The Bears participated in a joint practice with the Bengals Thursday in Cincinnati in advance of Saturday night's preseason game. Here's what transpired:
Quarterback Caleb Williams produced the highlight of the day for the Bears offense by throwing three touchdown passes in a red-zone drill during the middle portion of practice.
The first one came when tight end Colston Loveland reached high to snag a pass down the middle with safety Jordan Battle draped all over him.
"I saw them rotate down into one-high," Williams said. "And then just knowing it's Colston, that's my guy, going up the seam, and the defender's back was turned to me. He turned around just at the end, but the ball was already going over the top. Colston ran a great route and made a great catch."
Williams followed by faking a handoff and hitting a wide-open Kalif Raymond in the end zone. The speedy receiver has excelled throughout training camp, making a smooth transition in his first year in Chicago, in part because he was part of a Lions offense coordinated by Bears coach Ben Johnson from 2022-24.
"He's been in Ben's offense, so it's very similar to him," Williams said. "So, he's not necessarily trying to learn a whole playbook. The names of things changed, but he's able to find some comfort in that and a familiar face with the play caller, and then him and I just getting on the same page. And with it being Year 2 for me, it's easier for me to communicate and talk to them about what I see and how I see things, and he does the same."
On the next play, Kaden Davis made a diving TD catch just inside the front right pylon of the end zone. The first-year receiver has generated impact plays throughout training camp as well as in last Saturday's preseason opener, earning first-team reps in practice.
Asked what has keyed Davis' success, Williams said: "Him being able to come in and learn the plays pretty fast; where to line up, how to line up, how to run the routes, things like that. And then just being in the right position. He's made plays for us so far, whether it's in practice or in the game. He's been explosive. He's been fun to watch. I'm excited for him to keep growing and keep working."
Case Keenum, quarterbacking the No. 2 offense with Tyson Bagent sidelined due to a groin injury, also generated some highlights. The 14th-year pro dropped a perfect touchdown pass to rookie receiver Zavion Thomas in the right corner of the end zone and rifled a pinpoint throw over the middle to receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III, who caught the ball despite being held by a defender.
In a back-and-forth practice, the Bengals defense had the edge late, closing the workout with a sack and interception of Williams on the final two plays of a two-minute drill. The pick came when Williams was under heavy pressure, rolled to his right and threw a high pass over the middle that deflected off Loveland.
"I've got to bring the ball down," Williams said. "I left it up top too much. Released it too high. Trying to move. Then I got some pressure on the backside and just tried to check it down, get the drive going. We had 1:58 or whatever; we just had the two-minute warning, and so [I was] just trying to get the drive going [and] ended up missing. It got tipped up because I threw it a little bit too high. Just trying to find a way to help the backside if I can do anything in stepping up or getting the ball out faster, so we're going to go look at that."
Other notable plays in the practice included rookie safety Dillon Thieneman intercepting a deflected Joe Burrow pass, Maurice Alexander breaking a long kickoff return and what would have been a Daniel Hardy sack of Burrow.
Best versus best
Thursday's joint practice gave the Bears a chance to see how their starters matched up against the Bengals' first teamers in all three phases.
"The emphasis is going to be on our starters, and talking with [Bengals coach] Zac [Taylor], he feels the same way," Johnson said before the practice. "They'll get the bulk of the workload here, and we'll assess where we're at after the practice, just in terms of the workload."
Johnson is a big fan of joint practices.
"They're controlled reps here," he said. "It's exciting because we know there's ground rules to stay away from the quarterback. We're thudding up and things of that nature, and so we can just make sure it's safe, it's controlled, and yet the competition goes up, the intensity goes up.
"You can't help but when you have a new face across from you, you want to go out there and make sure your identity and who you're about, everything you're about, shows up on tape. And that's what we're looking for today. We talked about it this morning. We want to see our style of play transfer and translate, even though we're on the road here."
Special focus
The one area that the offensive-minded Johnson was most interested in monitoring in the joint practice probably isn't what you'd think.
"I'm looking at special teams today," he said. "This was a unit that when we went against them a year ago, we did not perform very well. We talked about it in the team meeting earlier this week. We kind of needed it with where we were within the season. It was a wake-up call, and we got hit right in the teeth, and I thought we played better the second half of the season on special teams.
"[I have] a ton of respect for [special teams] coach [Darrin] Simmons and what he's done over the course of his career. They always have really good units. I know coach [Richard] Hightower is really excited about this opportunity for us. But to me, that's where my eye is going to be starting here today is watching how our return units operate, our coverage units. They have some explosive returners, and I want to see our long snapper. I want to see Beau [Gardner] put in some tough situations and how he responds as well."
In a 47-42 win over the Bengals last season in Cincinnati, the Bears allowed a 98-yard TD return on the opening kickoff and had a field-goal attempt blocked.
Making strides
Theo Benedet worked primarily with the No. 2 offense at left tackle but also subbed in at times for Braxton Jones with the first unit. Benedet started six games last season at the position before getting injured and is part of an open competition for the job.
"When we looked at last year with him as a whole, it was 'this guy is an asset in the running game. We like how he runs off the ball. He plays with good pad level and body lean, and he's able to displace defenders,'" Johnson said. "It was the pass pro that was just a little bit behind, and so that was really his mission throughout the offseason was to make sure he's in the right body position to where he's not leaning forward in the pass pro."
Benedet has made strides in that aspect of the game.
"We've seen a guy that's in better positions fundamentally to where he's not lunging and getting beat the way it was a year ago," Johnson said. "So, we're really encouraged with what that looks like. Most of those snaps so far have been on the right side, and so we want to take a look at what that's going to be on the left side and how that translates.
"But for all those guys that have been here going into the second year now, you can feel them. They're not thinking as much about what we're asking them to do schematically, and so they're able to hone in on those fundamentals a little bit more, and we've been encouraged with what we've seen from him."
