Despite a steady rain that fell in Lake Forest on Thursday afternoon, the Chicago Bears and Cincinnati Bengals held a joint practice outside at Halas Hall for more than two hours.
Coach Matt Eberflus said he was pleased with the work against a different team, and the Bears still plan to play their starters, including rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, in Saturday’s preseason game against the Bengals at Soldier Field.
Here’s our rundown of the practice ahead of the Bears’ third preseason game.
Caleb Williams watch
Eberflus stressed that the work Williams received against the Bengals defense was important, and he’s eager for him to get more work Saturday when the Bears first team will play an unspecified range of reps. The Buffalo Bills, whom the Bears played in their second preseason game, run a defense similar to that of the Bears, but the Bengals present a different challenge.
“It wasn’t that big of a stretch for him to learn the rules and where things are in terms of the passing game (against the Bills). Coverage contours are similar,” Eberflus said. “And then this (Bengals) group is a little different. They do some different things. They’re an odd-structured team. For him to learn the rules, the protection rules, the runs to runs, runs to pass and where the open space is, I feel like it was really good learning for him, and experience.”
Williams started the practice by throwing an interception to linebacker Germaine Pratt on a pass intended for D’Andre Swift in 7-on-7s. But he bounced back to put together some good plays despite the rain, including hitting DJ Moore and Keenan Allen for touchdowns during full-team red-zone work.
Tight end Cole Kmet agreed with Eberflus that the practice was beneficial, even if he thought the flow of it was “a little strange” because of the amount of time some players sat out during backup and special team work. But Kmet thinks the game work Saturday will benefit the Bears offense more.
“I still believe there’s nothing that you can do to simulate an NFL football game,” Kmet said. “When you know that you can put another man to the ground on a play, it’s not the same as practice. … When you come to game time, every block you’re trying to put somebody into the ground. That’s a different mentality than practice, when you’re taking care of people. So I do think you kind of need that a little bit.”
News of the day
The mood of the practice took a somber turn late when two Bengals players had to be carted off the field wearing leg air casts in separate incidents.
Running back Chris Evans went down first during special teams drills, and offensive tackle D’Ante Smith was injured during a full-team period. The Bears cut the music during Evans’ injury, and multiple players took a knee when Smith went down. Players from both teams went to comfort Smith before he was carted off.
“Certainly feel for them and we’ll be there for them,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “I don’t know what the outcome is yet. But that was certainly tough to watch.”
Taylor said he didn’t think the soggy field conditions were to blame for the injuries.
The rain put a wrench in part of the Bears’ plan for the day, but not all of it. They decided to close the practice to fans because they needed the indoor field at the Walter Payton Center for the teams in the event of lightning — and there would have been nowhere for fans to shelter.
But the teams never had to go inside despite rain that became heavy at times. Kmet and safety Kevin Byard said they were actually pleased to practice through the rain. Kmet didn’t want to crowd both teams into the Payton Center, and Byard said he prefers to stay off artificial turf whenever possible. He called it a “ ‘Remember the Titans’-type of practice.”
“I kept preaching out there like, ‘Stay out here. Let’s just stay out here, because grass is always better for players,” Byard said. “It’s just in my opinion. Yeah, a little bit of rain don’t hurt anybody.”
Eberflus liked the rain because it helped facilitate ball-security work, with several fumbles popping up because of the wet football.
“You have to handle the ball differently in the wet, and it was wet out there,” Eberflus said. “Not only that, it’s the footwork. The footwork matters. You’ve got to keep your feet under your frame. You’ve got to make sure that you’re doing a good job with your footwork in terms of planting, driving, moving in that wet condition. So I thought that was a good experience too for really everybody.”
Player in the spotlight
If Nate Davis didn’t directly receive the message Eberflus sent nine days ago when he said a starter could lose his job to injury, maybe the coach delivered it to the veteran right guard in another manner.
Davis said he wasn’t aware of the coach’s words, which in comparison to his usual nondescript commentary regarding player health issues was noteworthy. The free-agent signing from a year ago missed most of the first three weeks of training camp with a groin injury.
