Bears camp observations: What to make of shaky practice for Caleb Williams, red zone offense

New York Times

25-07-2025

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams reposted a viral rant, of sorts, from J.J. Watt.
Watt opined about the way training camp 'stats' are kept, calling it 'insane and ridiculous.'
The message from the future Hall of Famer is apt. We can never read too much into statistics from training camp, especially in non-padded practices. We don't know the play call. We don't know the assignments.
But we are out here to observe, and Friday's practice — if charted for stats — wouldn't have been a pretty one for Williams and the first-team offense, which included several reps in the red zone.
Training Camp 'stats' are insane and ridiculous.
Used to think it was always just people joking, but now seeing them seriously reported.
You have no idea what the purpose of that period is, what the goals are, what the context is, etc.
It could be a strictly 3rd & Long…
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) July 24, 2025
It's your classic Bears training camp Rorschach test. Should there be concern about the quarterback? Is the defense simply playing at a high level? Is it too early to judge anything, especially with a new playbook being installed?
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle emphasized that last point.
'Obviously we're in our third day of install,' he said. 'This is their first time coming through in the fall with the red zone stuff. It always gets a little bit tighter down there. The biggest thing is you don't waste any failure on an individual play. We've got to go back and we're going to watch the tape with these guys this afternoon and clean up some of the intricate details of what we're asking them in the red zone.'
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It's July 25, not Oct. 25. If this were in the middle of the season, Doyle's tone would be different.
'Anytime you are out there, they're all teaching moments. And so there is a line of … if you're in the season and it goes the way it goes, you're feeling a little different,' he said. 'This is the first time we're out there seeing, you know, what we're seeing with the new install for the training camp, and so I think the biggest thing is that we come in ready to practice.'
In a seven-on-seven period in the red zone, Williams went 0-for-5. His first throw was dropped. The second got deflected by linebacker Noah Sewell. He then missed wide receiver Rome Odunze on a fade before back-to-back interceptions. A pass to receiver DJ Moore was deflected into the air and into the arms of safety Jaquan Brisker. Linebacker T.J. Edwards picked off the next pass.
'You just know that you've got to get through the day,' Moore said about putting a practice like that in perspective. 'Whatever happens, you can just teach off of it and just get better from there.'
The next 11-on-11 drill didn't go much better. Williams got bailed out a bit by a pass-interference call. Then defensive ends Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo helped force an incomplete pass. Following a D'Andre Swift run, cornerback Kyler Gordon got his hands on a pass to tight end Cole Kmet.
Speaking specifically about how to succeed in the red zone, Moore harped on the timing.
'We've just got to be on timing,' he said. 'Everybody in the spots that they need to be and just divide the end zone up with different people that are going to be in their spots and Caleb can throw the ball to.'
The timing could have just been off on Friday morning at Halas Hall.
'It's going to take about the six weeks,' Moore said. 'You want to be connected, like I said, hip to hip with all the guys. Me, Rome, Olamide (Zaccheaus). Everybody in the room. It's just like you need to have that connection with everybody.'
Your daily @idjmoore vibe check pic.twitter.com/5RffD5EJc8
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 25, 2025
When the offense returned to the short red zone in practice, however, things picked up. From the 5-yard line, Williams got the ball out quickly to Odunze for a touchdown near the pylon. On the next play, Williams threw a strike to the back middle of the end zone, connecting with Zaccheaus.
We won't know for a couple of months if the way Wiliams and the offense finished practice is more of a reflection of the 2025 Bears or the clunkiness of that seven-on-seven drill. It might be neither and something in the middle. It is early, but it wouldn't hurt to see the offense get in a groove more often.
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Coach Ben Johnson put more than 90 seconds on the clock and gave the offense the ball at its 35-yard line at the end of practice.
Williams opened with a completion to Odunze before a long scramble. He then hit Zaccheaus on an out route, but a false start by rookie tackle Ozzy Trapilo, followed by a sack, forced the first-team offense to settle for a field goal.
For the first five seasons of his career, Moore faced the Saints twice a year, which meant going up against Dennis Allen's defense. So he has some familiarity with it, but it's constantly evolving.
'It's not one thing that looks the same on that defense,' he said. 'Everything is different every play. It's good for us, but I'm glad we don't have to go against it on Sundays.'
The pressure increased several times on Friday, forcing Williams to react. Some of that was by design, according to Doyle.
'That's very intentional. That's trying to get our defensive pressures in against some of the stuff that we're going to do offensively,' he said. 'We have contingency plans for what they are going to bring at us, so the quarterback operating, getting the offense on the same page as far as checking plays, checking protections, things like that. But that's all a part of the scripted practice — trying to get the defense right with their pressure patterns and the way they're going to play coverage on the back end. And then it's getting our quarterbacks used to whether we're throwing the ball or up front handling the movement with those run schemes.'
Sweat had one of his more impactful practices — acknowledging that the pads still aren't on, but he was often in the backfield. Defensive tackles Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings also made noticeable plays in the trenches.
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• Left tackle Braxton Jones didn't practice. He had a scheduled rest day as he continues to work his way back from an ankle injury.
• Rookie tight end Colston Loveland remains limited.
• Rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III, defensive tackle Shemar Turner and cornerback Zah Frazier were all still absent.
• Undrafted rookie receiver J.P. Richardson continues to make plays. Keep an eye on him as we get into preseason games.
• One of the best plays of the morning came when quarterback Case Keenum threaded the needle to receiver Miles Boykin, who made an impressive catch in tight coverage.
• Williams had two big throws early in 11-on-11 drills — a laser to Zaccheaus and a 25-yarder to Odunze while on the move.
• Asked about improving his connection with Williams, Moore said, 'It all started at OTAs and we built on it and on it and on it. We went on break, and we talked about it and looked at the playbook and stuff like that. Then, when we got back, he was already ready to go because (he) came two days before us. … Now? After practice, we run together. I'm like, 'Dawg. Dude. This is going to be like we're hip to hip now. We need to stay like this.''