Surprisingly enough, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Monday he will play his starters against the Bears in the preseason finale Friday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson hasn’t said yet, but he left the possibility on the table late Sunday after a 38-0 rout of the Bills at Soldier Field.
‘‘They’ll start it off, for sure, and then we’ll see how it goes from there,’’ Reid said of his starters.
That seemed to indicate even star players such as quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones will play. Mahomes didn’t play in either of the Chiefs’ first two preseason games.
Johnson was noncommittal when he was asked about his players’ workload this week, but he liked the idea of the full team going through the routine of preparing for the game at Arrowhead Stadium.
‘‘This would be really the first time we’re on the road in a preseason,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘It’s probably good to go through that exercise, as well.’’
When the Bears and Chiefs finished the preseason against each other last year, neither team played its starters. Even Bears backup quarterback Tyson Bagent didn’t play much, with most of the snaps going to Brett Rypien and Austin Reed.
