Tracking Bears at Camp: Caleb Williams Pulls Offense Out of Doldrums

After the better part of two penalty-filled practices, Caleb Williams improvised a bit, let it fly and found a receiver rapidly developing into a favorite.

Caleb Williams and the quarterbacks go through stretching work prior to Friday's Bears practice, the first one in pads. / Gene Chamberlain Photo | Chicago Bears On SI

There were more penalty flags than fancy plays from the Bears offense at Friday's first padded practice.

However, there were a few notable big plays by Caleb Williams and his receivers to end the last two-minute drill on the kind of day you'd expect when pads come on for the first time.

In other words, there was a roughing incident. It was just some post-whistle shoving in the center of the line and Williams even was one of the players involved in trying to break  it up.

When he wasn't playing peacemaker, Williams was trying to revive an offense that started slow again after a terrible Thursday practice when they came back from a day off on Wednesday.

The positive ending came when he found Tyler Scott on a 36-yard touchdown strike to end the last possession by the first-team offense. Williams extended the play to his right and had Scott wide open up the right sidelines. Williams had started the drive with a 14-yard pass over the middle to Keenan Allen in a crowd.

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Earlier, however, the old bugaboo of false starts reappeared, and in greater numbers even than on Thursday, when a couple soiled practice.

Offensive linemen have said defensive tackle Andrew Billings is able to cause false starts with his yelling.

"Bill's probably the best in the league at it," center Coleman Shelton said. "I've played some good amount and I've never heard anything like that before. He's very emphatic with it.

"For us, we've just gotta key in to Caleb's voice. They don't sound the same, it's just one startles you (Billings) more than the other. We've gotta lock in to Caleb's voice, expect it from the defense, know the look, know when they want to get to it. That's coming as the more we practice and the more we progress as an offense."

No one seemed to shook up about the shoving incident, which involved DeMarcus Walker and Gerald Everett.

"Guys were moving and people are always excited for that first day of pads," Shelton said. "It's a fun day to go out there and play some ball."

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DJ Moore hasn't caught a large number of passes downfield but was involved in the short game with two quick catches.

With pads on, the offense focused more on running plays than in other workouts, and in earlier full-squad work they ran several quick screens.

The runs weren't entirely successful, although Khalil Herbert did pop one to the outside that started inside and broke off a plus-10 run. The defensive line, led by Gervon Dexter had many of the runs diagnosed well. Dexter had what would have been a tackle for loss on one of those.

Adding to the energy was the first practice open to the general public. The had practiced once before several invited groups but this was one of the nine practices they have that were open to the public.

Great Scott Again

Scott's third big deep catch of the camp showed off his improvement, but also how much the defense keys on the other top targets and isn't as worried about the fourth receiver on the team.

"I think he's fast," quarterback Tyson Bagent said. "I think everybody knows that. With him he's just more comfortable in an offense.

"Like I said there's a lot of similarities between the offenses so even though it's a new OC he's able to show his speed more so now that he's not playing with hesitation. Being able to play without hesitation even if you haven't gotten better physically you'll look like you got better physically. So I think he's just a lot more comfortable in the offense. He's not thinking as much and you're able to kind of see how dynamic he can be."

Safety Second

Players have the option this year of wearing safety helmet pads in games. These are the pads that go over the helmet and make it look like a big sponge is cover the outside of it. Linemen wear them at practice but don't expect many players to wear them in games.

"No, I’m not doing that," center Ryan Bates said when asked if he'd wear one in games. "I mean, it's not the most comfortable thing. Obviously, there's the safety aspect that I'm sure some of the players in the league might choose to wear, they might not.

"But during practice and this time of year during training camp, I think it's not a bad thing to wear during this time of year. But during the season, during a game, they look kind of silly, but also I think it's just one other thing to think about, which I don’t want. Especially as a center. I'm always thinking."

Asked if he thought other players felt the same way, Bates was fairly certain.

"I'm pretty sure that's the general consensus, but you know, safety," Bates said.

Lining Up

It was Shelton's day for working with starters at center as he continued alternating every other day with Bates in the starting role. Left tackle Braxton Jones continued to get work earlier in practice but switched off at times with Larry Borom. They've been doing this throughout camp as Jones tries to work through a minor injury lingering since offseason work.

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