Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Chris Emma breaks down the Bears-Bengals joint practice

Episode Date: August 20, 2026

Some people like Chris Ripper. You Ha-Sniche. Nobody's field is getting messed up by Romstein. This is the music that I think of anytime anybody's raging throughout an office. It goes back to Entourage. We've been raging all day. What do you mean?

No, but you know, if you're on a rampage, you're like walking around the office with a purpose and you want to make a point to your supervisor and you like go up all these floors. This is the scene from Entourage where Werner's mad and then he's going up all the floors asking for Dana Gordon. And it's to Entourage. This is also the music that I think was playing with Chris

Sail was storming through the socks offices before he cut the sleeves of his jersey. Did you guys know that? Every single time I think it's like, I picture Chris Sale walking to do host by by Romstein. You just got me thinking about Ari Gold with the paint gun. No, that's the point. Yeah, you got it. You got me. You got me.

Does our guest understand any of these references? Of course he does. I don't know. Let's ask him. Chris Emma. He is at Chris Emma 1 on Twitter. He is the Bears Beat Reporter for the score and the score of Chicago. com. Chris, how are you? What did you think of this commentary? Can you provide any thoughts?

That's one of my favorite scenes from Entourage and one of my favorite scenes, absolutely. It gets the juices going for me. Grotty knows this well. That's my workout song now. So that gets the blood pumping a little bit as we get into the gym. And I kind of turn to like Ari Gold ready to go. So do Haas. It's a great song. Dana! Can't you see Chris Sale running through the socks offices with the jersey that he doesn't want to wear to that? That's a reference, but I love that reference. I can 1,000% envision that. Every time I hear about it, that's the song that plays in my head immediately.

Meanwhile, Chris, we know where you are. And to be clear, some people like Chris Emma, I love Chris Emma. And I love the fact that you are covering the Bengals and the Bears joint practice. This is important. Some would say even more important than the preseason game itself. So I offer you the floor, Chris Emma, to tell us, what did you think of the joint practice? Well, we'll get to that last, that first part last because Ben Johnson covered it. I'll just get right to it.

I do not see the starters playing it all Saturday night for either side because this was great work. This is two hours on the practice field right off to the side of Paycor Stadium here in Cincinnati. And one field, field two is Bears' offense first Bengals defense. The other field field three, Bears defense first Bengals offense. I would consider a draw, which I know is not a sexy answer here. But there's moments for both sides, quite frankly, in my eyes were mostly on the Bears' offensive side. there were some struggles today. Dexter Lawrence was a game record for the Bengals. And we remember that 47-42 game on November one last year with the Bengals defense really looked rough and just did not

stand the field with the Bears. This is much different better Bengals defense. And they were causing problems. Bears' offense line had a rough day today. Caleb Williams had a lot of really good and some bad moments as well. But this was a great experience for this group being out there and going against a different opponent and a tough opponent as well. So that's my thought. I'm going to give it to the forward to Caleb Williams and T.J. Edwards, because we asked them both how they felt today when. Here's Caleb Williams first. Yeah, I'd say we just got it. We got to clean up, you know, the penalties. I think that was, you know, on the first, I'd say 90% of, you know, practice, just we cleaned up those. We had some pretty big explosive plays and it looks and

feels different, I would say. You know, I haven't been able to watch it yet, so I don't know for, you know, for sure, but that's how it felt, at least out there. And then in the situation, It's just got to be better, you know, whether it's myself and protecting the football or, you know, up front or wire receivers or we know all of us. It's a combination of all of us being able to go out there and execute, and it's going to be a focus point for us for sure. Obviously, the really good offense, saw them last year too. You know, so we definitely had familiarity of just how they attacked us a little bit last year and kind of, right, what they do best. And obviously, they got some guys on the outside, a great quarterback, really good run game, good. running back. So we knew it was going to be a really good challenge for us to see kind of where we were at.

And I think our main thing we wanted to do today was just compete, like every single rep. We wanted to get takeaways. We wanted to get pressure, energy, all those things. And without looking at the tape, you know, there's always going to be stuff we want to clean up. But I thought we did that today. It was a lot of fun. Again, you know, going, going out with this team for the first years, a lot of good guys, a lot of new guys on it, too. So it was a lot of fun. Yeah. So hearing that, Chris, and understanding what this means to Ben Johnson and his coaching staff, I'm curious as to if they were pleased, displeat, like, is this, could you call it a draw? Is that a good thing, a bad thing, or we still got work to do thing?

