Inside the Bears War Room on Draft Night, D.J. on Caleb, Byard on the Culture, and Other Bears Bullets

Bears NFL Draft Ryan Poles
Bears NFL Draft Ryan Poles

I’ll admit, I expected the outrage over Caleb Williams’s and the Bears’ offense’s tough day to be much less than I thought it would be. It’s nice that people can understand the difference between a rookie in shorts and a t-shirt and three years of NFL game film. Good work, friends.

  • I mentioned this yesterday, and I think it’s worth repeating here: as much as the offense struggled on Thursday, Bears safety Kevin Byard said it was the other way around on Wednesday. “I ain’t gonna lie, the first day, the offense kind of got after us a little bit,” safety Kevin Byard said. “(Williams) was making some really good throws. We were in the bubble. He was making some good throws, and I mean some deep passes. “He had a really good day, and then today, we kind of got after him.”
  • D.J. Moore also shone a different light on Williams on Thursday: “You can see that the natural leadership is there, the natural arm talent is there,” Moore said. “Everything about him, it’s just always a positive thing. Even when he has a bad play, he’s looking to learn real fast right after. That’s all you can ask of him, for him to quickly forget but also learn at the same time.”
  • Moore joked with reporters that he had 200,000 reasons to be at Halas Hall this week participating in voluntary OTAs this week, referencing his roster bonus. He also clarified that he wanted to be here to work with his new quarterback and fellow wide receivers Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen.
  • Right tackle Darnell Wright and right guard Nate Davis did not practice on Thursday. Neither did defensive end Montez Sweat, wide receiver Velus Jones, or wide receiver Keenan Allen. It was a voluntary practice, so no big deal there, really. For what it’s worth, Keenan Allen was with his family, celebrating his daughter and wife’s birthdays. Matt Eberflus didn’t provide any updates on anyone else absent but did say that every player on the roster has been in the building at some point during the offseason.
  • As far as Rome Odunze is concerned, Matt Eberflus is hoping that the rookie wide receiver will be ready to get back to work next week. “Rome’s starting to work out there — you guys saw that,” he said. “Did some walkthroughs today. We’re hopeful that he’ll be starting to ramp back in there next week during the OTAs that we have next week.”
  • In addition to complimenting the offense for their work on Wednesday, Kevin Byard spoke about the culture in the building right now: “The culture is great here,” he said. “Guys are hungry. I think just feeling the energy around the city it’s really building up. It’s an exciting time right now. And obviously now we’re starting to practice. The energy has been there. The intensity has been there. And that’s what you want to see early in OTAs, guys are flying around trying to make plays and trying to make each other better.”
  • Deven Hester just posted this on his Instagram! 👀
  • If you missed it, here’s the latest episode of 1920 Football Drive in which the Bears took you behind the scenes of their pre-draft process, into their war room on draft night, and beyond.
  • Speaking of the pre-draft process, D.J. Moore spoke about his visit to Los Angeles to work with Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen: “At that point, it was so like he [Ryan Poles] was playing that game of ‘You’re not supposed to know who we’re drafting, but we all know who he’s drafting,'” Moore said Thursday. “He kind of knew what was going on. I had the offense for a like a few days so I kind of knew everything that was going on with the offense and the ins and outs with it.”
  • written by

    Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

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