Chicago Bears Training Camp Notebook Day 4: Tremaine Edmunds plays tight coverage, Tyler Scott makes a big play

LAKE FOREST — There’s just something about having fans in attendance that makes training camp come alive. Even though the Bears were still without pads, there was an exciting energy in the air at Halas Hall for the Bears’ fourth training camp practice on Tuesday.

Here are all of my notes from the 7-on-7 and team portions of practice and also my observations and analysis of Caleb Williams‘ day.

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7-on-7s

• Williams completed a pass to Rome Odunze on a 10-yard in route to start the period.
• Then Williams connected with DJ Moore on an in route in the middle of the field on the second rep.
• Odunze caught his second pass of the period on a short route to the left side of the field.
• Collin Johnson ran a slant from the right side and made a contested catch against Tyrique Stevenson. The Bears’ cornerback challenged Johnson on the catch point, but was unable to breakup the pass.
• Williams found Cole Kmet on an out route for a short gain to the left side of the formation.
• The final completion went to Gerald Everett on a short out route to the right.

• Tyson Bagent connected with Tyler Scott on an out route for a minimal gain on the left side of the field.
• Then Bagent hit Stephen Carlson in the middle of the field for a 5-yard gain.
• The last play ended in a completion to Dante Pettis for a short gain in the middle of the field.

Team Period

• The first 11-on-11 rep was a screen to Moore on the left side of the field. Josh Blackwell was right there to make the play immediately.
• The second play was a run by Khalil Herbert.
• Then Williams found Odunze for a short gain on the left side of the field.
• Williams connected with Moore in the middle of the field on an inbreaking route. Stevenson was in coverage on the play.
• The rookie quarterback couldn’t find anyone open on the fifth rep and was forced to run on the play.
• The final play of this first session was a screen to Swift.

• The second team period started with a D’Andre Swift run.
• That play was followed up by an incomplete pass to Herbert on the right side of the field.
• Herbert got himself a carry on the next play.
• One of the better catch and throws came from Williams to Carlson. The backup tight end ran a seam route in the middle of the field and Williams threw the ball to Carlson’s back shoulder and connected with his tight end in stride.
• Williams rolled out to his right on the next play and completed a pass to Odunze in the middle of the field.

• Swift started the third team with a run on toss play to the right side of the field.
• On the second play, Williams connected with Khari Blasingame for a short gain to the left side of the formation. Williams did a good job of climbing the pocket and finding Blasingame on the rep.
• Jack Sanborn nearly intercepted Williams on an out route that was intended for Gerald Everett. Sanborn read the play perfectly, but couldn’t come away with the interception.
• Swift ran the ball on the next play.
• The biggest play of the day was a Scott reception down the left sideline. Stevenson was in coverage on the play, but somehow Scott got behind the second-year cornerback and had about a 5-yard cushion. Williams’ pass was out in front of Scott and the receiver had to stretch his hands out to make the reception before he fell to the ground.

Situational Team Period

This two-minute drill for Williams and the first-team offense started the unit on the 40-yard line down 21-17 with 1:20 left in the game. For this two-minute drive, Williams did not have DJ Moore or Keenan Allen. Moore was just on the sideline, and Allen took a vet day off.

• Williams started the drive with a completion to DeAndre Carter on the left side for a short gain. Carter was able to get out of bounds to stop the clock.
• Williams then found Johnson for a short gain on the left side of the field, which also stopped the clock.
• Then there was a checkdown to Herbert in the middle of the field.
• On the fourth rep, Williams was forced to run toward the right sideline since Jacob Martin beat Darnell Wright around the corner. Martin dipped under Wright’s block. There also was a flag on the play, which gave the offense some extra yardage.
• Williams then connected with Odunze for a short completion on the right.
• Carter caught his second pass of the drive on a short completion in the middle of the field.
• The offense then came to a halt, starting with an incompletion to Herbert. Looked like Williams wanted to dirt the ball instead of giving Herbert a chance to make the reception since the clock would’ve kept running.
• Williams then attempted to hit Odunze in the back middle portion of the end zone. Stevenson had good coverage on the play and it looked like he was able to get his hand on the ball.
• On fourth down from the 6-yard line, Williams had an incomplete pass to Kmet in the end zone. Tremaine Edmunds had good coverage on the play and didn’t give Williams much of a window to throw into.

• In another situational period on the opposite side of the field, Williams and the offense had just under 10 seconds remaining on the clock in the low red zone. Williams tried to connect with Kmet in the middle of the end zone, but again Edmunds was in coverage and the ball fell incomplete. Kmet broke outside on his route, but Williams threw inside. Clearly the two have some things to clean up moving forward.
• The Bears ran one more play, and Jaylon Johnson broke up a pass that was intended for Collin Johnson in the back right corner of the end zone. After Jaylon broke up the pass, his momentum took him right in front of a group of fans. Jaylon crossed his arms and said, “Yes sir!”

Caleb Williams Observations

I thought Williams put together a good fourth practice in front of the fans in attendence. He got the ball out quickly and appeared to go through his reads in a timely manner. Like in Monday’s practice, he showed comfortability moving in the pocket and took off when he felt pressure on the edge.

In that two-minute drill towards the end of practice, it was good to see Williams operate the offense without two of his biggest weapons in Moore and Allen. He trusted the other playmakers and gave them opportunities to make plays. That’s exactly what you want to see out of the young quarterback.

I said I wanted to see more of a vertical passing attack after Monday’s practice, and the connection to Scott was a step in the right direction.

GREAT SCOTT! pic.twitter.com/Xw0uskYETk

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 24, 2024

On the two throws to Kmet against Edmunds, those will be good opportunities to learn from when the offense encounters those low red zone situations. There isn’t much space to operate in that portion of the field and Williams and his playmakers will have to continue working on finding the exact landmarks and timing to turn those plays from incompletions to touchdowns.

Other Snippets

• Coleman Shelton was the starting center in Tuesday’s practice. Ryan Bates repped with the starters on Monday. Shelton and Bates each have two days starting at center.
• Kyler Gordon did not practice during any of the team periods. Josh Blackwell filled in Gordon to start practice.
• The defensive line had some interesting combination throughout practice. Montez Sweat and Martin on the edges and Dominique Robinson and Zacch Pickens on the interior was one of them. When Sweat wasn’t on the field, DeMarcus Walker and Martin kicked outside while Gervon Dexter Sr. and Andrew Billings manned the interior on another set of reps.
• Ian Wheeler has some break away speed and had a nice run during one of the team periods. Jake Curan made a nice block on the big run. Wheeler also did have a fumble on one of the reps. It looked like the ball rolled out of bounds.
• Daniel Hardy put Ja’Tyre Carter on the ground with a bullrush move. Carter ended up falling into Bagent’s legs, which stopped the play. Carter was also playing at left tackle for a few drives.