4 things to watch in Chicago Bears preseason finale, including another start for Caleb Williams

For the Chicago Bears, Friday’s preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs represents a final dress rehearsal before the bright lights of their “Monday Night Football” season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8.

The Chiefs will play their starters. The Bears will play theirs too.

How much the starters will play is undetermined, but it should be at least a glimpse of what’s to come in the regular season.

The Bears’ only preseason road game is set for a 7:20 p.m. start at Arrowhead Stadium. Here are four storylines to watch.

1. Confirmation — or a rude awakening?

After beating up on mostly backups during a 38-0 thrashing of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, it could be easy to be lulled into making playoff plans in August. The Bears, however, will see a truer test against Chiefs starters such as defensive tackle Chris Jones and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Bears coach Ben Johnson didn’t say how long quarterback Caleb Williams and the starters will play Friday, but they will see action.

“To be determined still,” Johnson said before practice Wednesday. “We’ve got to make it through today and then we’ll make that determination. It sounds like K.C. is going to play their starters too, so (we) should have some good competition there.”

Preseason photos: Chicago Bears beat Buffalo Bills 38-0 at Soldier Field

Chiefs coach Andy Reid at first said he’d like to “play it by ear” with his starters, but he seemed wary of a two-week stretch before the Sept. 5 season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil. Coaches across the NFL are weighing the risk of playing starters in the preseason finale versus the risk of growing rusty ahead of Week 1.

“I’d rather give the guys a little bit more time in this game so the timing keeps a little closer to when we get to our (opening) game,” Reid said.

That could mean more of Mahomes putting the Bears defense through its paces.

2. Can Caleb Williams keep it up?

The Chiefs could provide a stress test for Williams in particular.

His performance against the Bills in two possessions was sparkling. He completed 6 of 10 passes for 107 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus.

Johnson was just as impressed with Williams dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s during his pre-snap process — a point of emphasis during training camp.

“The communication was very clean,” Johnson said. “He heard the plays well from me and then he communicated it well in the huddle and we really didn’t have any issues in terms of getting lined up with plenty of time.

“There’s one time he flipped the protection, which was great to see. He saw the field really well. He played with some timing and anticipation. There’s certainly some things that we can build upon there and keep getting better at.”

Perhaps most notable about Williams’ performance Sunday was how quickly he got the ball out. It looked night-and-day different from the rookie quarterback who took 68 sacks a year ago.

But again, that performance came against Bills backups. Friday night he’ll see the Chiefs starters.

3. Jobs on the 53-man roster will be won or lost.

This is a pivotal game for many of the players on the back end of the 90-man training camp roster. It’s their last chance to impress the coaching staff before the roster must be trimmed to 53.

The cutdown deadline is 3 p.m. Tuesday. For many players, the future is murky beyond this weekend.

“Obviously it creeps into your mind,” second-year offensive lineman Theo Benedet said. “We’re human. Those things happen. But at the same time, we still have Kansas City first. I don’t want to get away from that.”

Benedet was one of those players who didn’t make the cut last year, although that was more because of a hamstring injury than his performance. This year Benedet has risen up the depth chart and looks poised to potentially earn a spot as the backup left tackle.

Some notable positions to watch include those tackle spots. It’s looking more and more like Braxton Jones might win the starting left tackle job, but what do the Bears do with Benedet and second-year tackle Kiran Amegadjie? Has Tyler Scott done enough to grab a spot as a sixth receiver? No position has dealt with more injuries than cornerback. Does that leave an opening for a player such as Nick McCloud?

Friday’s game is a huge part of the job interview.

4. The starting defense needs reps.

Coordinator Dennis Allen’s first unit didn’t play at all against the Miami Dolphins and received limited work against the Bills. Most of the starters, such as defensive end Montez Sweat and safety Jaquan Brisker, saw only three snaps. Those came against quarterback Mike White and the Bills backups.

“Yeah, the first team, they went out there and got their three-and-out,” veteran defensive tackle Andrew Billings said. “That still was a test.”

With 12 snaps Sunday, Billings saw more action than most of the defense’s key contributors. It was his first game since a pectoral injury cut his 2024 season short. The injury required surgery and he missed the final nine games.

Billings was just happy to be out there after such a long layoff. He wants to see a little more action in Kansas City.

“I definitely want more snaps,” he said. “I want to test more of my technique. I want to get a little bit more winded out there, too, and test it when I’m tired.”

What exactly the starting defense will look like Friday is in question. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson (leg) and Kyler Gordon (hamstring) haven’t practiced in full. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was absent from practice Wednesday, and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. limped off midway through practice.

The Bears haven’t given an update on defensive end Austin Booker, who suffered a knee injury against the Bills. Booker, who has four sacks in the preseason, was not at practice Wednesday.

All of that is to say the starting unit that plays Friday might not look like the starting unit that plays Sept. 8.