Bear Digest

Bears offense finds rare red zone success within two-minute drill

Bears training camp observations: The offense rebounded in a big way with consistency throughout practice, culminated by a perfect two-minute drill.
Gene Chamberlain|
Rome Odunze finished off a perfect two-minute drill for the offense with a catch at the side of the end zone Saturday.
Rome Odunze finished off a perfect two-minute drill for the offense with a catch at the side of the end zone Saturday. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It wasn't a red zone drill or 7-on-7 but the success the Bears offense had Saturday finally looked encouraging.

In fact, it was probably more valuable because it was closer to game conditions and included the red zone but was full 11-on-11. It was a two-minute drill executed very effectively by Caleb Williams and ending in a touchdown catch on fade to Rome Odunze near the sideline from the 3-yard line.

It took them only 36 seconds to drive from midfield.

“It was just an up-and-down play, kind of quick, 1-on-1 man out there," said Odunze, who beat tight coverage from 6-foot-4 cornerback Nashon Wright, the sub for injured Jaylon Johnson. "Caleb gave me a shot, I was able to execute the ball.

"Obviously need to continue to build that and have that as a weapon in our offense, something that I did a lot in college as well. So just building that connection, which I think we’ll show this year.”

Williams showed good patience as two shorter dump-off passes to D'Andre Swift just past the line came wide open to get the ball all the way to inside the 10, and then he had to hit shorter throws to Olamide Zaccheaus and Cole Kmet to set up the TD.

It was easily Williams' best overall practice but wasn't perfect for the offense, as they had a delay-of-game penalty from the 7-yard line on the two-minute drill. They scored anyway after the short completions in close to Zaccheaus and Kmet.

"Anytime we have a drill, it’s competition," Odunze said. "We want to come away with seven points. That’s our biggest goal.

"So yeah, having our struggles yesterday in red zone, which we’ll continue to work at, but going out there and having the two-minute drill which kind of turned into a red zone drill, being able to come away with seven points is huge.”

Tough Exit

A right leg injury forced backup center Doug Kramer to leave late in practice. He has finally been given a look at center after it seemed like all the team ever wanted was to turn him into a blocking back. Kramer has been backup to Drew Dalman through the first four days.

When Kramer went out, they inserted rookie guard Luke Newman as the center with backups to finish up the last few plays. The extent of the injury could be updated on Monday because there is a day off on Sunday.

Lining Up

A day off to rest for right tackle Darnell Wright didn't force the Bears out of their tackle competition and rotation. They did not move one of the left tackles battling with Braxon Jones for left tackle. Instead, Theo Benedet got to play with starters at right tackle.

The left tackle rotation meant Kiran Amegadjie played with starters and Ozzy Trapilo worked with the backups.

Rookie running back Kyle Monangai got an extended series with the first team and performed well.

Only once in the series was there a play where he might have been stopped behind the line in a game with pads. Monangai executed one screen to perfection for 15 yards before defenders reached the area. He also had a powerful run with a surge for 7 yards and another for 10.

Rush and Block

Amegadjie enjoyed a strong practice, and definitely wasn't exposed in any way when the team held one-on-one pass rushing drills while skill position players worked in 7-on-7. He may have had some type of medical issue in the practice later, though, as he was talking with a trainer.

Amegadjie had one superior rep in those when he rode Domnique Robinson to the outside and right past the quarterback. He wasn't as successful going against Dayo Odeyingo, but the new starter at right defensive end couldn't beat Amegadjie with his first move on either of two attempts. He did get by finally after several seconds, though.

Gervon Dexter had the best pass rush of the session when he flattened Jonah Jackson to the turf and exploded up the middle into the backfield. It appeared Jackson lost his footing on some wet turf, to some extent.

The best pass blocking should have been no surprise. It was Joe Thuney. No one got past him or even beside him. Dalman enjoyed similar success. Benedet, at right tackle, was surprisingly successful considering his lack of experience after being on practice squad as a rookie last year.

It wasn't a good day for Trapilo, though. Austin Booker flat-out beat him to the inside on a rush, and the rookie was leaky on another block.

Experience Advantage

For the second time in two tries, kicker Cairo Santos enjoyed a better day in a field goal showdown. He did miss but it was from 51 yards.

Rookie Jonathan Kim displayed a very powerful leg but not an accurate one. He missed twice from beyond 50 while Santos made his kick from 56.

Defensive gems

The backup defense might have fared better than starters on this day. Hulking defensive tackle Jonathan Ford had the only really big defensive play with the backups. He stripped undrafted rookie running back Deion Hankins of the ball on a run just behind the line but Hankins recovered it.

Hankins made up for it the next play with a perfectly executed deep route out of the backfield and made catch 25 yards downfield while going to the turf in tight coverage.

Another big defensive play was Jamree Kromah, Xavier Carlton and Tonah Kpassagnon sniffing out a Case Keenum screen and shutting it down behind the line of scrimmage.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.