The Chicago Bears will play their third preseason game on Saturday when they face the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field.
Prior to the game, the Bears and Bengals will have a joint practice at Halas Hall on Thursday.
Joint practices have become the norm for NFL teams during the preseason and the trend seems to be coaches placing more of an emphasis on those practices than what they see during the game.
That was the case last season for the Bears and their joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts. Rather than play Justin Fields in the preseason game against the Colts last summer, Matt Eberflus was comfortable with what he saw from Fields during the joint practice. Ultimately, that could have been considered a mistake considering the flat start the Bears had to the 2023 season.
Nonetheless, it is something to consider when talking about whether or not Caleb Williams will play on Saturday.
The Bengals have already made their decision as their head coach, Zac Taylor, told reporters on Monday that he doesn't expect his starters to play on Saturday.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said he isn't expecting the starters to play in the preseason game against the Bears.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) August 12, 2024
Caleb Williams is not a lock to play on Saturday.
It's a unique situation for the Bears, considering that if Williams were not a rookie quarterback, chances are the team would lean toward not playing their starting players on Saturday. But Williams is a rookie quarterback, and prior to preseason games starting, Eberflus mentioned that the goal was for him to have between 45 and 55 snaps in games prior to the start of the regular season.
Thursday's practice will be the true indicator. If the snaps that Williams has against the first-team offense is close enough to what he would have on Saturday, chances are the rookie quarterback will be held out of the team's third preseason game. It may not be an ideal scenario for fans attending the game but it is one that the Bears won't be afraid to do.