LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams laughed off the notion that a viral fan video taken of him missing his target while throwing into a net is indicative of his progress in training camp.
"I look at it and I laugh at 'em, as always," Williams said Thursday. "We're out here working. We're getting after it. We're competing, and that's one of the drills in which we were competing."
The 23-year-old said the drill shown in the video is designed to hone a quarterback's quick delivery, where he catches the ball, doesn't worry about putting his fingers on the laces and delivers it as fast as possible to the bottom left corner of the net. The video showed Williams miss four consecutive throws and letting out a yell as he stomped off.
Williams said his reaction was misinterpreted.
"We actually have a rule in own QB room ... if you miss the board, you have to do something funny or something like that," Williams said. "We've had some competition in those areas, also. It's something fun, something competitive. I was competing and I missed It, and it was fake anger that I had, that I showed. That's what, you're competing with your friends and something like that happens you give maybe a little few words that you may say, choice words after losing to your buddies."
Bears general manager Ryan Poles told ESPN that he wasn't worried about the video or Williams' reaction. Even though the Bears offense has looked choppy in moments while learning a new scheme under first-year coach Ben Johnson, Poles said he is pleased with Williams' progress.
"I actually think it's pretty cool," Poles said. "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."
The Bears host a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins on Friday at Halas Hall before their preseason opener against Miami on Sunday. Williams said he does not know yet whether he'll play in that game and has not talked to Johnson about his plan for the quarterback in preseason games.