• Tee Higgins returning to form: The Cincinnati Bengals receiver made some nice plays during Thursday's practice, providing optimism that he will have a strong year.
• Jaylon Johnson‘s 2023 season was no fluke: The Chicago Bears cornerback was outstanding Thursday, breaking up 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 to get ready for your live draft!
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Rain rarely let up during a two-hour joint practice between the Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois on Thursday, making for slick fields and a slippery pigskin (not to mention adverse media conditions). While the weather may have marred 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 playoff-caliber teams did battle before their preseason tilt on Saturday.
Here are six components of Thursday’s practice that made a particular impression.
Expect Tee Higgins to bounce back in 2024
With Ja’Marr Chase still holding out of practice because of his ongoing contractual dispute, Joe Burrow’s clear favorite receiver option against the Bears was Higgins. The 6-foot-4 receiver was hard to miss, especially because Burrow targeted him early and often.
Higgins regularly generated separation against the Bears’ defensive backs, although he wasn’t lined up consistently against Jaylon Johnson (more on him in a second). The wideout secured two catches over the middle of the field against zone coverage and also tacked on a productive curl route down the right side, proving a viable pass-catcher in the intermediate area.
As the 25-year-old plays the 2024 season on the franchise tag, Higgins will be looking to return to dominant form after an injury-marred 2023 season. He got off to a solid start in just 10 snaps against the Tampa Buccaneers in Cincy’s preseason opener — posting a 77.2 receiving grade — and Thursday seemed a step in the right direction, minus a few drops.
Jaylon Johnson is unreal
Johnson established himself as a bonafide lockdown corner during the 2023 season, leading all qualified cornerbacks in overall grade (90.1) and finishing second in coverage grade (90.4). When the Bengals elected to test Johnson — now wearing No. 1 with a slick tinted visor — it went just about as expected.
Johnson flashed his length and skill at the catch point repeatedly, knocking away three passes. His most impressive may have come on a dig route to Higgins, which he punched out late.
Bears players on both sides of the ball raved about Johnson post-practice, and it’s easy to understand why. After receiving a four-year, $76 million deal this offseason, anticipate Johnson maintaining his phenomenal level of play from the year before as one of Chicago’s anchors.
Cincinnati Bengals RBs to figure heavily in passing attack
It may have been due to the aforementioned conditions (or Johnson), but the Bengals seldom threw the ball very far down the field on Thursday. Instead, Burrow targeted players short with regularity, especially leveraging both Zack Moss and Chase Brown in the passing game. The pair of backs hauled in swing passes and angle routes. Brown even made an acrobatic catch while split out wide near the goal line.
Moss has never truly been a fantastic receiver — as he's never ended a season with a receiving grade above 61.0 — but Brown already flashed his skills at the position in just one year. As a rookie, Brown notched an 81.1 receiving grade and 4.46 yards per route run. If Thursday is any indication, Zac Taylor and Dan Pitcher want to make sure that their backs receive ample distribution in the passing game.
Gerald Everett and 12 personnel for the Chicago Bears
The Bears' starting offense is littered with weapons, specifically at receiver. At the same time, the team’s tight end room could be more prominent than anticipated.
In addition to clear TE1 Cole Kmet, veteran Gerald Everett — signed to a two-year, $12 million deal this offseason — was a consistent starter inside against Cincy, including working in the slot with his unmistakable No. 14.
New Chicago OC Shane Waldron has a penchant for multi-tight end sets: Over the last two years, Waldron’s Seattle offense ranked fifth in snaps out of 12 personnel. Expect that trend to continue in the Windy City, leveraging both Kmet and the 30-year-old Everett.
Dax Hill is a full-time corner — but still a work-in-progress
After playing only 49 of his 1,239 career NFL snaps thus far at cornerback (~4%), Hill appears to be making the legitimate transition to working on the outside. Against the Bears, the former first-round pick lined up one-on-one against Chicago’s foremost weapons, including D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze.
As one would expect, Hill had mixed results. He deposited at least one solid rep against Moore but was beaten badly by rookie Rome Odunze on a slant.
Hill’s first preseason work at the position was terrific, posting a 90.2 overall grade and a 90.5 coverage grade on 33 snaps. With limited depth at the spot alongside Cam Taylor-Britt, the Bengals will need Hill to continue to round into form as the regular season approaches — especially with D.J. Turner II working primarily with the second team on Thursday.
Regular first-team work for backup Chicago Bears DBs
Chicago’s secondary fields some encouraging pieces, including Johnson, Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker and burgeoning corner Tyrique Stevenson. Then again, DC Eric Washington got creative by leveraging some unsung players against the Bengals.
Josh Blackwell and Jaylon Jones both played a fair amount against Burrow and the Bengals’ starting offense, with the latter lining up outside and shadowing Higgins on occasion. Meanwhile, Blackwell had two nice run fits in the red zone.
The 26-year-old Jones and 25-year-old Blackwell each started against the Bills and performed solidly, collecting tackling grades of 78.0 or better. With Chicago’s starting secondary being mostly situated, the two will need to stack more days like Thursday to push for starting reps in September.
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