Chicago Bears Training Camp Notebook Day 3: Montez Sweat creates havoc, Caleb Williams operates the two-minute drill

LAKE FOREST — The Chicago Bears were on fields 1 and 2 for their third practice of training camp on Monday. The media watched practice from an end zone view that was in between the two fields. When the Bears did their 11-on-11 portions of practice, it was tough to see from our vantage point because any player who wasn’t in on the play lined up horizontally across the field, which limited our view.

Regardless, I still have plenty of notes from the 7-on-7 and team portions of practice and also have my observations and analysis of Caleb Williams‘ day.

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7-on-7s

• Williams completed his first pass to D’Andre Swift on a short route in the middle of the field.
• Then the rookie quarterback found Keenan Allen for a minimal gain on a hitch route to the right side of the field.
• On the third rep, Williams didn’t find anyone initially opened, so he rolled out to his right and threw a pass to DJ Moore in the middle of the field. Nobody celebrated after the play probably since it took so long too develop. Still, it was good on Williams and Moore to finish the rep against the defense.
• Williams connected with Stephen Carlson on a slant route for his fourth completion.
• To end this session, Williams found Tommy Sweeney on a slant route to the right side of the formation. With the last two 7-on-7 reps, the offense and defense mixed up some of the skilled guys with backups.

Team Period

• Williams started the team period with a short completion to Swift on the right side of the field.
• On the next play, there was a penalty, but both the offense and defense were pointing towards each other. To be completely honest, I don’t who got penalized on the play.
• The next play was a toss to the left to Khalil Herbert. Ryan Bates was the center on the play and it was low snap.
• Williams then completed a pass to Moore in the middle of the field. For this rep, Ja’Tyre Carter was in at left guard for Teven Jenkins, but Jenkins returned for the next play.
• Rome Odunze got the ball on what looked like a jet motion play. It was tough to see how exactly the rookie wide receiver got the ball in his hands.
• The next play was a screen to Velus Jones Jr. on the left side of the field. The defense was all over the play and were in a position to stop it for a minimal gain.

• For the second team session, Williams did a good job avoiding DeMarcus Walker and changed direction from left to right. Williams attempted to hit Moore as he ran to his right, but the pass fell incomplete.
• Montez Sweat ended the next play with what would’ve been a sack. Sweat beat Darnell Wright around the corner and Williams couldn’t even throw his sidearm pass because Sweat was already in the backfield.
• On the next play, Sweat forced Williams to run up the middle after he again beat Wright around the corner.
• Even after Sweat came out on the next play, Williams had to get rid of the ball quickly due to pressure. His pass fell incomplete to the right side of the field.
• Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron called a designed rollout to the right, and Williams couldn’t connect with Tyler Scott. The ball was high, and Jaylon Johnson had good coverage on the play.

• The third team period started with a completion to Moore on the left side of the field.
• Then Herbert had a run to the left on an outside zone play. The Bears worked a lot on their perimeter runs in Monday’s practice.
• Roschon Johnson got a carry on the next play and went to the left side of the formation.
• Williams hit Swift on a screen pass on the next play. Three plays, three different running backs.
• Williams then completed a pass to somebody on the following rep. Couldn’t see who caught the ball with all the players standing in the way of the play.

• The Bears ran a lot of 11-on-11s in Monday’s practice. This session started with Williams running to his left to avoid pressure. He just threw the ball away on the play.
• Swift got himself a carry on the next play.
• Herbert caught a Williams pass in the left flat for a short gain.
• Williams connected with Odunze for a decent gain on the left side of the field. Good throw and catch by the rookies.
• The period ended with a Johnson run to the right.

Situational Team Period

The Bears’ offense started on their own 20-yard line down 20-17 in the fourth quarter and had 1:30 left on the clock with two timeouts.

• Williams started the drive with a completion to Odunze. There was some serious potential for some yards after the catch on the play. Odunze caught the ball and immediately turned up field. If this was a real game scenario, the rookie may have turned the short completion for a score.
• Then Williams hit Allen on the left side of the formation on an in-breaking route.
• The third play resulted in an incompletion to Johnson.
• Then Williams had an incomplete pass to Allen on short pass attempt to the right side of the field.
• On third-and-10 with the ball on the 45-yard line, Williams hit Johnson in the middle of the field.
• This put the offense in a fourth-and-3 situation. Williams found Moore on a drag route in the middle of the field for a good gain. The special team unit came in and Cairo Santos kicked the field goal to tie the game for the offense.

Caleb Williams Observations

What stood out to me the most from Williams’ third training camp practice was his pocket presence. For the majority of the practice, Williams had an inconsistent pocket and definitely faced pressure. But he did his best to hang in there for as long as he could and tried to find targets downfield. This play the Bears posted is a good example of Williams working the pocket. Notice how Williams keeps two hands on the ball the entire time.

.@idjmoore got UP 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/fzTnKIUswp

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 23, 2024

When he does extend a play and runs outside the pocket, he is keeping his eyes downfield — looking to throw. That’s a part of Williams’ game and a big reason why Ryan Poles and the Bears’ brass liked him so much in the predraft process. The different arm angles are also appearing more often with each training camp practice.

Despite Bates and Coleman Shelton rotating at center, Williams is still showing a good command on the offense. Those presnap penalties that were happening in OTAs are not an issue through three training camp practices.

Selfishly, I want to see Williams attempt more of those vertical passes. A lot of the passes in the team period of practice have been shorter, which obviously is a big part of an overall passing attack. But the Bears will need to generate explosive plays, and one way to do that is with air yards down the field.

This third training camp practice showed Williams what things could look like when the offensive line is having a tough day. There are going to be games when that happens, but how Williams responded in those moments is a good sign for things to come in the regular season.

Other Snippets

• Braxton Jones did start the practice with reps during the team period, but after the first session, Larry Borom got all the remaining reps at left tackle. Jones is still clearly limited and working back into each practice.
• Bates got all the reps with the first-team offense on Monday. During Sunday’s practice, Shelton worked with the starters. If the trend continues, it should be Shelton’s turn on Tuesday.
• T.J. Edwards also participated in practice, but didn’t play during the team sessions.
• Here is the list of players that got reps returning punts: Moore, DeAndre Carter, Velus Jones Jr., Freedie Swain, Odunze, Dante Pettis, Scott, Greg Stroman Jr. and Tyrique Stevenson. As the punt returners were getting reps, Poles was there watching each guy.
• During the team period, there were a few reps that had Walker line up inside next to Gervon Dexter Sr. Jacob Martin lined up outside on the opposite side of Sweat.