Bears-Bengals Joint Practice: Caleb Williams, Garrett Bradbury Miscues

The best way to describe the Chicago Bears' offense against the Cincinnati Bengals in Thursday's joint practice was up-and-down. 

Quarterback Caleb Williams and the starting unit created some explosive plays on the day, with the Bears' quarterback throwing his pass catchers some accurate passes to exploit the Bengals' defense. 

There were also periods when not a single pass was completed mixed with some turnovers from the first-team offense. 

[READ: Bears-Bengals Practice Takeaways: Up & Down for Ben Johnson's Offense]

Up and down. 

That's also how it's been with Williams and veteran center Garrett Bradbury. The Bears opened up the first 11-on-11 session against the Bengals with muffed quarterback-center exchange -- a sloppy way to start a valuable practice against another NFL opponent. 

Throughout the entire practice, there was consistent pressure on Williams. A lot came from the left edge, but the Bengals created havoc up the middle. With the Bears' offense backup up near its own end zone, somehow 6-foot-5, 350-pound defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II appeared right in front of Williams, ending the play during a move-the-ball period. The former three-time Pro Bowlers had a disruptive day against the Bears' interior offensive line. 

After Thursday's practice, Williams called Lawrence "an All-Pro guy" and placed him in the same defensive tackle tier as the Kansas City Chiefs' Chris Jones. Williams also acknowledged that the Bears weren't scheming players in practice, like they would in a game. Even if they had, preventing Lawrence from dominating would have been a significant challenge. 

It didn't help that something seemed off between Williams and Bradbury. 

“It was a good test for us, some things to work on, for sure," Williams said on his chemistry with Bradbury. "We spoke about them out there on the field. We had a fumbled snap on our first one, and that’s not something you want to happen in a game or practice. It’s just being able to communicate on those and figure out what happened — if I was too quick, if I was too slow — because obviously first snap you want to get moving. You’ve got a guy over there that is a good player [Dexter Lawrence] and you want to get in position and make sure. It’s just him and I being able to work together and communicate on those things.”

Bears head coach Ben Johnson has described Bradbury as a "phenomenal communicator," calling the 31-year-old center "extremely sharp" with his loud and decisive voice. Williams, right guard Jonah Jackson and left tackle Braxton Jones have also praised Bradbury about his communication. 

Despite all the glowing compliments, miscues between the quarterback and center have lingered throughout training camp. This is Williams' first year working with Bradbury following Drew Dalman's unexpectedly retirement, so growing pains were bound to happen. 

But the Bears must resolve these mistakes before their Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. Every single offensive play starts with the snap, making it a priority for Williams and Bradbury to lock in their execution before the regular season begins.