WESTFIELD, In. -- Bears head coach Matt Eberflus called the work his team did Wednesday and Thursday against the Indianapolis Colts "invaluable."
There's no doubt it was, and it surely showed the Bears' head coach just how far his offense has to go to be ready for Week 1. Not just quarterback Justin Fields but the entire unit. All 11 have to be much better, and the improvement must start coming in waves.
Fields and the passing game have been uneven in camp, and that continued this week in Westfield, Indiana.
The protection has been spotty at best, the routes haven't been sharp or consistently on time, and Fields has followed dimes with overthrows and darts with interceptions.
What Eberflus sees on film is a team with playmaking ability, especially in the passing game. That shows up in individual work and 7-on-7 drills. However, it hasn't translated to the team periods yet.
"My message to them this morning was really about being precise and detailed in your role," Eberflus said Thursday of his message to the entire team. "I thought we did really nice in the 1-on-1s yesterday and today and now we need to take that same physicality, that same precision, that same detail into the team reps. That was my message to them this morning, and I thought we did a better job of that today. That’s really what we’re searching for — to play with that speed and that precision in the team reps, and we’re not there yet. So we certainly have a lot of work to do ahead of us."
Eberflus said the issue with execution and attention to detail belongs to every part of the offensive unit.
"A to Z," Eberflus said. "It needs to be tighter. It needs to be more efficient. It needs to have the detail. Precision and details matter. Because then you know what to do and how to do it and you can play with speed. That's how you win a down. That's how you win football games. Until we get that, we're not in the spot we need to be."
While Eberflus said the attention to detail was better as a team Thursday, the offense struggled mightily most of the day. Fields was a perfect 8-for-8 in 7-on-7 with four touchdowns, making him 14-for-14 in 7-on-7 work against the Colts.
But the red zone 11-on-11 work and full team "move the ball" period were not a picture of attention to detail and execution.
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Before the breakdown, it's important to note that center Cody Whitehair left practice early with what looked like a right-hand issue. With Lucas Patrick still out, Doug Kramer took first-team reps at center. Meanwhile, right guard Nate Davis only took one set of reps in team drills as his apparent ramp-up continues.
So, the offensive line in front of Fields for the majority of the team periods was: Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Kramer, Ja'Tyre Carter, and Darnell Wright.
Let's start with the "move the ball" period.
On first down, Fields dropped back and tried to hit running back Khalil Herbert on a quick pass to the left out of the backfield. Fields' throw was a little off-target, and the Colts' defense covered it well to force the incompletion. A short run by Herbert on the next play set up third-and-long.
Fields dropped back, but Colts defensive end Kwity Paye beat Wright quickly off the edge to sack Fields. On fourth down, Kramer got pushed back into Fields. With no room to step up, Fields tried to feed a semi-jump pass to tight end Cole Kmet through traffic. Kmet was well covered, and Fields' pass was deflected and eventually picked off by linebacker E.J. Speed.
The next set of downs wasn't much kinder to Fields and the offense.
Fields picked up 5 yards on a first-down run before hitting Darnell Mooney for a short gain on a quick out. Colts safety Nick Cross got flagged for pass interference on DJ Moore on the next play, but back-to-back holding calls on the Bears' offensive line negated that progress.
Fields did finish with some flare, hitting Moore for a big gain down the left seam to cap the period.
The Bears' offensive issues Thursday and throughout camp don't fall solely at Fields' feet. He's the headliner. That's the starting quarterback gig. But the sloppy and uneven play belongs to everyone.
“I think he’s right on pace," Eberflus said of where Fields is at three weeks into camp. "He was 8-for-8 and had four touchdowns in 7-on-7, that was excellent. Rhythm, timing, he’s getting better there. Sometimes it’s a protection breakdown. It’s always everybody. It’s the other 10 guys that need to operate. Are we running the routes correctly? Are we protecting him the right way, giving him time? And doing those types of things it takes to have an efficient passing game.”
The Bears' offense has been relatively efficient in red-zone work during camp, but they couldn't get going Thursday against the Colts.
During high red-zone work, Fields went 0-for-1 with two incomplete passes getting negated due to pass interference penalties on Moore. Moore's ability to draw penalties will be a weapon for the Bears' offense, but it doesn't move the sticks during high red work.
The Bears' only first-team touchdown during the period came on a pitch to running back Travis Homer. Homer got good blocking from left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Teven Jenkins. He hit the hole and juked one defender before scooting to the end zone.
The low red-zone work wasn't much better, as the Bears' only first-team touchdown came on a 2-yard touchdown run from fullback Khari Blasingame. Fields hit Kmet on a quick out, but the Colts pushed the tight end out at the 2-yard line.
Eberflus got irked at one rep in particular. On third down, the Colts sent cornerback Kenny Moore on a blitz. Moore got easy pressure, and the play was blown dead as a sack. However, Moore was pushed late by one of the Bears' offensive linemen and came close to making contact with Fields.
Eberflus, who coached Moore in Indianapolis, let the cornerback know he didn't like it.
"I told Kenny after the play, ‘You’re athletic enough to move out of that way’ and veer from that, and he agreed," Eberflus said. "We just need to do a good job of staying away from both quarterbacks and keeping them safe.”
While the offense is still very much a work in progress, Eberflus announced after practice that Fields and "select starters" won't play in Saturday's preseason game vs. the Colts. Eberflus and the Bears' staff feel the quarterback got significant reps in joint practices and are pleased with his progress.
CHICAGO BEARS
Here are more notes from Thursday's joint practices:
-- The Bears' defense had another strong day against Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.
The Colts moved the ball a little in the "move the ball" period, but safety Elijah Hicks ripped the ball out of Richardson's hand after a long scramble to end the drill.
Second-year cornerback Kyler Gordon had an interception and a pass breakup in individual drills, while cornerback Jaylon Johnson had an impressive pass breakup in high red-zone drills. Rasheem Green notched another sack and once again got consistent pressure on Richardson.
Tyrique Stevenson and Hicks each had pass breakups against Colts' top wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.
-- Bears rookie defensive tackle Gervon Dexter had a nice day with two sacks and a run stop in which he blew through the Colts' second-team defensive line.
-- There were several mini skirmishes Thursday, with the Bears' defense and Colts' offense mainly sharing the bad blood. Dexter, defensive tackle Justin Jones, and defensive end Trevis Gipson were among the Bears in the center of the altercations.
-- Davis, defensive end DeMarcus Walker, cornerback Terell Smith, and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue were limited in practice as they continue to ramp up.
-- Safety Eddie Jackson, safety Jaquan Brisker, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, wide receiver Chase Claypool, wide receiver Tyler Scott, wide receiver Velus Jones Jr., offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, linebacker DeMarquis Gates, and cornerback Josh Blackwell did not participate in practice.
Jackson left Wednesday's practice after he collided with Pittman Jr. in the final team period. Eberflus said Jackson and Jones will not play Saturday.
-- Whitehair left practice during individual drills after appearing to suffer a right-hand injury. He returned to the field but did not participate. The Bears had no update on his status.
-- The Bears will take Friday off before facing the Colts on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
