BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Lovie Smith announced Tuesday after practice that Kyle Orton will start Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field.

But the Bears coach, determined to keep a level playing field in the competition for the No. 1 quarterback position, stressed that Rex Grossman will play an equal number of snaps in relief, all with the first-team offense in the first half.

Competing for the No. 1 quarterback job, Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman are expected to get the same number of reps in the first two preseason games.

“I want both guys to get an equal opportunity,” said Smith, who cautioned reporters not to read anything into his decision to start Orton against the Chiefs. “There’s no rhyme or reason as to why we’re going this direction. It’s just the way I want to go right now.”

The two quarterbacks will switch roles for the second preseason game Aug. 16 against the Seahawks in Seattle with Grossman starting and Orton coming off the bench.

Smith insisted that his decision to start Orton is not an indication that he's ahead of Grossman in the competition.

“It’s not because one guy played a little bit better than the other,” said the Bears coach. “This is how we’re going to start it. It really doesn’t matter who starts because both guys will play the same amount of plays the first game as they will the second game, and we’ll go from there.

“Then we’ll have a better reading. After each week, the depth chart will mean a little bit more. But right now we haven’t seen enough to know really where we are.”

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner didn’t flip a coin to determine who would be first to lead the No. 1 unit as he did at the beginning of the offseason program and again at the outset of training camp.

“We really didn’t want to do that again, and it wasn’t rock, paper, scissors,” Turner said with a smile. “It’s just Kyle is going with the first group to start this game and Rex is next. I wouldn’t read anything into that, and we told them that. It has nothing to do with performance.”

Both quarterbacks took the decision in stride, focusing not on their individual battle but on the opportunity to finally play in an actual game against a live defense.

“Of course I am excited to play in front of the home crowd,” Orton said. “Practice has been going well, so we’ll go out and get the preseason off to a good start.”

“I’m excited about it,” Grossman said. “It’s an opportunity to show my improvement and everything I have been doing in the offseason.”

It is believed that the Bears would like to have a starting quarterback in place heading into their third preseason game, which is traditionally the one that most resembles a dress rehearsal for the regular season. But Smith declined to place a timetable on the all-important decision.

“We’d like to get it done as soon as possible,” he said. “But we have to let it play out, and I’m anxious to see Round 1.”

Smith, who also confirmed as expected that rookie Matt Forte will start at running back Thursday night, is concerned about injuries on the offensive line.

Rookie left tackle Chris Williams remains sidelined with a strained back, while left guard Terrence Metcalf will also miss the preseason opener after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.

Veteran John St. Clair will work with the No. 1 offense at left tackle as he has done throughout the offseason and training camp, while Anthony Oakley likely will start at left guard with Josh Beekman also expected to get some first-team reps.

“We’re concerned,” Smith said. “We have a few guys out. You would like to have everyone out there working, but it never works that way in training camp. You just have to realize that’s a part of it. Eventually we’ll get our players back, and we can’t wait.”

Smith declined to speculate about when Metcalf would return to action.

“We’d like for him to be back as soon as possible,” Smith said. “I’m not trying to run around it;  I really don’t know. It isn’t a serious injury; we wouldn’t classify it as that. Hopefully [he returns] sooner than later.”