• Tee Higgins returns to form: The Cincinnati Bengals receiver showed some nice plays during practice on Thursday, giving hope that he will have a strong year.
• Jaylon Johnson’s 2023 season was no coincidence: The Chicago Bears cornerback put in an outstanding performance on Thursday, intercepting three different passes against the Bengals.
• Get a head start on Fantasy Football: Use PFF’s fantasy football mock draft simulator to create real live mock draft simulations and prepare for your live draft!
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The rain hardly let up during a two-hour training session of the Cincinnati Bengals And Chicago Bears at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois on Thursday, which made for slick fields and slippery pigskin (not to mention adverse media conditions). While the weather may have affected ball security — as evidenced by some drops and frequent fumbles on kick returns — there were still distinct elements of play that stood out as two teams with playoff qualities battled it out before their preseason game on Saturday.
Here are six components of Thursday’s training that made a particular impression.
Expect Tea Higgins to get back on its feet in 2024
With Ja’Marr Chase still cannot take part in training because of an ongoing contract dispute. Joe BurrowHiggins was clearly the favorite among the receivers against the Bears. The 6’4″ receiver was hard to miss, especially because Burrow targeted him early and often.
Higgins was able to regularly break away from the Bears’ defensive backs, although he did not always Jaylon Johnson (More on him in a second.) The wideout secured two catches over the middle of the field in zone coverage and also ran a productive curl route down the right side, proving himself to be a viable pass catcher in the intermediate range.
With the 25-year-old playing the 2024 season with the franchise tag, Higgins will look to return to his dominant form after an injury-plagued 2023 season. He got off to a solid start in just 10 snaps against the Tampa Buccaneers in Cincinnati’s season opener – posting a 77.2 receiving grade – and Thursday seemed to be a step in the right direction, aside from a few drops.
Jaylon Johnson is unreal
Johnson established himself as a true lockdown corner during the 2023 season, leading all qualified cornerbacks in overall rating (90.1) and finishing second in coverage rating (90.4). When the Bengals decided to test Johnson – who now wears the No. 1 jersey with a sleek tinted visor – it went about as expected.
Johnson continued to show his length and ability at the catch point, intercepting three passes, perhaps most impressively his dig route to Higgins, which he completed late.
Bears players on both sides of the ball raved about Johnson after practice, and it’s easy to see why. After earning a four-year, $76 million contract in the offseason, Johnson is expected to maintain his phenomenal level of play from last year as one of Chicago’s anchor players.
Cincinnati Bengals Running backs play an important role in the passing attack
It may have been due to the above conditions (or Johnson), but the Bengals rarely threw the ball very far down the field on Thursday. Instead, Burrow regularly targeted players who were too short, primarily using both Zack Moss And Follow Braun in the passing game. The two defenders caught swing passes and angle routes. Brown even made an acrobatic catch when he was far apart near the goal line.
Moss was never a fantastic receiver — he’s never finished a season with a receiving grade above 61.0 — but Brown has already proven his ability at the position in just one year. As a rookie, Brown posted a receiving grade of 81.1 and 4.46 yards per route run. If Thursday is any indication, Zac Taylor and Dan Pitcher will want to make sure their backs are getting enough use in the passing game.
Gerald Everett and 12 employees for the Chicago Bears
The Bears’ offense is loaded with weapons, especially at the receiver position, but at the same time, the team’s tight end room may be larger than expected.
In addition to clear TE1 Cole Kmetveteran Gerald Everett — who signed a two-year, $12 million contract in the offseason — was a reliable starter inside against Cincy, including working in the slot with his distinctive No. 14.
New Chicago OC Shane Waldron has a penchant for multi-tight end sets: Over the past two years, Waldron’s Seattle offense ranked fifth in 12-man snaps. Expect that trend to continue in the Windy City, utilizing both Kmet and the 30-year-old Everett.
Dax Hill is a full-time corner — but still a work in progress
Having played only 49 of his 1,239 NFL snaps as a cornerback (~4%), Hill appears to be making the transition to a fullback. Against the Bears, the former first-round pick went one-on-one against Chicago’s best players, including DJ Moore And Rome Odunze.
As expected, Hill had mixed results. He at least put up a solid rep against Moore, but was badly beaten by rookie Rome Odunze oblique.
Hill’s first preseason work at the position was great, earning a 90.2 overall grade and a 90.5 coverage grade in 33 snaps. With limited depth at the position alongside Cam Taylor BrittThe Bengals will need Hill to continue to get in shape as the regular season approaches – especially with DJ Turner II On Thursday we will mainly work with the second team.
Regular work of the first team as backup Chicago Bears Databases
Chicago’s secondary has some encouraging players on offer, including Johnson, Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker and burgeoning corner Tyrique Stevenson. On the other hand, DC Eric Washington got creative by using some unsung players against the Bengals.
Josh BlackSo And Jaylon Jones both played quite a bit against Burrow and the Bengals’ starting offensive line, with the latter lining up on the outside and occasionally shadowing Higgins. Meanwhile, Blackwell had two nice runs in the red zone.
Jones, 26, and Blackwell, 25, both started against the Bills and had solid performances, posting tackle ratings of 78.0 or better. With Chicago’s starting secondary mostly set, the two will need to take advantage of more days like Thursday to be in the starting lineup in September.
