Throughout the Bills’ blowout loss to the Bears — a 38-0 preseason night to forget — you could easily read head coach Sean McDermott’s face whenever the camera panned to him. For a coach that preaches staying sharp, fine-tuning the mental approach and outworking the opposition, the Bills did anything but in Chicago.

Outside of safety Cole Bishop and wide receiver Joshua Palmer, the Bills chose to rest every other starter on the team, including some of their key reserve players, too. Coming off their joint practice with the Bears on Friday, McDermott felt good enough about his team that he could sit quarterback Josh Allen and almost all the others to avoid injury.

“I thought we had some momentum coming off that practice, which I thought was a good practice for us. Tonight, however, not even close,” McDermott said after the game. “We gotta look at it, figure some things out and evaluate some of the guys as well and see where we stand there. A lot of work to get done this week as we move forward here.”

The Bills were blown out in every way possible. On offense, they couldn’t move the ball early, failed to convert on a single third-down attempt the entire game, and when it looked like they were finally threatening to put up points, reserve running back Frank Gore Jr. had the ball stripped from his grasp, and the Bears jumped on it.

On defense, the Bills couldn’t establish the line of scrimmage, while the backend failed to lend support to the defensive linemen. On top of it all, the Bills had 10 total penalties. That type of night will fuel McDermott and his staff the rest of the practice week leading up to their preseason finale.

Even with the subpar team performance, there are still some individual takeaways from the game. Whose performance helped their case, and who might have some work to do after Sunday’s game?

Here’s the Bills’ stock report following their second preseason game.

RisersWR Tyrell Shavers

There wasn’t a lot of good that came from the game, but Shavers had perhaps the best game of the evening in a few different ways. He made a pair of receptions, including the team’s offensive highlight of the night on a 22-yard catch early in the contest. But it wasn’t just the statistical contributions. The Bills didn’t convert a single third down the entire game, but their lone positive play on third down was due to Shavers winning his route on a 3rd-and-18 and drawing a defensive pass interference penalty to give the Bills offense a rare, earned first down. On top of that, Shavers put some good special teams reps on tape, and after McDermott discussed the importance of special teams on Friday for the depth receiver options trying to make the team, that will also lend itself well to Shavers’ chances. This time last year, in the second preseason game, Shavers went from having a strong camp and pushing to make the roster to having a disappointing showing in the contest to lose ground in the roster race. This year, the opposite is true, as Shavers has put together his best case to make the team since joining the Bills as an undrafted rookie in 2023.

QB Mitchell Trubisky

It wasn’t an amazing performance by Trubisky by any means, but his 7-of-13 performance that yielded 55 yards easily made him the Bills’ top quarterback. Trubisky entered the game to begin the second half and helped the Bills get down the field for the first time all game. More importantly, when things broke down around Trubisky, he had the mobility to find the escape hatch and move outside the pocket. On the other hand, Mike White, who took two sacks and completed only 4-of-11 passes for 54 yards, could not escape the pressure when the Bears won their matchups up front. Trubisky was already ahead in the backup race before the game, and it seems like he’s closing in on winning the job.

DB Jordan Hancock

For a second straight preseason game, Hancock — a fifth-round rookie — appeared to be putting together another strong night. Whether it was in run support or when tasked with coverage, Hancock’s instincts consistently put him in the right positions. The night wasn’t perfect for Hancock, as his smaller size in the run game showed up a little, but he continued to show why the Bills are excited about his first year with the team. Hancock also played exclusively at safety in the first half, and entered the game for Bishop once the starter hit his rep count maximum in the middle of the Bears’ second drive. Hancock then began the second half at nickel, likely due to the Bills not having all of Taron Johnson (rest), Cam Lewis (calf) and Te’Cory Couch (hamstring) available for the game. Hancock injured his shoulder on the second play of the second half, but told reporters after the game he felt okay. Regardless, Hancock has continued to impress and has risen up the depth chart this summer.

