The Chicago Bears’ offense against the Buffalo Bills in Friday’s joint practice at Halas Hall can be summarized perfectly in the final move-the-ball period for Caleb Williams and the starting unit.

Theo Benedet initially started at left tackle, and the drive began on the Bears’ 35-yard line. Quickly after Drew Dalman snapped the ball to Williams in the shotgun, Jonah Jackson was penalized for a false start. The offense now faced a first-and-15 and attempted to run another play. That didn’t go well either, as the left side of the line committed a penalty, with Benedet as the likely culprit.

Williams finally got the offense moving in the right direction with a completion to Olamide Zaccheaus, who showed good hands on the play as he reached back to secure the pass. After the reception, Benedet was out at left tackle, and Braxton Jones replaced him. D’Andre Swift carried the ball for a short gain to the right. Williams was then flushed out of the pocket with left-side pressure and threw a pass in Colston Loveland‘s direction to the right, but it was incomplete.

The Bears desperately needed a big play, and Zaccheaus provided it with a 45-yard touchdown on a slant route. The veteran wide receiver separated from cornerback Tre’Davious White and utilized some key blocks on the second level of the defense to break free for the score.

After the successful scoring drive, the first-team offense had a few more reps in the practice, but it was short-lived. There was another offensive penalty, and Jones gave up immediate pressure, which led to Williams being sacked. Drive over.

That’s how the day went for the Bears’ starting offense. Some good mixed with some bad.

(For a full breakdown of how the Bears’ starting defense performed against Josh Allen and the Bills’ first-team unit, make sure to check out Scott Bair’s in-depth report from Friday’s practice.)

Here are more takeaways from the Bears’ offense against the Bills.

7-on-7s

Williams started the practice by completing four of his first five passes in the 7-on-7 period. The Bears’ starting quarterback first connected with Cole Kmet in the middle of the field. Then Williams found Rome Odunze for a short gain to the right side after he surveyed the field.

The only ball that hit the ground was a pass intended for Odunze. Williams initially looked to his left and then brought his vision to the middle of the field. He rolled to the right and threw an incomplete pass to Odunze, but the Bills’ defender held the Bears’ wide receiver on the play. Williams finished the first 7-on-7 session with short completions to DJ Moore and Zaccheaus.

Williams and the offense improved from the first session and followed it up by going five-for-five. The first pass was an intermediate throw into the middle of the field to Odunze. The ball was a bit high, but Odunze did a nice job of securing the ball. Williams connected with Odunze on the next play for a short gain on the left side of the field. Zacchaeus found open space in the middle of the field for the third reception of the period.

To end the 7-on-7 portion of practice for the starting unit, Williams completed a short pass to Kyle Monangai on the left side of the field, and then found Kmet for a short gain in the middle. Williams took what the defense gave him and made decisive throws to five different targets.

11-on-11s

To start the first team period of the day, Benedet started at left tackle. Williams kept the completions going with a 10 to 15-yard completion to Moore off of play action. The Bears attempted to run the ball with Moore but didn’t have much success. Swift picked up about five yards on the ground on the next play. The run game as a whole didn’t have many effective gains on the day. Williams did hit Colston Loveland for a big completion in the middle of the field on a drag route.

Jones saw reps at left tackle with the second-team offense, and rookie Ozzy Trapilo repped at right tackle exclusively for the second-straight practice. One of the notable plays for Tyson Bagent and the second unit was a screen pass to Deion Hankins. Blockers were out in front and Hankins had a clear lane upfield for yards after the catch.

The Bills’ starting defense rebounded against Williams during the second team period. Benedet again was the starter at left tackle. Williams completed a pass to Moore on a short slant route to start the session. Then the Bills’ linebacker did a nice job breaking up a pass intended for Zaccheaus. Williams’ next pass fell incomplete on a throw intended for Odunze. There was a flag on the play, but I couldn’t tell who was penalized. Monangai caught a screen pass on the left side, and Dalman did a good job of leading blocking for the running back.

Williams threw a pass behind Odunze on an in-breaking route, and on the final play, he escaped the pocket to his left and tried to make a man miss in the open field before the play was blown dead.

One of the many false starts on the day for the Bears occurred when Bagent and the second-team offense took the field. What also occurred often was Bagent completing passes to Luther Burden III. Those two connected several times throughout the practice, including on a vertical route down the left sideline, which was flagged for pass interference on the Bills. Burden also caught a pass in the middle of the field and started talking to a Bills defender afterwards. Buffalo cornerback Brandon Codrington then hit Burden and knocked him to the ground after the play. Surprisingly, no tempers flared after the play.

