The Bears held the second of three mandatory minicamp practices Wednesday at Halas Hall. Here's what transpired:
Quarterback Caleb Williams engineered a 94-yard two-minute drive that he capped with a touchdown pass to rookie running back Kyle Monangai.
"I know you haven't been to every single OTA so far," coach Ben Johnson said to reporters, "but I would say the defense has gotten the better of the offense more often than not in all those two-minute [drills], whether it's end-of-half or end-of-game. So it was good to see the offense stack a few plays together. That's a very tough situation. It was 90-plus yards in under a minute with no timeouts."
Earlier in the practice, Williams lofted a TD pass to receiver Olamide Zaccheaus in the right corner of the end zone.
"What we thought about [Williams] was when the lights are bright that he was going to show up," Johnson said. "And it felt like the game slowed down a little bit for him and he was able to just go out and find an open guy and get a completion."
Developing trust
Johnson has and will continue to meet with Williams one-on-one. It's something the Bears coach learned while working with the Dolphins and Lions that's instrumental in a quarterback's success.
"You don't develop that trust unless you spend a lot of time together," Johnson said. "For whatever reason, if you do that in the room with all the other quarterbacks, sometimes you can get a little defensive, whereas when it's one-on-one, the truth can come out and no one's feelings are going to get hurt and each person can speak the truth."
Welcome back
After missing the final 12 games last season due to a concussion, safety Jaquan Brisker is thrilled to be back on the field practicing with his teammates.
"I'm just blessed to play football," Brisker said. "It means a lot. I love playing football … There are so many people who want to be in this position, so many people who want to be in my shoes. I'm blessed just to be here. It means a lot and I don't take it for granted. Never took it for granted even before I got hurt."
When he became Bears coach, Johnson was already familiar with Brisker, having faced him multiple times while coordinating the Lions offense from 2022-24.
"He was a guy that you had to earmark and just make sure you knew where he was when you game-planned against him because he was very active, particularly in the run game," Johnson said. "He liked to come down and fill in the box and played like a linebacker that happened to be a defensive back.
"We always told the receivers that they had to make sure they accounted for him. Can't see that right now without the pads, but you can certainly see an active player, that he's excited, he's passionate about the game and he loves playing football. He likes to talk a little bit, too, which I appreciate."
Perfect fit
Third-year cornerback Tyrique Stevenson appears to be an ideal fit in new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's system.
"What we love about him is he's got some length and he's not afraid," Johnson said of the 6-foot, 214-pounder. "Those are two things that you really need to play corner, particularly the style of corner that we're looking for: guys that'll come up, they'll challenge, they'll get hands on. Press man-to-man is something that we're going to do a healthy amount of, and we feel he fits that mold really well.
"He's learning the scheme. There are some different things that 'DA' and [defensive backs coach] Al Harris and the rest of the crew are asking of him. But he's been very receptive so far and he's a young, hungry player like a lot of these guys."
Stevenson is eager to play press man coverage in Allen's system.
"Most of the defense for the corners is man-on-man, so it's mano a mano: 'I'm going to show you I've been working and I'm better than you,'" Stevenson said. "I feel like that can take a lot of guessing out of the game for the corners."
