Progress Detected with Caleb Williams Within Bears Offense

Bears coach Matt Eberflus sees better footwork and mastery of the offense from Caleb Williams in Week 2 of OTAs, finishing with a strong Friday workout.

Caleb Williams fires out a quick screen pass during individual work at the outset of Friday's Bears OTA practice. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

A week after the Bears defense put its foot down on quarterback Caleb Williams, he had an answer.

The 7-on-7 and full-squad scrimmaging done by the Bears without pads to end the second week of OTAs was more give and take instead of the defense dictating play.

"You look at practice today, I thought 7-on-7 for Caleb was really good," coach Matt Eberflus said. "I thought he did a really nice job throwing the ball on time.

"His footwork has improved this whole week. His progress was there."

The highlight was easily a long throw to DJ Moore for a touchdown, although there were several other nice completions to Moore and one to Rome Odunze.

"People always talk about success and they think it's a straight line from here going that way, and success really isn't that, as we know, because there's bumps in the road," Eberflus said. "It's always gonna be here and then a little bit wavy, right, and then it'll be here. It's gonna be like that.

"And that's really what a football season is, or even an individual career is like that. There are some learning moments in there during the course of the week. It wasn't perfect, but again, there was progress. I thought this week was better than last week. That's the positive."

Williams did get caught holding the ball too long a few times and the offense false-started on consecutive plays. This occurred when Williams unsuccessfully tried drawing the defense offsides with his snap count.

"That type of stuff takes time, just like anything else with cadence, play-calling, anything when you've got somebody new in there commanding the huddle, commanding the offense, is gonna take time and reps," running back D'Andre Swift said.

Eberflus agreed, after the back-to-back penalties had led to celebrations by the defense.

"His voice inflection is different," Eberflus said. "That's just the process of those guys working together on it, and that'll happen."

By and large the passing game started taking shape and Williams located receivers in open areas, although he did get flushed out of the pocket once by a hard charge from Gervon Dexter. Another time he got caught with the ball after a fake when Dominique Robinson didn't bite.

It didn't hurt to have wide Rome Odunze back practicing, following a slight hamstring injury at rookie camp. Guard Nate Davis returned to Halas Hall but was watching rather than practicing. Wide receiver Keenan Allen is still away, as was edge rusher Montez Sweat. Robinson got plenty of work on the edge because of Sweat's absence, and because DeMarcus Walker was unable to practice due to illness, although he was watching practice.

"The guys that didn't practice that were out there, again, we're very precautious this time of year because if somebody's feeling something, we're more than often going to opt for him to sit out," Eberflus said. "But that's an opportunity for the other guys to get the reps, get the experience, and we'll evaluate those guys as we go through that process."

Eberflus warned against reading too much into the offense vs. defense at OTAs.

"There's a lot of first-time things we're doing with the offense," Eberflus said.

One of the new things they did was Hail Mary's and last-second plays. Williams completed one at the back of the end zone to Cole Kmet. Of more importance was the rhythm and timing in the passing game overall.

Eberflus and offensive coaches watched Williams' feet closely because footwork was an issue early.

"Just understanding the plays and how his feet are married to those plays, albeit if it's just normal situations, if it's play-action pass or in the red-zone when it quickens up a little bit," Eberflus said. "I think he really improved on that this week, and you could see the ball coming out of his hand pretty live when his feet were right."

Centers of Attention

In the first week of OTAs, Ryan Bates practiced with the first team offensive line and Coleman Shelton with backups. On Friday, it was flipped.

"We've been rotating some," Eberflus said. "We're working on both guys and getting used to both centers. At some point you need two centers, as we all know during the course of the year, and we're just training those guys."

WHAT BIG RECEIVER CONTRACTS SAY FOR BEARS FUTURE AT THE POSITION

CALEB WILLIAMS AND BEARS READY TO STEP INTO HBO SPOTLIGHT

BEARS MOST LIKELY TO OWN THE HARD KNOCKS CAMERAS

They used three centers last year. The rotating is more about competition than zeroing in on two possible starters at this point.

"Right now I think everything's a competition," Eberflus said. "I really do. I think that most spots are competitive and that’s the best way to do it."

The other different offensive lineman with starters was Matt Pryor, the 6-foot-7, 332-pounder who was lining up at right guard in place of Nate Davis. Davis was among those at practice but unable to participate for undisclosed reasons.

Caleb Williams throwing passes to DJ Moore is going to be so fun 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JLGh5A16nw

— PFF (@PFF) May 31, 2024

Secondary and Second String

The quarterback victimized Friday by the Bears defense was backup Tyson Bagent. On successive plays he gave up interceptions to undrafted rookie defensive back Reddy Stewart and to backup cornerback Jaylon Jones.

Sweatin' Out an Absence

Sweat has been at Halas Hall even if he isn't practicing, Eberflus said.

"I'm not gonna get into all the numbers in terms of exact dates and when guys were here but he's been in the building," Eberflus said. "He's been here several times during the offseason, and when he's in, he's locked in and ready to go. Of course, he'll be here next week and we’re excited about that."

Both Sweat and Keenan Allen are expected back next week because it's mandatory minicamp and not voluntary OTAs.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven