Five reasons to watch Bears-Bengals Thursday night

Last week’s Hall of Fame Game was viewed more as a bonus than a significant part of the Bears’ preseason, to the point that Brian Urlacher apologized to the team for making them play an extra game in August.

So tonight’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium is, effectively, the first game of the preseason for the vast majority of Bears who will play a significant role in the 2018 regular season. With that in mind, looking at a few things to watch for tonight:

1. Mitch Trubisky’s debut

The Bears want to see Trubisky command the huddle in his first live game action running Matt Nagy’s offense. His time behind center won’t be lengthy — maybe one or two series — but Thursday…