Bears minicamp takeaways: Caleb Williams' best day yet, Jaquan Brisker's recovery

New York Times

2 days ago

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — A booming punt from Tory Taylor hit the soggy grass inside the 10-yard line of Field 1 at Halas Hall. It bounced into the air and was quickly downed. The Chicago Bears' first-team offense took the field pinned against its own end zone.
And with the 'game' to go win.
'I think it was 90-plus yards in under a minute with no timeouts,' coach Ben Johnson said. 'So it was cool to see them stack some plays.'
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It started with quarterback Caleb Williams. His longest completion went to tight end Cole Kmet, who caught the ball over the middle before racing down the sideline and getting out of bounds. Williams also moved the chains with two scrambles.
Mistakes were made. Safety Jonathan Owens nearly intercepted a pass that sailed over the arms of receiver Rome Odunze. But the situational drill still ended with a win for the offense: a short touchdown pass from Williams to rookie running back Kyle Monangai.
'I know you haven't been to every single OTA so far, but I would say the defense has gotten the better of the offense more often than not in all those two-minute (situations), whether it's end of half or end of game,' Johnson said after the second day of mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall on Wednesday. 'So it was good to see the offense stack a few plays together. That's a very tough situation.'
There might be some 'sacks' to account for when the film is reviewed, Johnson said. The defense can't hit Williams during minicamp, but elusiveness remains one of his best attributes.
'What we thought about him was when the lights are bright that he was going to show up,' Johnson said. 'And it felt like the game slowed down a little bit for him (Wednesday), and he was able to just go out and find an open guy and get a completion.'
Williams threw a short touchdown pass to receiver Olamide Zaccheaus earlier in another situational drill. But he also heard from Johnson when he was too slow going through his reads during the seven-on-seven portion of practice. On that play, Williams connected on a checkdown to running back Roschon Johnson for a first down. It just didn't happen quickly enough for his head coach.
'No, he was late,' Ben Johnson said. 'He needs to get there faster.'
Safety Jaquan Brisker met the media for the first time since missing most of last season with a concussion. He sought and underwent treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he was told that he had a vestibular concussion.
'I felt like I was off, or I would have been able to be out there,' Brisker said. 'Definitely felt like something was off. (I) didn't want to get back out there until I felt like me.'
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At UPMC, Brisker said he retrained his nervous system.
'Just like side-to-side movement,' Brisker said. 'It's a lot of tennis ball catching and things like that, just trying to track my eyes, get my eyes moving around, get my body moving around fast and things like that. Just reacting.'
Brisker appeared in only five games last season. He described it as 'sad and depressing,' but he never thought about retirement. Brisker suffered his injury against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field. Tight end Tommy Tremble lowered his head into Brisker, who made the tackle.
'I am going to continue to play the same way,' Brisker said. 'That was my first time really having a contact injury. He hit his head on my neck, so kind of just hit his helmet on the right spot. (It's) really just moving on from that.'
On the field at Halas Hall, Brisker is flying around like he did before his concussion.
'I want to hit right now,' he said.
Johnson said he appreciates the trash talk that comes with it, too.
'He was a guy that you had to earmark and just make sure you knew where he was when you game-planned against him because he was very active, particularly in the run game,' Johnson said. 'He liked to come down and fill in the box and played like a linebacker that happened to be a defensive back. Not afraid to hit you. So we always told the receivers that they had to make sure they accounted for him. Can't see that right now without the pads, but you can certainly see an active player. He's excited, he's passionate about the game and he loves playing football.'
During the seven-on-seven period Wednesday, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had a conversation with Al Harris, the Bears' defensive backs coach/defensive passing game coordinator, in the middle of the field. It happened as plays unfolded in front of them.
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It was about the details.
'He let me know,' Stevenson said. 'I told him, too, I'm cool with it. I don't care if it's the smallest thing, if he didn't like my feet, if he didn't like something. Because at the end of the day, if I'm on my best game, I'm going to help this team win. (It's) just talking a little ball, talking technique and trying to better understand this defense as we go through this minicamp.'
The Bears' emphasis on the details reminded Stevenson of his time at Georgia playing for Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart.
'I feel like the details that they're trying to install in us will help us on the field and off the field with how we process everything,' he said.
It also helps to hear it from Harris, who played in the NFL from 1997 to 2011 and made the Pro Bowl twice with the Green Bay Packers.
'(It's) just by some of his little pointers with how you line up, how to look at the stance and how to look at the splits,' Stevenson said. 'Just pretty much understanding the system more than the player, and I feel like he's teaching all of that, and it's kind of rubbing off. Understanding that certain players run certain routes and certain OCs run certain concepts. Instead of playing the man, you play the concept.'
The Bears drafted defensive tackle Gervon Dexter with the vision of being the penetrating three-technique for coach Matt Eberflus' defense. Things are now very different for him under defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
'He throws in a lot of different fronts, a lot of different ways to get after the quarterback,' Dexter said. 'So I think the type of guy I am, I could play in a lot of those different fronts. So just being in it and the way he'll move guys around, the way he'll switch it up on the offense, it'll be good for not only me but everybody on the defensive line.'
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Dexter has been playing next to veteran Grady Jarrett, who was signed in free agency, with the starters. It sounds like it's a dream come true for Dexter. He said he started to study Jarrett's play style when he was in middle school.
'Grady, his effort is the No. 1 thing, the way he finishes, the way he flies around and gets to the quarterback,' Dexter said. 'But he has a lot of moves in his toolbox.'
No injured players returned to practice. Tight end Colston Loveland, receiver Luther Burden III, linebacker T.J. Edwards, nickelback Kyler Gordon and left tackle Braxton Jones all remained out. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Elijah Hicks were excused from practice for personal reasons.
(Top photo of Caleb Williams: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)