The Bears’ defense had just finished a boisterous, dominant performance in red zone drills Thursday when safety Kevin Byard, a two-time all-pro, walked up to quarterback Caleb Williams.
“Keep going,” he said. “We’re going to keep making you better.”
That’s the hope, at least.
At the end of a frustrating practice for the offense during organized team activities, Byard figured Williams could use the perspective. Not every practice will be pretty. This one certainly wasn’t.
“Hey, days like this, just keep fighting, keep going, watch the film, get better,” Byard said. “Everything is not going to be peaches and cream.”
He liked the confident response he got from Williams, the No. 1 overall draft pick and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.
“He kind of just looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘Of course I will,’ ” Byard said. “And that was good to see.”
The Bears see no reason to panic. Their defense is in Year 3 of running the same scheme. Williams, even with a head start, is on Month 2 of his.
His teammates are learning new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’ssystem, too — although some aren’t at Halas Hall. Williams faced a first-string defense without four of the other offensive starters: right guard Nate Davis, right tackle Darnell Wright and wide receiver Keenan Allen, who weren’t spotted Thursday at OTAs, and wide receiver Rome Odunze, who’s out nursing a hamstring injury.
The results were predictable. Over two red-zone drills, Williams went 6-for-18 and was sacked four times.
“You have a returning top-15, top-10 defense, obviously going against a younger rookie quarterback who’s getting acclimated and learning things,” Byard said. “That’s what it is supposed to look like.”
The offense fared better earlier in the week when the Bears held an OTA practice inside the Walter Payton Center.
“The offense kind of got after us a little bit,” Byard said. “[Williams] was making some really good throws.”
The point remains the same: OTAs are where Williams is expected (and allowed) to make mistakes.
“With him, you just have to know that the growing pains are going to be there,” wide receiver DJ Moore said. “For a rookie . . . you know you’ve got a lot to learn and a lot to accomplish in such a short amount of time.”
The Bears aren’t holding back in their teaching. They plan to install most of their concepts — although nothing game plan-specific — by the start of summer break in three weeks. They’ll drill down on what Williams does best even more during training camp, which starts the third week of July.
Coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles were impressed by Williams’ football acumen in the lead-up to last month’s draft. The former USC star has already reinforced their belief he’s a quick learner.
“It’s been very impressive, his ability to chunk information, put it into buckets and operate,” said Eberflus, who has seen Williams improve in understanding concepts, coverages and where to throw the ball since the start of rookie minicamp this month. Williams stays up late studying on his iPad and texts his coaches questions at all hours.
Eberflus has been able to tell during the first three OTA practices.
“I saw progress from the first day [of OTA practices] to the second, the second to the third,” Eberflus said.
But there’s a lot further to go.
“It’s really just about when he can rip the call, get the call in and out of the huddle, breaking the huddle, having that pace that we need to have,” Eberflus said. “We’ve been doing the walkthroughs, and he’s been really good with that.
“This is the first time going against a pro defense, and a pretty good one. It’s going to be learning for everybody.”
Former Bears quarterback Justin Fields ran up against the same defense during training camp last year. By the second day of August, he was encouraging the offense to try to match the intensity of a defensive unit that wasn’t shy about taunting after every impressive play.
This year’s attitude on defense is the same, but the context isn’t. Fields was heading into a prove-it season last year. Williams is in the infant stage of his career, with plenty of room to grow. He has the respect of the Bears’ defenders, even as they celebrate incompletions.
“You can definitely see that talent,” Byard said. “You can see the arm strength. You can see those intangibles. . . . Watching him in college, when you put those pads on and you actually get into live games, some of those intangibles, some of those off-script plays are going to show itself. It’s kind of hard to do that a little bit in a practice setting.”
Moore said leadership and throws have both come naturally for Williams.
“Even when he has a bad play, he’s looking to learn real fast right after,” Moore said. “That’s all you can ask of him — for him to quickly forget but also learn at the same time.”
Williams will face memorable days and forgettable ones going forward. The Bears hope there are more of the former.
“We all have a vested interest in wanting to see that young man grow and become battle-tested and be ready on Day 1,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said. “We’re going to give him everything that we have every day.”
