Bear Digest

Bears pay high out-of-pocket cost and seek more from Caleb Williams

Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle explains how QB Caleb Williams can make the offense work out of the pocket but it requires scramble drill reps.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams gets outside the pocket to throw against the Washington Commanders in a 25-24 win.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams gets outside the pocket to throw against the Washington Commanders in a 25-24 win. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It seems Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has found a role as peacemaker, or at least as the great compromiser.

On one hand, the offense had quarterback Caleb Williams wondering Wednesday how his passing while on the run outside of the pocket has become so inaccurate, while on the other hand coach Ben Johnson simply has said the running he wants to see from his quarterback is through his progression in the pass play called before he even decides to use his legs to exit the pocket to either pass or scramble.

And never the twain shall meet.

Doyle does see where they meet. He believes in potential points for exiting the pocket by Williams even while the rules of the offensive system must be obeyed. There can be peaceful co-existence as long as they start to properly execute the scramble drill.

"I think it's a healthy balance," Doyle said. "It's one of those things that I talk about all the time, but like each play has its own play. And so it's case by case.

"However, you want to try to give them some guidelines as far as, 'hey, you break contain, this is what we're thinking, this is what the plan of the receivers should be in order to create the correct spacing so that we're not going into each other,' things like that."

Don't get the idea Doyle is usurping Johnson's control and desire to see plays run according to design. There are scramble drills and exactly what to do in that case.

"So they're really more contingency plans, so that when that second act starts (outside the pocket), he knows exactly where he needs to go with football," Doyle said. "You want to encourage him to be aggressive with it, because he is very talented in that area, and yet at the same point in time you want to make sure we're staying on the rails or within the realm of what we're asking of him and the (inaudible) as well."

They don't want to eliminate the scrambling the way Matt Nagy seemed to want to do with Mitchell Trubisky in Year 2 of that offense (2019).

Instead, they want it controlled and a better link between Williams and receivers on the extended play.

It's only going to get done through practice, said wide receiver DJ Moore.

"More extended play completions: just having them keep coming up and figuring out where everybody's going to be on certain plays when we do extend it," Moore said. "We've just got to connect with it."

The problems with the scramble drill is that it's a touchy-feely thing. You can set down rules but it happens rapidly and amid chaos on the field. About anything can happen.

"I think part of it is at times it can be inaccuracy, it can be, ‘hey, I missed a throw,’ " Doyle said. "And other times it's, ‘hey, we're not on the same page.’ And so it may look different to you as you're watching it than maybe it looks to us in the film room saying, ‘hey, those two guys aren't on the same page.’ "

They are addressing it.

"So I think you're coaching it off of the play as you go, but I talked about it before, we've kind of implemented some of those things in practice as far as him breaking contain and really emphasizing how that needs to look and giving him shots at it in real time in practice," Doyle said.

There is great irony to all of this, and it's something Detroit Lions fans could love.

When Johnson came to Halas Hall and met with media for the first time after his hiring, he was effusive over having a quarterback who could scramble and said he never had this asset in Detroit. He didn't name Jared Goff, but it's rare when his former QB ventured outside the protection of his linemen.

Now he has one and it doesn't seem to be working the way everyone wanted.

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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.