The Chicago Bears have said they will announce on Tuesday whether Caleb Williams is playing in the AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game. That preseason game, always the first preseason game of the year and an extra preseason game for the two teams involved, arrives very early on the calendar.
Teams’ timelines in terms of installing schemes and mastering the playbook aren’t as advanced as they are for the second and third preseason games, which serve as the more representative dress rehearsals for the start of the season. We know this. Accordingly, a lot of backups need to get reps more than starters in the early parts of the preseason so that NFL organizations have a better idea of which roster cuts to make in arriving at their final rosters for Week 1. However, the need to give backups work should not exclude the need for top rookies to get some playing time.
It’s hard to understand how or why the Bears would benefit from not playing Caleb Williams in the Hall of Fame Game. Of course he needs the work. The real question seems to be how much work Caleb should get in his first preseason game.
The Bears could have made this really simple: They could have said weeks ago that Caleb Williams will play two series of downs in this game against the Houston Texans. Caleb would have known going in that he was going to play, but also that he wasn’t going to play a lot. He would have a first series to get his feet wet, then a second series to make some adjustments after some coaching on the sidelines. Then, in future preseason games, Caleb could be given a larger plate of responsibilities as he ramps up toward the season opener.
Is it really this hard for the Bears to figure out how much to play Caleb in the preseason? Why are they agonizing about this and delaying the decision so that Caleb and his teammates, three days before gameday on Thursday (Aug. 1), don’t yet know what the final decision is? Surely, all of this could be handled a lot better.
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