'I Dominated Today' - Orlando Brown Jr. Bounces Back in Bears Practice Following Preseason Struggles

All eyes are on Orlando Brown Jr. and the Bengals offensive line right now.

The Bengals' top left tackle is a skeleton key for Cincinnati to reach its top offensive ceiling, and radio play-by-play voice Dan Hoard gave a detailed update on how he fared on Thursday against Chicago. It was Brown's first taste of extended first-string competition after struggling last week against the Lions backups in the preseason.

Marked Improvement

Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (75) warms up during pregame before the first quarter of the NFL Preseason game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Detroit Lions at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Brown posted a rough 43.1 Pro Football Focus grade against the Lions with one pressure and one quarterback hit allowed. Flash to yesterday, and Hoard noted he held up well all morning.

"I thought Orlando Brown Jr. had a good day," Hoard posted on X. "He won both of his reps in one-on-one pass rush drills, and Burrow had solid protection on most of his passing attempts."

Brown commented on the day to Hoard after a hotly contested morning of work against the Bears.

“So much of training camp is about knocking the rust off," said Brown after the practice. “I feel really confident where I'm at, and I feel like I dominated today in pass protection. One of the reasons why they pay me is for what I do one-on-one.”

Cincinnati's offense has all five starting linemen from last season returning. All those spots are locked in, with gelling and fine-tuning happening right now.

Joe Burrow got harassed a bit in the pocket against the Bears, but still moved the ball well throughout the day.

"Yeah, it's nice to just go up against somebody different," Burrow said after the outing. "It's always tough because you're not game planning, and offense is all about calling the right play into the right look. So that can be frustrating at times in practice when you go up there, and you don't necessarily have all the answers at your disposal, but you go, and you try to make it work and try to get better at all the different things that you're working on.

"Like we said earlier, the under center play action stuff. We know we can drop back and throw it. That's what we do best. But it's been nice to be able to work on some things that we haven't worked on in the past and invest in it, and it'll pay off in the long run."

Brown, Burrow and the Bengals have the day off on Friday before watching the backups battle the Bears inside Paycor Stadium for the next preseason outing on Saturday night.

5. I thought Orlando Brown Jr. had a good day.
He won both of his reps in one-on-one pass rush drills, and Burrow had solid protection on most of his passing attempts.
“So much of training camp is about knocking the rust off," said Brown. “I feel really confident where I'm at,… pic.twitter.com/aZqGP7mwXS
— Dan Hoard (@Dan_Hoard) August 20, 2026

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