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Bears News

Caleb Willams, Bears starters will play in preseason finale against Chiefs

7 months agoNicholas Moreano

Bears head coach Ben Johnson told the “UP & Adams” show on Tuesday that the Chicago Bears starters will play in Friday’s preseason finale at Arrowhead Stadium against the Chiefs.

“We’ll go ahead and we’ll play,” Johnson said. “We’ll see how long it is. We’re going to get through a couple days here at practice, and we’ll determine for how long, but we need to go through this.”

That means Caleb Williams will get another opportunity to build off of his strong performance in last Sunday’s game against the Bills. The Bears’ quarterback finished 6 of 10 for 107 yards and threw a 36-yard touchdown to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus to cap off a 7-play, 92-yard drive to start the game.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Monday that the starters will “start it off, for sure. And then we’ll see how it goes from there.”

In the Bears’ 38-0 victory over the Bills, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott played his backups for the entire game. So Friday night will provide Chicago with another measuring stick as they go against one of the best teams in the NFL.

Williams played in rhythm and delivered accurate passes to his pass catchers against the Bills, but Friday will present a new challenge against a Chiefs starting unit that is headlined by Chris Jones, George Karlaftis and Trent McDuffie. If Braxton Jones starts for a second consecutive game at left tackle, he will have his work cut out for him.

However long Patrick Mahomes is on the field, this will also be a good test for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. His starters only played three snaps against the Bills after the defense forced a three-and-out on the opening drive.

Friday night at Arrowhead will be the last preseason game for the starters to get meaningful snaps before the Bears turn their attention to Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings.