When the Chicago Bears host the Kansas City Chiefs for their first preseason game of the summer, expect to see plenty of familiar faces for Chicago.
Head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed his starters will play in the preseason opener at Soldier Field. That includes Justin Fields, who is entering his second year and first as the starting quarterback.
While the coaching staff hasn’t hammered out the number of reps that they’ll take, Eberflus did say they “do want to get them a good amount.”
Both the offense and defense are learning new schemes under the new coaching staff. But all eyes will be on Fields and the offense, which has had its share of struggles during the first week of training camp.
Fields is looking forward to getting out there and getting more reps, while seeing a different defense.
“We practice against our defense every day,” he said. “Getting to go up against someone else will be good for us.”
#Bears HC Matt Eberflus says starters will play preseason opener vs. Chiefs. Not sure how many reps yet but says Bears "do want to get them a good amount."
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) August 3, 2022
Outside of that, a big storylines for this game will be the return of former head coach Matt Nagy to Soldier Field. Nagy was fired this offseason after a disappointing 6-11 campaign, where Fields was battered in his rookie season.
Soon after, Nagy rejoined Andy Reid in Kansas City, where he’s serving as the quarterbacks coach and reunited with Patrick Mahomes.
It’s safe to say Nagy shouldn’t expect a warm welcome back to Chicago.