The Chicago Bears will open their 2026 preseason on Saturday at Soldier Field without quarterback Caleb Williams on the field. Head coach Ben Johnson confirmed on August 13 that Williams will sit out the noon kickoff against the Cleveland Browns, with backup Tyson Bagent starting and likely playing into the first half. The decision reframes Saturday’s game as a roster-evaluation exercise rather than a showcase for the franchise quarterback, putting the spotlight on a left tackle competition, a depleted secondary, and a defense that the coaching staff has publicly called “unacceptable” entering Year 2 under Johnson.
Key Takeaways
- Head coach Ben Johnson confirmed on August 13 that Caleb Williams will not play in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field (noon CT kickoff).
- Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent will start the game, with Case Keenum and undrafted rookie Miller Moss also expected to see action.
- The left tackle position is the most closely watched offensive battle: Kiran Amegadjie is expected to start with reps split evenly against Jedrick Wills, while Braxton Jones (knee) may return to practice.
- Safety Coby Bryant underwent knee surgery on August 8 and is expected to miss 4-to-6 months, creating a significant gap in the secondary.
- The Bears are coming off an 11-6 NFC North championship season and a divisional-round playoff appearance in Johnson’s first year as head coach.
- Johnson has publicly set the 2026 offensive target as becoming “the highest-scoring offense ever,” referencing Peyton Manning’s 2013 Denver Broncos, who averaged 37.9 points per game.
Johnson’s Rationale for Holding Williams Out
Johnson’s decision to sit Williams follows the same approach he used in 2025, when he held the quarterback out of the preseason opener against the Dolphins before playing him in subsequent games. This year, Johnson went further, suggesting Williams may not play in any of the three preseason contests.
The reasoning centers on workload management across the full arc of training camp, preseason, and a 17-game regular season. Johnson told reporters he does not need to see game snaps from Williams to evaluate his readiness, noting that daily practice reps at Halas Hall in Lake Forest provide sufficient evidence. The coaching staff is tracking total snap counts across practices and games, taking input from training staff to keep the cumulative load within a range designed to prevent wear before September.
Johnson acknowledged that the warmup procedure before a game has standalone value, calling it “probably always good” for Williams to go through the pregame routine so the regular-season opener is not his first time doing so. But he stopped short of committing to actual playing time in any of the three exhibition games. The Bears have joint practices scheduled with the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans ahead of their second and third preseason matchups, and Johnson indicated those controlled settings could serve the same evaluation purpose as live game reps.
Behind Bagent, the Bears carry Case Keenum, the 38-year-old veteran, and Miller Moss, the undrafted free agent out of USC who spent two years backing up Williams in college. Offensive coordinator Press Taylor has praised Moss’s poise in the huddle and accuracy from the pocket. Saturday’s game gives all three a chance to compete for the backup role behind Williams, with roster cuts from 91 to 53 players due in late August.
Left Tackle Battle Headlines the Offensive Line Evaluation
With Williams on the sideline, the offensive line becomes the primary evaluation target on Saturday. The Chicago Bears are working through a competition at left tackle, the position responsible for protecting the quarterback’s blind side, and the preseason opener offers the coaching staff its first game-speed assessment.
Kiran Amegadjie is expected to start the game, with reps split close to evenly against Jedrick Wills. Offensive line coach Dan Roushar has described the two players’ training camp performance as “pretty even” and indicated the staff needs more data before making a decision. Braxton Jones, who has been sidelined with a knee issue, may return to practice as early as August 13, adding a third variable to the competition.
The left tackle question carries weight beyond the preseason. The Bears built their 2025 NFC North championship around Williams’s development in Johnson’s offense, and the line’s ability to protect him through a full season is a prerequisite for the 2026 goals Johnson has articulated publicly. A breakdown at left tackle would undermine the offensive ambitions before the regular season begins.
