The Chicago Bears will host the Cleveland Browns on Saturday at Soldier Field in their preseason opener, and Caleb Williams will not be playing. And, surprisingly, I’m fine with that. Caleb has established himself to the extent that there’s nothing I need to see from him in a preseason game, and that’s a good feeling.
Ben Johnson said it well on Thursday:
“I don’t know that I need to see game snaps,” said the Bears’ head coach. “What we’re trying to assess is the volume throughout the week and making sure we’re hitting our benchmarks to make sure our team is ready to go for a 17-plus game season. That’s what we’re looking to do. And so each individual is a little bit different.”
The Bears have joint practices with the Bengals and Titans ahead of their respective preseason meetings on the schedule over the next two weeks, and, these days, meaningful preseason football has shifted to those settings anyway. Johnson left the door open for a different plan for Williams and the starters next week, though.
“Next week we can address when it gets there but we have a plan in place of the reps, the workload we want to get as a team between the joint practice with Cincinnati and the game reps as well,” Johnson said. “And so that all plays a part together, and everything is really, really fluid on how we’re handling that.
“But do I need to see Caleb Williams in the preseason? No, I don’t. I see him every single day in practice, and I know what we’re going to get come the season, and yet at the same time, there is a workload, and there is a number of reps that we want to hit as a team. And so (we) make sure we even that out whether that’s game reps or not.”
Even without the bulk of the ones in the lineup, there’s reason to watch tomorrow. Some rookies will get their first game action, a left tackle battle to watch, and a few wide receivers fighting for a spot on the regular season depth chart. If I’m being honest, the Saturday in August, largely nonconsequential couch appointment that is a good ol’ Bears-Browns preseason matchup is one of my favorite forms of football.
MORE: 5 Bears I’m Excited to Watch in the Preseason Opener (via Patrick K. Flowers)
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