Bears minicamp observations: Best Caleb Williams practice yet?

Not all the Williams passes in a practice full of situational football wound up like the one to Johnson. Some went downfield.

Williams completed at 37-yard pass to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus to get the Bears offense out of a hole and jump start a 94-yard drive to touchdown in full-squad two-minute drill. He finished the drive with a short flip that rookie running back Kyle Monangai turned into a 5-yard TD with three seconds remaining on the clock.

By and large, deeper throws like the one to Zaccheaus have gone long, wide of the mark or been broken up. One to DJ Moore sailed deep, as did one to Rome Odunze.

Johnson called getting Williams in sync with his receivers on the deeper routes merely a matter of practice.

"Repetition, repetition, repetition," Johnson said. "I had that narrative in Miami when we drafted (Ryan) Tannehill in 2012, 2013, that he struggled with the deep ball, and you just keep focusing on it, you get close with your receivers. It doesn't matter if you're throwing the ball deep, throwing it short, but it takes some time to develop chemistry.

"Once you get that done, then, usually, it becomes clockwork after that. The more repetitions that we get as a unit, the better off we're going to be."

Nevertheless, the Wednesday practice was possibly the best this offseason for Williams and came partly in the rain.

"Hard to say," Johnson said. "You have to look at the tape to be sure about that, but it certainly felt like he had some good moments in there.

"Maybe we need just a little bit of drizzle every day and we'll pull out the best."

It's practice, man

Besides the deep ball, Williams hooked up in one series on a 12-yard TD to Zaccheaus as the two seem to be forming a real connection. Zaccheaus continues lining up as slot receiver mostly but in the three-receiver set for starters while rookie Luther Burden III remains out with a soft tissue injury.

Quarterback Case Keenum continued practicing with the second team and also threw a touchdown pass in the same situational drill as the one Williams did to Zaccheaus. His 11-yard throw went to Tyler Scott.

The offensive line practiced with Ozzy Trapilo back at left tackle, a day after Kiran Amegadjie did it.

With T.J. Edwards still out due to a soft tissue injury, the weakside starter position was manned by rookie Ruben Hyppolite II.

Dayo Odeyingbo was among those not practicing, so starting right defensive end was played by Dominique Robinson.

With Jaylon Johnson gone and Terell Smith among those with injuries, rookie Zah Frazier continued to play on the right side at cornerback with starters and successfully guarded Moore on one deep overthrow by Williams.

Weighty issue

When Gervon Dexter returned to Halas Hall for OTAs, a video by the team appeared to show a much lighter version of the defensive lineman who left in January.

It must have been trick photography.

"I put on some lean mass," Dexter said. "I got a little leaner, and put on a couple of pounds."

Dexter credits the work with new strength and conditioning boss Pierre Ngo for his extra weight.