Chicago Bears minicamp observations: Caleb Williams and offense excel during 7-on-7s while the defense dominates 11-on-11s

LAKE FOREST — Tuesday’s minicamp practice at Halas Hall looked and felt more crowded than the previous practices that have been open to the media.

The reason being was that the Bears had 100% attendance. Montez Sweat and Keenan Allen were both in uniform to start minicamp. Allen participated in practice and did so for the first time against this Bears defense — which left an impression on the veteran wide receiver.

“They look like a top 5 defense,” Allen said. “They sound like a top 5 defense too. Defenses are annoying, especially at practice. You just hear them every time they make a play. It’s hooray celebration. These guys are running up and down the sideline. So it’s annoying. Offense we get a first down. One guy just trots around. He comes back to the huddle. Everybody is like, ‘OK, what’s the next play?’ You don’t really see to much:

“YEAHHHHHH!” You don’t really get all that just because somebody did a rip-through and got back to the quarterback. So it is what it is. Their energy, the way they communicate, the way they get lined up, definitely high class.”

Sweat didn’t practice, and Bears head coach Matt Eberflus explained what the plan is for the star pass rusher.

“Again, we were checking on Sweat a little bit in terms of because we hadn’t seen him in physical activity,” Eberflus said. “He was just in the building for the other stuff. He’ll hopefully ramp up tomorrow and get some more team reps in there as we go.”

Also in attendance but not practicing was Nate Davis. Matt Pryor filled in at right guard with the first-team unit throughout the day.

Here are my top observations from Day 1 of Bears minicamp.

7-on-7s

The last time the Bears held a practice in front of the media nearly the entire starting secondary wasn’t on the field. That was not the case in Tuesday’s practice. The Bears had Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Jack Sanborn for the first 7-on-7 series.

Caleb Williams still completed his first four passes. He started by hitting Gerald Everett on slant route. Then Williams connected with Khari Blasingame in the left flat for a small gain. On the third rep, Williams held the ball for a bit until he found DJ Moore near the right sideline and connected with him for a good gain. Williams completed another pass to Moore on a sliding catch to end the first session of 7-on-7s.

For the second series, the defensive made a substitution, replacing Edwards with Kyler Gordon. Williams started off by hitting Roschon Johnson for a minimal gain in the left flat. Then Williams threw his next pass out of bounds after he couldn’t find anyone open. Moore then caught a pass for a short gain in the middle of the field on the next play. On the third rep, Williams sailed a pass over tight end Tommy Sweeney and it was intercepted by Kevin Byard, who ran down the left sideline and celebrated with his defensive teammates.

Without being asked about the interception, Eberflus explained what happened on the play.

“Those are the experiences that he has to go through,” Eberflus said. “He has to go through his progressions, which he did. He was right on his progressions. Then he took a hitch, and the ball should have came out, and he took two hitches, and it was late over the middle. That’s always dangerous when you do that. But that’s the learning experience in the process that a young quarterback has to go through, you know. You know, whenever his feet are timed up, when can he make those throws, and when can’t he make those throws?

That’s just experimentation. We’re just doing a really good job of getting experience. Get him exposure. Let him experiment with his arm talent and the receivers that he has. Eventually, player development happens and the evolution of a quarterback happens. That’s the process that we have to go through, and that’s what we are doing right now.”

Williams responded in the next 7-on-7 series with a tight window throw to Cole Kmet for a short gain in the middle of the field. Edwards was in good coverage, but the throw was right where it needed to be. Then Williams connected with Rome Odunze on an over route with Stevenson in tight coverage. The third rep ended in a completion to tight end Stephen Carlson on a deep crosser. Williams ended the series with a completed pass to Odunze after he rolled to his right to extend the play.

The final portion of 7-on-7s started with an incompletion to the left side of the formation. Williams then found Cole Kmet for a big completion in the middle of the field.

Then came arguably the best play of the day. Williams hit Moore on a 20-yard comeback route. The ball was thrown accurately and with anticipation and hit Moore right in his extended hands. Moore did a good job of coming back to the football and needed to because Stevenson was essentially attached to Moore’s hip. But it was a better throw and catch. The 7-on-7 period ended with a short completion to tight end Brenden Bates.

11-on-11s

The offense completed a lot of passes in 7-on-7s, but the defense turned things around in the team period. The offense started on their own 35-yard line, and on the first play, Williams was forced to throw the ball away after Brisker blitzed and got in the backfield. Then the offense committed a false start penalty on the following play. The third rep probably would’ve ended in a sack by Gordon and Gervon Dexter. Williams finally hit Blasingame in the flat to the right side of the field for a small gain. The defense brought another blitz on the next play, but the offense was prepared for it. Shane Waldron called a screen to Odunze and Williams side armed the pass to get it to his receiver. The Bears had blockers up front and gained positive yards. After a successful screen play, there was another false start penalty and then an incomplete pass intended for Odunze.

Eberflus provided an explanation on those presnap penalties.

“Obviously something we still have to work on, as you guys saw today, is the cadence,” Eberflus said. “We saw guys jump off sides – I think there were half a dozen of the time – so that’s something that needs to be worked out. That is something that needs to be addressed and worked on and improved on here in the next couple of days. We’d like to get that cleaned up.”

Eberflus elaborated by saying the cadence isn’t just something Williams has to work on, but the entire offensive unit to ensure everyone is on the same page.

The second team period started like the first one with Williams throwing the ball away, but afterwards members of the offense and defense got into it. In the center of everything was DeMarcus Walker — who could be heard clearly with his comments from across the field. Williams’ next pass was deflected in the air by Dexter and Williams went over to his right to knock down the football. On third-and-10, Williams completed a pass to Everett for a short gain on the left side of the field.

After being forced to punt on the first possession, the first-team offense went right back onto the field and produced similar results as the first. Stevenson broke up as pass intended for Odunze near the left sideline. It appeared to be good timing from Williams, but just a better play by Stevenson. Williams then completed a short pass to Nsimba Webster on the next play. Then Darnell Wright gave up pressure against Jacob Martin, who played in Sweat’s spot, and would’ve got himself a sack on Williams.

Other observations

• At the start of practice, DeMarcus Walker went up to each member of the starting defense and he had a unique handshake for each player.
• Ryan Bates was the primary center in today’s practice.
• Here were the players returning kicks at the start of practice: Greg Stroman Jr., Khalil Herbert, Ian Wheeler, Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr. and Nsimba Webster
• Tyrique Stevenson, Rome Odunze and DJ Moore were practicing returning punts in the early portion of practice. Velus Jones Jr. was the punt returner after the offense was forced to punt during the team period.

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