LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The first week of the Bears training camp has come and gone. The pace has been slow at times, but, for the most part, quarterback Justin Fields and the offense look to be miles ahead of where they were at this point last year. That's an admittedly low bar, but one they have cleared nonetheless.
The Bears have spent most of the first week of camp installing concepts and doing a lot of work at half speed. When they have gone into team periods, Fields has continued to show a deadly connection with wide receiver DJ Moore and an improving bond with tight end Cole Kmet.
Although camp is still ramping up, the Bears still have things they want to see from their third-year quarterback during these lighter, installation-based periods. So far, Fields is showing them exactly what they hoped.
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"Much of the same that we’ve been saying — just the rhythm and timing of the passing game, having him get connections with the guys you didn’t see in the spring," head coach Matt Eberflus said Saturday when asked how he is evaluating Fields at this early stage of camp. "And continue to develop a connection with DJ. He’s done that. You’ve seen a lot of great passes to him. With Clay and Mooney, the guys you didn’t see. That’s starting to take hold. You see him really getting comfortable with Bobby. Certainly, in the red zone today, you saw that. And other guys. It’s good. Again, we’re just going through the offense, installing it one install at a time, getting the concepts down, and changing up the plays in how we motion and how we shift. Guys are doing a good job with that."
The Bears increased the tempo a bit Saturday with a lot of red-zone work and a two-minute drill to finish the day.
In the red zone drills, Fields threw a dime to Moore at the front pylon for a touchdown and also found tight Robert Tonyan for multiple scores. But Fields also was picked off by safety Adrian Colbert when he tried to force the ball to Kmet in the front of the end zone.
While the red zone period saw good and bad from Fields, the two-minute drill was nearly perfect.
Fields opened the drill with a quick pass to Equanimeous St. Brown before scrambling for a first down. Back-to-back big strikes to Moore and Kmet in the middle of the field got the Bears inside the 5-yard line before Fields capped off the drive with a scoring strike to St. Brown.
The Bears will continue to ramp things up Monday and Tuesday before having their first padded practice Wednesday.
A year ago, Fields and the offense were clunky, disjointed, and out of sync. Another year in the system and the addition of Moore appear to have made a big difference for Fields, who is checking all the boxes at this very early stage of camp.