Bears' Mandatory Minicamp: Special teams ace might be turning the corner after making huge offensive play
The Chicago Bears concluded the second day of mandatory minicamp and the majority of the issues shown on Tuesday seemed to be cleaned up this time around for quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense.Even still, the day was still a back and forth battle between the offense and the defense but this time, both units […]
The Chicago Bears concluded the second day of mandatory minicamp and the majority of the issues shown on Tuesday seemed to be cleaned up this time around for quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense.
Even still, the day was still a back and forth battle between the offense and the defense but this time, both units got the better of each other.
During team drills, Williams had a few passes broken up against the defense and had another pass get intercepted but the story of the day was how he bounced back.
One play after throwing the interception, Williams uncorked a deep ball that went for a would be touchdown and the recipient of the pass will be a surprise to everyone.
The wide receiver that blew by the defender was none other than wide receiver Velus Jones who then came down with the ball for the play of the day. Everything we've heard mainly about Jones this offseason has been about his skill on special teams as a returner and not so much about his potential impact on offense, until today.
On the play, Jones got a step on second-year cornerback Terell Smith, who filled in with others with the main starters in the secondary. Here's the play in action posted by the team on social media following practice.
It's great to hear and see Jones making these types of big plays on the field, albeit in practice, after a frustrating year on that side of the ball in 2023. While the Bears have three primary wide receivers along with second-year Tyler Scott, situations might arise this season where the Bears need to call on Jones, and his speed, for help. And getting his confidence back as a receiver comes from plays like this in practice.
As for Williams' interception, it was the second day in a row that the team's rookie quarterback had the ball fall into the wrong hands. Once again, head coach Matt Eberflus quickly diagnosed the reason for the play was because of a second hitch Williams took in his drop back. That and the fact that linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is a freak of an athlete to be practicing against. But, like everything else with Williams, all plays good or bad can become a learning experience.
"[Edmunds] is a big guy in the middle, and that’s an imposing figure in there… and I think that’s an important part of it," Eberflus explained. "[Williams is] probably going to play most of his opponents and be like, ‘Wow, that MIKE’s not very big.’ But yeah, balls that are thrown late over the middle, they’re usually put in harm’s way."
Once again, the defense is going to give any handouts to Williams and the unit is doing everything they can to get him ready to face opposing defenses during the season. That includes changing coverages after the snap to confuse Williams during his drop backs.
"I think really just the biggest thing I feel like that I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older in this league is giving rookies different looks and I feel like we do a good job of that, of trying to really confuse them at practice," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. "As a defense you want to be able to confuse quarterbacks and I think the biggest thing that comes with being a rookie quarterback is being able to analyze what the defense is in and then from there it’s easier to make the right reads, but it’s a lot harder when you’re doing that in the middle of your drop instead of at the line of scrimmage."
As for the more technical aspects that comes with being a quarterback, the pre-snap calls and getting everyone set seemed to be a lot better for Williams today compared to yesterday. After a day filled with multiple pre-snap and false start penalties, the unit cleaned up those issues in a big way today.
"One thing that we always try to tell him is voice louder, emphasize like that second ‘hut’ to make the defense draw offsides and get a free play," left guard Teven Jenkins added. "Those plays we got last year. We got a free touchdown to DJ, that was like a free play, the defense thinks it’s real so they get off. Just communicating to him that those voice inflections are very important."
Overall everyday is a learning experience and an opportunity to grow for all players, not just the rookies, and that's what these practice sessions are all about leading up to training camp.
Bears’ underrated defender isn’t backing down from a major challenge being thrown at him in practice
You gotta love his confidence.
