Camp report: Offense sputters Saturday as the Chicago Bears defense shines on all levels

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Chicago Bears' offense struggled again, this time all over the place.

There were turnovers, penalties and a two-minute drill that was unsuccessful from the first-team offense's shot down to the third-team.

Here's where the Bears' offense struggled the most, and where the defense shined the most, on Saturday.

Offensive struggles, before the action

While there was a reprieve on Friday in the two-minute drill, with Caleb Williams tossing a touchdown pass to Tyler Scott, that never came on Saturday.

What remained was the numerous pre-snap penalties which ran parallel to the seven total offensive penalties on the day.

There were, by our count, four false start penalties. 

"It's part of the process of connecting team chemistry," wide receiver Tyler Scott said. "We're always optimistic in everything that we do. It's just part of the process." 

The pre-snap penalties were also an issue on Friday. Head coach Matt Eberflus said it was a cadence issue yesterday. On Saturday, the blame was applied to the other side of the ball.

"Today was more of a function of what the defense was doing," Eberflus said.

Part of it was nose tackle Andrew Billings, who bellowed "move!" before the snap on multiple occasions. That's gotten the offensive line to jump before, and forced consecutive false starts Saturday.

Turnovers were an issue, too. The Bears defense intercepted four passes on Saturday.

While the pre-snap penalties are frustrating, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is still realistic about where the team is.

"We're just not there yet," Eberflus said. "I don't expect us to be."

The head coach is not sidestepping optimism. Rather, he's just telling it like it is.

"There should be optimism, but there's a lot of work to do," he said.

The defense shines, just about everywhere

This unit keeps stacking good days.

For the second-straight day, safety Adrian Colbert intercepted a pass. Yesterday was intercepting Tyson Bagent; on Friday, Colbert intercepted Williams.

That was just one of the defensive players who made stellar plays on Saturday. Reddy Stewart and Micah Baskerville both had interceptions. Josh Blackwell intercepted a Hail Mary attempt in the two-minute drill.

Third-year defensive lineman Daniel Hardy had a sack on a terrific pressure. Defensive back Jaylon Jones had two pass breakups on the day, one in the 7-on-7 and another in the two-minute drill.

The first-team defensive line lineup of Gervon Dexter Sr., Andrew Billings, DeMarcus Walker and Montez Sweat was humming Saturday, too. Sweat was tossed out of the two-minute drill for making contact with Williams – in general, something coaches ask players to avoid – on a sack that put the offense in a hole.

Don't ask Eberflus to anoint his defense as one of the best in the league, though. He wants to see the success in camp carry over first. No amount of talk or comparisons will make Eberflus jump the gun. 

"All the talk of all these numbers and all that stuff, and people say top five, what does that really mean?" Eberflus said. "We're at the end of the year and you're telling me we're a top five. How do you know that? So, to me it's about, it's about what we do on the grass and people can say all that, but to me that doesn't mean anything."

Saturday's standouts

Reddy Stewart

The rookie defensive back had a good pass break up, and intercepted Caleb Williams in the 7-on-7 period. It was a good day for him, making a few plays with the second-team defense before the first preseason game of the season.

Micah Baskerville

The second-year player from LSU had a really impressive pass break up that he also intercepted. That kind of awareness play can make a young player stand out in a linebacker room that already has an undrafted free agent starting in Jack Sanborn. Baskerville was a UDFA after the 2023 draft.

Injury report

Braxton Jones said Saturday he's "back" and 100 percent after starting training camp with a limited designation." That's good, because Nate Davis is now day-to-day with a strain, Eberflus said.

Linebacker Noah Sewell returned to practice, and was limited. Kyler Gordon was present but did not practice for a second-straight day. Defensive end Jacob Martin also missed practice after suffering an ankle injury on Friday.

A championship-winning visitor

One of Eberflus' mentors is recently retired Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Now with the time on his hands in retirement, Eberflus invited Saban to visit with the team. That happened this week. 

Saban talked about leadership with the Bears, and Eberflus got to discuss working with Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts at Alabama. Eberflus said he and Saban spent about "30 minutes talking about coverages."

The Hall of Fame Game participating update

Question: "Are you guys ready to say publicly whether or not Caleb and the starters going to go Thursday?"

Eberflus: "We're going to do it Tuesday."

Whatever decision the Bears make on if Caleb Williams and the Bears starters will play in Thursday's Hall of Fame Game, it will be announced on Tuesday. Mark your calendars.