Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus announced Tuesday that second-year quarterback Tyson Bagent will start against the Houston Texans Thursday night in the Hall of Fame Game. Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears starters will sit on the bench.
Most coaches rest their starters for the HOF Game
Eberflus’ decision didn’t come as much of a surprise, as most coaches rest their starters for the Hall of Fame Game. The first NFL preseason game of the year comes a week earlier than the start of preseason for the rest of the league, and the two participating teams are forced to play an extra preseason game.
Caleb Williams wanted to play
On Monday, Williams said he wanted the opportunity to play Thursday night to gain necessary reps before Week 1 of the regular season. However, Eberflus overruled Williams’ desire in a move that makes sense for a few reasons.
Given Williams and the offense’s struggles to set blitz protections in practice, Bears fans should be thankful Eberflus isn’t willing to risk the No. 1 pick in a meaningless game that will feature three hours of UFDA’s going at it.
Per Aaron Wilson of KPRC, the Texans plan to play their younger players against the Bears, so it’s not like Williams would be playing against a number-one defense anyway.
Big news for the Chicago Bears QB2 position
The real story here is where the Bears see Bagent on the depth chart. On the unofficial depth chart released last week, Bagent and Brett Rypien were both considered as the QB2 option. The Bears are giving Bagent the chance to start on Thursday night, so it appears he has a slight edge over Rypien for the QB2 job.
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