If the practice video of Caleb Williams misfiring passes into a net didn’t go viral on the internet, it at least has been viewed by the majority of Chicago Bears fans.
It made Williams chuckle on Thursday following a light 93-minute practice in shorts and shells at Halas Hall.
The video shows Williams missing the targets on the net low and wide before turning and walking away rather unhappy with the results.
“It’s hilarious,” Williams said. “(People) blew it up. It is what it is.”
He explained it’s a quick-delivery drill in which they catch the ball and throw it before attempting to get the laces lined up. And on this given day, Williams was, well, off the mark. All that was missing was a little Bob Uecker declaring “juuust a bit outside.”
“It’s not like you’re going through reads,” Williams said. “It’s catch, deliver and try to deliver to the bottom left corner. We’re trying to aim as if it’s a screen (pass).
“It’s a competition between us and the guys, how fast you can get it out, how accurate you can get it out. They just so happened to blow that one out and not the other ones (from days he was accurate). It’s a fun drill to work on accuracy and not using the laces, and also just getting your feet up under you and working on throws.”
Williams said there’s a rule in the quarterbacks room that if you miss the net, you have to do something funny in front of the group, presumably something they will find more amusing than the video.
“I was competing and I missed it and it was fake anger that I had, that I showed,” Williams said. “You’re competing with your friends and something like that happens you give maybe a little few words that you may say, choice words after losing to your buddies.”
Williams watch
The Bears didn’t do a lot of full-team drills during the short practice. Williams had six snaps of 7-on-7. Maybe the best throw of the session was a seam route to tight end Cole Kmet that free safety Kevin Byard deflected at the last instant.
What made the throw good? The play was in rhythm and Williams fired a dart downfield into a small hole between Byard and strong safety Jaquan Brisker. It’s the kind of attempt that has been in short supply during training camp, when there should be opportunities to press it and see what works. It’s also positive because Kmet was totally overlooked in the passing game last season, and if the Bears are going to use the veteran and rookie Colston Loveland as weapons, Williams needs to show a willingness to highlight them.
“Exactly what we wanted,” Williams said. “Cole ran a great route. I delivered to the spot. We had Brisker running over top, so you can’t necessarily lead him here or get a kill shot to the face. Try to keep my guys as healthy as possible if I can. Brisker was running over top, (Kmet) beat KB slightly and he was behind him. I put the ball exactly where I wanted and KB, I don’t know if he ended up falling, but he reached out and didn’t actually look back at the ball and the ball just ended up hitting his hands. It was one of those DB got kind of lucky.”
It wasn’t completed but the ball was well-thrown. It’s the kind of opportunity that big-time quarterbacks are going to take to hit on with regularity.
One nifty throw from practice came on a third-and-7 when Williams stepped up in the pocket and dropped his arm angle down to zip a pass over the middle to Loveland for about an 18-yard gain. His ability to throw from different platforms has been well-documented. It’s good to see him doing it when stepping up in the pocket.
A trick play wound up in an interception when Williams launched a deep ball for Rome Odunze, who was double-covered by Nahshon Wright and Brisker. It turned into a Brisker interception. There aren’t going to be a lot of situations in which Ben Johnson wants Williams to try a receiver who is bracketed as Odunze was.
Quote of note
“It’s good to see where you’re at and I really like the philosophy of Ben (Johnson) letting us know early there’s one of two ways we can go about the short yardage and goal line,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said when asked about the team’s rough-and-tumble Tuesday practice. “We can walk through it, fit through it, try to talk through it. Or we can really go through it and see what we’re about. That’s the route we chose and I think it really, really showed a lot for everybody to show people what they’ve got, you know, do they got that dog in them or how we can execute in high-pressure situations? We had some wins going back and forth, so it’s going to make us better as a team.”
Player in the spotlight
Rookie running back Kyle Monangai got a little more work Thursday with Roschon Johnson (foot) sidelined. What stood out is how quickly he got his pads square to the line of scrimmage and started working north and south. There’s not a lot of wasted movement, and for a back who isn’t the fastest, that’s important.
Monangai had a big run at the end of the first set of 11-on-11 snaps for the second-team offense, cutting off center Ryan Bates. Soon after, he did a nice job setting up his blocks on a screen pass from Tyson Bagent and then he had another good run to the left side, again pressing the action downfield immediately.
“Still learning, still a young guy,” Williams said. “We’ve all been there. But he’s been awesome. Very, very smart guy. Hard runner. He’s going to put his nose down and get the yardage we need.”
Seen and heard
The Bears can breath a sigh of relief after right tackle Darnell Wright left practice early. He walked to the sideline after the the second-to-final play in the two-minute drill at the end of practice. Wright was setting to pass block defensive end Dominique Robinson when he buckled a little. Wright immediately left the field on his own and huddled with athletic trainer Andre Tucker before heading into the building.
Turns out it was a minor collarbone issue with no fracture, so he will be in the clear. That’s paramount as the offense was down three linemen at the start of practice — tackle Kiran Amegadjie (leg) missed his fourth consecutive practice, and reserve center Doug Kramer (knee) and reserve guard Bill Murray (right ankle) were also absent. Pointing ahead to Friday’s joint practice and Sunday’s preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, the Bears don’t want to push it with any more depth issues on the line.
Injury and participation report
Aside from the health concerns on the offensive line, nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon exited practice before it ended. He missed time during the offseason program but has been full go this summer, which is not insignificant considering he has been sidelined during training camp in previous years.
Also not practicing were cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson (leg) and Zah Frazier (personal) and wide receiver Myles Boykin (ankle).