Not long after the Bears drafted him first overall, quarterback Caleb Williams talked to veteran receiver Keenan Allen about finding a place to go with their teammates this summer. They still haven’t settled on a location — the group text thread had merely settled on either California or Florida, places with which Williams is familiar, at some point during the next four-plus weeks before rookies report back to Halas Hall for training camp.
“The plan is not also just be the offensive guys, but have defensive guys out there,” Williams said Wednesday. “Us working on techniques and things like that together. Bonding, enjoying each other and going from there.”
Williams considers his biggest accomplishment thus far the fact that he has bonded with his teammates during rookie minicamp, organized team activities and mandatory minicamp. There’s a long way to go on the field, though. Coach Matt Eberflus stressed as much to the Bears’ rookies after their final OTA practice Wednesday.
“Where we’re at right now is a place where we can’t be . . . ” Eberflus said. “We gotta level up two spots in those four weeks in the preparation.”
That applies to Williams, too.
“Being able to say the call, see it in your mind and then go and execute it,” Eberflus said. “And that could be drawing it in the summer. It could be actually executing it if he’s got guys out there doing it with him. And then owning it. Then you gotta own it.
“That’s the biggest thing, the biggest step we’ve got to take with Caleb — and also with the rest of the offense. And defensive guys, too. Because the separation in the NFL is in our preparation.”
It starts with knowing both the plays and the shorthand that offensive coordinator Shane Waldron uses. Waldron said Williams needs “ownership of what every word means.”
“The further goal is gameday,” Waldron said. “When everything’s happening, it might be just a simple reminder in the headset. It might be something at halftime . . . those things all happen so quickly. Like that brevity code that we train ourselves with and getting on the same page of what certain terms are going to mean, that’s a really important part of the offseason.”
The Bears have been clear with Williams about what he needs to work on this summer. They’ve cited vocabulary, cadence and footwork in recent weeks.
“I think you give him the keys to the car,” Eberflus said, “but you also show him how to drive.”
Williams, who is remarkably routine-driven, has most of his break planned out.
He’ll split up mental work and physical work on different days to give himself breaks. He’ll study film, throw, lift weights and work with his private quarterbacks coach — and, some days, alongside his teammates.
Williams plans on doing most of his football work in the mornings — otherwise he won’t be able to relax the rest of the day.
“The rest of your day you feel OK because you did what you said you were going to do,” Williams said.
First, he’ll try to organize his notebook — “Making it a little more pretty,” he said — after a whirlwind offseason program. Amazingly, Williams’ last OTA practice came less than seven weeks after the former Heisman Trophy winner was drafted No. 1 overall.
“A lot of times,” he said, “the biggest thing for quarterbacks is confidence and believing in the plan.”
The work Williams does this summer will be key to the way he feels about his own game when veterans report to training camp July 19. Then the real work will begin.
Eberflus wouldn’t say how many snaps Williams will play during four preseason games, but he went out of his way to say that last year’s rookie quarterbacks got between 45 and 65.
Those games will come soon enough.
“Get ready to build and to grow,” Williams said, “and come back here in July.”
