Chicago Bears vs Houston Texans kick off NFL preseason with Hall of Fame Game 2024

Welcome to the new NFL year; the preseason starts Thursday with the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game: Chicago Bears v Houston Texans.

Sunday, August 2 as part of the 2015 NFL Preseason in the Hall of Fame Game 8pm ET/5pm PT

The game is an annual affair of Enshrinement Week, with legends Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers, Patrick Willis, Randy Gradishar, and Steve McMichael getting induced into the hall of fame in Canton within the week.

Taking to the field will not be Chicago’s first-overall pick and the quarterback, Caleb Williams since he asked to play the games but was denied to do so by the head coach Matt Eberflus.

“I always fancy whenever there is more positives than negatives in any experience, even more so if you are a young man like me,” Williams expounded. The reps are always critical for any body like myself – a young rookie, a second-year individual, a third-year person.

“Me, I would like to get out there and play… but as you know it is the coach’s prerogative… “

Also, the Bears’ starting quarterback will not be the guy that won the Heisman Trophy in 2022, Tyson Bagent will start under centre.

Bagent, 24, had a longer spell of games in the starting position for Chicago last season after Fields suffered from a dislocated right thumb in the sixth week. In 5 games played in his rookie season, he passed for 859 yards, 3 passing TDs, and 6 interceptions. He also chipped 109 yards on the ground where he registered two rushing touchdowns.

The product of the new Shepherd university will have his first feel of action with the new offensive coordinator, Shan Waldron, who joined the team from the Seattle Seahawks this off-season.

Waldron had an effecting start as the head coach in Seattle, teaching creativity in the play calling and how to get a great deal of out of the quarterback, Wilson and Geno Smith played very well under the 44-year-old man.

A new-look offence with Waldron in charge will debut in his first game with the team to reverse the luck that saw the Bears rank in the lower half of the league for yards and points per game.

The expectations for the Texans are high now with the Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter, and Joe Mixon signings off-season of the team becoming the first AFC South champions since 2019.

And as for the active players for Thursday, there is no information of that from head coach DeMeco Ryans. As for the expectants, it is expected that most of them such as the starter of the Quarterback C. J. Stroud will not be in the field.

The former Ohio State Buckeye is coming off of his rookie campaign in which he was named to the Pro Bowl and tabbed the Offensive Rookie of the year.

In Stroud absence, Davis Mills, Case Keenum and Tim Boyle could all get action under center.

Mills, 25, managed only six games last season when he played in the Texans after starting for the previous two years. Also, the Stanford product threw for 5,782 yards, 33 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in the 28 matches attended from the season 2021-22.

A name that might suit the field tonight is the Canadian receiver John Metchie III. Metchie hails from Taiwan, however, has been raised in Brampton, Ont. , He achieved a stellar collegiate career at Alabama, the 2021 second-team All-SEC member.

He was selected by the Texans as the second round pick of the 2022 draft and then did not play what would have been his rookie season after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

The 2020 College Football Playoff winner entered the NFL last year and played as a part of the Houston team playing as a receiver in 16 matches where he caught 16 passes for 158 yards.

In a very talented wide receiver room tonight could be the night that the 24-year-old demonstrates his skills and tries to get more targets heading into the next season.

The new kickoff rules in the NFL will also be also showcased tonight after the owners agreed on the change in the off-season.

The ball must be kicked off from a team’s own 35-yard line and rest of the ten players of each team has to align at 40-yard line of the opponent team.

The receiving team is now obliged to have at least nine players in the new ‘set-up zone’, within 30-35 yards. To return the kick, only two players are allowed to be in their own 20 (receiving the kick) team territory.

”This is our chance to keep special teams in the game,” said NFL Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay. “Special teams have always been a part of football and it can be said that with kickoff gone, we were pretty much wiping out special teams and go for a punt. ”

The new rules are similar to kickoffs in the XFL where coaches are encouraged to have a team to run back the kickoff, and not take a touchback that results in high speed impact collisions.