The Chicago Bears completed their 17th practice of training camp Wednesday morning, a padded session that lasted a little less than 90 minutes. The team will now focus on a joint practice Thursday against the Cincinnati Bengals at Halas Hall.
Here is the rundown of what happened on Wednesday.
News of the day
The Bears are ready for their visit from the Bengals but must keep an eye on the Thursday forecast with rain likely and figuring to be steady from morning into the afternoon.
With a practice start time of 1 p.m., the Bears may have to make early morning decisions on whether to change the schedule and whether to close the practice to the public.
Thursday was slated to be the last of the team’s nine open practices of camp. However, the weather and accompanying logistics may force a pivot and alter the teams’ approach if they are persuaded to move inside the Walter Payton Center.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus has his team ready to adapt as needed.
“Flus is on top of it,” special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “He’s all over it. He has a good plan.”
Hightower praised Eberflus and Bengals head coach Zac Taylor for being diligent and detailed with how they have set up Thursday’s itinerary in advance.
“It’s one of the most organized (plans I’ve seen),” Hightower said. “Leading into this, I feel the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in a joint practice.”
Both teams hope to squeeze the most out of the session, getting valuable work in across all three phases in an environment that is both competitive and controlled.
For quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears offense, it should be a good measuring stick. For a Bears defense that feels like it can be one of the league’s best in 2024, a day facing Bengals star Joe Burrow will present a fun challenge.
“As a defense, we feel good about ourselves,” cornerback Jaylon Jones said. “And we want to go against the best. So having Burrow come, we want to match up against him and make it hard for him. He’s a top quarterback in this league. We’re looking forward to it.”
Caleb Williams watch
Wednesday was a pretty uneventful day for Williams, who will face a greater test in the competitive setting against the Bengals.
The first-team offense stalled out in the final period of practice, a late-game touchdown-to-win scenario that ended when Williams’ extended-play shot to Dante Pettis in the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
The offense had gotten inside the red zone on that possession when Williams threw a bullet over the middle to Cole Kmet for a 19-yard gain. Williams’ previous pass — a checkdown to running back D’Andre Swift — produced 11 yards and another first down. But the series ended with three consecutive incompletions from the 19-yard line.
Player in the spotlight
As Austin Booker came off a 2½-sack performance Saturday in Buffalo, defensive coordinator Eric Washington was hopeful the rookie defensive end would take the heavy acclaim coming his way in stride. “Some of the praise and adulation, those things can be as toxic as listening to some of the negative things,” Washington said. “We have to make sure we maintain a level head and just continue to work.”
Booker has appreciated Washington’s prudent guidance throughout the first three months of his professional life. “He has a great medium of instilling that confidence in me,” Booker said Wednesday, “but at the same time it’s never good enough. Just so we’re always getting better.”
As the Bears try to add teeth to their pass rush, Booker’s early flashes have been promising. The coaching staff has lauded his natural ability to move and react against opposing offensive linemen, blending agility with instinct and then complementing it all with his high motor.
Booker said getting after the quarterback has always been something that has come easy to him dating back to his early days in grade school. His father Duaine was a defensive lineman in college, playing at both Liberty University and Taylor University.
Duaine’s tutelage helped Austin. Some of his skills may also be God-given.
“I’ve been playing football since kindergarten,” Austin said. “So I’ve just had that natural instinct. My dad has been in my back pocket the whole time. He taught me a lot. So I’ve just had that natural torquing, pushing, pulling (feel) since I was younger.”
Quotes of note
Cornerback Jaylon Jones has been a proponent of the new dynamic kickoff being implemented in the NFL this season. Said Jones: “Being on the kickoff team, I like it. Just because there is more action. I think there are way more opportunities for us to make plays now. Last year, I feel like we were just doing a lot of conditioning sprints running down there. This new kickoff rule is cool.”
Hightower noted that Jones’ sentiment has been a common one. “If we’re just talking about special teams coaches and special teams players — coordinators and coaches and returners and kickers and everyone that is playing on that play — they don’t want to see a touchback.”
Seen and heard
Johnny Morris of the Chicago Bears is shown in 1963. (Chicago Tribune)
Johnny Morris, who holds the Bears franchise record for career receiving yards at 5,059, visited Halas Hall on Wednesday. The 88-year-old Morris, who finished a 10-season stint with the Bears in 1967, covered the team after his retirement during a 35-year career in television. He observed Wednesday’s practice and then visited with Eberflus and several of the team’s wide receivers. Eberflus impressed Morris by ticking off some of his career statistics and achievements. Rookie Rome Odunze stuck around to visit with Morris for about 10 minutes.
Also popping into practice Wednesday: former cornerback Prince Amukamara, who was with the team from 2017 until 2019. Amukamara was at the team’s facility Wednesday to interview Cole Kmet, Marcedes Lewis and DJ Moore as part of a new venture launching a youth-driven entertainment and educational YouTube channel called “Mr. Aadventures.”
Injury update
Cornerback Kyler Gordon returned to practice for the first time in three weeks, an encouraging development for the third-year cornerback who has been hindered this summer by a calf issue. It will be interesting to see how the Bears tailor Gordon’s workload during Thursday’s crossover practice with the Bengals.
Guard Nate Davis was also back practicing Wednesday and took first-team reps at right guard during 11-on-11 periods.
Fellow offensive lineman Ryan Bates, however, remained out with an undisclosed issue. Bates came out of last Thursday’s practice and hasn’t been back in the mix since.
After Saturday’s preseason win over the Buffalo Bills, Eberflus minimized Bates’ absence. “It’s just something that he’s had from before,” Eberflus said without specifying. “But he’s fine. He’ll be fine. We’ll work him in this week. It’s a big week.”
Still, it will be worth keeping tabs on both Davis and Bates in the coming days as the Bears seek stability and continuity on the interior of the offensive line.
Other notable players who did not practice Wednesday included Jaquan Brisker, Patrick Scales, Jacob Martin, Collin Johnson and Dominique Robinson. Quarterback Brett Rypien was also not in attendance at Wednesday’s practice.
