Bear Digest

Bears refuse to use any crutches for QBs in the learning process

The mistakes in timing and other presnap issues are simply going to need to improve through repetition and not through an assist from one popular shortcut.
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams and Bears QBs will simply need to learn the offense the right way and not cheat.
Caleb Williams and Bears QBs will simply need to learn the offense the right way and not cheat. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears offense has had all offseason and preseason to work at play operations but still has problems simply getting the ball snapped and ball handed off by Caleb Williams or other QBs.

Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle could offer no excuses Monday for things like delay of game, false starts and a botched handoff in Friday's preseason finale.

"Talking about the first snap of the game what happens is we end up snapping the ball a little bit late, we end up

having to rush the ball handling a little bit and the ball ends up on the ground," Doyle said. "Which, any time it's on the ground it's unacceptable.

"But you know obviously you don't want to start the game that way and so negative play right away from the rip and then we put ourselves in a second down and kind of a challenging situation.

"That's something that has to get cleaned up with the ball handling and the quarterback and any time we're going to be ball handling with a receiver that's something we want to make sure it gets off. Obviously, disappointing but that's kind of how it happened."

Caleb Williams gets blame for it, and in some cases the play comes off too late because he didn't get it, call it and get the team to the line in time.

"I would say it’s play-to-play specific," Doyle said. "I wouldn’t say there’s just one thing that’s holding us back.

"In the game, we take a delay of game. Tyson (Bagent) is looking at the defense, he feels cover-zero, he’s trying to get us into a check and we end up running out of time. Delay of game. Same thing. Can’t happen.

"That’s just a specific situation that happens. Every single play, there’s a presnap process to what’s going on. It’s something we’re constantly working pre-snap to speed up the quarterback ... everybody, get your feet set. And so it’s something that we’re going to just continue to work as we go."

It's a case of the quarterbacks needing to get faster as they gain more knowledge and rep the plays. There is no easy fix.

Some teams will use quarterback wristbands with the plays on them to speed up the process. The Bears won't.

"It’s not something that they did in Detroit and it’s something that we haven’t introduced to them thus far," Doyle said. "I’ve been around it before. I think each quarterback is different. A lot of times when you’re feeding them a play they really like to really kinda envision it in their heads so they can call it.

"A lot of times when you’re saying, 'hey, it’s wristband No. 34' and they’re reading it for the first time. They’re a little bit later processing what’s happening, if that makes sense. I remember being around Sean (Payton) and when we went to Denver, he’s like, ‘I don’t want to use the wristband. I want them to be able to envision it.’ It’s really the same thought process."

In other words, don't expect a crutch for Williams, Bagent or Case Keenum. They just need to learn the offense better, and it takes time.

“I think we’ve just got to be better, from the start of the game," tight end Cole Kmet said. "We’ve just got to be better. If there was one thing I could peg it on, I would have told everybody in the locker room. We would have fixed it already.

"Whether it’s one thing here or one thing there, we’ve got to get that fixed, and that’s the start of everything. I really do believe most of the snap is won pre-snap in your identification, the way you get to the line, your cadence, your get-off."

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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.