Bears Camp: Caleb Williams steps in on first scuffle, scores rushing TD

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The shoving didn’t stop between tight end Gerald Everett and defensive ends DeMarcus Walker and Montez Sweat until Caleb Williams intervened.

That’s right, the rookie quarterback – the first overall pick in the NFL draft – stepped up.

He grabbed Walker and pushed him in the middle of the team period Friday.

The first padded practice of Chicago Bears camp continued after that.

“That’s good, man,” Walker said. “Obviously, he doesn’t want to see his OGs get into it. But I mean, it gets raucous out there. It gets rowdy. I’m very proud of Caleb for the way he handled himself, and he’s continually perfected his craft every day.”

Sometimes that means showing leadership and intervening in a budding fight between teammates.

The pads are 🔛 pic.twitter.com/sn14yikrch

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 26, 2024

“He’s my quarterback,” center/guard Ryan Bates said. “I love that. I love that mentality. He’s got to be smarter, though, because we can’t have that. God forbid, if something happens. But I love when he steps up and gets in the middle of it. That’s who he is. He’s a lively guy. He wants to go. He wants to compete.”

As Bates said, staying healthy remains the priority. Tight end Cole Kmet and others quickly pulled Williams away from the mess as practice resumed.

“We like to be a little feisty, like fighting,” center Coleman Shelton said. “That’s part of the culture. Moving forward. We’re always moving forward. We’re moving forward together. Eleven as one.”

Rushing Offensive

The offense got the ball back on the 35-yard line with 80 seconds left in a late-half situation as practice ended Friday. A screen to Roschon Johnson for 8 yards got things started, but the Bears faced a third-and-2 after Williams had to throw the ball away.

On third down, he calmly and quickly passed the ball to Rome Odunze, who ran a quick route against Tyrique Stevenson, for the first down.

One snap later, Williams threw a strike up the middle to Keenan Allen for a big gain. He missed an open Odunze after a coverage blunder, but then found the end zone when he rolled to his right and connected with Tyler Scott for a touchdown. The second-year receiver took a step on safety Jaquan Brisker and caught the score deep in the end zone.

.@LeTylerScott has been on 🔥 lately pic.twitter.com/TLRfGqDpBT

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 26, 2024

In the trenches

With the protections in place, we got our first look at face-to-face pass rush drills. Here are some notes and observations:

• Sweat got the ball rolling by beating Darnell Wright to the rim with his speed.

• Bates earned his win over Zacch Pickens with power and good footwork, keeping Pickens away from the quarterback.

• Sweat and Dominique Robinson earned back-to-back wins over Aviante Collins, with Robinson showing his speed in his rep.

• Rookie Austin Booker showed an impressive inside move to beat Ja’Tyre Carter.

• Defensive end Daniel Hardy, who got Williams out of the pocket on his touchdown catch at the end of practice, continues to shine with his speed in camp.

One of the highlights of the team drills came at the line. Gervon Dexter judged the snap perfectly and showed off his excellent start by penetrating the backfield for a tackle for loss.

Fighting in the trenches ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/kCWGQO3ZqQ

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 26, 2024

Novice punter impresses

A slow start to the attack meant that the biggest cheer of the camp – the first practice open to the public – came during the clearing period.

But maybe that would have been the case anyway, given the appeal of new recruit Tory Taylor.

Taylor dropped a punt perfectly out of bounds at the one-yard line, drawing cheers from special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and plenty of applause.

“We focused on one thing with him this week, and he went above and beyond and executed it today,” said Hightower, who wouldn’t get into specifics about what that was but said Taylor was “great” and consistent.

Tory Taylor really signed a dollar bill 😂 pic.twitter.com/rIvEbh6W9S

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 23, 2024

Taylor’s rare skills also helped the returners, as did left-hander Corliss Waitman’s punt-catching ability.

“Most of the return guys right now are talking about (Taylor’s) ball trajectory and how it moves differently,” Hightower said. “With two kickers in camp right now, with Corliss, the rotation is also different with a left-handed kicker. They’ve seen Tory’s balls hang quite a bit. They’re both tough to catch. He’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve, as you’ve seen. He’s doing a great job. Our return guys are getting better.”

Who will return the punts?

The Bears have a long list of players in the running to be their punt returner. It includes Dante Pettis, DeAndre Carter, Velus Jones Jr. and Greg Stroman Jr. But receivers Odunze and DJ Moore and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson have also been involved.

Odunze and Stevenson’s opportunities also continue to pile up.

“Fearlessness is the No. 1 quality — being fearless as a punt returner,” Hightower said. “And you have to have confidence. … And once you get on the field, the No. 1 thing is ball security. So we need somebody who’s going to take care of the ball and give us the best position on the field. That’s what I’m looking for.”

In reaction to “Move!”

The first team attack had to endure another tough training session to find the rhythm. There were several false starts, one of which we had a front row seat to.

Before the snap, defensive tackle Andrew Billings yelled “Move!” and as the defensive line moved, someone jumped. We heard Teven Jenkins last spring talk about Billings’ ability to disrupt the offense with his “move” call, and now we got to hear it.

“Bill’s probably the best in the league at that,” Shelton said. “I’ve played a bunch of times and I’ve never heard anything like that before. He’s very adamant about it. For us, we just have to adapt to Caleb’s voice. They don’t sound the same, it’s just that one surprises you more than the other.”

Billings has to be careful when he does it in games so he doesn’t get penalized for disrupting the offense, but as frustrating as it can be in practice, Shelton knows it helps in the end.

“It just makes us better,” he said. “It’s a sudden sound, and it’s something we have to focus on because we’re going to be playing outside, and there’s going to be loud noises all the time. It’s something we have to focus on and just concentrate and listen to Caleb’s voice.”

Unique training activity

What did backup quarterback Tyson Bagent do this offseason?

“I worked like crazy,” he said.

What did that entail? Well, on June 19, he did a 1-mile long jump burpee. Yes, Bagent and a friend did burpees and long jumps for a half-mile from a backyard to a river and then all the way back.

Fear the flow pic.twitter.com/FEzHlTT8Q8

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) July 25, 2024

“I don’t necessarily get better at football when I do a workout like that,” he said. “But the mental advantage it gives me to find out what I can handle versus what the guy next to me can handle kind of gives me a little bit of a mental advantage when I show up to things like that and people start complaining about our schedule. I know somewhere in the back of my mind that I’ve done worse things than this, that I can definitely handle anything that’s thrown at me.”

Quick shots

• One of the most productive plays from the first-team offense came from a well-designed and executed screen by the tight end to Everett.

• Running back Khalil Herbert has had a strong start to camp and, while it’s always difficult to gauge the ground game, he made a nice cutback for a big gain to start 11-on-11 drills.

• Defenseman Adrian Colbert intercepted a pass from Bagent during team drills. “I threw my first interception today,” Bagent said. “It’s never fun, but it’s great to be able to see what works and what doesn’t work with the different coverages and concepts we run.”

• Defensive end Jacob Martin left practice with an unknown injury.

• Cornerback Kyler Gordon, receiver Nsimba Webster and linebacker Noah Sewell were present but did not participate. Tight end Marcedes Lewis had a veteran day.

(Photo by Caleb Williams: Quinn Harris/Getty Images)