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Chicago Bears kick off training camp at Halas Hall

Caleb Williams was locked in on Day 1 of Year 2 under head coach Ben Johnson.

Dennis Allen's defense led the league in takeaways last season but has some new faces in the secondary. 

The team is now looking to build on last season's success. The Bears defense kicked off camp the same way they did last year in Dennis Allen's first year as defensive coordinator — with 40 up-downs.

"It's a mindset thing, honestly," said safety Coby Bryant. "Like I told the guys, we're going to deal with way harder stuff than 40 up-downs. It's just allowing us to buy in." 

A fired-up Dennis Allen wants more from his defense, saying despite all the takeaways last year, they weren't good enough in any fashion, and when it comes to the pass rush, it's on the whole unit.

"I don't care how good your pass rush is. If you don't cause the quarterback to have to reset or get to a second or third read, you're not getting to him. And I don't care how good your coverage is, if you can't get to the quarterback and disrupt him, they're going to throw completions. I think we've got to get better at pass defense and I think that's both elements working together," Allen said.

As for the pass offense, Caleb Williams says he's feeling much better pre-snap than this time last year and hoping that helps bring up a completion percentage that dipped to 58% last year.

"Part of it is confidence in the offense," Williams said. "Knowing where I'm supposed to go with the ball, not second-guessing, being decisive, you know, eyes in the right spot, things like that. Just gaining and gathering a better understanding of the offense so the confidence grows within myself and the receivers."

As far as that 70 percent completion goal, Caleb says it doesn't affect him at all. He just needs to take the easy ones when they're there, and put up that Superman cape when needed.

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