‘No timidness:’ How Bears saw Caleb Williams ‘level up’ on Day 1 of training camp

‘No timidness:’ How Bears saw Caleb Williams ‘level up’ on Day 1 of training camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears have asked a lot of Caleb Williams since he arrived in April.

At every point so far, Williams has met or exceeded their expectations. So it’s no surprise that he arrived at training camp having made the most of his summer break — one in which the Bears asked him to become proficient in all aspects of the offensive operation.

Williams’ growth in the playbook was evident on Day 1 of camp when the Bears had a nearly clean operational day on offense.

“Just the general operation, right,” head coach Matt Eberflus said after practice Saturday. “First of all, we gave him a lot during the spring and in the summer same thing — formation, motion, understanding a concept, run kills, killer to run, killer to pass, alerts. All those things were a couple levels up, and you could see it. How do you see it? You see it in the execution. They’re in and out of the huddle. I think we only had one today where they weren’t, and it was much better.”

Veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen stayed in the same hotel as Williams during the offseason program. The two bonded over card games (Monopoly Deal) and also quizzed each other on the playbook while watching the NBA playoffs.

Allen was pleased with the offense’s operation on Saturday, noting how much more confident Williams was calling out plays in the huddle.

“Today was real solid,” Allen said of Williams on Saturday. “He called the plays way better than he was at OTAs. He felt confident in the plays and knowing what he was doing. There was no timidness from him today.”

Unlike Justin Fields or Mitchell Trubisky in the past, Williams opened his Bears career as the no doubt present and future starting quarterback for a franchise that has been desperately searching for an antidote to its quarterback problems.

That seems to have arrived in the form of Williams.

“I think the beauty of his…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-timidness-bears-saw-caleb-193602487.html

Author : NBC Sports Chicago

Publish date : 2024-07-20 19:36:02

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