Bears quarterback Caleb Williams reviews a play from Saturday on a tablet.
AP

The Chicago Bears returned to the national spotlight Tuesday night when HBO Max released the third episode of “Hard Knocks.”

Here are the key findings.

Caleb Williams is finally in the spotlight

While “Hard Knocks” analyzed and followed the Bears’ signing of Williams in the first two episodes, the show’s third episode was mainly devoted to this year’s first-round pick.

The episode began with Williams meeting with Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, where the two analyzed his performance against the Buffalo Bills. Williams said he was successful against the Bills because he prepared well, was confident and stayed in the game. He made a long pass to Cole Kmet and a long run deep into the Bills’ red zone.

He also expressed what he learned from his first NFL game.

“The training is harder than the game,” Williams told Eberflus.

Fans learned why Williams and the offense may have gotten off to a slow start on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals. The episode revealed that Williams couldn’t hear Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in his helmet because the connection between the two kept cutting out.

After the team replaced his helmet, Williams and the offense got going, including an impressive throw to Rome Odunze, a near touchdown and a rushing score.

Williams kept the ball from his first touchdown and stashed it in a bag in his locker during halftime.

Bears were close to signing Matthew Judon

The episode offered an interesting insight into how close the Bears were to signing defensive lineman Matthew Judon from the New England Patriots.

In one scene, Bears general manager Ryan Poles explained to Bears president Kevin Warren why he wanted to trade Judon. In it, Poles explained that he wanted Judon despite a bicep injury that sidelined him for most of last season.

Poles revealed that he had planned a trade to bring Judon to the Bears in exchange for a third-round pick in next year’s draft if he signed a contract extension. Judon did not agree to the extension and was instead traded to the Atlanta Falcons.

Poles explained his thoughts in a conversation with Matt Feinstein, the Bears’ director of football administration.

“I’m agonizing, but if you have your own guardrails that help us stay in the zone, then we certainly fought against that to get the player,” Poles said. “But if it’s about losing all flexibility, I don’t think that’s smart, even if he’s having success. If he has 20 sacks right now, that would make me sick.”

Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent is also in the spotlight

Although much of the episode focused on Williams, Bagent also earned plenty of time. He also received a compliment from former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan when he caught up with Poles, a former teammate at Boston College.

“I think this kid has made a lot of progress since last year,” Ryan said. “He’s going to have that going forward, that week or two to get through something. He’s looking better.”

Bagent also explained how tough it can be to be a backup quarterback in the NFL, with scenes showing him explaining everything he saw from the sidelines to Eberflus.

While Bagent has tried to support Williams’ development by sharing his own experiences from his rookie season last season, Bagent also said he wants to prove his worth in the league.

“I don’t want to just stagnate in this role as a player-coach,” Bagent said. “There’s still a lot I want to do out there on the field. Knowing what a season is like for a backup player, how long it is and how many opportunities you don’t get once the season starts, I’m really looking forward to taking these last few weeks of preseason and making everyone aware that I’m not just some slacker in the quarterback room. I can play at a high level.”

Bears’ new stadium is barely mentioned

There hasn’t been much talk about the Bears’ bid for a new lakefront stadium, and not much has changed after the third episode.

Scenes showed Warren meeting with his staff to discuss what kind of seating they wanted in a section of the stadium. Not much more was said about negotiations with the state for public funds.

Austin Reed gets another shoutout

Reed earned more screen time in episode three during the rookie talent show, delivering a strong performance of Keisha Cole’s “Love” that earned him the best response from his teammates to that point.