Surprisingly, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday he will play his starters against the Bears in the preseason finale Friday. Bears coach Ben Johnson hasn’t said yet, but left the possibility on the table late Sunday after beating the Bills 38-0 at Soldier Field.
“They’ll start it off for sure, and then we’ll see how it goes from there,” Reid said of his starters.
That seemed to indicate that even star players like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones will play. Mahomes didn’t play in either of the Chiefs’ first two preseason games.
When Johnson was asked about the workload for his players this week, he was noncommittal, but liked the idea of the full team going through the routine of preparing for the game at Arrowhead Stadium.
“This would be really the first time we’re on the road in a preseason,” Johnson said. “It’s probably good to go through that exercise as well.”
When the Bears and Chiefs finished the preseason against each other last year, neither team played its starters. Even Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent didn’t play much, with most of the game going to Brett Rypien and Austin Reed.”