by LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears completed their first block of practice Tuesday at Halas Hall, with the defense once again getting the better of quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense over the course of two minutes.
The offense took the field down four points with 1:20, a timeout and the ball on its own 40.
Williams opened the game with a 9-yard pass to DeAndre Carter and a 3-yard pass to Collin Johnson to get the sticks moving. A 4-yard pass to running back Khalil Herbert set up a second-and-6 at the 45-yard line.
Defender Jacob Martin got past right tackle Darnell Wright for what could have been a sack, but Williams stepped up and ran for 16 yards. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was also flagged for holding the play to set up the offense at 24 yards.
Williams then hit Rome Odunze up the middle for a 10-yarder, then found Carter for 7 to bring the offense within 10 with less than 30 seconds left.
Then the Bears’ defense gave way.
On second down and 3, rookie Austin Booker applied quick pressure and Williams’ pass to Herbert fell incomplete. On third down, Williams dropped back and tried to pass the needle to Odunze in the back corner of the end zone, but Stevenson jumped on the route and got a hand on the pass to break it up.
With 16 seconds left, Williams and his offense faced a fourth-and-3 from the 7. Williams dropped back and saw tight end Cole Kmet open in the middle of the end zone. Williams let go to his tight end, but linebacker Tremaine Edmunds quickly closed in and broke up the pass to win the drill for the defense.
“It’s instinct control. It’s instinct control,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said of the red-zone stop. “And listen, you can be in great shape getting ready for training camp, but once you get on the football field and you go through individual periods, you go through special teams for whoever’s involved in that, and you actually practice scrimmage plays. It’s a different level of conditioning.”
“You’re going to see players in great shape get tired of competing and playing professional football. They have to dig deep inside themselves. They have. The communication has to be there. You can’t give in or give in to that because it’s a critical situation – we have to find a way to finish the game.”
It should be noted that DJ Moore did not participate in the two-minute drill and Keenan Allen had the day off. Williams worked with Odunze, Kmet, Carter and Johnson in the drill.
As he has been through the first three days of camp, Williams was solid Tuesday. He connected with receiver Tyler Scott for a 40-yard pass down the left sideline in a single 11-on-11 period. Stevenson missed his coverage on the play, leaving Scott wide open down the field. Scott fumbled on the inbounds but still managed to recover it.
Williams has only fumbled the ball once this camp, but he should have thrown his second interception Tuesday when linebacker Jack Sanborn jumped in front of tight end Gerald Everett and dropped an easy interception.
The rookie quarterback completed a few other nice passes, including a back-shoulder pass to tight end Stephen Carlson down the seam.
Here are some more notes from Day 4 of camp:
— The Bears’ offense has been pretty clean through the first block of camp. Tuesday’s practice was marked by a false start and another instance of them being slow to get out of the huddle. By my unscientific count, the Bears have had four pre-snap issues in four practices.
It’s thanks to Williams’ comfort in attack and his improved pace.
Defensive tackle Andrew Billings is known for his move choices. That decision gave Williams and the Bears offense a hard time this offseason. That hasn’t been the case since camp.
“Oh, it’s more accurate. It’s more precise,” Billings said of Williams’ cadence after practice. “We gave him that motion decision and disrupted his offensive line, and he took notice, so now you know he’s calling more tough counts and stuff. So it’s really helped us, and I think it’s really going to show in the game, too.”
— Allen and tight end Marcedes Lewis had days off Tuesday. Linebacker Noah Sewell and receiver Nsimba Webster returned to practice but were limited.
— Cornerback Kyler Gordon did not participate in team drills. Josh Blackwell took over at slot corner with the first-team defense and had two pass breakups.
— Martin was very disruptive in shorts on the first block. The Bears are interested to see how he and rookie Austin Booker perform when the protections come in Friday.
“Jacob, he’s very fast, very quick and very athletic,” Washington said. “He’s a great space player. But he’s really solid at the point of attack. Those are the kinds of things you really need. I mean, we can anticipate him being a three-down defender. So so far, as a right defensive end, he’s doing a good job.”
— Coleman Shelton took first-team reps at center Tuesday as he and Ryan Bates continue to alternate days with the top line.
“We have two different body types,” Billings said of Bates and Shelton. “We have a fast guy and a really strong guy. This competition is going to come down to consistency.”
— The Bears will have Wednesday off before resuming practice Thursday.
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