Football is right around the corner for the Chicago Bears, sort of, and fans still had one burning question going into Sunday's preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins.
Will we see quarterback Caleb Williams take the field?
Earlier in the week, head coach Ben Johnson noted he planned to meet with the rest of the staff and speak with Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel before making a decision.
While speaking with Adam Hoge and Adam Jahns during Friday's episode of Hoge & Jahns, Johnson confirmed everyone's suspicion with the final decision.
"The thought here is, there's going to be a number of guys that aren't playing in this game," Johnson explained. "I think the number, as they stand right now - subject to change - are probably nine guys on offense, nine guys on defense that won't be playing. (Caleb Williams) is one of those."
More emphasis now goes into the joint practice
This shouldn't be seen as too big of a surprise. I get Williams and the first-team offense seem to be struggling to get on the same page over the last few weeks, but the staff clearly is pointing more emphasis into Friday's joint practice with the Dolphins.
In a joint practice setting, the coaches can decide what situations they want to throw at the offense, and defense. Want to practice 3rd-and-longs? Go for it. Want to work on short-yardage/red-zone plays? Add it to the practice schedule.
"The variety of those joint practices is really valuable," offensive coordinator Declan Doyle explained.
Ultimately, what I'm getting at here is that the joint practice will be more structured, specific, and beneficial to Williams and the offense than 8-12 plays on Sunday would be.
"So, we're going to get great work in the joint practice," Johnson added. "We have a number of things scheduled around the game for those guys that aren't playing. We're actually going to end up getting more reps for them than they would have had we played them Week 1 in this game."
In the meantime, this decision gives more opportunities to the other players on the roster. Tyson Bagent, for example, will likely start the game at quarterback for the Bears this weekend, followed by Case Keenum and Austin Reed to see how they look running the offense. And other players looking to secure a final roster spot can get ample reps in a live game setting to show what they can do.
We'll see if this decision remains the same next week when the Buffalo Bills come to town for another joint practice and preseason matchup.
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