The Chicago Bears will not return to Halas Hall until April 20 for the start of the offseason workout program, but Caleb Williams and his pass catchers have already started establishing their chemistry before returning to the Bears' facility.
Caleb Williams and his pass catchers are wasting no time getting prepared for the 2026 NFL season.
Bears wide receiver Jahdae Walker, who helped his team secure the Week 16 victory over the Green Bay Packers with his touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, posted on his Instagram story on Thursday, showing Williams, Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland on a USC football field.
It's not uncommon to see players get together for throwing sessions before organized team activities officially begin, but this is a positive sign for the Bears' offense as the team prepares for the 2026 season.
Head coach Ben Johnson established the team's successful 2025 season is now a thing of the past. Building from the ground up is the focus going forward, and members of the offense are doing just that before the team is scheduled to return to Halas Hall for the start of the offseason workout program on April 20.
The Bears' offense saw plenty of growth in Williams' second NFL season compared to his rookie year. With Johnson's guidance, the Bears went from 28th in scoring to ninth this past season. And improved from the 25th rushing offense to third.
Those two areas alone show the drastic differences, but there still a lot of improvement that must be made. The Bears finished fifth in dropped passes (29), and according to Next Gen Stats, Williams was tied for third-most pass yards lost (404) because of drops in a single season since 2021.
Another area that needs drastic improvement is how the offense operates during scramble drills. It was something Johnson highlighted during the NFL's annual league meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.
"And, naturally, I think we got to get better when we extend plays, capitalizing on those as well," Johnson said. "Our scramble tape was not very good, and I think that's something that Caleb can really sink into. Just with his accuracy, with our ability to catch the ball, with our ability to separate down the field, I think we can make a huge jump there as well."
These throwing sessions in early April are opportunities to work on some of those areas, but also serve to get the timing and rhythm down between Williams and his playmaking threats.
Although Williams, Odunze, Burden, Loveland and Walker don't have coaches to critique and correct them on the spot, it only benefits this young group to get more reps together.
When the group joins other players like Cole Kmet, Kalif Raymond and running backs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, then the unit can start establishing the ground work for what they want the offense to become this season.