LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The second time was the charm for Justin Fields and the Bears' offense Thursday at Halas Hall.
The Bears closed out an unpadded, installation-focused training camp practice with a "win-the-game" drill. Trailing 17-15, the offense got the ball on the 50-yard line with 1:00 remaining and one timeout against the second-team defense.
The first attempt to win the game ended before the drive got out of the starting blocks.
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Fields' pass on first down was a little wide of tight end Robert Tonyan and was picked off by cornerback Josh Blackwell. The pass protection on the play was suboptimal, and a poor throw followed. Tonyan's route also wasn't as crisp as it needed to be.
Training camp is the time to make mistakes, so the Bears ran it again.
Fields opened the second attempt with completions to DJ Moore and Robert Tonyan before faking a spike and hitting Chase Claypool on the sidelines for a 2-yard gain that stopped the clock at 26.5
A 6-yard completion to Moore gave the offense a third-and-2 at the 26-yard line.
Fields dropped back, diagnosed the blitz, and hit running back Travis Homer on a quick wheel route down the sideline with Rasheem Green in drop coverage. Fields threw the ball away on first-and-10 from the 22-yard line, and the Bears took a knee before kicking a game-winning field goal.
"I thought the offense responded, came back and did a nice job of practice today executing in those areas, and that was good to see a good bounce-back practice for those guys," head coach Matt Eberflus said after practice, referring to both the offense's response to Wednesday's tough outing and the failed first end-of-game drill.
The only other noteworthy section of Thursday's "red day" was when Fields and the first-team offense went up against the first-team defense in the high red zone.
The offense started with the ball at the 12-yard line and scored on the first play when D'Onta Foreman waltzed into the end zone untouched.
A false start by Darnell Wright put the offense behind the chains to start their next attempt in the high red zone. On first-and-15, Fields booted out to the right and threw a strike to Foreman, who was pushed out at the 2-yard line. On the ensuing play, Fields looked left to start before quickly going through his reads and throwing a strike to Claypool in the front of the end zone for a touchdown. Safety Jaquan Brisker was in coverage on the play.
Here are more notes from Friday before the pads come back on Saturday:
-- Luck was the offense's friend in Friday's low red zone drills.
On first-and-goal from the 3-yard line, the Bears ran a reverse to Moore, but linebackers Noah Sewell and Dylan Cole blew it up along with cornerback Terell Smith.
Fields threw a quick slant to Claypool on second down, but the ball bounced off the receiver's hands and popped into the air. Luckily, the ball landed right in the hands of Tonyan, who was downed at the 2. The roles were reversed on the next play as Fields tried to hit Tonyan in the end zone. His pass was a bit high (it should have been caught) and deflected off Tonyan's hands but into the arms of Claypool for a touchdown.
-- Running back Roschon Johnson returned to practice Friday, as did defensive tackle Justin Jones.
-- Right guard Nate Davis, left guard Teven Jenkins, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, defensive end DeMarcus Walker, and linebacker Jack Sanborn did not participate.
-- Center Cody Whitehair did not participate in the final team portion of the day. Lucas Patrick took the first-team reps at center while Ja'Tyre Carter manned right guard, and Alex Leatherwood slotted in at left guard.
-- The Bears formally announced the signings of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue and tight end Marcedes Lewis on Friday.