The Chicago Bears are fine with the offense taking baby steps in training camp.
On Friday, the Bears’ offense continued to struggle against defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s unit. Caleb Williams had an ugly time in the red zone drill, throwing back-to-back interceptions.
Too many footballs are ending up on the grass instead of in a receiver’s arms. That’s not a promising sign for an offense that head coach Ben Johnson wants to have completing 70% of its passes in the regular season.
The Chicago Bears are happy with Caleb Williams’ improvement
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) warms up during training camp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Following Friday’s practice, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle told the media that Williams is making his biggest improvement in running the offense in the pre-snap. However, Doyle admitted that Williams has much to learn about how to play post-snap and criticized how the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft is seeing the field.
“The biggest thing is with the pre-snap process,” Doyle said of Williams’ biggest improvement this summer, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “Feeding him a play call and getting in the huddle, getting in and out, communicating what he needs to with his teammates. He’s really working at it. That’s the biggest improvement I’ve seen. It’s all a progression.
“We’ve got to continue to get better post-snap and all those things with his vision and where the ball needs to go. But that’s the biggest thing — his ability to communicate to his teammates, his ability to get in and out of the huddle. And he’s working at it.”
Per Biggs, the offense didn’t have to “re-rack” any plays on Friday. That’s an improvement from the past two days when Johnson screamed at Williams and the offense for not getting lined up correctly.
Declan Doyle knows that better vision leads to completions
Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle answers questions after rookie minicamp at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn
Doyle is planning to help Williams with his vision, especially in the red zone.
“We’re going to watch the tape with these guys this afternoon and clean up some of the intricate details of what we’re asking them in the red zone,” Doyle said. “It does get very precise down there as far as the spacing and the timing of concepts, and that takes work.
“It takes us putting these plays in and then across the board us getting comfortable both up front and at the skill positions with what we’re asking our guys to do.”
Williams is proud of not turning the ball over much as a rookie. He only threw six total interceptions in 2024, none of which were in the red zone.
While Williams might not take the risks in the regular season that he’s willing to take in training camp, the point still stands that the quarterback needs better vision in the red zone and seeing the field in general.
The problem isn’t just with throwing interceptions.
Chicago needs Williams to make completions in tight windows that result in touchdowns for the team to win more games in 2025.
Caleb Williams at Chicago Bears training camp – Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
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