Holed up at the same hotel during the Bears’ mandatory minicamp in June, rookie Caleb Williams and veteran receiver Keenan Allen decided to play games — and watch some, too. In between, the quarterback studied at the feet of perhaps the NFL’s most precise route-runner.
The two played Monopoly Deal, an Uno-style card game Williams has loved since college, and watched the NBA playoffs together. When they took breaks, Williams and Allen drew plays from the Bears’ new scheme, quizzing each other and talking through what each player preferred.
“Just being able to go through it with him,” Allen said last week. “We talk about the play — what I like, what I’m used to, what I usually see — and then going over the knowledge, making sure we’re on the same page. Just being able to communicate at this level.”
That veteran knowledge has been just as valuable to Williams as Allen’s play in practice, at least at this time of year.
“It’s nice having people like that around,” Williams said. “A couple vets.”
The No. 1 overall pick will have to learn some lessons himself when the regular season starts. In the interim, he’s tapping into his receivers’ databases.
“It’s only helping,” Williams said.
In 11 seasons with the Chargers — which produced six Pro Bowl berths — Allen worked with quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert in all but one game.
“I’m not a guy who masters the playbook by any means sitting at home just looking at the playbook,” Allen said. “That’s not how I learn it. I’m a trial-and-error guy. I learn through mistakes. Just being able to sit there with him, he’d call out the play, I’d draw it up, vice versa. …
“It all runs through him. I can see things how I see them. I can be [a jerk] about it, but that’s not me. That’s not the way I learn the game. That’s not the way I play the game. I cater to the quarterback. I’m trying to be his best friend.”
That communication has carried into training camp — and gone beyond just Allen. Williams can lean on fellow receiver DJ Moore, whose 96 catches and 1,364 receiving yards last year was the best among his six in the NFL.
“We’ve just all gotta come together as quickly as possible,” Moore said.
Even DeAndre Carter, likely the team’s likely fifth receiver and punt returner, has played regular season snaps for six teams since leaving college in 2015.
“Caleb coming into his first NFL offense, people don’t realize how different it is, how simplified a college offense is (compared) to an NFL offense,” Carter, who has 108 career catches, said after Monday’s practice at Halas Hall. “Having guys like DJ and Keenan who have been in the league and have seen all the looks we’re gonna get? And being able to talk through different looks with Caleb? It’s definitely going to help.”
That education takes place inside the locker room, but also during the walk-throughs the Bears hold before practice. Coach Matt Eberflus praised Williams for his precision during half-speed drills.
“We should have some really good, perfect reps,” Eberflus said. “That’s everybody. If that’s Caleb carrying out his fakes, his footwork, ball-handling, going through his reads, all that, that’s got to be done really well in the walk-throughs …
“I know the old guys understand that, the vets understand that, but really the young guys got to go through that process. It takes mental strength to be able to do that every single day, every rep.”
And to pick the brains of his receivers — and listen.
“He’s picking this stuff up really fast,” Carter said. “Smart kid. … Many times we throw him a little suggestion here and there. He’s always receptive to it, always cool about it. It’s an open line of communication.”