Chicago Bears coordinators met with reporters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Thursday as they continue to prepare for their rematch against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

The Bears improved to 6-3 for the first time since 2018 after dramatic back-to-back last-minute wins. Quarterback Caleb Williams played a major role in both wins as he led his team to game-winning drives in the fourth quarter.

Now Chicago will try to get right in the NFC North after starting 0-2, including a season-opening loss to the Vikings. Here are three of the most interesting things the Bears said Thursday.

On Caleb Williams’ growth

While Williams has used his legs well to escape pressure, there are moments where the Bears coaching staff wants him to stay in the pocket longer. The Bears miss on some big passing plays when Williams ejects too quickly instead of going through his progressions.

Williams said earlier in the week that part of the reason he might escape earlier than he needs to is because he goes through his progressions too quickly. Whether it’s because of leverage or coverage, Williams progresses through his reads too quickly and scrambles.

Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said Thursday that could be a two-fold problem. The first is because Williams’ eyes are moving too quickly and moving off his reads. The second is inconsistency between his eyes and his feet.

“A lot of times, the feet kind of lead the eyes, and that stuff is engrained throughout the week and all offseason as we practice these concepts,” Doyle said. “Your feet keep you on time and your eyes are evaluating, ‘Hey, is that open? Can I pull the trigger or not?’ If that’s not there, then my feet lead me on to whatever my next read in the progression would be. Those two things, we’re trying to tie together all the time.”

Finding that sweet spot should help Williams take his game to another level. If Williams can continue to grow in that aspect, defenses will have a hard time trying to stay in coverage while also accounting for Williams’ ability to run.

It’s why the Bears are focused on helping Williams make the correction at practice.

“You’re creating habits all the time, and so when we go out and we take a rep, you’re further installing into this groove of ‘OK, I’m reading this concept, it’s got to be game-like all the time,’” Doyle said. “That’s really what our main focus is is that as we build these habits, they’re right, and then when we’re a little bit off course or off track, you have to constantly be open to not only like the criticism but the correction involved in that.”

On defensive improvements

Minnesota will be the first opponent that the Bears will play for a second time this season. That offers a good opportunity to compare how much things have progressed since the two teams’ season-opening matchup.

The Bears’ defense has had mixed reviews nine games in. The unit is in the top third in average total yards, rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game. But Chicago leads the NFL with both 20 takeaways and a plus-14 turnover margin.

“I still feel like we’re a growing defense,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “I don’t think we really have scratched the surface of what I think we can be. But I do know where we were in Week 1 to where we are now I think there’s more of a belief in what we’re doing and a little bit more confidence in our squad.”

Injuries have played a major factor for the defense this season.

Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon have missed most the season with their respective injuries while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has battled a shoulder injury for the past few weeks. Linebacker T.J. Edwards has been in and out of the lineup while top-free agent signing defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner are both out for the year with ACL tears.

Allen didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“You have to constantly be able to evolve and change,” Allen said. “You get into trouble when you just say, ‘This is who we are, this is what we do, and we’re just going to go do that.’ Well, that may not be what the guys that we have out there playing—that may not be what suits them the best. Each and every week, each and every game plan, you’re looking at, OK, what do our guys do well and then how do we put them in those positions based on what we’re seeing offensively, how do we put them in positions to have success.”

On special teams innovations

The special teams aspect of the game has seen some changes over the past few seasons. The new kickoff rules are the biggest change visually. But other innovations have also forced coaches to adjust the way they approach the phase of the game.

One major change has been allowing “K-balls.” The NFL allowed teams this season to prepare a ball specifically for kicking throughout the week instead of a few hours before the game like in years past. That’s resulted with longer field goals being made across the league and some other advantages that have changed kicking.

“The one thing I will say about the K-ball is, you know, sometimes you know you get it in and sometimes you don’t get it in,” Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “And some places, it’s worked better for other kickers depending on what the weather is. And in our place we’ve got inclement weather conditions so it’s definitely a difference here when it goes to K balls. And in some games opponents haven’t been able to get their K balls in in our games and that’s affected them.”

Another innovation has been the knuckle kickoff. Kickers try to limit or eliminate the spin of the ball on a kickoff so it’s harder to predict its path in the air.

“A lot of times, the feet kind of lead the eyes, and that stuff is engrained throughout the week and all offseason as we practice these concepts. Your feet keep you on time and your eyes are evaluating, ‘Hey, is that open? Can I pull the trigger or not?’ If that’s not there, then my feet lead me on to whatever my next read in the progression would be. Those two things, we’re trying to tie together all the time.”

—  Declan Doyle, Bears offensive coordinator

Bears kicker Cairo Santos has used the kickoff sometimes during warmups before games and sometimes during games. Hightower it’s an added strategy and gamesmanship team have to account for.

“You just have to go back and look at which games those were but he’s kicked them in some games and it’s worked for us in some games,” Hightower said. “So, he could do them at any time and it’s just a matter of when we wanna do ‘em. We’ll do anything we think is necessary to win the game.”