Chicago Bears Training Camp: Offense still lagging behind an injured defense

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The list of players missing practice is getting longer and longer.

Montez Sweat, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Andrew Billings, Nate Davis, and Darnell Wright all spent time a part of what Adam Hoge nicknamed “The Peloton Crew“. The Bears were very active riding the bike.

There is still time — 32 days to be exact — until the opener versus Tennessee at Soldier Field. May the days pass quickly and with much better health.

Here are today’s three observations from another up and down Bears practice:

1. Keenan Allen got his man.

When Keenan Allen talked to the media earlier this week, he dropped a nugget that he had yet to catch a ball against Jaylon Johnson: “Something has always gone wrong on the play.”

Something went right when Allen shook Johnson to the corner of the end zone on a fade route and Caleb Williams put it right on the money just over the outstretched arms of Johnson. The official signaled touchdown which immediately earned him loud words from Johnson arguing that Allen was out of bounds.

Johnson did not have the ability to ask for a replay review and I’m not sure if Allen was or wasn’t, and I don’t care.

It was a great throw made to an elite receiver who beat a top corner. The talent on the Bears roster has dramtically improved.

2. Offensive line woes are starting to hamper training camp.

Darnell Wright was back on the field at the start of practice and then he wasn’t. Wright tweaked something on the first snap of team drills ending his day with Larry Borom stepping in at right tackle.

Elsewhere, Nate Davis did some light stretching, rode the bike and was lambasted by Bears fans on social media.

Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan put on a brave face saying Davis is progressing nicely. Morgan tried to quell any o-line panic and would not put a date on when Davis needs to be healthy before there is a competition. He believes Ryan Bates has taken enough snaps at center that he can slide back there without issue if and when Davis returns .

The Bears offense did not move the ball in the 2-minute drill, running only three plays that went nowhere, ending on a DeMarcus Walker sack. Walker let the offense have it with his words after the play, dancing around the field and taking his helmet off.

Caleb Williams could really use a healthy offensive line so the offense could start finding more of its rhythm.

3. Will the Bears defense help Caleb Williams get better faster?

According to quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph, the answer is yes. We got to talk to the position coaches today and I asked Joseph why the Bears offense has looked shaky, and why Caleb Williams — at times — has held onto the ball too long.

Joseph’s explanation gave credit to the defense:

“We got a good defense and sometimes the defense are covering it and sometimes [Caleb] will walk back and say ‘the defense is pretty darn good’. Yeah they are. The more reps he gets, the more he sees it, the more the picture slows down in his mind, the faster it is going to come.”

At the start of training camp, we kept hearing “iron sharpens iron”. Hopefully that’s the case and what looks rough right now will look much better one month from now against lesser defenses combined with the lessons learned along the way.

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