BOURBONNAIS — For the first time since the grisly Christmas Eve loss to the Redskins with barely half the stadium full, the Bears will return to Soldier Field on Saturday.

Family Fest will give fans who haven’t made the trek to Olivet Nazarene University their first peek at an overhauled roster. The preseason opener, also at Soldier Field, is on Thursday against the Broncos.

After only three practices in full pads, it’s impossible to make sweeping conclusions about this team with so many new faces. The regular season is more than five weeks away, and much can change between now and then.

During that span a year ago, the Bears lost center Hroniss Grasu to a torn ACL, saw guard Kyle Long tear the labrum in his left shoulder, released kicker Robbie Gould and signed guard Josh Sitton. Talk about some curves in the road.

Here are eight things we can say before the Bears make two appearances at Soldier Field in six days:

1The ball comes off the right hand of No. 2 pick Mitch Trubisky really nicely. That and his athletic ability are the first things you notice. Would you like him to be a little bigger than the 6-foot-3 at which he’s generously listed? No question. The Bears have made it clear he’s the future, not the present.

2The biggest wow factor has been second-year outside linebacker Leonard Floyd. He has packed on about 15 pounds and is listed at 251. He glides off the edge and looks ready for a much more productive Year 2. Don’t put a ceiling on what he can do.

3I hesitate to say the secondary will be a major upgrade because, to a degree, the Bears are recycling parts from other teams. Prince Amukamara is on a one-year deal. Quintin Demps is entering his 10th season with his fifth team, and this will be only his third season as a full-time starter. Marcus Cooper is a bit of a projection after getting a lot of action opposite Patrick Peterson with the Cardinals last season.

But Amukamara, who didn’t have an interception for the Jaguars in 2016, has been around the ball, and the guy to keep an eye on is fourth-round pick Eddie Jackson. If he can push for a starting job — and it’s too early to say if that will happen — he has shown range in making some plays that the Bears haven’t had at free safety since Mike Brown.

4Tarik Cohen isn’t just slippery in the open field. The 5-6, 181-pound running back has real speed and has been fun to watch. The challenge will be finding ways to get him involved as a change-of-pace option on offense and ensuring he can handle punt-return duties. My sense is it will be difficult for defenders to get clean shots on him, but we’ll see when the action turns live in exhibition games. The Bears have to prove they can get him the ball in space.

5It’s a good thing the team kept Lamarr Houston around at age 30 and coming off torn ACLs in each knee over the last three seasons. His $6 million salary this season seems excessive for a backup, but the Bears weren’t sure what they could get out of Pernell McPhee, and now that’s an even larger question mark. McPhee opened camp with arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, and the best-case scenario is he’s a part-time player.

Houston led the team with eight sacks in 2015. The pass rush will be as good as Floyd is, but Houston and Willie Young can be productive, especially if they get the chance to clean up plays their younger teammate creates.

6Kyle Long and Josh Sitton have yet to line up at their new guard positions in live team drills, and you wonder when that will happen. Sitton is getting into the swing of things after time away for the birth of his daughter, and Long is working to stack consecutive days on which his surgically repaired right ankle feels good.

Because it requires a different stance, it’s a bigger adjustment for Long to move to left guard than it was for him to kick outside to right tackle the week of the season opener two years ago. That’s why some exhibition action would be valuable. We’ll have to wait and see if he gets cleared for that.

7As much as the Bears are raving about Dion Sims, the veteran free agent who should be a bigger part of the passing game than he was with the Dolphins, and second-round pick Adam Shaheen, you have to figure they will highlight two-tight-end sets all season. The Bears were in double-tight sets for 170 snaps last year (16.8 percent). Could that figure double?

8Lots of questions have been asked about how wide receiver Kevin White has looked. You can’t make a judgment on him until you’ve seen him play half of the regular season. If White goes off in the opener against the Falcons, that will be a great sign, but he has to be consistent and stay on the field week after week. An impressive practice in August can be viewed only as a small clue.

bmbiggs@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BradBiggs