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LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) -- Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will not make his NFL preseason debut in Thursday night's Hall of Fame Game against the Houston Texans, Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Tuesday.
The No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft from Southern California along with all the Bears starters will sit out the first game.
Eberflus said doesn't see a need for starters to play in an extra preseason game considering the team has three other games plus a practice session at Halas Hall against Cincinnati on Aug. 15 prior to the preseason game against the Bengals two days later.
"We feel really good where (players) are right now in terms of the padded practices we've had," Eberflus said. "We've had three so far and then have another one tomorrow. And have a lot of good work, ones on ones, two on twos, a lot of good situations.
"We got a head start there because we are in the Hall of Fame Game, which I think is very fortunate for us this year to be able to add those reps, time on task as we say to our football team."
Tyson Bagent will start at quarterback on Thursday. He and Brett Rypien are involved in a battle for the backup position.
Eberflus wouldn't commit yet to Williams making his debut in the Aug. 10 preseason game at Buffalo.
"Like I said, it's week to week, I'm not making that pronouncement now," Eberflus said.
However, he did say Williams needs the practice and will get some preseason playing time. He has said he'd like for Williams to get between 45 and 60 plays during preseason but without other starters playing against subs from Houston he'd be less likely to gain much from a start.
"He needs as many reps as he can get," Eberflus said. "You've got to be safe, of course. … You've got to be smart about it."
Eberflus called this a chance for coaches to get an extra look at players fighting for roster positions.
"It's a great opportunity really for the guys, the role players that we are going to have on our team and the fringe roster players," Eberflus said. "Those guys are going to be looked at not only by us but the whole league."
Williams said Monday that he wanted to play in the game at the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Three former Bears will be inducted at the ceremonies over the weekend: Devin Hester, Steve McMichael and Julius Peppers.
"I would love to get out there and play," Williams said. "It's pretty awesome to be at Canton but it's coach's decision."
The Bears have locked wide receiver DJ Moore up into the future with a four-year $110 million contract extension with $82.6 million guaranteed.
Chain gang gone?
The NFL is moving closer to replacing the chain gang with new technology to measure line to gain.
NFL executive Gary Brantley told The Associated Press the league will test Sony's Hawk-Eye technology during some preseason games. The system most likely wouldn't be ready for full implementation until next season, though it could happen sooner.
"We're in the installation phase for all of our stadiums, really getting them calibrated and up to date," said Brantley, the NFL's senior vice president and chief information officer. "We're just really getting to a place where this system is as accurate as possible and really calibrating across our multiple stadiums. … We have multiple stadiums with multiple dimensions inside of those stadiums with different age. So we're really just going through the installation of putting in the infrastructure and making sure these cameras are installed."
Sony, which was named the NFL's official technology partner on Wednesday, has expanded its sports technology through Hawk-Eye Innovations to support officiating and the development of on-field and sideline technologies, including a new coach's sideline headset that will debut in 2025.
Its Hawk-Eye tracking services for line-to-gain measurement adds cameras to stadiums to track players, officials and the ball. The optimal tracking system notifies officials instantly if a first down was gained after the ball is spotted by hand.
"We're reducing a significant amount of time, 40 seconds for each time of use that basically is making the game that much more impactful," said Neal Manowitz, Sony president and chief operations officer. "And then also the system is accurate down to less than half an inch, which is incredibly, incredibly accurate. Hopefully the fans appreciate the objective view, or at least half the fans each play will be appreciating it."
The NFL has long used two bright orange sticks and a chain to measure for first downs. That method would remain in a backup capacity.
Beyond new technology for line-to-gain measurement and new headsets for coaches' communication, Sony is partnering with the NFL to enhance sideline photography, broadcast cameras and production, and more.
"The NFL has incredibly high standards and really what we're talking about in this relationship is together, at the highest level, how do we change the future of sports," Manowitz said. "How we change line to gain is a great example, and that's where. … we get the creators of the game, all of the people of the ops team, the coaches, the players, how do we get that community as close as possible to our engineers, and how do we bring them and then ultimately provide a much better experience for fans."