Caleb Williams impacted by O-line health

The Chicago Bears practiced for 2 hours and 20 minutes in full pads on Sunday morning at Halas Hall, a good workout before a scheduled day off Monday.

Here’s a rundown from the practice and the news conferences afterward.

News of the day

Matt Eberflus, who was not available for comment on Sunday, has said multiple times since the opening of training camp that the health of the offensive line will be one significant factor in planning how much playing time rookie quarterback Caleb Williams will get in preseason.

With that in mind, it’s worth wondering what the line will look like when the Bears return to the practice field Tuesday morning and how things will shake out because they spent most of the morning Sunday with 60% of the starters missing. The Bears have three practices remaining — and a walk-through — before Saturday’s preseason game at Buffalo.

The good news is that right guard Nate Davis, sidelined since July 27 with a minor groin injury, returned to work and participated in individual drills. Provided he responds well, there’s a good chance he will be in team drills on Tuesday.

But right tackle Darnell Wright missed his third consecutive practice with an unknown ailment and left guard Teven Jenkins left the field following a walk-through and stretching period. It’s a bit of a banged-up group but there’s a lot of time — five weeks — until the start of the regular season.

Jerome Carvin spent most of practice at left guard and Bill Murray got a good chunk of reps at right guard. Ryan Bates spent most of the practice with the starters at center before finishing at right guard as Coleman Shelton moved in at center. Matt Pryor continued to fill in for Wright.

Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Chicago Bears, including what the preseason opener told us about roster spots — including the backup QB

It’s certainly possible the line rounds back into shape by Tuesday or Wednesday and things are in solid shape for Williams to debut after all of the starters and many key backups were held out of the Hall of Fame Game last week. If not, Eberflus will have to determine how heavily he will weigh moving parts on the line and the need to get Williams action behind a group that has had some tough moments in training camp.

Player in the spotlight

It was interesting Saturday when tight end Cole Kmet talked about the growth of the running game in practice. It’s a little hard to judge. They’re not doing live tackling. Blockers aren’t taking defenders to the ground. But there’s a sense that pieces are starting to fit.

“I know you don’t really get to see, maybe from your guys’ perspective just because it’s not to-the-ground tackling,” Kmet said. “So you don’t see what we’re kind of seeing on the film. But I’ve been really happy with that. I think that’s clicked really well.”

Kmet was referring to angles, fits and all of the small details required for successful run plays. That’s going to benefit D’Andre Swift, who signed a $24 million, three-year contract in free agency.

“Technique, reads, stuff like that,” Swift said, talking about where his focus is on the practice field right now. “Making sure my eyes are in the right place.”

Swift ran for 1,049 yards in Philadelphia last season after totaling 1,680 in his first three seasons in Detroit. His emergence on the ground for the Eagles combined with what he did previously as a pass catcher in Detroit leads the Bears to believe he can be an asset on all three downs. At the start of the 7-on-7 period, he caught a ball downfield from Williams — not just a short checkdown.

“I feel like that’s part of my game I can do,” Swift said. “It was good to kind of do a little scramble drill, get free, and he sees that I’m going to be available in that situation.”

Caleb Williams watch

The first-team offense had a rough go of it during the two-minute drill even with a second chance. Williams was sacked on the first snap and fumbled the snap on second down before a draw play to Roschon Johnson.

Given a fresh set of downs in the end-of-half exercise, the offense couldn’t get into field-goal range. Williams connected with DJ Moore on a short pass. He was sacked by Gervon Dexter and then linebacker T.J. Edwards jumped to nearly intercept a ball over the middle.

Protecting the quarterback will be paramount and it’s good that he’s facing some pressure in practice as it helps prepare him for live game action. They can’t pretend like he’s going to live in only a clean pocket when the regular season arrives.

Williams did hook up with Moore deep down the right sideline near the beginning of 7-on-7 on a well-placed shot play.

Dog days ahead?

If the Bears aren’t entering the dog days of training camp, they’re getting close. It’s a different world for current players than what those in yesteryears endured, with two-a-days almost daily for teams that went away for four weeks at a time. In that sense, today’s professionals have it much easier but still, it’s a matter of perspective, especially for the Bears, who opened camp early because of the Hall of Fame Game.

The Bears and Houston Texans each have a game out of the way and no other teams will play until Thursday.

“We’ve still got a lot of time here in camp,” tight end Cole Kmet said Saturday. “What is it (as he glanced at his watch) it’s only Aug. 3. That’s frickin’ crazy. It’s only Aug. 3. So, we’ve got a month before that first game so we’ve got a lot of time to get this thing right and a lot of practice reps to get through all of this but I like where it’s going. I can really say that.”

The primary advantage for the Bears is extra time to install a new offense that features a rookie quarterback. That means an extra week of team periods, 7-on-7 drills and individual drills. That head start is gone as all teams are in preseason mode now.

“I think at this point, I feel like I’m ready now,” Kmet said. “But I also understand, you get new teammates in and out, it’s important to kind of go through the game day operation with those guys and kind of get the flow and rhythm with them. Obviously, with a rookie quarterback that will be important for us to do.

“Whether that’s new guys up front with the offensive line making sure you get calls across the line, that’s really big. It’s very hard to replicate in practice. Getting game reps with that will be important. But in terms of game shape and all those things, I think I’m kind of at a point where I feel like I know how to get ready for a game and get in shape for a game. At that end, I feel pretty good about it.”

Veteran safety Kevin Byard echoed that sentiment, saying he’s ready for the Tennessee Titans and a regular-season game on Sept. 8 even if that feels a long way off.

“Personally, I’m ready for the season already,” Byard said. “I think for me, getting a really good grasp for the defense, then it’s about really getting in shape. Every single day I come out to practice, every rep, I try to make sure I’m getting in shape, running to the ball, doing all the little things. So for me, I’ll be ready to play a game tomorrow, honestly. But however many reps coach Matt (Eberflus) feels like I need to get in a game in the preseason, that’s how many I need.”

Quote of note

“Punters get a little nervous, like, ‘Oh man, what’s a returner gonna do?’” rookie punter Tory Taylor said. “But the returner is just as nervous as well. This is gonna sound really funny. It’s kinda like snakes. Everyone’s kinda scared of snakes, but they’re just as scared of you. It’s similar to that, if that makes sense.”

Seen and heard

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson was fired up about not being included on a list of the NFL’s top 100 players, a voting process involving players that is conducted by NFL Network.

“Bull−−−−,” said Johnson, who had a breakout season in 2023. “Point blank, period. There’s no way that there’s 100 guys— especially if we going by the season. Is it by the season or is it just by names? Is it the top 100 names in the league? How do you guys know how it goes? What is it?”