Low Red Zone

After the Bills committed a penalty to start the low-red zone period, the Bears ran the ball to the left and the play was stuffed. Kmet was in on the play and walked off in some noticeable pain. He did return with the second-team unit. The Bears’ offense committed a penalty two plays later. Williams picked up a first down on third-and-6 with a designed QB run to the right. The reps ended for the first-team offense after an incomplete pass in the middle of the field. Jones served as the left tackle for this drive.

Ian Wheeler had a nice touchdown run with the second-team offense on the right side. Bagent also connected with tight end Durham Smythe for a score on the left side of the field. Running back Brittain Brown also scored on a pitch to the left and finished the run by lowering his shoulder.

Williams and the starters began their second low red-zone drive from the Bills’ 10-yard line. Jones lined up at left tackle for his second consecutive drive. Swift carried the ball up the middle for no gain. Then Williams threaded a pass to Loveland in the end zone in between two Bills defenders. The rookie tight end couldn’t complete the catch, but learned a valuable lesson in the process.

“They’re tight,” Loveland said on NFL throwing windows. “I’m assuming you’re talking about the drop I had earlier today? I just have to make those, like you said, they’re tight. That was a great ball, great ball placement. I just have to make those. Nothing really else to it.”

Williams attempted to hit Moore on the right side on third down, but came up empty on the play. The starting offense got another set of downs from the 5-yard line, and this time Williams found Odunze in the back middle portion of the end zone. Williams had time in the pocket and waited for Odunze to clear open against the zone defense. Odunze celebrated with the Bears fans who were standing by the ropes near the field. The Bears’ quarterback went right back to the 6-foot-3, 214-pound receiver for another score on the next play. Williams started under center and used play action. Odunze caught the pass two yards short of the end zone, but rolled in for the score.

Situational Period

The Bears’ offense started the situational period down 27-21 in the fourth quarter with 1:08 remaining on the clock. Benedet returned as the starting left tackle. Williams saw an open lane and exploited the defense for a 15-yard gain to start the drive. The defense then committed an encroachment penalty and gave the Bears five free yards. Kmet caught a slant pass on the next play for a decent gain. Then Williams had pressure on his left, ran right and threw an accurate pass to Zaccheaus, who ran out of bounds. Williams found a wide-open Zaccheaus in the middle of the field to keep the offense moving.

However, the drive stalled after a false start penalty and two straight incomplete passes. Williams hit Odunze on a vertical route down the right sideline, but Odunze couldn’t come down in bounds because the defender’s momentum pushed the two out of play. On the next play, Loveland ran a skinny post, but the ball was high and fell incomplete. From the Bills’ 16-yard line, the Bears went for it on fourth down, and Williams threw a pass in Odunze’s direction with multiple Bills defenders around, but the pass fell incomplete.

Takeaways

The starting left tackle position is not only a mystery at this point, but a problem. Benedet received a majority of the reps in Friday’s joint practice against the Bills, but his play wasn’t anything to feel overly encouraged about. It was better than Jones, but is that saying much right now?

Bears head coach Ben Johnson gave a candid answer on what he is looking for in the left tackle competition.

“Hopefully some clarity,” Johnson said. “That’s what we’re looking for. This thing’s gone on now three and a half weeks. I’ve said, and I’ll say it again, we’ll go as long as we need to go to find the right guy. But, we’d like to see someone go ahead and make it clear to us that he is that guy, and we just haven’t seen that yet, as a staff. There’s been too much up and down.

“Today’s practice will be a huge thing, and so will Sunday’s game, in terms of getting some clarity there on that. We’d love to go ahead and solidify that spot and move forward from there. It might be one of those things where when we make that decision, and it’s not final for the season.

“It could be that we have to reassess after a couple of weeks of the season, or by the bye week, we might have to reassess. That might be something that goes on. Wouldn’t be ideal, but that’s the name of the league.”

Friday’s practice only created more questions than answers. One thing appears to be clear, though. Trapilo is likely third or fourth at this point for the left tackle spot. The rookie from Boston College has practiced only at the right tackle spot the last two days. Johnson said on Friday that Trapilo’s playspeed has been inconsistent, but also mentioned that there is “no doubt” he looks more comfortable at right tackle — the position he primarily played in college.

Benedet is also, apparently, “right in the middle” of the left tackle competition, according to Johnson. Does that say more about Benedet or the current situation the Bears have at left tackle?

Williams looked decisive in Friday’s practice. There have been times throughout camp when he has held on to the ball longer than he should, but that was not the case against the Bills. If his O-line gave him time, Williams stayed in the pocket and delivered accurate passes. One of the goals that Johnson and Williams established was to have a 70% completion percentage in practice and for the season.

Johnson acknowledged that Williams is “underneath that bar” right now, but that he’s improved throughout camp. Today was a step toward that goal for Williams.