NEWSLETTER
Are you ready for the premature panic on social media because Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears offense had a tough day in shorts and tee shirts on May 23? Prepare yourself because it happened.
The word out of Lake Forest is that the Bears’ secondary took it to Williams and the Bears‘ offense. CHGO’s Nicholas Moreano called it a “really rough day” for Williams and the Bears offense that featured “a lot of incomplete passes and near interceptions.”
In the 7-on-7 period, Williams completed just three passes and almost threw an interception to Jaylon Johnson over the middle of the field. According to Moreano, most of Williams’ completions in the team period were to the flat, and Williams held onto the ball for a long time.
All right, now that we’re done screaming into the abyss let’s add some necessary context to all of this.
Got all that? Good.
But seriously, there’s no cause for concern here. The defense should be ahead of the rookie quarterback, given how they finished the season and their expectations for this year. By all accounts, Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Kyler Gordon had strong afternoons and made plays to challenge the intended receiver to force an incompletion.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said today that everything remains a work in progress and that the team is spending OTAs working on core principles. He also said that Williams has been impressive in that he can “chunk information” and that the Bears are throwing much of it at him right now. The plan is for Williams to get most of the offense before the team breaks for the summer.
Eberflus also said that he expects Rome Odunze to be able to ramp up to full speed soon, with next week’s OTAs as a target for his return.
D.J. Moore also took to the podium and joked about how talented the Bears’ new-look wide receiver room is this season.
“You’ve got endless playmakers in there. It’s probably going to be a race to 1,000 [yards]; I don’t know who’s going to get there first, but it’s going to be a race!”
Moore also praised his new quarterback for his “natural arm talent” and willingness to learn. He said, “The growing pains are going to be there,” but clarified that he’s got his back. “We got Caleb now. We’re going to ride through H-E-L-L and back with him.”
New Bears safety Kevin Byard said today that the defense’s job is to “make it as hard on [Williams] as possible.” Byard said that the defense’s performance today was “to be expected” with the returning group and the newcomers such as himself. Byard also pointed out that Williams and the offense had the better day yesterday. “The first day. The offense really got after us. He made some good throws. Some deep passes. He had a really good day. Today, we got after him”
That’s the thing: this defense is very good, and while we want to see Caleb tear it up, seeing him tear up the Bear’s secondary is something that’s not going to happen overnight. Nor should we really want it to, right? It’s a double-edged sword, and I can’t wait for the Bears to start facing other teams so we can be happy for the successes on both sides of the ball.
