Bears

A video emerged of Bears QB Caleb Williams visibly frustrated after struggling with his accuracy in a throwing drill. When asked about Williams, GM Ryan Poles said he has no issue with the quarterback’s show of emotion. 

“I actually think it’s pretty cool,” Poles said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “I knew there was a bad practice. I’ve seen clips on Twitter. I didn’t know it was a national crisis of Caleb struggling.”

Williams reflected on playing under new HC Ben Johnson, saying he’s working hard to retain all the information Johnson is giving him and to correct mistakes after they occur.  

“They’ve installed a lot — OTAs, now,” Williams said. “I take pride in trying to retain it all, every single detail that we have. I think that’s where I’ve been growing so far since Ben’s been here is retaining all of the information, all of it makes sense to me and being able to go out there and execute. Obviously, there’s going to be mistakes, but being able to understand that it was a mistake by me or we lined up wrong — whatever the case may be — getting back in the huddle, calling it right, getting back out there, doing it, executing, being a player-led team [is what’s important].”

Poles understands that learning a new system is going to take time for Williams and also praised new DC Dennis Allen for creating a strong defense in camp. 

“I think as a human being, I want it to happen super fast, and I would love for it to look really clean and for [Williams] to look like a fifth-year vet right now,” Poles said. “But I think, just being in this long enough, what’s reality, though? It’s going to take time. It’s new. A new defense is going to jump out faster. It always does. We’re also playing this man scheme that [defensive coordinator] Dennis [Allen] is playing is a pain, and he is not holding back anything. And I think because of that it might look choppy at times, but that’s what you want. You want this time to look, be as hard as possible. And then when you get to game time when the lights come on, you want that to then slow down.”

Packers

The Packers elected to decline LB Quay Walker‘s fifth-year option for 2025, making him set to be an unrestricted free agent next offseason. Walker said he only wants to prove something to himself this season and is confident things will work out in the end. 

“I ain’t really gotta prove nothing,” Walker said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “I just gotta prove myself right. Ever since I got drafted, I been in this situation where people may feel otherwise, but I ain’t really quite worried about it. Everything will take care of itself.”

When asked if he’d like a long-term extension, Walker said it’s not in his control. 

“Of course,” Walker said. “But it’s out of my hands.”

Walker opted to undergo ankle surgery this offseason and hasn’t participated in 11-on-11 drills in training camp. Walker has been taking time to study Green Bay’s defense in practice by observing the team from downfield. 

“Just trying to get any pre-snap clues that I can take,” Walker said. “Pretty much just treating it like I am out there playing, so I’m just still taking the reps even when I can’t. So I’m just in the back, mirroring and doing things like that, saying the calls because I get the calls in my helmet with Haf (defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley), as well, so it’s pretty much just practicing by myself, I’d say.”

• The Athletics’ Matt Schneidman writes Packers veteran S Xavier McKinney doesn’t expect to play for the remainder of the preseason because of a recent calf injury. 
• McKinney says the injury has been “lingering” but is confident that he’ll be ready for Week 1.

Vikings

Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy said that he’s learning when to slide and when he can extend plays during his first full training camp.

“There’s a time and place really for me when I put a shoulder down or when I slide,” McCarthy said, via ESPN. “And there’s a lot more times when I’ll be sliding. It’s just adapting with the game, adapting to when the rush lanes are happening, how contained they are. But it’s definitely a huge part of my game that I’ll definitely utilize.”

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said that OLB Jonathan Greenard is becoming more comfortable entering his second year in the system.

“I think now he’s comfortable,” O’Connell said. “He knows exactly what our scheme is. I think you’re seeing that across the board with our defense right now.“

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