LAKE FOREST, Ill.—The Bears are among the NFL’s most interesting teams heading into the season, with a strong finish to last year to pair with a generational rookie talent at quarterback, generating plenty of optimism around one of pro football’s flagship franchises. What will that amount to? Here are my takeaways from Bears camp …
• Caleb Williams is off to a flying start as the Bears’ starting quarterback (with the expected rookie ups-and-downs mixed in), and a big part of it is the plan the team put in place to get him off the ground—using pre-draft Zooms and his top-30 visit to give him a foundation in learning terminology, cadences and formations. The Bears also spent a good amount of time learning how Williams learns, so they could tailor what they were doing to how he’d best absorb information. Williams took a big leap in executing a plan that the Bears set up for him to keep going with his personal coach Will Hewlitt over the 40 days between the end of the offseason program and camp. As a result, he and new OC Shane Waldron are in lockstep with the season looming. I’d be surprised if Williams doesn’t play well this year.
