Is Caleb Williams the Bears’ problem? | 1st & North
On this episode of 1st & North, Lou Canellis and NFC North insiders break down all the key moments and storylines from Week 2 of the season. Is Caleb Williams the problem for the Bears? Can the Packers keep up their stellar start? Plus, the Vikings will be without their starting QB, and the Lions look to build on last week’s momentum.
Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson was clear in his Wednesday press conference.
“Our practice habits have yet to reflect a championship-caliber team,” he said.
He made it well know his belief that results on the field reflect what’s happening in practice. After a 52-21 loss to a division rival, that’s where Johnson wants the Bears to focus on as the Dallas Cowboys come to town on Friday and the Bears eye their first win of the season.
But, practice is now becoming a staging ground for Johnson’s staff.
Big picture view:
Johnson was clear on Wednesday, which came after a Monday press conference where he reiterated a point he made on Sunday.
If a player isn’t showing up when the ball isn’t coming your way, then those players might not have a role come next game.
“I’ve alluded to it before, what these guys look like when the ball’s not in their hands. That’s a big deal for us,” Johnson said on Monday. “There were some plays there yesterday that we weren’t quite as pleased with what that looked like on tape. So, we’re going to find out this week at practice who wants to practice hard and who wants to be a little bit more involved with the game plan here going into Sunday.”
That begins in practice. On Wednesday, the Bears had a two-hour practice.
Johnson outlined what he wanted to see in that time frame.
“We should be going to the football, finishing hard,” Johnson said. “We talk about it all the time with the offensive players that our fundamentals, our finish and our technique, they need to show up in walk through, they need to show up on the practice field. That’s how it shows up on game day.”
Those fundamentals stretch beyond what players do with the ball in their hands. It’s how they get the ball, and more.
“Simple things of how do we properly block? How do we catch the ball? How do we block after the catch? Ball security and things like that,” Johnson said. “It’s the little things that you learn in youth league football that even at this level, they make a huge difference.”
The players responded in kind on that first practice of the week.
What they’re saying:
For some of the veterans, Wednesday was a chance to prove they’ve earned their spot on Johnson’s team. Whether it was offense and defense – in this case, the offense was called out more with Johnson’s offensive background – the veterans had a chance to start the week strong.
Tight end Cole Kmet also used it as a springboard for the week’s work.
“Wednesday’s a good time to kind of get this stink off. It goes back to my college days,” Kmet said. “It’s always a good feeling after that Wednesday practice, kind of get that stench off of you and move on to the next week.”
That perspective, as well as the challenge Johnson issued to his players, led to a bigger day at practice.
Quarterback Caleb Williams said there was a higher intensity at practice on Wednesday, which is the first day of practice. The Bears have practice Thursday and Friday before finalizing their prep for the Cowboys.
With that intense practice, Williams said he and Johnson identified where he can assist the most. For Williams as the quarterback and team captian, that comes with the intangibles.
“If it’s juice, if it’s pushing the guys, if it’s encouragement, whatever the case may be,” Williams said. “It’s just being able to be that for the team and the offense. That was his point for me. From there, just being able to execute and lead from being able to show the guys that we can get out there and we can execute these plays, even though it’s our first year together. I think we’ve been taking the right steps. The confidence has been growing within myself and within the offense. I’m excited and that gets you up every day.”
The Bears believe they got started on the right foot Wednesday. Now, that has to carry over.
“Obviously, we always got work to,” Kmet said. “But, I thought it was a good step today.”