Here’s some news and notes from mandatory minicamp and OTAs. By the way, my YouTube channel is going to be on hiatus at least until around the start of training camp, with this being a relatively dead period of the offseason. The first practice of training camp will be on July 23rd.

QB Caleb Williams had some growing pains in HC Ben Johnson’s new offense, drawing the coach’s ire a couple of times when he had trouble calling a play and when he and his teammates were sloppy coming out of the huddle and getting lined up. He also threw a couple of red zone picks, something he rarely did in college and didn’t do a single time last season. But Williams did finish minicamp with a couple of good days.

Caleb also showed up for voluntary OTAs the following week with mostly rookies and second-year players in attendance, a positive sign of his commitment to learning Johnson’s offense. Johnson wants him to get through his reads quicker and focus on the details like footwork, calling the play, cadence, etc. Caleb has always said that he wants to be coached hard, and Johnson definitely did just that during minicamp and OTAs. He is an intense coach, and he will not hesitate to get on you if you’re not doing your job exactly the way he wants you to.

Williams was occasionally guilty of big play hunting when it wasn’t there last season, and RB D’Andre Swift was much the same way, with his dancing around in the backfield leading to too many negative plays. Johnson has talked to him about limiting those negative plays and focusing on the tracks of run plays. Rookie RB Kyle Monangai was impressive throughout the offseason program.

On the O-line, rookie LT Ozzy Trapilo split reps with LT Kiran Amegadije with LT Braxton Jones out until training camp. Trapilo’s movement ability has been solid so far, allaying fears that his height might restrict him, but we’ll see what happens when the pads go on. There was also some fun on the final day of mandatory minicamp when O-linemen and quarterbacks caught passes from wideouts, backs, and tight ends. RT Darnell Wright made a one-handed grab on one pass. Johnson made a note of it, and there’s no doubt that he started cooking up some trick plays in his head that day.

WR D.J. Moore’s negative body language became an issue at times last season. Ditto for Williams. Johnson had a talk with both players about it. WR Rome Odunze has put on some muscle in his upper body to help him win more contested catches. Rookie TE Colston Loveland (shoulder) hopefully will be ready at some point during training camp. TE Cole Kmet was taken aback when the Bears selected Loveland, but Johnson called him and talked to him about the pick right away, assuring him that there will be plenty of times where both tight ends are on the field (like 12 personnel).

On defense, S Jaquan Brisker said he’s fully healthy and ready to go after missing much of last season with another concussion. Johnson said he didn’t address the "Fail Mary" with CB Tyrique Stevenson, saying that he’s learned his lesson from it. Stevenson was defiant whenever it was mentioned last year, which admittedly rubbed me the wrong way. Looking at it now, I get it. If you were constantly asked about the worst mistake of your life/career, you probably would get defensive, too. For his part, he said during minicamp that he owes his teammates from last year nothing but effort and that he’s putting it in.

More to come next month!

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