Why Caleb Williams is not playing for the Bears in the Hall of Fame Game

If there is a football fan in your life, they might be a little excited today.

Because the NFL is back.

Thursday night sees the kickoff of the NFL’s preseason slate of games, with the annual Hall of Fame Game coming live from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The game features the Houston Texans — last year’s AFC South upstarts — and the Chicago Bears.

Both teams were selected as former players from each organization are getting their Hall of Fame bust this weekend in Canton. Former Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson, Chicago return specialist Devin Hester, and Chicago defensive tackle Steve McMichael will have their busts unveiled this weekend, alongside Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers (also a Bear for four seasons), Patrick Willis, and Randy Gradishar as the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

But on Thursday night there is a game to be played, one featuring the Bears and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the first-overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, if you tune in expecting to see Williams, prepare to be disappointed.

He will not see the field on Thursday night.

Earlier this week Chicago head coach Matt Eberflus announced that the team’s starters would not be playing in the Hall of Fame Game, citing the team’s early start to training camp. With the Bears being picked for the Hall of Fame Game they started camp on the early side, and are already deep into padded practices.

“We feel really good where they are right now in terms of the padded practices we’ve had,” said the Bears head coach. “We’ve had three so far and then have another one tomorrow. We got a head start there because we are in the Hall of Fame Game, which I think is very fortunate for us this year to be able to add those reps.”

Eberflus noted that by not playing the starters, it gives players on the fringe of the roster a chance to put valuable reps on film for the Bears, as well as the rest of the league come roster cutdown time.

“It’s a great opportunity really for the guys, the role players that we’re going to have on our team and the guys that are fringe roster players,” Eberflus said. “Those guys are going to be looked at by not only us but, of course, the whole league.”

Despite not playing on Thursday night Williams will still snaps in the preseason, with the team reportedly eying somewhere around 45 to 55 snaps for the rookie quarterback.

“That’s always a number that you’re searching for, what we had looked at this year,” Eberflus said. “And it’s week to week. You’ve always got to look at the health of your team, as I stated before. That can change. That can adjust. I do know we’re getting a lot of good reps in practice. Those are also equally as valuable. And the Cincinnati [joint practice] is going to be equally as valuable as those games because there you can run some more things and you’re doing some different things there and it’s good on good.”

As for Williams himself, the rookie passer believes he is on track to make his NFL debut. “I think I’m on track to be ready, exactly where I need to be and where they want me to be,” said Williams at training camp this week.

His head coach concurred with that assessment.

“I would agree with that,” Eberflus said Tuesday. “He’s really made some big strides here. We’re really talking about a massive amount of reps in the first eight or nine practices that we had, because we have it set up for the walk-throughs prior to practices and then also in the evening we had a massive amount. He’s really starting to pick up his leadership too. Because now he feels comfortable in the offense, you can really start to see him coach other guys, encourage other guys, bring guys together, which he has done in the past and that’s a good sign too.”

So while the NFL is back, those waiting to see the first-overall pick from last spring might need to wait just a bit longer.