Bear Digest

Another Caleb Williams Pick But This Time He Answers Back

The Bears rookie QB had problems again with waiting too long to throw over the middle and again it led to an interception Wednesday as it did Tuesday, but this time Williams answered back.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams loosens up the arm prior to the start of Bears minicamp Day 2.
Caleb Williams loosens up the arm prior to the start of Bears minicamp Day 2. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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The Bears defense again could claim the better of a minicamp practice, and yet, it's not the overwhelming advantage they enjoyed earlier in OTAs against Caleb Williams.

More evidence of Williams' feisty nature came to the forefront during full squad and 7-on-7 without pads at Wednesday's Day 2 of minicamp.

During 7-on-7, Williams waited and then threw over the middle testing the Bears' zone and the same thing happened to him that happened on Tuesday in this situation. Instead of safety Kevin Byard picking it off, as he did Tuesday, it was middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds reaching up with his long arms on a 6-foot-5 frame and pulling it down for the interception.

Williams wasn't about to take this laying down. He struck right back and threw deep at the secondary. Terell Smith was guarding Velus Jones Jr. down the sideline and Jones used his 4.31-second speed to get a step. He pulled in the ball in the end zone for a touchdown bomb.

"Yeah, it was great," Eberflus said of Williams' persistence. "So we talked about this the last couple of times we've been up here, is that the process and exposure and experimentation of the quarterback. And that ultimately leads to that whole evolution of what he feels he can and cannot do.

"Maine is a big guy in the middle, and that's an imposing figure in there, like the Chicago Bears have had (at middle linebacker) in the past. And I think that's an important part of it. He's probably going to play most of his opponents and be like, 'Wow, that Mike's not very big.' So he's going to be like that. But yeah, balls that are thrown late over the middle, they're usually put in harm's way."

Just like on Tuesday, Eberflus chalked the pick up to a hitch with Williams before he decided to throw.

"Sometimes it's really good coverage," Eberflus said. "There are guys who have been around and been with each other for a while. So they understand our coverage concepts and how they complement each other and they're on point in terms of that most of the time. So some of it is that."

The hitch when no one is open can be replaced by something else.

"And then we just have to turn it into a scramble drill," Eberflus said. "We have to make that real because we'll have some of that. He is very effective at that.

"Now obviously we want him to drop back and process and deliver the ball. But he is remarkable when it comes to throwing the ball on the move, so we'll have to use that as a weapon for us. And that will have to be really good for our defense too."

The passing game also stepped up when Jones wasn't catching a bomb.

During two-minute drill, Williams led the offense to a field goal and his connection with Keenan Allen started to show up in only their second practice together. First he hit Roschon Johnson on three straight short throws for a first down, completed a deep ball to DJ Moore that officials first called complete, then changed. And then he went to work with Allen on three straight completions to get Cairo Santos field goal position.

It was really the first extended battle between the Bears secondary and Allen, and particularly slot cornerack Kyler Gordon. Allen's job is slot receiver with a move to the Z-receiver position when the Bears go with just two wideouts.

"For me, with him, I feel like for him, he's gonna keep me disciplined and stuff like that," Gordon said. "He's a quick-twitch dude. He's got a really good release and get off and stuff like that.

"For me, staying disciplined the whole entire time. Another thing for him: He's real efficient with the steps that he takes and doing what he does. For me, that makes me have to be more efficient with my steps and not take as many or be smooth or come out the break where I read it right vs. the stem or whatever it might be. So I'm excited to keep battling him and keep getting better."

The Spin

Punter Tory Taylor put on a spin display when he got the opportunity to punt during full squad work. He had one punt skip out of bounds in the coffin corner, another near the 1, then two more with enough side spin that they were nearly downed inside the 5 but gunners couldn't quite reach them.

"That's cool," Eberflus said. "Yeah. He's like a trick-shot guy. It's like, wow, the spin he could put on it. The one he almost had, he had a couple on the one of course, but the spin he could put on it. Really amazing. So, it's fun to watch."

The other Bears foot, Santos, had a day with more difficulty. He doinked off the left upright after one two-minute drill and then missed left on another one.

At OTAs, Santos had the dreaded double-doink on one kick, exactly like Cody Parkey off the left upright and crossbar. Except this one came in lower and on a line drive.

Santos also connected Wednesday on a series of longer kicks while kicking on an extremely windy day.

Sidelined

Left tackle Braxton Jones and tight end Cole Kmet sat out practice due to injuries the Bears coach chose not to reveal. Eberflus called both precautionary and no major concern even if he wasn't about to reveal them.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.