure, we had Bates there. He’s played there. [Coleman] Shelton has played at center, of course. Davis has played there. Tev has been on the other side. Pryor has been in and been out. The versatility there has certainly been helpful. [General manager Ryan Poles] did a really good job of having those pieces in there so we don’t like last year or prior years, you know, a guy goes down and we’re like, ‘Oh, what are we going to do?’ At least we have that flexibility at the O-line position.”

When asked if Davis was expected to be the starter, Eberflus noted that was the case last season.

“He has been our starter, right? So I expect him to be in there,” Eberflus said.

— One day after having multiple pre-snap penalties, the Bears’ first-team offense only had one delay of game penalty.

Jenkins said the process of learning Williams’ cadence is taking place on the field and during walk throughs inside the building. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings has gotten the Bears’ offensive line to false start several times with his “move” call, which has been a focus of the walk-through cadence practices.

“We do walk-throughs indoors here and just working on cadences. We have one of the best move teams in the whole NFL. Like, (Andrew) Billings is probably top voice of doing that. He’s got us a lot,” Jenkins said. “That’s one thing that we got to get better at. The one thing we always do in the ITC is try to imitate that move call with him doing his regular cadence. 

“MOVE! And then … and then you get back into the cadence. You say, ‘Ready,’ and then Billings yells, ‘Move,’ and you try not to jump offsides and get used to hearing [Williams] get loud.”

With Williams, the focus is on emphasis and inflection. All parties know it will take a while for the quarterback to perfect and for the offense to learn.

“One thing that we always try to tell him is voice louder, emphasize like that second ‘hut’ to make the defense draw offsides and get a free play,” Jenkins said. “Those plays we got last year. We got a free touchdown to DJ, that was like a free play, the defense thinks it’s real so they get off. Just communicating to him that those voice inflections are very important.”

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