Caleb Williams had marched 44 yards on five plays during practice Saturday when the Bears lined up for a third-down play at the 3-yard line. It was a two-minute drill, not the red zone period that the Bears had struggled so terribly in the day before. But it felt important — as important, at least, as a drill on a backfield in July can be.

It's the first week of training camp across the NFL with many of the league's players dusting off the cobwebs and getting reacquainted with their teammates on the football field. No, the pads and the contact practices that come with them haven't begun,