KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Bears’ final preseason game has traditionally been the best indicator of who’s made the active roster. Those players typically don’t play.
Coach Matt Eberflus lived up to his promise to sit his starters against the Chiefs on Thursday night.
Offensive players who didn’t play include quarterback Caleb Williams; running backs D’Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson; receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze; tight ends Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett and Marcedes Lewis; and offensive linemen Braxton Jones, Nate Davis, Coleman Shelton, Teven Jenkins and Darnell Wright.
Defensive players who sat out were defensive linemen Montez Sweat, Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter and Demarcus Walker; linebackers T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds and Jack Sanborn; cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson; and safeties Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard and Elijah Hicks. Brisker and Byard are injured.
Rookie tackle Kiran Amegadjie, the third-round pick who came off the non-football injury list Sunday after recovering from quad surgery, did not play.
Punter Tory Taylor didn’t kick for the second time in four preseason games.
Velus Jones, the Bears’ presumed kickoff returner, didn’t return kicks Thursday. He finally hit the field in the second quarter, when he took a handoff and caught a checkdown pass. Jones, who moved to running back two-and-a-half weeks ago, played the position the rest of the game. He ran for a 39-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
Coleman hurt
Bears safety Douglas Coleman III was put on a backboard and then a stretcher after making contact while defending a pass in the third quarter. He appeared to hit his head and shoulders into the side of wide receiver Cornell Powell when he caught a nine-yard pass on the first play of the third quarter.
Coleman was transferred to a Kansas City Fire Department cart and taken off the field. The entire Bears bench walked across the field in support — he was hurt near the Chiefs sideline — and general manager Ryan Poles, who was already on the field, watched closely.
Coleman is a Texas Tech alum who spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks.
Borom injured
Larry Borom, fighting for the Bears’ swing tackle job, was carted off the field in the first quarter after appearing to injure his right leg.
Borom is the Bears’ most accomplished backup tackle but is set to receive a three-fold pay bump — $3.1 million — if he makes the team. He’s started 23 games in three seasons since the Bears drafted him out of Missouri.
Reddy, steady, go
With 22 seconds in the first half, undrafted rookie cornerback Reddy Steward intercepted a Chris Oladokun pass at the Chiefs’ 48 and returned it for a touchdown. Safety Adrian Colbert blitzed the Chiefs quarterback, hitting him as he threw and forcing him to throw a wobbly ball.
It was Steward’s second interception of the game; he picked off a pass at the goal line about four minutes into the second half.
Punt mistake
If DeAndre Carter is going to be the Bears’ punt returner — and that’s the only way he’s going to make the team a— then he can’t afford to have a repeat of Thursday night. Carter, who has 132 career punt returns, ran away from a punt he let fall at the Bears’ 9, then was blocked back into the ball by Chiefs linebacker linebacker Cole Christiansen. He stepped back onto the ball and the Chiefs recovered it.
This and that
• Center/guard Ryan Bates and defensive tackle Zacch Pickens remained out.
• Linebacker Noah Sewell, who’s been hurt most of camp, played.
• Receiver Nsimba Webster hobbled to the sideline in the second quarter and later went to the locker room on a cart.