After weeks of grueling training camp practices, the Chicago Bears will finally get to face off against another team. Chicago is hosting the Cleveland Browns on Saturday as the team kicks off its preseason. Saturday’s game will be the first of three preseason games for the Bears, and everyone wants to know how much the starters will play, if at all.
On Thursday, head coach Ben Johnson answered that question, revealing that “a number of starters on both sides of the ball” will not play in the game at all. The head coach didn’t go through each starter to say who will or won’t play, but he made it known that Caleb Williams won’t be suiting up.
Bears will sit Caleb Williams and a number of starters in preseason opener vs. Browns
One player who will be starting on Saturday is offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie. He will be the first left tackle out for Chicago, as the team’s crucial left tackle battle continues to unfold. With Ozzy Trapilo still working his way back from injury, the Bears have an ongoing competition to name a starting left tackle.
Amegadjie is a part of that competition, and so is veteran lineman Jedrick Wills Jr. The plan is for Wills and Amegadjie to rotate during Saturday’s game, as they both try to claim the starting job. Braxton Jones is also included in the competition, but since he’s currently dealing with an injury as well, he won’t be in the equation for Saturday’s game.
Ultimately, fans won’t be seeing many Bears starters, and for the ones they do see, they probably won’t see them out on the field long. Still, it’s just the first preseason game, and Chicago will have two more. That means Johnson will have two other opportunities to get his starting lineup some exhibition reps, if he sees fit.
As for the Bears’ opponent on Saturday, the Cleveland Browns, their head coach, Todd Monken, has already said he will play anyone who isn’t dealing with an injury. The Browns are in the middle of a highly-discussed quarterback battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders, and Cleveland is using the preseason to help decide its starter. That means the Bears should expect to see Watson for the entire first half, and Sanders for all of the third quarter.
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The two teams are clearly entering the preseason opener with different mindsets and objectives, so that should make for an interesting game Saturday afternoon.
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