Bears’ Williams, starters not playing in HOF game

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams will have to wait another week to make his NFL debut.

The Chicago Bears rookie quarterback and other starters will not play in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game (8 p.m. ET, ABC, ESPN), coach Matt Eberflus announced. Second-year quarterback Tyson Bagent will start for the Bears against the Houston Texans.

Chicago concluded its ninth practice of training camp Tuesday and will hold a split session Wednesday before departing for Canton, Ohio. Players who are expected to play against the Texans will go through a walk-through while primary starters are on a different field.

Eberflus declined to say whether Williams will start at Buffalo in the Bears’ second preseason game Aug. 10, stating that the decision on the quarterback’s preseason availability will be looked at from “week to week.”

At the start of training camp, Eberflus said the Bears would aim to play Williams in the range of 45 to 55 reps in the preseason, which is based on the workload last year’s first-round quarterbacks received in exhibition games. After Thursday’s preseason opener, the Bears will have three more games in August (at Buffalo, vs. Cincinnati and at Kansas City) as well as a one-day joint practice with the Bengals.

“I do know that we’re getting a lot of good reps in practice, those are also equally as valuable, and the Cincinnati work is going to also be equally as valuable as those games because there you can run some more things and you’re doing some different things there,” Eberflus said. “It’s good-on-good there, too.”

Williams said he feels “on track to be ready” for the start of the regular season at the conclusion of his eighth practice Monday. After an uneven day for the first-team offense in 11-on-11 drills, the quarterback led a successful two-minute drive that culminated with a touchdown to rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze.

“I would agree with that,” Eberflus said of Williams’ assessment. “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 practice, as you saw today, and then also in the evening we had a massive amount. … His way is to know the scheme, know his fundamentals, know it cold, and keep operating that way.

“To me, 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.”

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