Bear Digest

Bears to Watch in Preseason Game No. 2 Against Buffalo Bills

Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze and several other Bears starters will be on display for fans in a game for the first time in Saturday's second preseason game in Buffalo.

Gene Chamberlain

Bears QB Caleb Williams will be under the spotlight for the first time Saturday in Buffalo against the Bills.
Bears QB Caleb Williams will be under the spotlight for the first time Saturday in Buffalo against the Bills. / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
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Considering the amount of playing time Caleb Williams will actually receive in this preseason opener, it's probably going to be a letdown for Bears fans regardless of what happens.

Even if he throws for a few touchdowns, he'll be in and out and more than half of Saturday's game will be played without him.

However, this is the first chance to see him playing against NFL defenders who do not wear the Bears jerseys and as such the focus will be entirely on the quarterback wearing No. 18.

It's been difficult to judge him considering how the defense he faces all the time is good, but also hasn't had a lot of the starters on the field in practice in recent days.

"That's a good point and I would say he's right where he needs to be right now," coach Matt Eberflus said. "He's having some good days and some good periods and then some other ones that he's learning from adversity and a setback.

"I told him to just lean into that. When you have a setback or have adversity, don't shy away from it. Lean into it and then learn from it and then get better from it because a lot of people want to hide, shrink away from adversity. That's not what we do; we lean into it and get better from it, invest our time, grow and improve, and that’s what he’s been doing."

The difference starting with Saturday's noon road game is they'll start to fix numbers to it all and put it on a scoreboard.

Here are the 10 Bears to watch in Week 2 of the Chicago preseason and it's a much different list than last week when only backups played.

1. Caleb Williams

How long does he hold the ball. Is it a clean operation with a drop and then throw? Is he trying to do too much with his legs as a runner or extending plays to throw? These are all points to watch and issues for the rookie. There is no doubt about his arm strength and he appears to be reading defense well for a player in his first year, but facing up to the pass rush and getting it out in time to the right target is the goal even in preseason. Basically, the Bears want him to look like a quarterback in this one.

2. WR Rome Odunze

He's been putting in all the work and trying to learn from veterans DJ Moore and Keenan Allen. In his first game, the goal is to get him in routes for all situations and get him the ball to see what he does against other secondaries. He'll be the third receiver or the "Z" receiver with starters but when the starters come out it wouldn't be surprising for him to get added reps at either the "X" or slot receiver spots as the Bears want him to know all positions well. The other thing to watch is whether he returns punts. He's lined up with the punt returners and taken punts but actually doing it in any game with a first-round draft pick seems risky when they don't really need to do it.  After all, Tarik Cohen's career essentially ended as a punt returner on a fair catch.

3. WR Keenan Allen

The whole league should know by know what they'll see from the veteran but it's a little different considering he has never played in a game with this team after 11 years with the Chargers. The combo of the rookie QB throwing to the 12th-year player is also a dynamic to study.

4. WR/RB Velus Jones Jr.

Jones has had a few snaps in the backfield in the past but the Bears spent all week getting him reps as a running back as they're trying to unlock the 4.31-second speed he has. The plan is to get him reps as a back in this one

"I think that he’s done well back there," Eberflus said. "He's certainly got speed, we know that. He's very durable. He's got some good, lean mass to him, so he can knock it forward pretty good. He's got some good acceleration."

It's not all runs from scrimmage for Jones either.

"He's going to be a threat out of the backfield in terms of the passing game, so I'm excited for him," Eberflus said. "We're going to evaluate that, like I said, earlier in the week, stack by stack in terms of the practices and we'll re-evaluate that after Buffalo."

The question is what are they evaluating? Is it whether he is a return man only, or a receiver/running back, receiver/running back/return man or whether he should be on the roster at all?

5. DT Gervon Dexter

Showing he can handle the 3-technique spot from a run-stopping standpoint is critical because it's an important position for the scheme and also because he struggled in run defense last year as a rookie. Dexter's pass rush has been very impactful in practices, particularly as he gets his hands up and bats down throws. Now he can finish the job in a live situation and it needs to be seen. Stopping the run is now actually something to work at, as well, because they can tackle to the ground. The Bills are a good test because they mix the run and pass well.

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"Just being around the ball, knocking it, batting them down and everything, it's going to help the team out," linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. "Because those are big plays. You're looking at a big play versus now the quarterback has to try to come back and throw over a 6-7 guy. So anytime you get that type of push in the passing game and even in he rushing game, it's going to help us out as a defense."

6. DE Austin Booker

Booker needs as much work as possible considering he had only one real college season at his position, and then it was as an outside linebacker and not a defensive end. Bears edge rushers in their first game struggled greatly, especially early. Someone needs to step up and show they can make plays off the edge. DeMarcus Walker had a sack in practice this week and the rush from the inside picked up, but Booker displayed little in the first preseason game. It would be good to get more return for their time invested in the fifth-round rookie.

7. P Tory Taylor

The fourth-round rookie didn't get the chance to do anything other than hold on a kickoff to keep it from blowing off the tee. It's possible he'll punt and even kick off in this game. Or, the Bears could fear it might get injured on kick or punt coverage and just hold him out entirely again while letting Corliss Williamsom do it.  Taylor at camp has been dazzling at trying to place it inside the 10 with either high punts or coffin-corner punts.

8. RB D'Andre Swift

It's his Bears debut as well. The starting running back is important but it's unlikely they'd want to risk him with many carries. Still, he does need to work on his timing. It can't hurt getting him on the field as a pass blocker because this is a big chore he needs to perform, besides also catching passes out of the backfield.

9. C Ryan Bates

Bates' first Bears game is back against his old team. He won't start at center but it wouldn't be surprising to see him play there at least for one series. He remains in a battle with Coleman Shelton for starting center but because of the soft tissue injury aggravated by Nate Davis, Bates is at right guard for now.

10. QB Tyson Bagent

There is a competition for backup quarterback, although it's been largely in the background until last week's preseason opener. Brett Rypien fired the first shots with an outstanding effort. It's Bagent's turn to show what he can do. A performance like he had last year in preseason against the Colts and Bills would help his cause.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.