LAKE FOREST, Ill. — There will always be growing pains for Caleb Williams and the Bears offense. That's the life of a rookie quarterback in the NFL. The ball will fall to the ground. There will be turnovers, miscommunications and overthrows.
Getting into a rut is common for a rookie point guard trying to find his footing in the NFL.
Williams and the Bears offense are struggling right now.
Williams and the Bears' offense struggled Wednesday. The rookie quarterback completed just two passes in practice and the first-team offensive line fumbled three consecutive attempts in a two-minute span.
Despite a shaky day, the Bears offensive coaching staff maintained Williams is progressing well and that the passing game has been mostly successful.
But that didn't happen on Thursday, with Williams throwing two interceptions and another lackluster day for the offense.
In the first three 11-on-11 periods, Williams was 2-of-4, completing a 9-yard pass to Keenan Allen on a comeback and a 9-yard checkdown to D'Andre Swift. The pass to Allen was a nice one, thrown by Williams as he rolled to his right to escape pressure. Williams released the ball before Allen broke away and made an accurate pass.
However, Williams and the passing attack struggled to produce consistent production throughout the day.
As the fourth-team period began, Williams faced quick pressure from defensive end DeMarcus Walker and defensive tackle Jahvon Dexter. Williams came out of the right pocket and tried to backfoot the ball back to Allen, but safety Elijah Hicks easily intercepted the ball.
Dominique Robinson then quickly beat Braxton Jones to sack Williams, who again faced quick pressure on the next snap and attempted an incomplete pass to tight end Gerald Everett while throwing off his back foot.
The Bears ended the game as usual with a two-minute period, in which the offense started at their own 20-yard line with 1:30 left and needed a field goal to tie the score before halftime.
Right guard Ryan Bates participated in most of the 11-on-11 drills, but the Bears removed him for the period and inserted Matt Pryor between center Coleman Shelton and right tackle Larry Borom. Right tackle Darnell Wright took part in a few team drills before heading to the sideline.
The Bears defense was again without cornerback Kyler Gordon, defensive end Montez Sweat, cornerback Tyriq Stevenson, safety Ja'Quan Brisker and defensive tackle Andrew Billings, who was a partial participant Thursday.
The Bears defense tried a variety of blitzes on Williams, but at the start of the two-minute period they launched a nickel blitz when cornerback Leddy Steward burst into the backfield and forced Williams into an incomplete pass.
A pass to Swift on second down produced nothing, but Williams moved the chains with a pass to tight end Cole Kmet on third down for a 10-yard gain. The play drew a foul on Borom for what appeared to be an illegal hand to the face, but Eberflus had it picked up.
Swift's 7-yard run and Williams' 4-yard scramble gave the Bears a 10-yard first down at their own 41.
On first down and 10, Williams dropped back and got Allen open on an in-break route to the left, but Allen blasted the pass into the air. On the next play, Williams evaded pressure and came out of the right pocket. The No. 1 overall pick attempted an off-platform pass to tight end Gerald Everett along the sideline, but safety Kevin Byard lunged at the ball and intercepted it, ending the drill.
Despite the inconsistency of their passing attack, the Bears are confident that all the pieces are in place and they will be good to go by Week 1.
“Caleb Williams,” tight end Mercedes Lewis said when asked why he's confident in the direction of the passing game, “you know what I mean? Obviously with a young quarterback, you're going to have those moments. In the passing game, it's about cohesion and timing. We're still working out those deficiencies.”
“Every day isn't going to be great, but if we just hang in there until September, we'll be OK. We've got plenty of time.”
“This kid is definitely going to be something special,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said of Williams. “You can see that and you can see how he likes to compete. … They're definitely ready to do good things. I can see it in him. You can see it in his eyes. You can see it in the way he talks and the way he goes about his work.”
Other notes from day 15 of camp:
— Dexter tweaked his ankle during the first block of team practice. He sat out practice for a while but eventually returned.
— Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent threw two of his best passes of the day. The first was a tight gap pass along the right sideline to Tyler Scott. The second was a deep pass along the sideline to Nsimba Webster that Bagent dropped on the hoop.
— Cornerback Jaylon Johnson continues to have a strong showing in camp. Johnson outworked Allen and DJ Moore in individual drills, 7-on-7 and team drills. On Thursday, Johnson intercepted several passes against Allen during individual drills.
— The Bears' first-team offensive line consisted of (left to right) Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Coleman Shelton, Ryan Bates and Darnell Wright for the majority of practice and is expected to start against the Bills on Saturday in Buffalo.
— Gordon has been out for more than two weeks because of “straints,” and Eberflus said the third-year slot corner is close to returning but not yet.
— Eberflus said Davis was in a dip Sunday. The right guard returned to individual workouts Sunday but left with a recurrence of muscle tightness. Eberflus said Davis' status will vary from week to week.
— Brisker, Stevenson, Sweat, Roshon Johnson, Terrell Smith, Collin Johnson and long snapper Patrick Scales all missed practice Thursday.
— Eberflus announced after practice that Williams and the Bears' healthy starters will play “a variety of snaps” Saturday against the Bills in Buffalo.
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