The Chicago Bears will participate in a joint practice with the Cincinnati Bengals this summer. Find out how Ben Johnson approached last preseason.
The Chicago Bears will be getting some extra work in the preseason.
Coach Ben Johnson's team will host the Cleveland Browns and then travel to face the Cincinnati Bengals and Tennessee Titans in the preseason, but there will be some extra action at the Kettering Health Practice Fields in Ohio.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Tuesday that the team will hold a joint practice with the Bears before they play their preseason game on Aug. 20.
This will be the second year in a row that Johnson's team will participate in joint practices. Last season, the Bears held joint practices against the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
The Bears didn't play any of their starters in the game against the Dolphins, but the first-team offense played two series against the Bills, and the after Dennis Allen's starting defense forced a three-and-out, they didn't see the field again.
In the preseason finale against the Chiefs last season, Caleb Williams and the starting offense played 27 snaps. Members on the starting defense registered at most 21 snaps.
Following the Friday joint practice session with the Dolphins at Halas Hall, Miami center Aaron Brewer called out the Bears team for their physicality.
“That first joint practice with Chicago, I felt like that was just some BS because they were out there tackling and this and that," Brewer said. "It was like fake physicality; if they’re out there playing tackle football and everybody else was out there playing seven-on-seven or something, it’s fake physicality."
That intensity continued for the Bears in the team's second joint practice with the Bills the following week. During a special teams drill, Bears and Bills were involved in a scrum on the field that eventually made its way to the Bills' sideline.
Johnson's team, especially on the offensive side of the ball, established a physical identity during the summer and that was on full display during the joint practices.
With one joint practice scheduled with the Bengals, it wouldn't be surprising if that same physical nature appeared during that session with Cincinnati. Depending on how Johnson approaches the matchups with the Browns and Titans, playing or resting starters, there could be another joint practice.
During the NFL annual league meeting, Johnson joined Hoge & Jahns podcast and mentioned joint practices were "on the docket" for Week 1 and Week 2 of the preseason, so maybe another joint practice at Halas Hall is in the Bears' future.
"We loved it," Johnson told Hoge & Jahns. "I thought it was a good changeup for our players at that point of camp. I think we'd like to do that again."
