New England is set to square off against the Chicago Bears Wednesday.

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Despite a rash of injuries that have sidelined marquee players in preseason games, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said NFL teams have to accept the hand they’re dealt.

“Its been that way since 1978, when we went to a 16-game schedule,” he said during a break in preparation for Wednesday’s preseason finale at Gillette Stadium against the Chicago Bears. “It’s out of my control and not something that can I do anything about, other than play the games that we have scheduled and decide what is best for our football team.”

Belichick and Chicago Bears coach Dick Jauron will likely still take precautions to guard against losing a first-string players to injury in the last tune-up before the the regular season starts Sept. 7.

Players injured in the preseason have included Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and New York Jets QB Chad Pennington.

Jauron, in statements released on the team’s Web site, said he would play most of his regulars one quarter, while Belichick said he would make playing time decisions on “a case-by-case basis.”

“The people that we think need to play more will play more, and the people that for whatever reason we don’t think need to play as much will play less,” he said. We are still trying to work through how everybody’s role is going to be defined as we start into the regular season,”

Jauron said the only possible exceptions to the one-quarter limit would be for running backs Anthony Thomas and Adrian Peterson. The Bears have stressed their passing game throughout the preseason as new quarterback Kordell Stewart learns their offense.

“We need our offense to get a real good feel for Kordell – what he’s like in the pocket, because he is different,” Jauron said. “This is a tremendous athlete who does move in the pocket and he does hold the ball a little longer than were used to, because he’ll make plays running with it, too.”

The Bears (1-2) lost 27-17 at Arizona last Saturday. The Patriots are 3-0 following a 24-12 win over Philadelphia on Friday.

But, as Belichick said, preseason records will soon be meaningless.

“We were 3-0 last year – forget about the preseason, we were 3-0 in the regular season,” he said, alluding to the fact that the Patriots finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs despite a fast start. “It’s a long season. There is a lot of football left to be played.”

Wednesday’s game will mark the first opportunity for a pair of ex-Bears to play against their former teammates. Outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin joined the Patriots as a free agent in March, while nose tackle Ted Washington was traded to New England last week for a fourth-round draft choice.

Both are seen as key figures in a revamped 3-4 New England defense, with Colvin as a speed rusher pressuring the quarterback from the outside, and the 375-pound Washington as the immovable object in the middle to help the Patriots improve their run defense. AP-ES-08-26-03 1903EDT