The Chicago Bears were tested on both sides of the field this week during their joint practice with the Cincinnati Bengals, even more so on defense where the Bengals invested plenty of money this offseason.
One of the biggest moves that Cincinnati made this offseason was acquiring defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence in a trade with the New York Giants, bringing a massive upgrade to their defensive line, which caused some problems against the Bears this week.
Lawrence made life difficult for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, where he was dominant in the interior and even tipped and intercepted a pass. Chicago's franchise quarterback recognized the level of opposition he was up against this week, and he credited the All-Pro and former Pro Bowler for how disruptive he was against the Bears offense.
"He’s an All-Pro guy,” Williams said after practice. “He’s one of the best, if not the best (defensive) tackles with Chris Jones and all of them up there. He’s a force to be reckoned with and that’s something that you go into a game week that you plan for him, that you plan to execute against him and doing things that aren’t necessarily in his favor: maybe his body type, his style, his style of play, the scheme and things like that and where they have him.
“Obviously with it being practice and a joint practice, you’re not necessarily scheming players and things like that. You’re going out there and executing and obviously you’re not calling plays that won’t work against a defensive coordinator in this system but you’re not necessarily scheming fully. That’s something that we’ll do throughout the weeks and we’ll execute those plays."
While the full scheme and game plan may not be in place during training camp joint practices, going up against a revamped Bengals defense, after the Bears faced them last season, is a good test for them to have in the second week of the preseason. The starters are not expected to play for either team on Saturday night, giving even more meaning to these practices for the Bears starting offense.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears QB Caleb Williams reacts to facing Bengals DT Dexter Lawrence
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