Bears defense has ‘gut check’ vs. Caleb Williams at training camp – NBC Sports Chicago

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Bears finished their first block of training camp practices Tuesday at Halas Hall, with the defense once again getting the upper hand on quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense in the two-minute period.

The offense took the field down by four with 1:20, one timeout, and the ball on their own 40.

Williams opened the drive with a 9-yard completion to DeAndre Carter and a 3-yard hook-up to Collin Johnson to move the sticks. A 4-yard completion to running back Khalil Herbert set up a second-and-6 at the opposing 45.

Edge rusher Jacob Martin blew past right tackle Darnell Wright for what could have been a sack, but Williams stepped up and took off for a 16-yard scramble. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was also flagged for holding on the play to set the offense up at the 24.

Williams then hit Rome Odunze over the middle for a gain of 10 and then found Carter for 7 to get the offense inside the 10 with under 30 seconds to go.

Then, the Bears’ defense buckled down.

On second-and-3, rookie Austin Booker got quick pressure, and Williams’ pass to Herbert fell incomplete. On third down, Williams dropped back and tried to thread the needle to Odunze in the back corner of the end zone, but Stevenson jumped the route and got a hand on the pass to break it up.

With 16 seconds left, Williams and the offense faced a fourth and three from the 7. Williams dropped back and saw tight end Cole Kmet come open over the middle in the end zone. Williams let it rip toward his tight end, but linebacker Tremaine Edmunds closed fast and broke the pass up to win the drill for the defense.

“It’s a gut check. It’s a gut check,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington said of the stop in the red zone. “And listen, you can be in great shape in terms of preparing for training camp, but once you get out on the football field and you’re going through individual periods, you’re going through special teams for those who are involved in that, and you’re actually practicing scrimmage plays. That’s a different level of conditioning.

“You’re going to see guys in great shape get tired of competing and playing pro football. They have to dig down deep. They’ve done that. The communication has to be there. You can’t give in or yield to that, because it’s a critical situation — we’ve got to find a way to close out the game.”

It is worth noting that DJ Moore did not participate in the two-minute drill and Keenan Allen had the day off for rest. Williams worked with Odunze, Kmet, Carter, and Johnson in the drill.

As has been the case through the first three days of camp, Williams was solid Tuesday. He hit wide receiver Tyler Scott for a 40-yard completion down the left sideline in one 11-on-11 period. Stevenson blew his coverage on the play, leaving Scott wide open downfield. Scott stumbled as the ball arrived but was still able to haul it in.

Williams has only turned the ball over once early in camp but should have thrown his second pick Tuesday when linebacker Jack Sanborn jumped in front of tight end Gerald Everett and dropped an easy interception.

The rookie quarterback made a couple of other nice throws, including a back shoulder throw to tight end Stephen Carlson down the seam.

Here are more notes from Day 4 of camp:

— The Bears’ offensive operation has been pretty clean in the first block of camp. Tuesday’s practice saw one false start and another instance where they were late getting out of the huddle. By my unscientific count, the Bears have had four total pre-snap issues in four practices.

That is a credit to Williams’ comfort in the offense and his improved cadence.

Defensive tackle Andrew Billings is known to have a great “move” call. That call gave Williams and the Bears’ offense fits during the offseason program. That has not been the case in camp.

“Oh, it’s sharper. It’s sharper, it’s more precise<” Billings said of Williams’ cadence after practice. “We’ve been giving him that move call and messing up his offensive line, and he’s taken notice of that, so now you know he’s calling more hard counts and all that. So that’s really helped us out there, and I think that’s really going to show in the game as well.”

— Allen and tight end Marcedes Lewis had vet days off Tuesday. Linebacker Noah Sewell and wide receiver Nsimba Webster returned to practice but were limited.

— Cornerback Kyler Gordon did not participate in team drills. Josh Blackwell took the slot corner reps with the first-team defense and had two pass breakups.

— Martin has been very disruptive in shorts during the first block. The Bears are interested in seeing how he and rookie Austin Booker perform when the pads come on Friday.

“Jacob, great speed, great speed and quickness. Very athletic,” Washington said. “He’s an excellent space player. But he’s really sturdy at the point of attack. Those types of things you really need to have. I mean, we can anticipate his role being as a three-down defender. So, so far as a right defensive end, he’s doing a nice job.”

— Coleman Shelton took first-team reps at center Tuesday as he and Ryan Bates continue to alternate days with the top line.

“We’ve got two different body types,” Billings said of Bates and Shelton. “We’ve got one quick guy and one really strong guy. That competition is going to come down to consistency.”

— The Bears will have Wednesday off before returning to practice Thursday.

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