Coby Bryant’s Injury Opens a Defensive Question
The defensive side of the roster faces its own evaluation pressure after Johnson disclosed on August 12 that safety Coby Bryant underwent knee surgery on August 8. Bryant, a Super Bowl LX champion who signed with the Bears in the offseason, is expected to miss 4-to-6 months, sidelining a player the coaching staff had counted on as a starter.
Bryant’s absence accelerates the timeline for younger defensive backs to prove they can contribute. The safety position becomes one of the more consequential battles to monitor on Saturday, alongside edge rusher depth and the defensive tackle rotation. The Bears’ defense was a point of public frustration for the coaching staff after the 2025 season. Despite the team’s 11-6 record and playoff run, Johnson and his staff described the defensive performance as falling short of the standard they expect, creating a mandate for improvement heading into Year 2.
General manager Ryan Poles addressed the defensive concerns through free agency and the draft, but the results will not be visible until live game action tests the new personnel against opposing offenses operating without the restraints of a practice script.
Johnson’s Offensive Ambitions Set the Context for Everything Else
The preseason opener arrives against a backdrop of raised expectations that Johnson himself has established. In public comments during training camp, Johnson stated that the 2026 offense aims to be “the highest-scoring offense ever,” a reference that points toward Peyton Manning’s 2013 Denver Broncos, who set the NFL record at 37.9 points per game. That kind of target, stated openly by a head coach entering only his second season, signals the level of confidence the organization has in Williams and the offensive infrastructure around him.
Williams’s second-year trajectory supports the ambition. After an 11-6 regular season and a divisional-round playoff appearance, Williams was voted No. 51 on the NFL’s Top 100 Players list by his peers and was named the Madden NFL 27 cover athlete, the first player in Bears franchise history to receive the honor. Johnson has described Williams as no longer “drowning” in the offense, a contrast to the deliberate overload approach the coaching staff used during the 2025 training camp to accelerate learning.
The continuity matters structurally. This is the third preseason in 12 years that the Bears have the same head coach, offensive play-caller, and starting quarterback working together for a second consecutive season. That stability, rare in an organization that has cycled through coaching staffs at a high rate, is the foundation for the ambitions Johnson has articulated.
What Saturday’s Game Will Actually Reveal
Without Williams, the marquee starters on defense, and potentially several other established players, Saturday’s game functions as an audition for the 30 to 40 players on the roster bubble. Rookies from the 2026 draft class get their first NFL game action. Undrafted free agents like Moss and others across the roster have three games to make an impression before cuts reduce the roster to 53.
The Bears host only one preseason game at Soldier Field this year due to their nine-game home regular-season schedule. After Saturday, they travel to Cincinnati and Nashville for the final two exhibition games, with joint practices preceding each. The regular season opens September 13 in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers, followed by the Soldier Field opener against the Minnesota Vikings on September 21.
For the coaching staff, Saturday is less about winning a preseason game and more about answering specific questions: whether Amegadjie or Wills earns the left tackle job, how the secondary adjusts without Bryant, whether the defensive improvements Johnson has demanded are visible under game conditions, and which of the bubble players make the case that they belong on a roster built to defend a division title.
FAQs
Will Caleb Williams play in any 2026 preseason games?
Head coach Ben Johnson has not committed to playing Williams in any of the three preseason contests. Johnson said he does not need to see Williams in game action, citing daily practice reps as sufficient evaluation. The Bears have joint practices scheduled with the Bengals and Titans that could provide controlled game-like reps without the injury risk of live preseason play.
When does the Bears’ 2026 regular season start?
The Bears open the regular season on September 13 with a road game against the Carolina Panthers. Their Soldier Field home opener is September 21 against the Minnesota Vikings. The schedule includes multiple primetime games, starting with a Monday Night Football matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 28.
What are the key roster battles to watch on Saturday?
The left tackle competition between Kiran Amegadjie and Jedrick Wills is the most prominent offensive battle. On defense, the safety position is the primary concern following Coby Bryant’s knee surgery and expected 4-to-6-month absence. The backup quarterback competition among Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum, and undrafted rookie Miller Moss will also be on display throughout the game.
