Chicago Bears Training Camp Notebook: Caleb Williams and the offense win the day against the Bengals defense

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals battled the elements in Thursday’s joint practice at Halas Hall.

On one field, the Chicago Bears starting defense faced off against Joe Burrow and the rest of the Bengals offense. On the other field, Caleb Williams and the Bears offense went against the Bengals defense.

For this rainy joint practice, I focused my attention on Williams and the Bears’ starting offense going up against the Bengals’ first-team defense.

Here are my notes from the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods.

7 on 7s

Williams’ first pass of the day against the Bengals was his worst one. To start off the 7-on-7 period in the low red zone, Williams threw an interception to Germaine Pratt in the middle of the field. Pratt was there the entire time, but Williams still tried to fit the ball into a window that wasn’t there.

After the interception, Williams didn’t look discouraged at all. He was actually vibing out to the music that was blasting over the speakers. Williams then went on to connect with Keenan Allen on a drag route for a short gain. Allen got himself another reception on the right side of the formation for a short completion.

The period ended with an incomplete pass to Rome Odunze on a short attempt to the left side of the field.

In the second round of 7-on-7s started with a Williams completing a pass to Travis Homer for a short gain on the right side of the field. Then Williams attempted to hit Odunze in the back of the middle part of the end zone, but he had to loft the ball over Pratt. The pass sailed high and fell incomplete.

11 on 11s

Like the 7-on-7 period, the team period started with a negative. Something went wrong with Coleman Shelton‘s snap and the ball ended up on the ground. Williams then had an incomplete pass to Homer down the left sideline.

The next two plays had Williams under center and were runs by Khalil Herbert and then Velus Jones Jr., who got his first opportunity to play with the first-team offense as a running back. The final play of the first team series ended with a short completion Odunze on the left side of the field.

The next team period began with Williams under center and he handed the ball off to D’Andre Swift for a run to the right. Then with Williams under center again, offensive coordinator called for a desgined rollout to the right. Williams didn’t find anyone open so he ran for a short gain.

Williams started the third team period with a completion to Allen on the right side of the field for a short gain. Then, Williams found Herbert out of the backfield for a small gain on the left side. Williams’ third pass attempt fell incomplete on a intermediate pass to DJ Moore. Then there was a presnap penalty, but it was tough to see what exactly caused it. The series then ended with Trey Hendrickson getting around Cole Kmet to get the sack on Williams.

TGI(Trey) with the sack 😁 pic.twitter.com/BoBPol31oy

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 15, 2024

The next 11-on-11 period started with Williams running to his left after he felt pressure in the pocket from Hendrickson. Williams pump faked and that got the linebacker who was pursuing Williams to turn his head around to find a passing target. The rookie quarterback then continued running to get a decent gain on the play.

On the next play, Odunze lined up out wide to Williams’ right. Odunze ran a slant route and beat cornerback Dax Hill. Williams hit Odunze in stride, and this easily could’ve gone down as an explosive play, since Odunze was one on one with the safety in the open field. Williams finished this series with a completion to Gerald Everett for a short gain on the right.

The offense went back to working in the low red zone for this series. Williams connected with Everett for a short gain in the middle of the field. With Williams under center on the next play, Swift got a handoff to the left, and there looked to be a legitimate running lane for the Bears’ running back. The next snap ended with an incompletion to Moore. The ball was too high for the veteran receiver. Cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt was in coverage.

The fourth play had Williams under center again and lined up in 13 personnel. Herbert got a handoff in the middle for a short gain. The series ended with Williams hitting Moore on a 10-yard touchdown strike off a slant route. Moore beat Hill on the play.

Pick your poison 😈 pic.twitter.com/dL0YpDuH3E

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 15, 2024

This next 11-on-11 series had the Bears still working in the low red zone. Williams lined up under center and handed the ball off to Swift, who was bottled up on the play. Then from the 8-yard line, Williams threw a perfect pass to Allen near the back left corner of the end zone on a fade route. Allen elevated and made the contested catch over Taylor-Britt for the score.

On the next series, the play started with Odunze lined up in the backfield, but he motioned to the left before the snap. The Bears called a screen to the right for Allen, but he dropped the pass. Then Swift had a run to the left, but there were several Bengals defenders to stop him. Allen caught a pass on a slant route for an easy completion on the right side of the field on the following play. The deepest completion for Williams came on an over route to Odunze. The rookie receiver worked from the left side of the field to right and caught the ball near the right sideline for a 15-20 yard gain. Odunze caught another pass for a short gain on the left side, but Taylor-Britt would’ve been in a position to deliver a big hit. The final play of this series ended with Williams delivering a sidearm pass to Everett in the middle of the field for a short gain.

The 11-on-11s for the Bears’ first-team offense ended with a situational period. With the offense down 21-20, the Bears had to march down the field from their own 25-yard line and had 1:08 remaining in the game.

The drive started with a short completion to Everett. Then the Bears called a screen to Swift, but the offense was penalized for an illegal push in the back. Then with the offense backed up, Williams was sacked by B.J. Hill — who beat Darnell Wright on the play.

Got him @BJHill5 😏 pic.twitter.com/5X6lzMD4fo

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 16, 2024

Then on third-and-long, Williams completed a pass to Freddie Swain on the right side of the field. On fourth down, Williams attempted to hit Nsimba Webster down the left sideline, but Taylor-Britt broke up the pass. Allen and Moore were not in during those final two plays for the Bears.