Caleb Williams enters a new stage of development as Bears camp gets rolling

A rabid Chicago Bears fan base will have to wait just a little longer before the first wave of Caleb Williams training camp highlights hits the pipeline. Wednesday morning’s practice, the first of this summer’s camp at Halas Hall, was as nondescript as it was brief, just a little more than 75 minutes long and finished by 10 a.m. with Williams taking a total of 15 snaps in 11-on-11 or seven-on-seven settings.

Though some may try, that’s hardly a big enough sample size to squeeze much significance out of as Williams continues his quarterback evolution under Bears coach Ben Johnson. (QB1’s most notable completion may have been a short dart to receiver Luther Burden III during the first full team period.) But Williams did speak for 15 minutes after practice, offering additional insight into all he’s working on during camp and for the upcoming season.

That’s the most logical place to start as we unpack the first full day of Bears camp.

Repeat performance

System familiarity. Concept repetition. In addition to the footwork improvements Williams has been working on since last season ended, those two components are being leaned into at Halas Hall as ways to help the starting quarterback improve his completion percentage and accuracy.

System familiarity has heightened Williams’ confidence. Concept repetition is making him more decisive. Ideally, that should help the Bears quarterback find a better rhythm this season, which should then improve his ability to deliver catchable balls more regularly.

Plus, whereas Williams’ first training camp under Johnson in 2025 featured heavy emphasis on huddle mechanics and pre-snap operational duties, the Bears quarterback has now moved on to a stage where he will be pushed to become more advanced with recognizing defenses and diagnosing accordingly.

“Plays get more detailed,” Williams said. “(Ben’s) adding more on my plate with figuring out the coverage before (the snap) and having an idea of where I can go with the ball faster and sooner.

“I haven’t thrown a lot of picks in my career because I can see the coverage and feel the coverage. (Now) it’s a little more detailed from play to play and with specifics within the play towards the coverage we are attacking.”

Johnson offered a positive moment of self-awareness Tuesday as it relates to finding a sweet spot with his desire to enhance the offense while keeping Williams comfortable.

“I have this urge as an offensive guy to want to continue to evolve and innovate and push the limits a little bit,” Johnson said. “Yet at the same time, in the back of my mind, what’s best for him is to continue to bank some of these reps.

“He’s had two offseasons and one training camp so far — and a full season, obviously — to where he’s now had a lot of the similar concepts repeat for him. Now we’re at the point where he’s not thinking about the play call, he’s not thinking about the cadence, the motion and all the jigamarole before the snap. Things are starting to slow down. So what we need to see here in camp is with that anticipation, take it up a notch.”

Williams’ ability to do so will be under a microscope as camp practices get longer and more involved.

Positive vibes

Williams also spoke Wednesday about the improvement he showed last season with sack avoidance, reducing his sack total from his rookie season by 65 percent — down to 24 from 68 in 2024.

Sure, having an improved offensive line and an elite play caller in Johnson helped. But Williams’ ownership of that area of his game also was a piece of the pie as he found ways to evade pressure; to dirt passes or throw the ball away when the situation dictated it; and to seek checkdowns as safety valves.

“Just playing smart football,” Williams said, emphasizing a goal for this season of becoming more productive with “positive small plays.”

Add that to the evaluation rubric.

‘The way we want to play’

Yes, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen continued his ritual of having all his available players push through a set of 40 up-downs before the first practice could officially begin. And no, new safety Coby Bryant wasn’t fazed.

“I’m actually going to go up to D.A.’s office and tell him that was pretty easy,” Bryant quipped after practice.

He was kidding, of course. But Bryant said he appreciated Allen’s drive to instill a mindset for the defense.

“Like I told the guys, we’re going to deal with way harder stuff,” Bryant said. “And 40 up-downs is just allowing us to buy in. No one was on their own out there. We were all together.”

The Bears defense has a lengthy to-do list on the runway to the regular season, with improving the pass rush near the top of the list and an effort to create cohesion in the secondary also a priority.

Bryant, who arrived in March with a new three-year, $40 million contract, is expected to play a big role in shaping the defense’s identity with Allen running out of adjectives to describe Bryant’s game on Wednesday.

“He plays fast. He plays violent. He’s smart. He’s instinctive,” Allen said.

He later added tough, nasty and physical to the list and said Bryant’s play style “epitomizes the way we want to play the game.”

Bryant emphasized that he wants his energy to be tone-setting as he continues acclimating to his new surroundings at Halas Hall.

“That’s something I always want to be known for,” he said. “I feel like it can be contagious and, like I’ve said, just bring other guys along with me. That’s something I want to do.”

Allen went one further in describing why Bryant’s resume tape from Seattle intrigued him so much.

“As a safety, you find yourself running the alley a lot and tracking inside-out on the ball,” Allen said. “So I can think of a few plays in my mind right now where you just see him, and he’s flying downhill from a middle-of-the-field safety (position) and making tackles 2-3 yards down the field. That’s the mentality we’re looking for. We’re not looking to run up there and get on the side of somebody and then try to drag him down. We’re trying to knock him backwards. I think that is something he’s going to bring.”

Takeaway culture

Allen remains proud of what the Bears defense accomplished last season with its NFL-best takeaway total of 33. That’s 23 interceptions plus 10 fumble recoveries. And whether the Bears can come anywhere close to matching that achievement in 2026, Allen is certain his unit will understand the takeaway-centric mentality he’s asking for.

“You have to live it every day,” Allen said. “Look, you get the things you emphasize. So, that’s part of the culture that runs through the vein of our defense. We have to practice that way every single day. That has to be the mindset.

“That doesn’t guarantee anything. But if you don’t have that mindset, then they’re not coming.”