LAKE FOREST, Il. — Players missing practice are becoming more and more on the list.
Adam Hoge gave the group that included Montez Sweat, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Andrew Billings, Nate Davis, and Darnell Wright the nickname “The Peloton Crew.” The Bears were riding their bikes quite a bit.
There is still time, only 32 days left before the season opener at Soldier Field against Tennessee. May you have much better health and that time goes by swiftly.
Today’s three takeaways from another erratic Bears practice are as follows:
Keenan Allen finally got his man.
During his media appearance earlier this week, Keenan Allen revealed that he has not yet caught a ball against Jaylon Johnson, saying, “Something has always gone wrong on the play.”
When Allen shook Johnson on a fade route to the end zone and Caleb Williams scored exactly over Johnson’s outstretched arms, something seemed to be going right. The referee signalled touchdown, and Johnson yelled at him right away, claiming Allen was out of bounds.
Johnson was unable to request a replay review, and I’m not sure whether Allen was as well and I don’t care.
An outstanding receiver defeated a top corner with a terrific throw. The Bears’ roster now boasts significantly better talent.
2. Training camp is beginning to suffer from offensive line issues.
At the beginning of practice, Darnell Wright was back on the pitch; however, he was later removed. On the first snap of team drills, Wright made a tweak that ended his day, forcing Larry Borom to fill in at right tackle.
Nate Davis was chastised on social media by Bears supporters while he rode his bike and performed some minor stretching.
With a brave face, Bears offensive line coach Chris Morgan stated that Davis is making good progress. Morgan made an effort to calm any o-line fears and refused to specify when Davis must recover in order for there to be a competition. If and when Davis returns, he thinks Ryan Bates has enough snaps at centre to be able to return there with ease.
During the two-minute drill, the Bears offence managed to run just three plays that ended in a DeMarcus Walker sack without moving the ball. Following the play, Walker danced around the field, removed his helmet and let the offence have it.
A robust offensive line would be really helpful for Caleb Williams so the offence could begin discovering 3. Will Caleb Williams recover more quickly with the Bears defence?
Kerry Joseph, the quarterbacks coach, says the answer is in the affirmative. I questioned Joseph about why the Bears offence has been unsteady and why Caleb Williams has occasionally held onto the ball for too long during our conversation with the position coaches today.
Joseph credited the defence in his explanation:
We have a strong defence, and occasionally it stops them, but other times [Caleb] turns around and says, ‘The defence is pretty damn good.'” Indeed, they are. The more repetitions he gets, the more he perceives it, the slower the image becomes in his head, and the quicker it will materialise.
We were told repeatedly at the beginning of training camp that “iron sharpens iron.” Hopefully, this is the case, and what appears difficult today will appear much better in a month against weaker defences and with the knowledge gained along the road.