Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears receivers showing what they can do early in camp

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — On the second snap of the second period of team drills Thursday, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams created the highlight of the day, the type of pass that will only build more excitement for the season.

After motioning the tight ends, Williams dropped back and lofted a perfect deep ball to newcomer Kalif Raymond, who had a couple of steps on cornerback Tyrique Stevenson running up the left hash. The result? A 54-yard touchdown.

It sparked a pretty impressive day for the offense, with Williams connecting often with Raymond and Luther Burden III, as the second-year receiver showed off his run-after-catch ability down the left sideline for a long gain later in practice. In seven-on-seven, Williams was dialed in, getting a little help from tight end Colston Loveland’s diving catch as he went 5-for-5.

It wasn’t all perfect, as at least three passes were batted at the line, and there were two pre-snap penalties, but the passing offense had more completions than not.

It was only the second practice, but it’s a glimpse of how things could be smoother in camp.

“If we had 15 plays in a 10-minute walk-through, we were probably getting nine plays by the time we had to repeat everything. Now, I think (Wednesday) we got to 13,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said before practice. “We didn’t quite get to 15 yet, but we got to 13, and we’re able to move a little bit quicker. And that’s not just necessarily Caleb, but that’s everybody in the offense, the way we operate, the way we communicate, the urgency we have, and that’s a big thing in this building. You just feel urgency every single day.”

Player in the spotlight: Rome Odunze

On the first play of seven-on-seven drills Thursday, Williams went to the target he knows best — receiver Rome Odunze — and the two connected. Late in practice, Williams again went to Odunze for a long gain.

It’s the earliest days of seeing what Year 3 could be for Odunze, coming off a frustrating sophomore season that included a broken foot.

After clarifying that his “new normal” comments in the spring might’ve been taken the wrong way, Odunze laid out his goals.

“I just want to put together a terrific wide receiver season and have my team win,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s really one specific thing. Obviously, I want to hit 1,000 yards; that’s a big goal of mine. I want to exceed that for sure. I want double-digit touchdowns; I want over 100 catches. I want to get all of those things done. Those are goals.

“But one specific thing, I honestly just want to put it all together. I think I’ve done specific things well; I think it’s putting it all together for 17 games plus that I really want to get done.”

Doing so requires staying healthy, and Odunze did not enjoy being sidelined during the Bears’ late-season run.

“I learned that I don’t want to do that again. Nah. Nah,” he said. “I mean, I obviously learned gratitude. … I’m always grateful for the game, but when you’re out you get to reflect on those things even more.”

Odunze had 473 receiving yards in the first seven games last season and only 188 the rest of the way, as he missed five games.

Williams, selected nine spots before Odunze in the 2024 draft, days after the two had worked out together, wants to do his best to help Odunze to reach his potential.

“Ensure confidence that the ball is going to come to him,” Williams said Wednesday. “He’s one-on-one, the ball’s going to come to him. Runs a nice route, gets open for us, creates a little separation, the ball’s gonna be there.”

Pressing question

How will the coaching continuity help the 2026 Bears?

When coach Ben Johnson enthusiastically opened his remarks Tuesday at the start of training camp, he expressed his appreciation for having nearly his entire coaching staff back from Year 1 — a rarity in this league.

“The continuity that we have is a little bit unique in the NFL right now,” he said. “You look around, there’s 30-plus new play callers in the NFL. Fortunately here, we were able to have a lot of the same faces come back. With that, I really expect another layer of sophistication to occur within this building and within our players. I already felt it over the course of the springtime.”

While the Bears lost offensive coordinator Declan Doyle to the Ravens, they replaced him in-house with Taylor, who already knows the scheme and the returning players.

Last season, Taylor said Thursday, they’d spend a lot of time with wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett learning the ins and outs of Johnson’s playbook. Now, the only new coaches on offense are running backs coach Eric Studesville and analyst Will Lawing, who was with Johnson at Boston College.

“Now we’re in second grade essentially. We’ve moved on from first grade,” Taylor said. “We’re able to kind of pick up where we left off but move forward with it and then evolve. We’ve had time to think about what fits us, what fits our people, who we’re integrating into the offense now and how we’re going to utilize those people, so I do think there’s just a natural progression for things of where we’re going to go.”

In addition to Johnson and Barrett returning to the quarterbacks room, the Bears bring back last year’s three QBs, something the team hasn’t done in a long time. Taylor said that Williams, Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum can refer to plays from last season and all be on the same page.

“You have shared experience to pull from and be able to communicate through so we get going a lot faster,” he said. “We spend a lot less time going through what the formations are and what these motions are and now, when do we want this snapped? How can we use our cadence in this particular play? How can we make things look even more similar?”

It’s all part of the theme of Year 2 under Johnson — everything should be easier to communicate; now it’s about executing it at an even higher level.

Keep an eye on … WR Kalif Raymond

Raymond had the highlight-reel catch of the day and was a frequent target for Williams as well. He went out and plucked a pass out in front of him in stride and showed off his speed later in team drills. He had two more receptions in the later 11-on-11 work.

The familiarity in Johnson’s scheme was the obvious connection to get Raymond to Chicago, and his teammates have been seeing how he can help the offense, too.

“He’s very crafty in the way … he has the speed to run by folks, but he also has the craftiness to get in and out of breaks and veteran moves when it comes to the top of routes and different things that we like to look at,” Odunze said.

Last training camp, Olamide Zaccheaus developed a strong rapport with Williams from the No. 3 receiver spot. That didn’t translate enough during the regular season. Early in camp, Raymond is showing he can be dependable — and fast.

Quote of note

“You know, with 12 seasons, man, I think, for the whole picture myself, I’m about halfway there. We’re gonna go for 24 seasons.” — defensive tackle Grady Jarrett

Thanks to quarterback Case Keenum and kicker Cairo Santos, Jarrett isn’t the oldest player on the Bears, but he’s the oldest — let’s go with the most experienced — player on the defense. He said each year he tries to “refresh the mind.”

“I’m hungrier than ever and I just want to continue to put my best foot forward every day and play my best football and get this team to where we can go win a world championship, and that’s a goal I have not accomplished yet is winning the Super Bowl and that’s something I definitely, definitely want to do, chase every day,” he said.

Quick hits

• Second-year running back Kyle Monangai was the only player not practicing.

• Defensive end Montez Sweat’s stay on the non-football illness list was quick. He missed only one day and was with the starting defense.

• Braxton Jones began the day at left tackle, followed by Jedrick Wills Jr., then Kiran Amegadjie.

• At nickel corner, Cam Lewis received the first reps filling in for Kyler Gordon.