Greg Auman joined Michael and Kate to discuss the biggest storylines of the NFL season as training camp begins and the season is less than two months away.Stadium
Caleb Williams will take the field Sunday at Soldier Field.
Williams and the Chicago Bears starters will play during Sunday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, head coach Ben Johnson announced Wednesday.
This will be the first look at Williams and the starters in Johnson’s much-anticipated offense. The starting defense will also take the field Sunday.
“Everyone’s going to play,” Johnson said.
The Bears held the first of three consecutive practices on Wednesday in preparation for Sunday’s preseason matchup. Here’s the latest news out of training camp at Halas Hall.
News of the day
The vast majority of the starters did not play during the first preseason game. Offensive linemen Braxton Jones and Ozzy Trapilo, who are battling for the starting left tackle job, were the only ones who saw time for the offense.
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Williams and his pass catchers ran through some routes prior to Sunday’s 24-24 tie against the Miami Dolphins, which allowed them to see more reps than they would have during a preseason game. But the Bears are changing the approach for preseason game No. 2.
Chicago Bears quarterbacks Tyson Bagent (17) and Caleb Williams (18) run down field during practice at Halas Hall on Aug. 8, 2025, in Lake Forest.
Chicago Bears quarterbacks Tyson Bagent (17) and Caleb Williams (18) run downfield during practice at Halas Hall on Aug. 8, 2025, in Lake Forest. Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune/TNS
“I’ve been pretty consistent with the thought of reps, reps, reps are the most important thing to get him up to speed,” Johnson said of his starting quarterback. “And by the plan that we had a week ago, we were able to get him probably somewhere between 80 and 100 more reps than we would’ve been able to do had he played in the game. This week, it’s a different schedule. Different length of time in terms of in between games and all that.”
As for how much playing time Williams will see Sunday, Johnson said it will depend on how much quality work the starting unit can get this week in practice. They have another practice Thursday followed by a joint practice session with the Bills on Friday at Halas Hall.
“We’ll see how the joint practice goes and reassess,” Johnson said. “There’s things that you kind of have in the back of your head when you make the plan for training camp and as you go through training camp, things change. And that’s what we do, we adjust.”
Caleb Williams watch
While there have been plenty of growing pains through the first three weeks of training camp, Wednesday’s practice registered as a fine performance from Williams. The ball hit the ground far less than it did during Monday’s disjointed effort.
Williams continued to target receiver Olamide Zaccheaus with frequency. Williams and Zaccheaus connected four times during an end-of-half situational drill with the first-team offense going up against the second-team defense. With the score tied, the offense did enough to get into field goal range. At one point, Williams lofted a high-arcing pass that landed in Zaccheaus’ arms with several defenders near him. It went for a 23-yard gain.
Later, the special teams unit executed a perfect fire drill with the clock running to set up a chip-shot field goal for kicker Cairo Santos as time expired.
“The thing is just processing the situation and knowing how many timeouts you have and when you have to get the ball back to the ref and the center,” said Zaccheaus, who made the final catch and handed the ball off to the ref quickly.
Quote of note
“I would say it’s not just (Williams),” Johnson said when asked about recent pre-snap penalties for the offense. “We had some procedure issues in the game the other day as well. We have hit it from the beginning in terms of how much we are loading guys down. Some of the play calls are a little bit longer than others. (Williams) and I met yesterday. I am pleased with how he is able to spit these plays out right now. He has made significant progress in that regard. And once we get going here in the game week, we’re going to condense the verbiage even more. So we have challenged him. It has been a lot. That was by design.”
Player in the spotlight
Zaccheaus did more than just catch the football on Wednesday.
During that same end-of-half situation, the veteran made a heads-up play to knock down a batted ball that was up for grabs. Linebacker Noah Sewell batted the throw from Williams and safety Jonathan Owens looked like he was going to have an easy interception before Zaccheaus flew in from behind him and hit the ball down for an incompletion.
“He thought he had a clean pick,” Zaccheaus said. “I said, ‘Aw yeah.’ … I was just playing ball, just knowing the situation and making a play.”
The Bears signed Zaccheaus as a free agent in March after he spent last season with Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders. As a slot receiver, Zaccheaus was the Commanders’ third-leading receiver with 45 receptions for 506 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bears also like rookie Luther Burden III, the No. 39 draft pick, as an option in the slot. Since Burden returned from a soft-tissue injury, both slot receivers have been doing impressive things on the field. On Wednesday, Zaccheaus took on a starring role for the first-team offense, while Burden made several impressive catches with backup quarterback Tyson Bagent and the second unit.
For Johnson and the offensive coaches, having a tight competition for the slot receiver role is a good thing.
“It’s a beautiful thing about competition, isn’t it?” Johnson said. “Is that each week, you’ve got to earn what you get on game day. So that’s exactly how we set this up.”
Seen and heard
Thus far, safety Jaquan Brisker has remained healthy through training camp. That’s a big first step for the fourth-year pro who missed 12 games last year with a concussion.
“Yeah, just making sure I’m staying healthy and staying on top of my things,” Brisker said. “Really focusing on getting better every day. Making sure I’m getting better and making sure my teams are getting better. Just making sure I’m out there.”
Injuries have been a theme for Brisker. He has missed time during training camp each year, including a broken thumb in 2022 and an undisclosed injury last year.
Brisker has also sustained three concussions in three years. Continuing to remain healthy will be a top priority for him.
Injury, participation report
Jaylon Johnson remains sidelined with a leg injury and has not participated yet during camp. Ben Johnson previously said the team is optimistic that the cornerback will be ready for the Sept. 8 season opener against the Vikings.
The head coach reiterated that Wednesday.
“He is right on track,” Ben Johnson said. “Everything I said last time. He is right on track. He is right where he needs to be. It’s really, like I said, those types of injuries, you don’t know short-term, long-term. Everyone is a little bit different. But I think we’re going in the right direction right now.”
Additionally, several players missed practice Wednesday: cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring), cornerback Zah Frazier (personal), running back Travis Homer (calf), running back Roschon Johnson (foot), safety Tysheem Johnson (undisclosed), linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (shoulder), guard Luke Newman (concussion), center Doug Kramer Jr. (foot) and defensive tackle Shemar Turner (ankle).
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