1st-and-10: To play or not to play? That is no longer the question

Justin Casterline, Getty

When the Bears’ starting offense hardly played in preseason games in 2019 — with Mitch Trubisky taking three snaps without throwing a single pass — the offense’s sluggish performance in 10-3 loss to the Packers in the regular-season opener was so stark, even coach Matt Nagy acknowledged the error and vowed to try a different tack in 2020. 

“I look back and I say if I could change something in 2019, it would be playing our starters more — 100 percent,” Nagy said in May of 2020. 

That never happened because the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated the 2020 preseason. And the Nagy era continued to unravel from there. 

Fast forward to 2023 and the Bears are in a similar situation — with a developing offense in its second year under coordinator Luke Getsy, seemingly in need of every snap it can get. 

But after sitting out the Bears’ second preseason game against the Colts on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, quarterback Justin Fields and the starting offense has played just seven snaps in the preseason. And coach Matt Eberflus doesn’t sound too keen on the starters playing in the preseason finale against the Bills on Saturday at Soldier Field. 

So it’s possible the Bears again could go into a preseason opener against the Packers at Soldier Field with a designated franchise-quarterback-in-training having played minimal snaps. 

Here we go again? Right? Wrong? Boneheaded? 

None of the above. The preseason was already changing in 2019 and it has devolved even more in the past four years — to the point where preseason games don’t seem to help anybody. 

Once upon a time, playing an established Bills defense that finished second in the NFL in points allowed in a preseason game would have been the best thing for Fields and the offense. It would have been much better than even joint practices against a Colts defense that finished 28th in points allowed last year, and with DeForest Buckner on the sideline. 

But those days are going, if not gone. Bills coach Sean McDermott expressed a desire to get more “dress rehearsal” time for his starters this preseason, but they’re not expected to get extensive snaps, if any, Saturday at Soldier Field.

Whether they do or not, preseason NFL football is withering. Justin Fields and the rest of the Bears’ offensive starters need the work — and perhaps they’ll get some Saturday against the Bills. But these days, it’s not going to make that much of a difference. More than ever, it’s the regular season that counts.

2. For the record, that 2019 opener meant more. The Bears were coming off a 12-4 playoff season. They had the best defense in football.They expected to be contenders. 

This time, the Bears are in full developmental mode on both sides of the ball. The mediocrity of the NFL can make them a contender for the postseason, but the playoffs are not an expectation. 

An opening loss to the Packers could end up being critical. But right now the most reasonable expectation for the 2023 Bears is to be better at the end than in the beginning. All the hard work is done in the regular season these days. It’s not so much how well they play. It’s how well they learn. 

3. Even more so today than four years ago, most of the NFL is in the same boat with regard to preseason preparation. The Packers defense Fields & Co. will play on Sept. 10 hasn’t played a lot in the preseason either. 

Defensive tackle Kenny Clark, linebacker Rashan Gary and Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander yet to play. Linebackers Quay Walker (25 snaps) and Preston Smith (seven) and De’Vondre Campbell (three) have had light duty so far. 

The Packers were a hot-and-cold defense last season. The opener will be a good early indicator for the Bears’ formative offense. 

4. No Bears quarterback has started every game of the regular season since Jay Cutler in 2009, so the P.J. Walker issue (a 14.6 passer rating in two games) can’t be dismissed.

It’s a quandary that’s fit for the Bears. The designated back-up has been as uninspiring as a designated back-up can be (Walker). The back-up who looks most like an NFL quarterback is an undrafted free agent from a Division II school (Tyson Bagent from Shepherd University). And the safe alternative right now is Nathan Peterman, who is 1-4 as an NFL starter and didn’t even finish the one game he has won (with the Bills against the Colts in 2017). 

Bagent looks like someone who could walk into the 49ers huddle and get the job done in a pinch. He has to show a lot more to be a serious contender for the Bears’ back-up job, but he’s earned that chance. 

5. You Gotta Love Football Dept.: On the same October weekend that Tyson Bagent was throwing three touchdown passes to lead Shepherd University to a 47-14 rout of West Chester in front of 2,123 fans at Farrell Stadium in West Chester, Pa., P.J. Walker was outplaying Tom Brady — throwing two touchdown passes for a career-best 126.5 passer rating to lead the Panthers to a 21-3 victory over the Buccaneers in front of 71,941 fans at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Now, they’re on the same, level playing field. 

Walker still figures to be the back-up when the regular season begins — he has $2 million in guaranteed money and has won three NFL games. Then again, Nick Foles is still out there. 

6. Did You Know? Bagent (13-of-15, 113 yards) has a higher passer rating through two preseason games as a rookie (98.0) than Brock Purdy did through two preseason games as a rookie with the 49ers last season (80.8). 

7. Rookie defensive tackles Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens seemed like they made progress in Week 2 of the preseason. Pickens made the bigger impact in the game, but Dexter was happy with his improvement he made with his get-off from the opener against the Titans. He’s learning. 

“It’s not secret to getting off the ball,” Dexter said. “You get down. You get set. Key the ball. Key your man and get off the ball. That’s what I did today. 

Dexter said he can feel it coming … eventually. 

“For sure,” he said. “It’ll definitely be there. Things are slowing down for me. [Against the Colts] I felt like I got off the ball the right way, was in the backfield a pretty good amount of times, and that was due to just the get-off.” 

8. The offensive line is the Bears’ most critical question mark heading into the final two weeks before Week 1.

The line came in with expectations of continuity — with a set lineup of Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair, Nate Davis and rookie Darnell Wright at the start of training camp. But with injuries to Davis, Jenkins and now Whitehair, the line has been a bit of patchwork for most of camp. 

This line has to establish itself before “next man up” can be an effective weekly battle cry. And time is running out. 

9. Ex-Bears Player of the Week: Steelers back-up quarterback Mitch Trubisky completed 10-of-13 pass attempts for 78 yards and one touchdown for a 116.8 rating in a 27-15 victory over the Bills. 

10. Bear-ometer: 8-9 — vs. Packers (L); at Buccaneers (W); at Chiefs (L); vs. Broncos (L); at Commanders (W); vs. Vikings (W); vs. Raiders (W); at Chargers (L); at Saints (L); vs. Panthers (W); at Lions (L); at Vikings (L); vs. Lions (W); at Browns (L); vs. Cardinals (W); vs. Falcons (L); at Packers (W).