Biggest storylines to watch for the Chicago Bears during the second week of OTAs
The Chicago Bears are set to begin the second week of organized team activities (OTAs) later today following the four day break over the holiday weekend.The team will hold practice sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this week with Friday's session being the only one with media availability.Last week's OTAs sessions were able to show […]
The Chicago Bears are set to begin the second week of organized team activities (OTAs) later today following the four day break over the holiday weekend.
The team will hold practice sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday this week with Friday's session being the only one with media availability.
Last week's OTAs sessions were able to show a lot about what the Bears' squad will look like on all three phases and the second week will be another big opportunity for certain players to make their impressions on the coaching staff. Here are three storylines to follow for the second week of OTAs at Halas Hall.
Will Caleb Williams and the offense strike back?
From what was seen and reported during Thursday's practice, the Bears' first overall pick and new franchise quarterback struggled during live drills against the team's top level defense on the field. That's to be expected for a rookie quarterback facing that level of talent while the entire offense is learning a completely new playbook.
While everyone started to immediately dunk on Caleb Williams all over social media for the rough outing, members of the Bears' squad quickly came out in support of their quarterback. According to safety Kevin Byard, Williams was shredding the defense earlier in the week during the closed practice sessions and only really had a bad day on Thursday.
"These first two days, he's shown a lot of positive things," Byard said while addressing the media following Thursday's practice. "I ain't going to lie, the first day, the offense got after us a little bit. He was making some really good throws, some deep passes. It's just one of those things, sometimes it's going to be back and forth."
With how last week ended, it would be a great sign to hear about Williams bouncing back early in the week against the Bears' defense and hopefully we can get some clips released by the team's social media department.
Is the center battle already decided?
One of the biggest battles on the Bears' starting lineup during the offseason is headed by two newcomers to the offensive line. After struggling between Lucas Patrick and Cody Whitehair at center during the 2023 season, the team's front office made it a point to bring in two experienced players at the position this offseason.
The Bears first traded for offensive lineman Ryan Bates, a player the front office has had their eyes on for some time, and then signed the Los Angeles Rams' former starting center Coleman Shelton in free agency.
From what was reported during the only day of media availability last week, Bates took the majority of the first team snaps at center over Shelton, despite Shelton having more recent in-game experience. However, we don't know how it looked during the first two days of practice earlier in the week.
Unfortunately that will be the case once again this week since we won't get any look at the offensive line rotation until the end of the week. But, whichever player lines up with the first team during Friday's practice could be telling.
Are the remaining veterans going to show up?
During the first week of OTAs, head coach Matt Eberflus stated that the team was basically at 100 percent attendance despite notable faces missing on the field because their absences were cleared ahead of time, and again practice was only voluntary.
Still, notable veterans such as wide receiver Keenan Allen, right guard Nate Davis, right tackle Darnell Wright, defensive end Montez Sweat, and wide receiver Velus Jones were not seen on the field.
Despite the absences on Thursday, Eberflus emphasized that everyone on the roster has "been here at some point during the offseason" and only missed to various personal reasons such as graduations and birthdays which is a good sign for the team.
The other player who was not in attendance during practice last week was the Bears' other first round selection, wide receiver Rome Odunze, who had some hamstring soreness following the first day of rookie minicamp and has since been held back, but Eberflus did offer some encouraging news on Thursday.
“Rome’s starting to work out there — you guys saw that," he said. "Did some walk-throughs [on Thursday]. We’re hopeful that he’ll be starting to ramp back in there next week during the OTAs that we have next week.”
Therefore, it's entirely likely that we see Allen and Odunze on the field catching passes from Williams along with all of the projected starting five on the offensive line. Sweat's status, however, is still up in the air based on what we heard from DC Eric Washington.
"I've been in contact with him and he's been an active participant," Washington explained. "We had a chance to visit, to debrief, and to just talk about where we are in the offseason. So, he's stayed connected to the offseason and I'll be excited as he continues to take advantage of the offseason."
Bears OTAs: Chicago’s defense is looking to start the season fast after strong finish in 2023
Takeaways from the first week of OTAs.