“If a person’s out for an extended period of time and the player that’s in that position is playing very well, at a starter level, and doing a good job there, then you create the competition,” Eberflus said Aug. 6. “You say, ‘Hey, there’s a competition.’ People say you can’t lose a job because of injury. I don’t think that’s true. That’s not just at guard. That’s at all positions.”
Davis, who met media for the first time since camp opened, has practiced since the Bears returned from Buffalo and ran with the first team against the Bengals as Ryan Bates missed another practice and Coleman Shelton played center. Eberflus called Bates “week-to-week,” but the Bears are hopeful he will be in the mix soon.
“I didn’t hear that,” Davis said when asked about Eberflus’ comments to reporters. “I don’t really pay attention to social media.”
Eberflus on Thursday reiterated it’s a competition that sort of looks like a three-way battle with Bates, when healthy, able to play center and right guard and Shelton (center) and Davis (right guard) vying for the two open slots. Remember: When camp opened it was billed as a battle between Bates and Shelton at center with Davis established as the right guard.
“I would just say this about Nate: He’s been working to get back and he’s done that,” Eberflus said. “It’s unfortunate that he’s had those injuries that he’s had in his time here, but again he’s worked every time to get back and when he was back he did a nice job in there. So again that’s a competition.
“We’re looking at that for who the best inside players are for us. That’s not solidified yet at center or the one guard position. We feel really good about Tev (Jenkins) at (left guard), so we’ll see where that goes going through this week and moving into the next week.”
Eberflus said the team obviously would like to make a decision as soon as possible, but as Davis and now Bates go through health issues and with more than three weeks remaining until the Sept. 8 opener, it’s not as if they are rushed. So now a player who has a base salary of $8.75 million for this season — $7 million of which is fully guaranteed — fighting for a starting job. Maybe it will motivate Davis, who missed four games because of injury last season.
“Just to show the world the type of player I really am, especially when I’m healthy,” he said when asked if he had an individual goal for the season. “So when the mind is right, the body is good, I know I am a special player. I’m just excited to showcase that.”
Davis also brushed aside the idea that he’s a veteran who doesn’t like being on the practice field.
“I’ve been in this league for a long time and I don’t think I’d be able to do what I did without practicing,” he said. “Stuff happens. Got to continue to move on.”
His practice the next three weeks will be one significant factor in whether he has a starting job Week 1.
Seen and heard
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said it was a tough day to throw given the weather conditions and noted it was a challenge facing a defense that they didn’t game plan against.
He thought the Bengals did well in the run game. But the Bears defense came out on top in the passing game when Byard and cornerback Greg Stroman Jr. snared interceptions off Burrow.
“Just trying to disguise the coverage a little bit and really just read the quarterback’s eyes kind of took me towards the ball,” Byard said of his pick. “One of those things where you don’t really think. You just kind of react, and I was able to stretch out and go get the ball, get up, go pick-six. … The defense, we had a lot of fun today. I want to be the guy that gets a lot of turnovers for this defense. That’s what they brought me here for. So want to keep that going.”
Byard said he knows inclement weather tends to favor the defense, but he was still encouraged by the showing.
“I played against Joe Burrow a lot over the years. I know how good of a quarterback he is,” Byard said. “Anytime you get a chance to go up against him and kind of test out some of the things we’re doing coverage-wise that kind of confuse him a little bit, it’s always fun. But I felt like the defense brought a lot of energy.”
Burrow and the rest of the Bengals starters will not play Saturday, Taylor said earlier this week.
Quote of note
“I’ve played with a lot of good corners over the years … but Jaylon is definitely up there with the best ones I’ve ever played with. He’s a true shutdown corner. When there’s a lot of different coverages the way we’re doing things, like if I see Uno (No. 1) on the guy, I can just leave him alone and talk to the other safety on the other side of the field like, ‘Hey, we can maybe push the coverage, because I know he’s not giving up anything.’ He’s a special player and I really have enjoyed playing with him so far.” — Byard on cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who had another solid day during a strong camp.
Injury report
Bears cornerback Terell Smith walked off the field with a trainer midway through practice.
Bates and safety Jaquan Brisker were the potential starters who remain sidelined.
Safety Adrian Colbert, wide receivers DeAndre Carter and Collin Johnson, long snapper Patrick Scales, defensive end Jake Martin and offensive lineman Theo Benedet were among the others to sit out.
