Forget the preseason game this weekend at Paycor Stadium. The real show this week was on the grass fields across the street from stadium where the Cincinnati Bengals hosted the Chicago Bearsfor the first joint practice staged in Cincinnati in two years.
The Bengals' Aug. 20 practice with the Bears was likely one of the more intense days or preparation we'll see ahead of the regular-season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Keep in mind the Bengals first-team players won't play in the Aug. 22 game against Chicago, per head coach Zac Taylor, and they might not play again in the preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 28.
That made the Bengals-Bears joint practice a must-see event for those with access to it.
There wasn't a clear
winner but both teams offered moments that should leave their respective fan bases feeling optimistic. And maybe the Bengals did just enough on the final plays of the joint practice to be able to say they won the day.
Here's what we saw during the closed-door, cameras-off portions of the long, at-times emotional joint practice:
Revamped Bengals defense, Bears offense traded big plays
Any analysis of any preseason practice should be prefaced with this: Analyzing this stuff is an inaccurate science. Did your favorite Bengals beat person weigh in with a positive review of the team? Yeah? Well, there was probably a reporter that came down from Chicago who saw just as many positives from the defending NFC North champs.
With that said, the Bengals defense looked solid. And if you wanted a bottom line summation of their play, we'd say the defense as it's comprised today closes out the Nov. 2 loss to Chicago where Cincinnati just couldn't finish.
Much like the team's first preseason game against the Detroit Lions, Cincinnati's revamped defense was far from perfect, showed it's still capable of allowing an explosive play here and there, but generally did what was necessary on the day.
If nothing else, defensive coordinator Al Golden's unit certainly finished the practice with a dominant flourish as the Bears' final offensive possession in 11-on-11 play produced this trio of Cincinnati successes: Back-to-back Myles Murphy sacks (the second of which was a borderline safety), and a Jalen Davis interception. Helluva way to cap a joint practice, and it allowed the Bengals to leave the field in celebration mode.
"At the very beginning of training camp, and even in OTA's, Coach (Zac) Taylor, he put up all the games that were last few minutes, down by one score," Murphy said. "That's exactly what those last two (practice) periods were. Four minutes, down by one or up by one, we've got to finish. We finished out strong every single period, so that should give us nothing but confidence."
Chicago's offense certainly got its licks in. The Bears run game, and De'Andre Swift in particular, seemed to find seams, and quarterback Caleb Williams dropped in a few dimes. Some plays were whistled dead before they fully developed, but the Bears looked like they had explosive-play potential.
Williams and Swift also found some sustained success during a red zone period, and tight end Colston Loveland was a favorite target for Williams, just as he was when the teams played Nov. 2 and Loveland hauled in 118 yards receiving and two touchdowns on 6 catches.
Two themes from the Bengals' defense that seemed to last the entire practice were the pressure applied to Williams, and takeaways.
Murphy felt like a consistent presence in the Bears' backfield. Early on, linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. did, too. TJ Slaton and Cedric Johnson had their moments of pressure.
Josh Newton had an acrobatic interception on a deflected ball. Veteran Case Keenum was quarterbacking Chicago's offense on the play.
Once the teams convened for the final drives of the session on the easternmost field, the Bengals defense certainly looked like it had the better of the play. Prior to the one-man show from Murphy, Dexter Lawrence also had an interception that he snagged after deflecting a Williams pass up in the air. So, make it three takeaways for the Bengals defense on the day (call it four if you insist Williams didn't get out of the end zone on the second of Murphy's back-to-back sacks).
Along the way, the middle field at the Bengals' outdoor training complex featured two relatively tame scuffles, but no bench-clearing brawls, no flying helmets, etc.
WR Tee Higgins shines for Bengals offense
"Some good, some bad," was how Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow described the offensive play, and that was probably a fair assessment.
Unlike Williams and Keenum, Burrow and Co. managed to not commit any turnovers.
Receiver Tee Higgins had six catches on six targets, plus a touchdown.
"Tee made some plays today. That was good to see," Burrow said. "We know what kind of player he is, and he's gonna make big plays in big spots and we're going to count on him."
The field that featured the Bengals offense and the Bears defense had one small scuffle during the practice, and Burrow was in the middle of it but it dissolved quickly. Burrow said it was the first practice scuffle he was directly involved in since his college days.
"It was emotional out there," Burrow said.
Bottom line for the offense: No one appeared to get hurt during the joint practice. This isn't the unit facing pressure to be markedly better than last year.
And for anyone concerned about how the offensive line appeared up to this point in camp, our Kelsey Conway said the o-line looked sharper during the joint practice.
Play of the day | Dexter Lawrence tips, picks, takes a knee
Lawrence was one of the standout players for either team during the joint practice, so it only makes sense that the big man's pass deflection, plus him staying with the ball to pull down the interception, was the play of the day.
Heard ya wanted to see this. pic.twitter.com/wvbDn5Q4Pu
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 20, 2026
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What we learned as Bengals, Bears traded big plays during joint practice
