Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus made it clear his rookie quarterback needs to correct one glaring issue in his passing game. Eberflus spoke to the media following the Bears’ second practice of mandatory minicamp on Wednesday. Caleb Williams has one more chance to progress this week before his next practice during training camp in July.
Caleb Williams has been so-so at mandatory minicamp
Williams has two practices in a row where he’s had an up-and-down performance. Williams had one errant throw picked off in Tuesday’s practice. Eberflus said that interception came because Williams took an extra hitch.
“Those are the experiences that Williams has to go through. He has to go through his progressions, which he did. He was right on his progressions,” Eberflus said. “Then he took a hitch, and the ball should have come out, and he took two hitches, and it was late over the middle. That’s always dangerous when you do that.”
The Chicago Bears saw a repeat of Tuesday
Williams had something of a repeat on Wednesday. Per Courtney Cronin with ESPN, Williams had a nice deep ball to Velus Jones Jr. for a touchdown (sans the starting secondary). He also threw an interception to Tremaine Edmunds:
Caleb Williams and the offense had a better day but still several learning moments for the QB, who threw an interception to Tremaine Edmunds in 7-on-7. -Williams best throw was a deep ball down the sideline to Velus Jones Jr. in 7-on-7 for a touchdown (most of the starting secondary was off the field, Terell Smith was in coverage)
Matt Eberflus said Caleb Williams had a similar issue on Tuesday
According to Josh Schrock with NBC Sports, Eberflus said the Williams interception on Wednesday was due to the same reason as Tuesday’s interception:
“Matt Eberflus said he believes Caleb Williams’ interception today in 7-on-7 was similar to yesterday’s. Ball was late over the middle, and Williams took an extra hitch.
Bears happy to let him experiment and learn where he can fit the ball at this level against this defense”
A troubling and familiar pattern is starting to emerge from OTAs this spring. Williams is having a hard time throwing over the middle of the field. Williams struggles when he’s asked to scrimmage against the first-team defense, while his highlight plays come against the second-unit secondary.
The Bears’ defense is supposed to be ahead of a rookie quarterback and an offense learning a first-year offensive coordinator’s scheme. However, Williams needs to learn from his mistakes. These patterns need to cease during training camp, or it could be a long rookie season for the No. 1 pick.
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