WR Laviska Shenault

For the second straight game, the Bills used Shenault a little bit of everywhere on special teams, including giving him multiple opportunities to return kickoffs. Shenault looked good on those chances, and also gave some good special teams reps when he wasn’t the focal point of the play. He played sparingly on offense, but when he did, he earned three targets from the Bills’ quarterbacks, which was tied for the third most on the team. He’ll need another good week, but Shenault is clearly making a push as a special teams specialist to get on the 53-man roster.

Offensive tackle Ryan Van Demark had a disappointing performance against the Bears. (Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)FallersBills safety depth

The first 10 plays were not particularly a highlight for projected starter Cole Bishop, though I wouldn’t expect the Bills to make an impulse decision about what happens at safety after just a handful of preseason snaps without any other starters on the field. To be clear, Bishop did struggle, and they’ll likely want to see a good week of practice at least from him. The potentially more concerning piece is what’s happening with the depth of the safety room right now. Damar Hamlin’s hesitance in coverage again showed why the Bills are looking at him as more of a backup role, but now their other depth safety options in Hancock and Lewis are injured. At this point in the summer, any injury could impact the beginning of the regular season, so there is some reason for concern for the Bills.

OT Ryan Van Demark

Playing at his most natural position of left tackle, it was a disappointing performance for a player who was once the Bills’ top reserve offensive tackle. He was ceding pressures to his opponents and took multiple penalties while living dangerously close to being called for a couple more. As the Bills are trying to make a decision at the end of their roster, Van Demark’s spot does not seem guaranteed at the moment. Rookie offensive lineman Chase Lundt, a sixth-round pick, worked in at both left guard and right tackle, and struggled a bit at guard against the bigger bull rushers. He is, however, the more versatile offensive lineman between him and Van Demark. Lundt again put enough good moments on tape during the game to believe he’d be claimed on waivers if the Bills were to cut him. It makes for an incredibly difficult choice for the Bills, looking at experience versus potential.

KR/PR Brandon Codrington

With the entire nickel room unavailable due to rest and injury, Codrington had a prime opportunity to show he could do more than just be a return specialist. The Bills gave Codrington the entire first half on defense as the nickel, and he struggled the entire game. Whether it was in one-on-one coverage or in run support, the Bears targeted Codrington quite a bit on Sunday night. As he has no other roster functions besides being a return specialist, Codrington clearly needs to be better than all the other options to warrant a 53-man roster spot, and he hasn’t been that to this point.

DT DeWayne Carter

It was a good news but somewhat bad news type of evening for Carter. The good news is that the Bills used him at both three-technique and one-technique during the game, depending on who he was paired with. The bad news is that he played deep into the game, right into the Bears’ final offensive possession in the fourth quarter. That’s an important data point, as it shows the Bills wanted rookie Deone Walker’s night to be over ahead of Carter. The two have competed to be DaQuan Jones’ primary backup at the one-technique spot all summer. Carter likely will still make the team unless traded, but his depth chart positioning was an eye-opener.

CB Ja’Marcus Ingram, S Darrick Forrest and LB Edefuan Ulofoshio

The preseason depth chart was unkind to these three defensive players, who all had hopes of making the 53-man roster this year. Ingram, who made the team in 2024, was clearly behind both Dane Jackson and rookie Dorian Strong, which might mean Ingram is on the wrong side of the bubble at the moment. Some had high hopes for Forrest, but after being passed by the rookie Hancock over the last two weeks, the recently signed Tre Herndon got in Sunday’s game ahead of Forrest. That is a likely ominous sign. Ulofoshio is clearly behind Joe Andreessen on the depth chart, and in his opportunity on the field, missed some tackles and got beaten in coverage. With Shaq Thompson nearing a return from injury, Ulofoshio has his work cut out for him to secure a spot.

Up next: The Bills finish their preseason schedule on the road Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

(Top photo of Tyrell Shavers: Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)