Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott decided to play games and not say whether he would be giving Bears quarterback Caleb Williams a chance to face the first-team Bills defense on Sunday night.
"Just as it relates to today and then play time overall, I would just tell you we gotta get through this practice," McDermott told Bills beat reporters Friday who were at Halas Hall. "Go back to the hotel and go through the injury report and then reset the table for the game on Sunday night."
It was left at that. The Bills had their meeting and there are no reports of whether they'll play first teamers. They pay people to operate their own team website and haven't bothered to post it there or on social mdia, either.
The Bills defense Williams faces could be Joey Bosa, Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver, AJ Epenesa, DaQuan Jones and Landon Jackson or it could be loaded with people like Javon Solomon, Zion Logue, Deone Walker and Paris Shand.
Both the Bills and Dolphins staff have noted that the aggression that the Bears are playing with is not training camp friendly.
“They really comin’ out and poppin’ us like its a game.” pic.twitter.com/uTr1rGhJiL
— Polymarket Football (@PolymarketBlitz) August 15, 2025
From the way Friday's practice went, Williams probably benefits more facing the backups because the first-team Buffalo pass rushers looked like more than Bears tackles could handle.
Here are the biggest challenges Williams faces in seeing his first preseason time within Johnson;s offense Sunday night against Buffalo.
Hi Matt, there were a lot more national guys at practice today and no one documented the amount of struggles you did. I thought that was strange, so I took a look at your other work this offseason surrounding Caleb Williams and you may just like using "alternative facts". pic.twitter.com/hjhUCk4mIL
— Will Land (@WillLand) August 15, 2025
Buffalo is trying to find its way in the secondary a year after finishing 24th against the pass.
Cornerbacks Tre'Davious White, Christian Benford and Taron Johnson, and safeties Taylor Rapp and Cole Bishop would still be a good test for Williams if they played against him but it would otherwise be Damar Hamlin, Dane Jackson, Jordan Hancock and Ja'Marcus Ingram.
How is this a actual headline?@MattVerderame you are a brain dead moron, you should be fired instantly for such a horrible take. Learn ball clown 🤡 pic.twitter.com/7qCd9AhUBp
— 🐻⬇️ Captain Caleb (@captaincaleb18) August 15, 2025
Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard has been dealing with an injury and the backup group could also be without Shaq Thompson. The best routes for Williams normally would be the shorter passes, but Buffalo is a bit different. Facing backups or even third teamers due to the linebacker injuries will not benefit Williams as much. That is the problem with judging too much from preseason games–you never can be sure who you'll face in them.
The practice held Friday was more beneficial from that end because the Bears went against first-team Buffalo defenders and the results were not as bad as some accounts. At the same time Williams had trouble consistently moving the offense, Josh Allen, Mitchell Trubisky and Mike White were giving the football away with interceptions.
Instead of their struggles avoiding a ton of turnovers, Williams' inconsistency owned the headlines.
It's not an entirely false narrative but definitely low-hanging fruit to be sure.
If it was Williams who threw three interceptions and had a fumble taken back for a touchdown like the Bills did Friday, imagine the complaining. But he didn't and Buffalo QBs did.
Impressed with the Bears young pass catchers at their joint practice against the Bills pic.twitter.com/pw45lf3aHW
— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) August 16, 2025
It's going to be a test of whether Williams has been practicing stepping up into the pocket to throw rather than looking to escape on the edge. If Buffalo's starters play, getting outside Rousseau and Bosa would be rough and Epenesa and Jackson as the backups make it even more difficult. During practice Friday, officials blew the whistle for a sack. On the very next play, pass rush pressure very quickly caused Williams to panic and turn his back to the rush entirely as he looked for a way out of the pocket.
Any pass rusher with a bit of quickness could have quickly pulled him down due to the panic-induced retreat. Stepping up and throwing is the way to get this done. Is Williams even tall enough at 6-1 to step forward and throw?
I think we’ll all be watching that Left Tackle position more than usual Sunday night when the Bears host the Bills. #SundayNightFootball #ChicagoBears
— John “Tooch” Santucci VIP (@JohnSantucciVip) August 16, 2025
It's Buffalo's excellent and deep pass rush group who make the questionable pass coverage acceptable, and if they use backups then the value in terms of gauging Williams' progress is lessened.
It's sad to say but the Bears offense often has problems setting up properly or getting out of the huddle with the play called without stubbing its own toe. It might not all be on Williams to fix this in a second preseason game but he is the starting point.
So @trislerstudz offers up his @FDSportsbook Pick of the Week for Bears-Bills … 👀@TakeTheNorthPod pic.twitter.com/3aLvNdgxSD
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) August 16, 2025
They had four or five false starts in Friday practices. One play counted as a false start early in practice by many observers was immediately called a false start, but officials reversed it to an offsides against the Bills. Either way, there is jumping either because of the cadence or the linemen not being focused enough.
This has happened throughout training camp, although Johnson had promised its end soon.
Delay of game penalties were also viewed as similar to the false starts, resulting from wasting to much time in the presnap process. Johnson had to admit some of it is Williams' fault.
“It could be," he said. "Every play's a little bit different, but we're not here to come in and point the finger at any one individual.
All of us collectively, we need to know what to do, we need to make sure we communicate that and we need to go out and execute."
The preseason is all about depth. Injuries are inevitable. You want as little drop off as possible. We are watching individuals, not the standing.
— David B Bell (@DavidBBell1) August 16, 2025
The biggest challenge Williams face is himself in this preseason game and practice on a daily basis. Inconsistency with accuracy is all in Williams' footwork says Johnson. It's the reason Williams had such a low completion percentage (62.5%) last year and failed to hit his goal of 70% in camp.
"He has a beautiful throwing motion," Johnson said. "That was ingrained into him at a young age, and I think that still shows up, so there's nothing mechanically wrong, but it's just all about the alignment and getting out in front of the target."
Simone Biles was back at Bears practice to see them taking on the Bills. Hopefully some of her championship pedigree rubs off. pic.twitter.com/o8xOM3weuy
— Bears History (@ChiBearsHistory) August 16, 2025
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