The Bears conducted a walkthrough Tuesday that was closed to the media and the public. Here's what transpired throughout the day at Halas Hall:

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen told reporters that he was pleased with how the defense performed against the Bills in last Friday's joint practice as well as in Sunday night's 38-0 preseason win.

"It was a really good week overall, just working against a really good football team," Allen said. "We found out a lot about our guys."

Allen revealed that the No. 1 thing he discovered in the joint practice versus reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen and the rest of Buffalo's No. 1 offense was that "we belonged on the field with those guys."

"That's good for the confidence of the group," Allen said. "There was some back and forth going on, some mistakes that we made that we had to go back and get corrected. And yet our guys made some plays, too. I think we had six takeaways total in that whole practice, and so the biggest thing was we made plays in that practice. That was good to see."

Dynamic duo

Allen is thrilled to have veteran safeties Kevin Byard III and Jaquan Brisker as his last line of defense.

Byard is beginning his second season with the Bears and 10th in the NFL. Since entering the league in 2016, he ranks first among defensive backs in tackles (860) and third in interceptions (29).

"He's an accomplished football player," Allen said. "He's really smart. He's played a lot of years in this league at a high level. He's probably the leader of the defensive back room and one of the leaders of our team. It's been good to see him step up in that role and take on that leadership responsibility. He understands what it takes to be successful in this league, and I think guys are falling in line with that."

Entering his fourth season with the Bears, Brisker has shown his all-around ability throughout training camp.

"I knew he'd be good close to the ball," Allen said. "The thing that's been impressive to me is what he's done away from the ball, playing deep middle, deep quarter, deep half. He's had a lot of range out there. He's making plays on the football. He's had an outstanding camp. Excited about the opportunity to work with him. I think he's primed to do some good things for us."

Dictating on defense

Allen is known for employing an aggressive style of defense. Asked how he would define that, he said: "It's a mentality, it's a mindset, it's a culture."

"I've said this a thousand times: It's not about what we play, it's about how we play," Allen said. "It doesn't matter what the call is, it's about creating an aggressive mindset, and then you have to be able to execute whatever that call is within that same mindset.

"We don't want to sit back and let the offense dictate to us. We want to try to dictate the terms to them and continue to come after them and hopefully force them into mistakes. That's what the great offenses try to do to defenses. I think defenses have to do the same thing to the offense."

Starters will play

Coach Ben Johnson told Kay Adams of the "Up & Adams Show" that Bears starters will play in Friday night's preseason finale against the Chiefs in Kansas City.

"We'll see how long it is," Johnson said. "We're going to get through a couple days here of practice and we'll determine for how long, but we need to go through this."

The Chiefs are also planning to play their starters.

Making strides

Theo Benedet was a late entrant into the competition for the starting left tackle position, but the first-year pro is making up for lost time.

Last Friday, coach Ben Johnson lauded Benedet two days after the 6-7, 304-pounder had taken first-team reps at the position for the first time.

Benedet signed with the Bears last year as an undrafted free agent from the University of British Columbia, where he became the first offensive lineman to win back-to-back J.P. Metras Trophies as Canada's best down lineman.

Last summer Benedet injured his hamstring in the Hall of Fame Game and eventually landed on the Bears practice squad. A year later, he's challenging for a starting job at a key position.

Asked where he's seen the most growth, Benedet said: "I would say definitely in my ability to be dominant in the run game, open up holes. That's obviously a way for O-linemen to flash in practice, if you can open a hole and spring a big run."

Benedet credits offensive line coach Dan Roushar, among others, with helping him sharpen his fundamentals.

"Coach Roushar and the whole coaching staff have done a good job helping me with my footwork in the run game," Benedet said. "That's allowed me to get into powerful positions. In pass pro, I'm still working on all these aspects, but posture has improved, landmarks with my hands, that sort of stuff.

"Coach Roushar really understood, in the run game especially, that my footwork was probably too long, those kinds of things that were really detracting from my power positions when I hit the block. He's understood at tackle how some things may look a little different for me, just given what I'm good at, what I'm not so good at, and just understanding how to coach through those to get back to the fundamentals that apply to everybody."

Stepping up

After the Bears' preseason opener against the Dolphins, coaches challenged rookie linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II to be more of a factor on special teams.

The fourth-round pick from Maryland accomplished that objective Sunday night versus the Bills, recording a team-high two special teams tackles.

"I came out last game and put my work in on that and improved in that area," Hyppolite said. "Just made more plays, just more of a factor, just being more physical, setting the tone, being around the ball more. I felt like I underperformed when we played Miami, so I wanted to come out against Buffalo and change that, so I feel I did that."