Williams among Bears starters who will sit out Sunday’s preseason opener against the Dolphins

Bears head coach Ben Johnson announced Friday that quarterback Caleb Williams and some starters won’t play in Sunday’s preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field.

Johnson said about nine players on offense and nine players on defense won’t play in Sunday’s game (noon, Fox). Williams will be one of those not playing.

The Bears hosted a joint practice against the Dolphins on Friday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. Johnson said the first-team offense and defense got a majority of the snaps during that practice and felt that was enough for the opener.

“We have in place a plan for whether it’s pregame or after the game the next day, where the guys aren’t playing, they’re going to be getting a substantial number of reps (during Friday’s joint practice) that’s actually higher than those who are playing,” Johnson said. “We talked about it as a staff. We feel very good about this plan going forward and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Johnson told reporters that the starters should get some snaps in games some time this preseason. Williams and the offense will next have a chance to play Aug. 17 when the Bears host the Buffalo Bills for their second preseason game. The team is set to host the Bills for another joint practice on Friday, Aug. 15.

The Bears will end the preseason against at the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 22. But it’s not likely that any starters will play in that game, which is usually reserved for players fighting for the final roster spots.

Sunday could’ve been an opportunity for Williams and the first-team offense to get some live-game snaps as they try to progress in Johnson’s offense. But Williams told reporters Thursday that he’ll do whatever Johnson asks of him and the offense.

“It’s always good to be able to go out there and get a few reps in the preseason, rather than your first time getting real live reps or anything like that or modified reps is the first game of September and you’re going against the Vikings, an opponent like that,” Williams said. “I’ll be out there whenever (Johnson) says and we’ll go out there and play however many plays he tells us to play.”