By GENE CHAMBERLAIN Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Williams’ rocky training camp now seems to be on the upswing.
Williams took advantage of his first preseason playing time, connecting with Olamide Zaccheaus for a 36-yard touchdown on the opening drive as the Chicago Bears cruised to 38-0 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
“I think it sets the tone for how we expect ourselves to go out there and play, and go out there and perform,” Williams said. “It was extremely important.”
After sitting out a 24-24 tie with Miami last week, Williams came out firing against Buffalo (0-2) in his first chance to operate coach Ben Johnson’s offense during a game.
“I thought really the three days of practice we had this week, and the game, were the most he’s stacked up good days in a row right now,” Johnson said. “The challenge is to keep it headed in that direction.”
The first pick in the 2024 draft completed throws of 18 yards to rookie first-round pick Colston Loveland and 29 yards to tight end Cole Kmet on a game-opening 92-yard march that concluded when Zaccheaus snagged a throw in the middle of the field on third-and-6, hurdled a tackler and went the distance.
Williams has been spotty throughout training camp but he was sharp from the start in this game. He hit on six of his first seven throws, then left after the second possession. He finished 6 of 10 for 102 yards.
“I think had a couple of those (poor) practices throughout camp,” Williams said. “I felt like I took two steps forward, small things that I felt like I got over. Then I took a step back, probably.
“It’s just being able to keep that mindset, the growth mindset, keep growing, keep getting after it.”
Tyson Bagent came on to lead three second-quarter touchdown drives as the Bears (1-0-1) took a 28-0 halftime lead.
Bagent finished a 61-yard drive by rifling a 10-yard strike in the corner of the end zone to Tyler Scott. Before halftime, newly acquired Bears running back Brittain Brown finished an 86-yard drive with a 1-yard TD plunge, and Ian Wheeler’s 1-yard TD run completed an 84-yard drive.
Bills coach Sean McDermott held reigning MVP Josh Allen and all of his other starters out of the game. Buffalo’s backups struggled throughout the first half on both sides of the ball.
“The quarterback cannot go in the first drive of the game unaffected and he was in a rhythm right away and now you’re dealing with it,” McDermott said. “The quarterback ratings at the end of the game says it all.”
Three Bears passers had a 112.0 passer rating, including 130.0 by Williams. The Bills’ Mitchell Trubisky, Mike White and Shane Buechele collectively were at 55.7.
“I was looking forward to seeing some guys with the opportunity tonight step up, and I didn’t sense that as much as I hoped,” McDermott said.
After Wheeler’s TD plunge, the Bears had outgained the Bills 343 yards to 22 and owned an 18-1 advantage in first downs.
Bagent played until midway through the third quarter and went 13 of 22 for 197 yards, while Wheeler rushed 19 times for 80 yards and Brown 16 times for 73 yards.
Trubisky, the former Bears quarterback, relieved Bills starter Mike White and completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards. White went 4 of 11 for 54 yards.
Waiting it out
Allen hasn’t played in either of Buffalo’s preseason games. He has thrown at least three passes in every preseason since he came into the league in 2018.
Also held out was running back James Cook, who had been staging a hold-in before getting a contract extension. Cook returned to practice this week.
McDermott did get a brief look at 2024 draft picks Cole Bishop playing safety. He has been dealing with a quad injury and had a 12-play limit
“He needs more experience, he needs more reps,” McDermott said. “That’s where you work out some of these things and that’s how you build the callousness and it comes from experience.”
Injuries
Bills: DB Jordan Hancock left in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.
Bears: Second-year DE Austin Booker injured a knee covering a kick return and did not return. Booker was off to a fast start with 4 1/2 preseason sacks, including 1 1/2 in the first half against the Bills. … Rookie RB Deion Hankins suffered a knee injury on the second possession and did not return. The Bears were already without RBs Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer. … CB Terell Smith suffered a knee injury while making a tackle just before halftime and left the field on a cart. … DE Dominique Robinson left in the second half with an ankle injury. … Rookie WR J.P. Richardson (ankle) left in the fourth quarter.
Up next
Bills: Wrap up the preseason at Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Bears: Finish the preseason Friday at Kansas City.
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