While the Chicago Bears are playing in the annual Hall of Fame Game, the first preseason game of the year, their fans must wait longer to see their new franchise quarterback in action. Caleb Williams is the team's unquestioned starter at the position and will be protected from injury as much as possible this summer.
Thus, Williams will not play on Thursday, via ESPN's Adam Schefter.
“No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams will not make his preseason debut Thursday night in Canton, Ohio vs. the Texans,” Schefter reported. “Bears do not plan to play their starters Thursday.”
Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, who started four games for the club last year, will start on Thursday, via NFL Network's Ian Rapaport.
“The #Bears starters (including Caleb Williams) won’t play in the Hall of Fame game, coach Matt Eberflus told reporters,” Rapaport reported. “Tyson Bagent, who has been grinding his absolute face off, will start at QB.”
Bagent, of course, claimed that he was too busy grinding his “absolute face off” to care about who else Chicago brought into the quarterback room, via Barroom Network.
“Yeah, you know, I wasn't really thinking too much about it. I was too busy grinding my absolute face off in the offseason,” Bagent said. “But whatever they were gonna do, that's completely up to them, I can't control that.”
Thursday's game will be Bagent's first chance to lock down Chicago's backup quarterback job for a second straight season. How will the depth chart shake out?
Tyson Bagent has the inside track on being Caleb Williams' backup on the Bears
Chicago brought in Brett Rypien and Austin Reed to compete with Bagent. Rypien has 950 career passing yards with four touchdowns and nine picks across 10 games, while Reed is an un-drafted free-agent rookie out of Western Kentucky.
Bagent has the advantage coming in, as he won two games with the Bears when Justin Fields went down last season. Meanwhile, Williams can focus on getting practice reps in and taking care of his body ahead of the regular season.
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