Bears ready to reveal a little more about themselves in preseason opener vs. Miami

The wait is finally over.

Months after hiring Ben Johnson as their new head coach and weeks after starting training camp, the Bears will play a game. They’ll open the preseason against the Miami Dolphins at noon Sunday at Soldier Field.

Johnson already announced that quarterback Caleb Williams and some of the starters won’t play in Sunday’s game. But there will still be interesting storylines to watch out for during the opener.

Here are four storylines to watch Sunday afternoon.

Glimpses into Johnson’s offense:

Although the starters won’t play, Sunday will be the first time Bears fans will get a chance to see what a Johnson-led team looks like in a game. They’ll also get a glimpse into what his offense with the Bears will look like in a game, at least a little bit of it.

Playcalling in the preseason is pretty vanilla. Johnson is likely to keep things pretty fundamental, especially during the first preseason game with the backup players. Team’s don’t want to put anything on tape that regular-season opponents could use for their matchups later in the year.

But fans should get glimpses into the basics of Johnson’s offense in Chicago, like how much shotgun Johnson will want to run and how often he’ll use two tight end sets.

Battle for left tackle:

Johnson did announce that the competition for the starting left tackle spot will continue during Sunday’s game. Returning starter Braxton Jones, rookie Ozzy Trapilo and Theo Benedet will split snaps during the game as Bears coaches continue their evaluation.

A leader for the starting job hasn’t become apparent during the first two weeks of camp. Jones, Trapilo, Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie have evenly split snaps at left tackle with the first-team offense during practice. Amegadjie has been sidelined for the past week because of a leg injury, however.

Johnson has been looking for cohesion on the offensive line as camp progresses. But he’s also not feeling a rush to decide as soon as possible.

“We’re not in a rush here to make this decision,” Johnson said. “We’re going to go as long as we need to go to feel like we’re making the best possible decision for our best five to be out there. But yeah, there’s a lot of weight that goes into this practice, there’s a lot of weight that goes into Sunday’s game, there’s a lot of weight that goes into Buffalo next week. I don’t want any of those guys looking ahead right now. What’s important is the here and now.”

Who stands out?

There will be plenty of players to watch Sunday, even though the starters won’t be playing.

Quarterback Tyson Bagent will start the game as he earns important snaps to show that he can step in and execute Johnson’s offense in case something happens to Williams. Bagent is in a competition for the backup quarterback spot with Case Keenum. The two have split the second-team snaps for much of camp.

Sunday should also be a good opportunity to make up for lost time. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland and rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III could get some snaps after missing most or all of spring practices while recovering from their respective injuries. Rookie running back Kyle Monangai will also try to show he can play in Johnson’s offense.

Defensively, fans’ eyes will likely be focused on the defensive line and the cornerback spots. With the timing of Jaylon Johnson’s return uncertain and the No. 2 cornerback spot being up for grabs, there’s plenty to play for defensively.

“There’s a lot of them,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “This will be our first real live action together, and so there’s a lot of guys that we need to find out about in the first preseason game. So nobody in particular. It’s a lot of guys.”

Johnson’s first game:

Sunday will be an important moment for Ben Johnson.

Although it’s a preseason game, it’ll be the first time Ben Johnson serves as a head coach during an NFL game. It’ll also be the first time he tries to juggle serving as a head coach and the team’s playcaller at the same time during a game.

Ben Johnson said he and his staff have already put in work to prepare for different game scenarios during walk-throughs in training camp. They’ve set up a plan on how the Bears’ coaching staff will communicate.

But they’ll get a chance to put that practice into play Sunday.

“Once you get into crunch time and the guns are going off, you have to make sure that one word tells everybody what’s going on,” Ben Johnson said. “It has been a learning process because it’s our first year doing it all together. I think the guys have handled it really well so far, but we’re going to put ourselves in those situations as much as we can, whether it’s a walk-through or full-speed practice, and that’s really why I’m excited about these preseason games, is that it’s actually going to occur organically.”