Ben Johnson Focuses on One Unit in Joint Practice With Bengals

The Chicago Bears are in Cincinnati today, having joined the Bengals for a joint training camp practice at Kettering Health Practice Fields. This is the first time these teams have been on the field together since Chicago's hectic Week 9 win last year, and one would expect there to still be some bad blood. Despite a couple of scuffles, they managed to avoid a repeat of the Cowboys-Saints fiasco the other day.

Aside from making sure his team didn't get into an all-out brawl with the Bengals, however, Bears head coach Ben Johnson had one clear goal in mind for today's joint practice, and that was to see significant improvement from his special teams unit. "I'm looking at special teams today," Ben Johnson told the media ahead of practice, according to a tweet from CHGO Bears. "We did not play well against them last year."

That's putting it mildly. The Bears' special teams unit was a disaster from literally the kickoff of that Week 9 matchup.

Special teams failures kept the Bengals in a game that should have been over

Bengals WR Charlie Jones scored a touchdown on the opening kickoff against the Chicago Bears. Mandatory credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Bears fans doubtlessly remember the start to that game against Cincinnati, when poor coverage on the opening kickoff allowed Bengals wide receive Charlie Jones to carry the rock all the way into the endzone for a touchdown. That was by far the specail teams' biggest screw-up, but unfortunately not the last.

Late in the fourth quarter, after scoring a quick touchdown to cut Chicago's lead from 14 to just six, Cincinnati attempted an onside kickoff and successfully recovered it when the ball hit the foot of Daniel Hardy. The Bengals proceeded to score another touchdown and take a one-point lead with just 54 seconds remaining.

Luckily for the special teams unit, Caleb Williams and Colston Loveland saved their bacon by hooking up for an unforgettable 58-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass.

The Bears are seeking many answers to questions in today's joint practice

The special teams unit no doubt had their work cutout for them today in practice against the Bengals. If Ben Johnson decided to mention their failures from a Week 9 matchup last year to the media in the morning, you can bet he has been harping on this point over the past week.

But whether the special teams unit could take things up a notch was far from the only question that the Bears had in joint practice with the Bengals. The defense was also tested in a big way, especially the banged-up secondary, by going up against the high-powered passing offense led by quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase. And speaking of Burrow, Caleb Williams would surely like to prove that he's close to joining him in the elite tier of quarterbacks.

Unfortunately, this practice session is closed to the public so the fans were not able to watch it live. But various media members shared their observations on social media during practice, and the full reports will doubtlessly follow soon. That's when Bears fans will hopefully get some positive news ahead of the Bears' preseason Week 2 matchup against the Bengals.

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