Bears training camp observations: New OL combo debuts

Bears training camp observations: New OL combo debuts originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears left the pads off when they returned to practice on Saturday. The team had an off day on Friday as they recovered from the Hall of Fame preseason opener, and they’ll have another off day on Monday. Head coach Matt Eberflus says that’s by design, as he wants to keep the players fresh for a big upcoming stretch. The Bears will play their three remaining preseason games over a 13-day period, with a Bengals joint practice in the middle.

Accordingly, Bears practice was a little shorter on Saturday and featured extra individual work. We still got a good look at Caleb Williams and the first team offense, albeit with some different offensive line combos.

With Nate Davis out for a week now, the Bears have largely rolled with Coleman Shelton at center and Ryan Bates a right guard. Previously the two had swapped in and out at center. On Saturday, however, the Bears tried preseason standout Bill Murray at right guard. Free agent addition Matt Pryor also played with the first team at right tackle with Darnell Wright sidelined, as well. Shelton stuck at center, but played with the second team.

“We’re just working guys to see if they can elevate,” said Eberflus. “You’re going to see some matchups this week where you’ll see some different guys matched up against different players. Have a two or a three matched up against a one just to see if they can elevate their game.”

Bates working at center again was not a surprise. Eberflus said earlier this week that he wanted to get him back in the middle to keep working the position, because he’ll be the primary backup at center in case Shelton wins the job. This was the first time we’ve seen Murray and Pryor playing with the ones in camp, however.

“He was really good,” Eberflus said about Murray in Thursday’s Hall of Fame game. “Real aggressive. I thought his zone game, jumping to the second level was outstanding. I think his pass sets need to improve a little bit with what he did there. But overall we were pleased with him.”

Here’s Eberflus on what he’s seen out of Pryor so far this summer:

“He’s a massive individual. So if you put him inside, I think it’s really great because inside pocket will be firm. He can really anchor up in there, which is great for a quarterback.

“Then on the outside edge, I think he’s pretty decent there, too. He’s played out there and it’s good to have that position flexibility to move him around when we need to, and also compete for jobs.”

Murray also got a quick look at left guard as Teven Jenkins took a few plays off. Pryor kicked in at right guard for that same sequence.

Without pads on it’s not fair to really evaluate this OL combo’s play, but they operated cleanly.

That’s not to say there weren’t hiccups on offense. The biggest “uh-oh” moment was a muffed handoff from Caleb Williams. He fumbled the ball and defensive end Dominique Robinson recovered. But it’s all about the next play for the Bears, and Eberflus liked how Williams put the miscue behind him.

“Caleb came back in the next period real strong, three or four plays there, got some big strikes. I thought that was really good to respond the right way and that’s what you’ve got to do as an NFL player and certainly as quarterback.”

One of those strikes was a precisely placed ball to DJ Moore, who ran a deep curl with Terell Smith in coverage. Williams managed to get the ball over middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds’ head and kept the ball away from Smith, too. One play later, Williams hit Keenan Allen on a wheel route down the sideline for a touchdown from ~35 yards out. Kevin Byard was in coverage and after practice he contended he might’ve had a play on the ball if it was a real game.

“You have to know how to practice,” Byard said. “Every single one of those guys, we need… I was running toward the ball and I looked up and I seen the ball, but as Keenan was falling toward the sideline, I could’ve easily reached up or tried to punch the ball through him. But in my eyes, I would’ve had to really go through him and we didn’t have pads on. I probably would’ve fell on him. He might’ve hit his shoulder.”

A veteran decision from a veteran safety.

Other plays of note:

– Rome Odunze beat Jaylon Johnson in the low red zone to get open what should’ve been a touchdown. Williams delivered an easy pass, but Odunze dropped the ball. After the rep, Odunze checked his cleat to see if somehow his equipment had failed him.

– Tyson Bagent threw a pass to the back corner of the endzone where only his receiver could make a play on the ball. Nsmiba Webster was that man, and he did a good job to reel in the catch and tap both of his feet inbounds.

– Bagent used a hard count to draw a ton of movement on the line in the low red zone. Bagent and the offense finished the rep as if it was a free play and they made the most of it. Bagent lobbed a high pass to the back of the end zone and Tyler Scott ran across the end zone to get under the ball and score. It’s unclear whether that was a real free play or a false start, however.

ON THE SIDELINES

The following players did not participate in team drills at Saturday’s practice:

Montez Sweat
Darnell Wright
Nate Davis
Kyler Gordon
Jaquan Brisker
Andrew Billings
Tyrique Stevenson
Ian Wheeler
Noah Sewell
Jacob Martin

Terell Smith also hurt himself mid-practice

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