Caleb Williams the receiver? Takeaways from the first practice at Chicago Bears training camp

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Caleb Williams has hands.

The rookie displayed some hands during the two-minute drill when one of his passes was sent up into the air and he caught it out of midair before hustling to the sidelines.

"It's pretty cool, right?" Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said.

It was, but it didn't lead to anything more. The Williams-led two-minute drill stalled out for one of the few significant parts of the day.

Here's what we saw and took away during the first full day of practices at Chicago Bears training camp.

Williams' two-minute drill decision-making

When Williams opted to catch his own pass, it gave us a look into his brain.

It was a moment that brandished the "make a play" mentality Williams displayed at Oklahoma and USC where he often turned a would-be loss or no gain into something much more.

It also gave us a look at his decision-making process.

In those moments, quarterbacks either take the ball and run or bat it down to negate the chance of a turnover.

Williams' taking the ball and sprinting out of bounds tells us, to him, there's no play that's dead if he has something to say about it.

It's a respectable thought to try and make something out of nothing, especially if it does turn out to massively benefit the team. But, Williams might be coached to just bat the ball down in that situation going forward. Especially in a two-minute drill where, if he had gotten tackled in bounds, the clock would bleed precious time.

Still, you have to appreciate the aggression.

Caleb Williams: Practice 1

There weren't many stellar moments for the No. 1 overall pick on Saturday morning. That's not a bad thing, either.

Williams completed two of his four passes in the two-minute drill. One of those passes Williams completed to himself.

He also narrowly missed a touchdown strike to DJ Moore in an earlier 11 on 11 period.

It wasn't a picture-perfect day, but consider this: he did not turn the ball over and he did not try too hard to force a play to happen.

Still, what did stand out to others was Williams' composure. That aspect of his game built on from the offseason programs.

"He called the plays way better than he was in OTAs," receiver Keenan Allen said. "There was no timidness today."

That confidence has to be there. The players know it.

"He’s the quarterback," Allen said. "At the end of the day, it runs through him."

Gervon Dexter Sr. brings more to the 3-technique, literally

The play where Williams caught his own pass only happened because Gervon Dexter Sr. was there to tip the pass in the air.

Well, the coaching staff saw it more as the ball just hit Dexter because the second-year lineman out of Florida just takes up so much space.

"Dexter's like as big as a mountain," Eberflus said. "It hit him right in the chest."

That large mass of a person is something most 3-technique defensive tackles don't usually have. But, Dexter has it. 

There's still a massive difference, which is Dexter brings some speed to go along with his size. That bodes well for Dexter's development as he brings rare physical traits to the position.

The other defensive linemen across from Dexter understand just how significant that is, and what it means for his potential.

"He did the conditioning test with the D-ends," defensive end Montez Sweat said. "He’s just waiting to blow up honestly."

The preseason excitement isn't for everyone

Eberflus and Williams felt the excitement yesterday. Even general manager Ryan Poles was asked about it in New York.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson wasn't having much of it. 

All the hollering about potential, upside and projections is not something he wants to hear. Instead, Johnson wants to live it.

"I’m tired of just having upside and having potential," Johnson said. "I want to be in a position where we actually go out there and we are that, and not just what we’re projected to be."

Johnson understands the fan bases all over act this way. He mentioned how fans say "this is our year, this is our year," during the preseason, especially after the offseason the Bears had.

But, for the NFL's Second-Team All-Pro cornerback in the 2023 season, there's plenty more to prove. That all starts on the practice grass.

"It’s about action at this point," Johnson said. "I’m not on that type of time as far as ‘oh yeah this is our year.’ Nah, we go to go out here and we go to prove it and I think that starts with Day 1."

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