There had been discussions of the NFL potentially shortening the preseason to two games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, it sounds like the NFL is putting that plan into action.
According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the NFL is shortening the preseason to two weeks, essentially cancelling Week 1 and Week 4.
Players will report to training camp on July 28, and the first preseason games won’t be played until Aug. 20-24. The second week of the preseason will take place Aug. 27-31.
Updated NFL preseason schedule:
July 28: Nearly all NFL teams report to training camp
23 day acclimation period begins
Preseason Week 1: August 20th-24th
Preseason Week 2: August 27th-31stSeptember 10th: Chiefs vs. Texans. The games begin đ.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 1, 2020
As for how that impacts the Bears’ preseason schedule, it would effectively cancel their contests against Cleveland Browns in Week 1 and Tennessee Titans in Week 4.
That would mean Chicago’s preseason slate would feature an away game against the Denver Broncos (Week 2) and a home game against the San Francisco 49ers (Week 3).
While Bears head coach Matt Nagy has typically not put much stock into the preseason, that philosophy has changed since last season, where he rested most of his starters throughout the preseason. Nagy intended to utilize the preseason for roster battles and to get his guys back into the speed of the game.
A shortened preseason will certainly impact several roster battles, most notably the quarterback competition between incumbent starter Mitchell Trubisky and veteran Nick Foles. While the battle will start in training camp, the preseason figures to be the most important aspect of the competition as it will feature live-game reps.
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