Training camp across the NFL has become a national spectacle. Media and fan access is more abundant than ever before, and with that comes a level of scrutiny and attention that this era of players and coaches has to deal with. On one hand, it keeps the fervor and excitement around teams and players, but on the other, it can easily become a distraction or detriment in some cases.
For the Chicago Bears and former USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams, the constant sea of opinions is normal, but a nuisance nonetheless. During the redzone portion of yesterday’s practice, Williams threw back to back interceptions. Those moments subsequently went viral on social media due to fan-recorded videos and reporters' tweets.
It caused quite the uproar and concern, but those occurrences are normal for practice and in some cases, those types of mistakes are manufactured by the coaching staff. Training camp has always been used to explore and examine all circumstances and use them as learning moments to have as a reference for the future. Often, coaches will purposefully put their players at a disadvantage to help them grow and see all possible scenarios.
"That’s very intentional. That’s trying to get our defensive pressures in against some of the stuff that we’re going to do offensively. We have contingency plans for what they are going to bring at us, so the quarterback operating getting the offense on the same page as far as checking plays, checking protections, things like that,” Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said of Caleb Williams.
“But that’s all a part of the scripted practice, is trying to get the defense right with their pressure patterns and the way they’re going to play coverage on the back end and then it’s getting our quarterbacks used to whether we’re throwing the ball or up front handling the movement with those run schemes,” Doyle continued.
Through the difficulty of learning a new offense and grinding through training camp, Williams has still found ways to improve and impress his coaches. Doyle noted one of the biggest area Williams has gotten better over the course of the offseason is in his control and command of the offense, which is one of the harder aspects of playing the quarterback position.
“(Pre-snap command) is the biggest improvement I've seen. It's all a progression. We've got to continue to get better post-snap and all those things with his vision and where the ball needs to go." Doyle added.
Williams may have his struggles in training camp, but the goal isn’t to be perfect in July and August; it’s to peak at the right time of the year and continually raise the level of play as the season progresses.
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