Why the Bears aren't concerned about Caleb Williams & the offense's recent struggles in camp

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Thursday’s practice for the Chicago Bears first-team offense felt a lot like the last three days of training camp. Caleb Williams played behind an offensive line that was missing some starters, the unit struggled to move the ball during the team period and something went wrong.

In this latest practice, the wrong didn’t come in the form of a pre-snap penalty or the protection collapsing as soon as Williams got the snap. The play that ended a two-minute situational period at the end of practice was veteran safety Kevin Byard breaking on a pass intended for Gerald Everett near the right sideline and intercepting Williams to end the first-team offense’s day.

Two plays before Byard’s interception, Keenan Allen broke free from undrafted rookie Reddy Steward in the middle of the field. The throwing window was there, but Williams sailed the pass.

On the previous drive, Williams felt immediate pressure after Josh Blackwell was sent on a nickel blitz. Williams rolled to his right and tried to fit a ball to Allen near the right sideline. Elijah Hicks undercut the route and came away with an interception.

The offense didn’t look good in Thursday’s practice, but it’s just the 15th day of training camp in what is Williams’ rookie season. There are going to be ups and downs, and the Bears are executing their plan to not only develop the rookie quarterback on a day-to-day basis, but at the same time, get him ready for Week 1 of the season, eventually becoming a long-term starter in the NFL.

“I would say he’s right where he needs to be right now,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s having some good days, some good periods and some other ones that he’s learning from adversity and a setback. I told him to just lean into that. When you have a setback or have adversity, don’t shy away from it, lean into it then learn from it and get better from it. A lot of people want to hide or shrink away from adversity, that’s not what we do, we lean into it and get better from it, invest our time, grow and improve and that’s what he’s been doing.

He had some moments out there today where he needed to do that in today’s practice and I’m sure he’s going to have some in the game. It’s that exposure and that experience we can give him throughout the course of this camp, the reps in the preseason, the reps in the joint practice next week, all those are very valuable.”

One person who knows all about how valuable reps are is Marcedes Lewis. The veteran tight end is currently in his 19th NFL season. He’s been a part of a lot of training camps and seen plenty of quarterback play in his lifetime in the league. The offensive struggles are not too concerning for him.

“I think, for one, that’s what camp is for, right?,” Lewis said. “Building up those callouses for war. When you say struggle, it just depends on what vantage point you are looking from. One day the defense could have an amazing day. The next, the offense could have an amazing day. Sometimes we’re just going to meet in the middle. I look at it as experience and lessons. As long as we are peaking at the right time, it was all worth it.”

The offense has had its fair share of issues, but it’s worth noting that the defense has been keying in on the offensive signals and recognizing certain tendencies going all the way back to OTAs. Of course, the same can be said about the offense when practicing against the defense, but that defensive group is an experienced one going into its third year in the same scheme. The offense is in Year 1 with Shane Waldron as the offensive coordinator.

Still, the offense has shown signs of progress, according to Teven Jenkins.

“I would definitely say we have honed down on our scheme really and a lot of IDs, Mikes and understanding safety rotation,” Jenkins said. “It starts from inside out with the centers. The centers have been really good with it. Our screen game has gone way up. It’s really productive right now. We’re getting a lot of those things. I know you guys see the clips of Swift getting out and running and things. And we’ve had a lot more that doesn’t get shown that pop for like 20, 30 yards right now. So our offense is really clicking on a lot of things right now.” 

Also, one of the main reasons Lewis, 40, has confidence in this passing game moving forward is because of the 22-year-old quarterback.

“I mean, Caleb Williams,” Lewis said. “You know what I mean? Obviously, with a young quarterback we’re going to have those moments. In the passing game, it’s about being cohesive and the timing of it all. We’re still working out those kinks. But as far as what we will be able to do, we’re not even really worried about it. We got the guys in the position to do the work and we’re just going to lean on the work. Not everyday is going to be beautiful out there, but if you keep working through it, come September, we will be just fine. We got plenty of time.”

In exactly a month, the Bears will host the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field for their first regular season game of the 2024 season. Before that, though, the Bears play three more preseason games, and the available starters will make their debut against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday at Highmark Stadium.

For Jenkins, who is now going into his fourth season, playing in the preseason can be a debatable topic. However, having a rookie quarterback is more than enough of a reason for Jenkins to play.

“Uh, I mean it’s a double-edged sword no matter which way you go with it,” Jenkins said. “Of course you want to take care of your body throughout camp and preseason, but at the same time, you need those reps to get better and Caleb also benefits having those reps having the one line out there. So as long as he’s out there, I want to be out there and help protecting him.”