CINCINNATI (AP) 鈥� In the most extensive action that the Cincinnati Bengals will get before the start of the regular season, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence made his presence felt with an interception, several pressures and a terrific performance in a joint practice against the Chicago Bears on Thursday.
In a scrimmage portion of the practice, Lawrence made the play of the day by reading a screen and tipping the pass to himself.
On the following drive, a stop that closed it out, Lawrence had a key pressure followed by a sack.
The interception was the highlight of this entire Bengals training camp.
鈥淚 saw the ball get tipped,鈥� linebacker Barrett Carter said. 鈥淎s a defense, we need to get those. I鈥檓 thinking, 鈥榃ho鈥檚 the closest to it?鈥� And then I see this large man under the ball. I was thinking, 鈥楶lease, Dex, just catch it.鈥� I didn鈥檛 know if he had the ball skills or not. He did. I鈥檓 glad he鈥檚 on my team.鈥�
The Bengals defense won the day. There was one more 鈥渟crimmage鈥� session, and Myles Murphy denied the Bears鈥� two-minute drive with consecutive sacks. One of the sacks looked as if it could have been a safety.
鈥淗e鈥檚 an all-pro guy. He鈥檚 one of the best if not the best defensive tackle with (Chiefs DL) Chris Jones and all of them up there. He鈥檚 a force to be reckoned with,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. 鈥淭hey were a great test for us. They invested pretty heavily in the defense from last year and it showed up today. Then being able to cause some negative plays and things like that.鈥�
The Bengals defense started slow but did a great job of closing out the practice.
鈥淲e were talking on the sideline before that period,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to end it out regardless of what the offense does. We鈥檝e got to show them what we鈥檙e about.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 all perfect, and every level of the defense was given something to work on. The defense took a bit to get going and struggled more in the red zone. But on the whole, the defense won more than the Bears offense. The Bengals pass rush was the star of the day.
鈥淭he D-Line is a DB鈥檚 best friend,鈥� cornerback DJ Turner said. 鈥淭hey were getting back there.鈥�
The Bengals won both scrimmage sessions, closing out one of them with a field goal from Evan McPherson. After struggling to contain the pass rush all camp, the Bengals鈥� offensive line got to face a different opponent and took a step forward against the Bears.
鈥淚t was a great day,鈥� center Ted Karras said. 鈥淲e had a few things that we wanted to try. A couple of play actions could have been better in the base downs period. Other than that, it was smooth sailing. We got after it. Good runs. Good pockets. And we won both situations in the end.鈥�
Wide receiver Tee Higgins had a productive day for the offense, and the run game continued to show promise.
The offense wasn鈥檛 firing on all cylinders, and the unit hasn鈥檛 had a consistent overall camp.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still figuring it out,鈥� quarterback Joe Burrow said. 鈥淚 think No. 1, we have to be more consistent. We鈥檝e shown flashes, but not terribly consistent, and so we have to be better at that, for sure. And I definitely play a role in that. We have some things to fix, but we got three weeks until the first game, so we still got some time.鈥�
The Bengals starters aren鈥檛 expected to play in the second preseason game on Saturday against the Bears.
There was one minor scuffle during the joint practice after Chicago鈥檚 Dayo Odeyingbo made contact with Burrow, which didn鈥檛 make wide receiver Ja鈥橫arr Chase happy.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 care what we do, We just better protect Joe,鈥� Chase said.
The Bengals鈥� first-team units got the overwhelming majority of the action on Thursday, so the preseason game will give the second, third and fourth-string units an opportunity.
The Bengals still have intriguing position depth battles at offensive line and cornerback. They could get more answers at those positions in the game on Saturday.
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