Having completed seven training camp practices, including the last two in full pads, the Chicago Bears feel good about their progress on the road to becoming a legitimate playoff contender again. The team will take Sunday off, then return to the practice fields Monday as they prepare for the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday in Canton, Ohio.
After Saturday’s practice and interviews at Halas Hall, here’s a rundown.
News of the day
It was a sloppy day for the first-team offense, rickety from start to finish and marred by a flood of presnap penalties.
For the second consecutive practice, false-start infractions were a major issue. Coach Matt Eberflus said those miscues during Friday’s practice were mostly a byproduct of cadence issues as rookie quarterback Caleb Williams continues working to get in sync with his line. On Saturday, with at least a half-dozen false starts during 11-on-11 periods, it was the emphatic “Move!” calls from nose tackle Andrew Billings on the defensive line that baited the offensive linemen and tight ends to jump early.
Billings has become a master at using his voice to strategically startle and disrupt the offense. His trickery worked like a charm Saturday, bringing a shower of yellow penalty flags against the offense.
“Really it’s about focusing on what the quarterback’s doing, not on what the defense is doing,” Eberflus said.
Left tackle Braxton Jones echoed that sentiment.
“It’s everybody being more locked in and clued in, including myself, to the cadence.”
Eberflus prodded his team for sharper focus and was hopeful that Saturday’s mistakes would be processed constructively.
“The offense obviously had its struggles today,” Eberflus said. “But I also said to them after practice, ‘Guys, all three phases have to play well for us to be a good football team.’
“There are going to be days where the defense struggles or the special teams struggles. But it has to be all three phases hitting on all cylinders. And we’re just not there yet. Of course, it’s early in training camp and I don’t expect us to be. But I do expect us to grow and learn from this and get better.”
Caleb Williams watch
On a day when the offense had its issues pretty much across the board, the rookie quarterback was intercepted on consecutive passes during an early 7-on-7 period.
The first turnover came when Williams’ throw across the middle to tight end Gerald Everett was picked off by safety Adrian Colbert. On the next snap, Williams tried connecting with DJ Moore down the right hash, but undrafted rookie cornerback Reddy Steward intercepted the pass and had a clear path to the end zone.
Later during that series, Williams hit Everett with a well-placed low throw on a drag route. But it’s not as if there were fireworks after the turnovers.
“I thought he responded well,” Eberflus said. “When you throw an interception, what is your response? I thought he responded well in 7-on-7 after those plays.”
The 11-on-11 periods weren’t interrupted by turnovers but remained clunky and disjointed. Williams did a really nice job of eluding the pocket to his right — linebacker T.J. Edwards was blitzing from the blind side — while hitting Everett with a throw on the run.
The rookie has remained comfortable throwing while on the move, able to deliver from different platforms with ease. But a throw down the middle for Dante Pettis during the two-minute period went into a sea of defenders and probably should have been picked off.
It’s worth noting that Moore and Keenan Allen did not participate in the two-minute drills.
“Obviously, you don’t have your best players out there,” Eberflus said. “I told the quarterbacks afterward, you have to make it game-like. You have to be able to feel the rush and deliver the ball in a timely fashion. Again, sometimes the protection is good and you can ride the pocket, ride that wave and deliver your strikes down the field. But you have to be able to feel those things and then deliver the ball on time.”
On one snap during the two-minute drill, defensive end Montez Sweat swatted the ball out of Williams’ hands — the second consecutive practice that has happened in. Sweat should recognize that the quarterbacks wear orange jerseys — meaning hands off.
“He knows he should not do that,” Eberflus said of strip attempt. “I threw him out of that drill today. Then I pulled him aside and I said, ‘Look, you cannot do that. You’d be sick if something happens, OK?’ He understands that. And does he get around the edge fast and all that stuff? Yeah, he does. But he’s a superior, elite athlete. He’s good enough to be able to stop and move away. So he has to be disciplined that way.”
Injury update
Right guard Nate Davis was sidelined early during individual drills and was observed meeting on the sideline with head athletic trainer Andre Tucker. Davis motioned to his midsection or hip, and after practice Eberflus declared him as “day to day” with a goal of having Davis back Monday.
Davis wasn’t on the field full time during the spring and also missed a good chunk of action during camp last summer after coming over from the Tennessee Titans on a three-year, $30 million contract. Davis ultimately missed six games in 2023, leaving concern about his reliability going forward.
“Availability is everything, right?” Eberflus said Saturday. “You have to be available to practice and you’ve got to be capable of doing hard better during training camp. That’s all part of preparing for the first part of the season — to callous yourself. That’s your individual responsibility to the football team and when you’re not out there, guess what? That doesn’t happen.”
In Davis’ absence, Ryan Bates, who was the first-unit center at the start of practice, moved to right guard and Coleman Shelton, who spent Friday running with the ones at center, was inserted with the top line. If Bates has to spend extended time at right guard, it could make evaluating what the team has billed as a competition for the center position more difficult.
On defense, nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon missed his third consecutive practice with what Eberflus has termed only “tightness.” A day after leaving practice with a left foot or ankle issue, defensive end Jacob Martin was not spotted at practice. Wide receiver Nsimba Webster also did not participate. Second-year linebacker Noah Sewell, though, did return, getting some work in during the individual periods.
Player in the spotlight
Wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. catches a pass during training camp at Halas Hall on July 22, 2024, in Lake Forest. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)During one-on-one drills early in practice, Velus Jones Jr. used a crisp outside release to gain separation from cornerback Jaylon Jones and hauled in a sliding touchdown catch from backup cornerback Tyson Bagent. It was an attention-grabbing rep from the third-year receiver.
“It’s just my confidence level,” he said. “I can go all the way back to high school. When I’m one-on-one, I feel like nobody can keep up with me. Especially if it’s a go ball.”
Jones is working to carve out a niche as a receiver/ball carrier in the offense. But realistically, he might have his biggest impact in 2024 as a kickoff returner, particularly with the new rules put into effect in which coverage teams will line up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line but not be able to move until the ball is in the returner’s hands or hits the ground.
“It’s going to be way easier for us to get into great field position,” Jones said. “You don’t have to depend on blocks as much anymore. It’s, ‘Everybody get a hat on your man’ and then it’s just a feel for it. Whatever hole opens up, you hit it full speed.”
Seen and heard
Earlier this week, coaching legend Nick Saban visited Halas Hall, accepting Eberflus’ invitation and using the stop to trade thoughts on multiple topics. The relationship between Saban and Eberflus traces to 1990 when the Saban was the coach at Toledo University and Eberflus was a junior linebacker on the team.
Eberflus picked Saban’s brain on leadership as well as his work at Alabama with future NFL quarterbacks such as Tua Tagavailoa and Jalen Hurts.
“I gleaned a lot of information and a lot of wisdom from him,” Eberflus said. “It was great to see him. He’s been a mentor of mine for a long time. … He’s a special man and a special leader.”
Quote of note
Eberflus continues to remind his hungry and ambitious defense that on-field production means far more than off-the-field aspirations. “What we do on the grass is what matters,” Eberflus said. “So all this talk of all these numbers and all that stuff (means little). People say, ‘(This is a) top-five defense.’ What does that really mean? … We’re at the end of the year and you’re telling me we are top five? How do you know that? To me it’s about what we do on the grass. People can say all that stuff. But to me it doesn’t mean anything. That’s not a hill of beans to me.”
