Chicago Bears training camp report: Caleb Williams, offense ‘struggles’ with interceptions, penalties

LAKE FOREST – Caleb Williams’ pass fell to the grass, incomplete. Chicago Bears safety Kevin Byard shouted: “Game over!” Jaquan Brisker put his hands together and his head to the side, as if he were sleeping.

Needing a touchdown, the Bears offense failed to score in a two-minute drill Saturday at Halas Hall. What had been a tough day for the first-team offense during a long, hot practice, ended with another low moment.

“The offense, obviously, had its struggles today,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “But I also said to them after the practice, ‘Guys, all three phases have to play well for us to be a good football team.’ So, there’s going to be days where the defense struggles or special teams struggles, but it’s got to be all three phases hitting on all cylinders, and we’re just not there yet.”

Particularly notable were numerous false starts for the first-team offense. The offensive line returns the majority of its starters from last year, but they still are working with a new quarterback and a new offensive playbook.

“We’ve got to be more focused as a unit,” left tackle Braxton Jones said. “That’s all it is. It’s everybody being more locked in and clued in, including myself, to the cadence.”

During 7-on-7, Williams threw back-to-back interceptions over the middle of the field. The first was thrown into double coverage and picked off by safety Adrian Colbert.

On the following play, looking to bounce back, Williams threw a pass that was picked off by cornerback Reddy Steward.

“When you throw an interception, what is your response?” Eberflus said. “I thought he responded well in 7-on-7 after those plays.”

Injury updates

Bears right guard Nate Davis began the day on the practice field, but ended the day on the sidelines. He appeared to injure something prior to team drills.

Davis had been participating in practice every day throughout the first week of camp. It’s unclear what this new injury is or how long it might keep him off the field. Eberflus called him “day-to-day.”

Davis has missed a lot of practice time in his year-plus as a member of the Bears. He missed much of training camp last year due to a personal reason, then missed a month during the season with an ankle injury. This year, he was not present for part of OTAs, but he has been at camp every day.

Eberflus noted that his players need to be on the practice field.

“Availability is everything, right?” Eberflus said. “So you’ve got to be available to practice. ... [You have] to callous yourself, that’s your individual responsibility to the football team. When you’re not out there, guess what? That doesn’t happen.”

Elsewhere, defensive end Jacob Martin was not present for practice. He appeared to injure his foot on Friday. Cornerback Kyler Gordon and receiver Nsimba Webster remain out with undisclosed injuries. Rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie is sidelined by a quad injury.

Nick Saban stops by

Earlier this week, legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban stopped by Halas Hall. The seven-time national championship-winning head coach retired at the end of the 2023 season.

Eberflus texted Saban after Saban retired and told him to stop by Halas Hall any time. Saban coached Eberflus for one season when Eberflus was a linebacker at Toledo. Saban served as the head coach at Toledo for one season in 1990 before moving on to become Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns in 1991.

“[We] spent about two and a half hours together,” Eberflus said. “Basically, our conversations were on leadership of the football team and really his process and his cadence and rhythm of working with a quarterback, you know, with Tua [Tagovailoa], with Jalen [Hurts], and what was his experience during the camp phase of it and also during the season. I gleaned a lot of information and a lot of wisdom from him and it was great to see him.”