Silvy: The hits keep coming, and that can only make the Bears better

It was music to my ears.

The sound of shoulder pads colliding during big hits. Players talking trash after impact plays and even a handful of scuffles.

The head coach is cursing out players for poor execution.

It was the actual sounds of football, real football. Not the usual half speed, going through the motions of a modern NFL camp during the dog days of late summer.

Ben Johnson continues to push all the right buttons, trying to turn around a Bears team that has been misguided for years.

I hadn’t witnessed a training camp practice that physical and entertaining since I was on the beat back in Platteville, Wisconsin, and when “two-a-days,” inside run drills, and the nutcracker ruled the day.

Other Bears reporters claimed they had never witnessed a more physical practice. Montez Sweat told the NFL Network that the Bears have held more live drills this camp than his previous six camps combined.

I’ve always said you can’t get better at football without practicing football. And the Bears have a long way to go to get better at football.

The process finally makes sense at Halas Hall, but as Hawk Harrelson would say, “Don’t stop now, boys.”

The Miami Dolphins come to town on Friday for a dual practice that should showcase where each team is and how far they have to go. It will be another great test for the Bears, but it should not be a substitute for playing in an actual game two days later. Johnson needs to green-light playing time this preseason for almost the entire roster. Outside of Joe Thuney, Grady Jarrett and maybe Jaquan Brisker, everyone else needs to see action on Sunday.

The only way to get better at football is playing football.

Matt Eberflus went soft with his camp and preseason in 2023, and the Bears got rocked by the Packers in the regular-season opener. Matt Nagy scaled back preseason reps in 2019 and admitted he made a mistake.

There’s always a risk of injury, but many former players tell me that there’s something to be said about getting calloused for the long season ahead.

You’ve probably heard about Caleb Williams’ uneven camp as he tries to learn another offense. Delay of games and misalignments is a daily occurrence.

It doesn’t mean Caleb stinks or the offense will struggle in 2025; it just means they need work.

If Joe Burrow can play this preseason, so can Caleb.

At the end of last season, in a meaningless regular-season game, the Bears played Williams because they wanted more reps for their rookie. The organization understood a new coaching staff was coming, a win would hurt their draft status, and Caleb was already banged up — but he still played. If those reps were important then, in a system their QB would never play in again, this experience with Johnson to get ready for this season is even more valuable.

Johnson called last Sunday’s family fest practice at Soldier Field sloppy and was clearly disappointed. This system isn’t just new for Williams but for everyone, including the defense.

I want to see Williams get the first team offense in and out of the huddle, set protections, and process his progressions.

I want to see a newly constructed offensive line get real game reps and watch the left tackle battle play out.

I want prized rookies Colston Loveland and Luther Burden to play with Caleb and other starters.

I want to see Montez Sweat, Tyrique Stevenson and Tremaine Edmunds put their underachieving 2024 behind them and turn the page immediately.

The Bears should want all of this and more, too.

I don’t want to see the Bears play it safe and unnecessarily turn off the learning.

Let them play.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.