Caleb Williams fact or fiction: Should Bears be concerned with second-year QB's up-and-down training camp?

All eyes are on Caleb Williams. The former No. 1 pick came into the league last offseason not only with the promise that naturally comes with being the top overall selection, but with the hope that he could resurrect the Chicago Bears and give the franchise elite quarterback play that has evaded them for most, if not all, of its storied history. While there were flashes, his arrival didn't bring instant returns in Year 1. Chicago endured a 5-12 season (its fourth consecutive under .500 campaign), Williams was sacked 68 times (tied for third-most all time), and the Bears fired then-coach Matt Eberflus midway through the year. Basically, anything that could've gone wrong did. 

Fast-forward to this offseason, however, and things are looking up. Chicago lured former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson across enemy lines and hired him as its next coach. On the personnel side, the club completely revamped the interior of the offensive line with the likes of guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, along with center Drew Dalman. The Bears also provided Williams with more weapons at the skill positions by adding tight end Colston Loveland and wideout Luther Burden III in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft earlier this spring. 

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All of that positive change injected plenty of optimism surrounding the Bears, and the hype train was starting to gain serious steam. However, things seemed to come to a screeching halt with the start of training camp, and word of Williams going through some summer struggles started to sprout.  

Why the sudden panic around Caleb Williams?

So far, it appears that the Bears defense is consistently winning at training camp. While Chicago does boast some strong pieces on the defensive side of the ball, you'd like it to be more of an even back-and-forth, especially given Johnson's prowess on offense and the collection of talent they have. Specifically, during Sunday's Family Fest practice inside Soldier Field, the defense was said to have dominated, and there was some sloppy play from the offense.

As reported by FOX 32, the first-team offense led by Williams was flagged for three delay of game penalties on Sunday. While they got out of the huddle, Williams couldn't get the pre-snap reads complete before the play clock ran out. Johnson was highly critical of those mental mistakes, saying they showed up more during that session than in practice and added, "This was more like a real game, and if it continues like that, we're not going to win any games." 

On top of the pre-snap penalties, the Bears offense found itself in a familiar situation where Williams was swarmed at times. As noted by the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs, Williams also would've likely thrown an interception during one instance had it not been for wideout Rome Odunze knocking the ball down. 

All that started to raise the panic meter, especially with that poor showing coming in front of a stadium full of fans. 

The viral net clip

During a recent training camp session, cameras caught Williams and the rest of the Bears quarterbacks going through an accuracy drill where they were asked to throw the football into one of three square nets. The clip that has since gone viral showed Williams missing his throw by a wide margin, further causing panic among fans. Williams himself even showed some frustrations after his miscues. 

What Caleb Williams is saying

On Tuesday, the NFL Network interviewed Williams, and the second-year quarterback acknowledged that the install of Johnson's offense has been tricky and that they've been pushing the limits thus far in camp, but have been taking advantage of practice to iron things out. 

"It's been a lot," Williams said. "As it should be. It's training camp. You know, we're going to test limits. ... [Ben Johnson]'s been adding more and more throughout time. It's been fun. It's been good. It's been challenging. It's been frustrating when you don't get it, but that's what practice is for." 

Should alarm bells really be going off?

Not yet. As Williams said in his interview with NFL Network, this is what practice is for, and there are bound to be some bumps along the way, especially as the club installs a new -- rather sophisticated -- offense constructed by Johnson. While the offense didn't have its best outing during Family Fest on Sunday, it doesn't sound like it's been an abject disaster throughout camp. For instance, during Tuesday's training camp practice, Williams connected with Odunze for what was said to be the offensive highlight of the day, hitting a deep ball down the left sideline for a touchdown. 

Of course, there will be a learning curve for Williams with Johnson's terminology, but the two do fit together well stylistically at least on paper. One example that points to that is their shared affinity/success in running play action. Last season, the Detroit Lions ran 20% of their plays off of play action (most in the NFL). Despite running play action just 11% of the time in 2024 (30th), Williams shined. 

That's just a small sample that indicates there is gold to be struck between this coach and quarterback duo once they get on the same page. Working out the kinks during the summer is the road toward that, and it's going to look worse before it gets better. If these struggles persist once the regular season gets into full bloom and there are no signs of the tides turning, the panic meter can/should run wild.