Bears’ Williams feels he’s ‘on track’ for Week 1

Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterJul 29, 2024, 03:55 PM ET
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LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has experienced a handful of learning moments during his first eight training camp practices.

After returning to the field Monday, two days after multiple false start penalties hindered the offense’s operation, Williams and the Bears’ first-team unit conducted a much cleaner practice that saw the quarterback throw touchdowns to wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze during team drills in the red zone.

Williams knows he still has a ways to go before he’s ready for the Bears’ regular-season opener against the Tennessee Titans, but he sees a path toward getting there.

“I think I’m on track to be ready,” Williams said. “Exactly where I need to be and where they want me to be. I’m excited. Every day I wake up, I’m learning something new. Getting ready for the season, preseason and these next practices. Very excited, still progressing. But we’re towards the end of install right now for this portion, which is very exciting. To think that not too long ago, I didn’t really know anything about this offense, and now I know a lot more than I did. So, progressing, excited and ready to go.”

Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said “the operation and the cadence” is the component of Williams’ game that is the furthest from where the coaching staff wants it to be for the season. During Monday’s 90-minute session that was held indoors due to inclement weather, Williams and the offense had no false start penalties and were flagged once for delay of game.

After being presented with the same question, Williams said that knowing how to combat the various defensive looks he has seen is where he needs to put in the most work to be ready for Week 1.

“I would say working on my blitz looks, my blitz and coverage looks, and feeling the umbrella of the defense and feeling that out to adjust protection, to adjust whether it’s a run — flip the run, flip the run in to it, flip the protection, get to a quick game, get to a Cover 0 check — however the structure of it works out, just progressing,” the quarterback said. “And a lot of that comes with seeing it and reps, so that’s also why preseason, those things are so important.”

The Bears are the home team in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, where they will face the Houston Texans. Williams said that he has not been told by Bears coaches whether he’ll play in the preseason opener but that he sees the value in getting preseason reps.

“I always think there’s more pros than cons in anything, especially for a young guy like myself,” Williams said. “The reps are always paramount for anybody like myself — a young rookie, second-year guy, third-year guy — it’s paramount. It’s really important, and we’ll see about these preseason games coming up, how they play out.”

At the start of training camp, Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Williams would play in the “range” of 45 to 55 reps in the preseason based on the number of reps played by several 2023 first-round quarterbacks in preseason games.

Eberflus said he will announce whether Williams and other primary starters will play in the Hall of Fame Game during his Tuesday news conference. A team source indicated to ESPN that Bears starters are not likely to play in Canton.

Lamar Jackson is the last rookie quarterback drafted in the first round to have played in the Hall of Fame Game, in 2018. David Carr, who was drafted with the No. 1 pick, like Williams, is the last quarterback selected first overall to play in the Hall of Fame Game, in 2002.