Well, that was not the start to training camp Chicago Bears were hoping for.
There were a couple of not-so-great moments for quarterback Caleb Williams as the franchise navigates its first day with Ben Johnson as the head coach of the team. First, Williams threw an interception to linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
Bears practice No. 1 just ended. Went from 8:45-10 a.m.
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) July 23, 2025
-Rookies Luther Burden III and Zah Frazier were not present. Burden appears to still be dealing with injuries from the spring (landed on a ball awkwardly in minicamp, sustained a soft tissue (hamstring) injury in OTAs)…
The second part was not a good look for the offense in general as Johnson kicked everyone from the first-team off the field after failing to get lined up correctly.
The word "intense" was used a lot this spring to describe practice and the shared mentality of Ben Johnson and his coaches. That carried over to Day 1 of training camp where the 1st team offense got thrown out of a drill by Johnson during a drill when they couldn't get lined up…
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) July 23, 2025
Is it already time to panic or is it an overreaction?
The first day of practice is always an awkward time, as returning players work on getting back into the rhythm of their teammates and new players learn a brand-new system. Everyone in Chicago is going through the changes with Johnson running the show.
Williams is going through the growing pains as much as anyone else is. It shouldn't be reflected too badly on him, but it sounds like there was a few negatives aspects of the practice.
Chicago still has plenty of talent to work with on offense, with DJ Moore and Rome Odunze returning as Williams' favorite targets and Cole Kmet back as well at tight end. A first look at the new offensive line has fans excited that Williams will have better protection while passing the football.
The next test will be how the offense comes together in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings. Otherwise, it's too early to start burying Williams and the offense for one bad day of practice.
One positive to take from the mistakes is Johnson's no nonsense approach to messing up. He's doing a perfect job of setting the tone that being a bad team is no longer acceptable. The Bears need to be better than their NFL-worst 284.6 yards per game performance last year.
Read more: Ben Johnson set lofty 2025 goal for Caleb Williams (but might not achieve)
Give the offense time to grow and Williams will be slinging it in this offense just as well, if not better than Lions quarterback Jared Goff did with Johnson in Detroit.