Preseason Week 2: Should the Bears rest their starters against the Bengals?

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Cincinnati Bengals will not be playing their starters in this week’s preseason game against the Chicago Bears. A disappointment for anyone who was hoping to see Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase play, but it’s probably a smart decision.

The two teams will have their joint practice on Thursday, which usually simulates a real game closely, so putting them in the game might be seen as an unnecessary risk.

Should the Chicago Bears follow suit and rest their starters?

I think Matt Eberflus will likely follow Zac Taylor’s example and keep his starters sidelined for this one. He’s spoken before about the immense benefits of joint practices and did sit his starters in last year’s preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts.

However, that’s not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Last offseason, the Bears had two joint practices with the Colts, but this year, they have just one.

It’s important to remember that the Bears are not the Bengals. Their starting quarterback is a rookie, and they are installing a new offensive scheme with Shane Waldron, which means everyone is still learning. Even if they get a good practice in on Thursday against the Bengals’ starters, I think it would be a wasted opportunity to keep Caleb Williams and the rest of the crew on the sidelines.

Getty Images

Before the preseason began, Eberflus gave a rough estimate of how many game reps he wanted Williams to get, which was in the ballpark of 45-55. Williams did not play in the Hall of Fame game but stayed in for 20 snaps against the Bills last week. If Eberflus wanted, he could still get Williams to that threshold even if he sits out of this week’s game, but he’d probably have to play the entire first half of their final preseason outing.

Don’t throw Williams off his rhythm.

Williams looked every bit the generational prospect he was billed to be in his preseason debut (though if you asked him, he left a lot of meat on the bone). I think it’d be a mistake to interrupt his rhythm by holding him out of the next game. Let him get his reps, even if they come against Cincy’s backups, and let him keep making highlight reel plays. The more confident he is heading into the season, the better.