Bears’ Caleb Williams on minicamp debut and his new offense: ‘We’re going to be pretty damn good’

LAKE FOREST, IL. —On the field, Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams improved in each of the team’s three mandatory minicamp sessions, his first taste of life on an NFL field, overcoming two interceptions in his first two days to fire off a string of touchdowns. in the red zone in his third.

Off the field, Williams is focused on being “neutral” and maintaining the right mindset every day. This includes a daily routine to keep your thoughts positive.

“Just having that moment with myself, I do that every day,” Williams told the media on Thursday. “I sit there and say, ‘We’re going to do great.’

“We just need to keep working, keep going and we’re all excited. It’s very important to have that mentality, but also to have the mentality of ‘let’s keep going, keep working, let’s get after this’.”

You’d feel that way too if you were featuring DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze, not to mention tight ends Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett. These five pass catchers were the most involved, with the exception of Kmet, who missed two practices for precautionary reasons.

There really weren’t many off-target throws from Williams, except for his first interception, an ugly misread that went right into Kevin Byard’s hands. His only other pick was a late but accurate throw that linebacker Tremaine Edmunds jumped and snatched, and which was immediately followed by an incredible deep ball that traveled at least 50 yards into the hands of Velus Jones Jr., who had to wait for maybe half a second to get the ball at the right front post. Landing.

Williams was predominantly on target with his accuracy, a clear upgrade from what the Bears have worked on previously. His timing seemed to be better with Moore and Odunze, although Allen seemed to catch up as minicamp ended.

Williams even showed some of that off-schedule playing ability. One of Williams’ best plays of minicamp came at 7-on-7 on Tuesday, when he rolled to his right, unable to find an open receiver and, just before his foot went out of bounds, fired a cross-court rocket to an incoming Odunze. fired. about 15 yards downfield with perfect positioning for a possible first down. It was exactly the type of game fans expected from him on a weekly basis at USC.

The Superman Scramble will still work in the NFL.

“We’ll have some of that. He’s very effective at that,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said of Williams’ improvisational skills. “Now obviously we want him to drop back and process and deliver the ball, but he’s remarkable when it comes to throwing the ball in motion, so we’re going to have to use that as a weapon for us.”

Williams knows there’s a lot of work ahead of him — understanding post-snap coverages, releasing the ball early, even his cadence was problematic. He said he hasn’t spoken on the field in four years and plans to improve his volume and change his cadence to draw offsides into defenses. But overall he felt he improved.

“I feel like in terms of progression, going through all the reads, throwing a little better with anticipation, getting more reps with the wide receivers, that obviously helped,” Williams said. “With all the reps we’ve gotten, it’s been huge. Just like [Thursday]I feel like in terms of progression, being able to release a little more anticipation was a small step for me.

Along with an experienced defense that could become a real problem for the teams it plays, the Bears have legitimate reasons for optimism. Which is good, since they’ll be on “Hard Knocks,” playing three primetime games and even traveling overseas for a showdown with the Jaguars in London.

They just need to keep their minds straight.