How would you look at it through your lens? I expected to see a little bit better from the Bears today, in particular on the offensive side of the football. Maybe it's the recency bias of that game last year, but the Bears, put up 47 on the board and really dictated that game offensively. I think one of my takeaways was Dexter Lawrence is an absolute game record for the Bengals and somebody upgrades that entire defense for Cincinnati. But a lot of the pre-snap stuff was something Ben Johnson, who spoke before practice, was saying that he was really pleased with the way that operation has been.

And that was what he was focused on. I'm going to guess he was not happy after practice. And I'm curious to hear when he speaks next, kind of his evaluation of that. But I expected to see a cleaner operation, the tackle competition. They mixed in Theo Bennett a little bit more with Braxton Jones. Neither of them looked great out there today. Neither them had a stellar day race. You plant your flag in the ground and say that's our guy.

And I think they were hoping to see that today as they mixed that up a little bit. The Bengals created some problems. And this is the beauty of these joint practices. You're able to get live looks against an opponent you're not really familiar with and really test each other out. And I don't think the Bears pass the test by any means. I think there's a lot they really want to clean up. It's not Caleb Williams' fault.

I thought he had a mostly good day. He did get picked up. by Dexter Lawrence on a ball. He tried to elevate over the middle and big old 97 pulled it in. The first play from practice was a bot snap, a little snap from Garrett-Bradbury. Second play was a beautiful strike from Caleb Williams to Rome with Unze. So there were ups and downs. That's kind of the showcase of practice today. Yeah, I think that was something that I was noticing to was we're still looking at combinations of personnel, Chris. And that was one of the points that was made just an observation was,

who's your left tackle in a two-minute drill situation? We saw reports about the Obededette. What were your observations about who they went to in crunch time at left tackle? I mean, I was thinking by this point, it's August 20th today, that you really have this thing kind of wrapped up in some form. And it's gotten a little bit more messy here. The Raxdon injury certainly played a role in that. Having him sidelined for a week did not help, especially coming off this injury.

I think it's his job to lose. And he did have some good moments today as well. He looks like a different player. now that he's healthy. He was just not healthy at all last year. But the way this is working out right now, Jedrick Will's being kind of shoved out of the mix. Karan Amagotchi, I don't see on the 53 right now even. Theo Bennett was being kind of cross-trained at the right tackle spot. Now they're putting him in a left tackle to give him another look at this spot. And nobody's really running away with this. I still think it's Braxton Jones' job. And I think he's going to

play well as he continues to get his feet under him back out here in action. But this has not been an overwhelming success by any means. And think about the context of last year where nobody really won that battle. And there they are in the early week five by shifting it once again. I think their hope is they don't have to do that. They can get this thing resolved here in the preseason and probably in the next week, week and a half, they will say Braxton Jones is our starter and left tackle, but it's not there right now. Chris, I want to take it back to what you said about the pre-snap penalties because that's something Lela and I have been harping on. When we talk about the relationship between a guy and Garrett Bradbury, who has obviously not had the chance to build up the rapport that Drew

Dalman, it even took him and Caleb Williams some time to do last season. How much of that pre-snap stuff do you feel like was because there is a new center there and they're still getting used to everything on the offensive line? I think today was more a buying product of the Bengals. I think the Bengals are probably doing some stuff pre-snap to mess with the Bears a little bit and probably not messing with Garrett-Bradbury as much as the offensive line as a whole. It's been a lot cleaner and fluid throughout the course of training camp, and the offensive line has looked pretty strong so far.

Garrett Bradbury's looked really good, and I understand why they coveted him in that spot. They want a guy, especially with Caleb Williams, still this 24 years old, year two and Ben Johnson's system, year three in the league. They want a caddy at center, and somebody can really work well with the pre-snap stuff and helping align Caleb Williams just as much as Caleb Williams

is going to get everybody else aligned. I think that's a terrific dynamic they have, and they got the right guy in place. ideally at some point this is Logan Jones job for a long time is your long-term center here. But right now I think they feel plenty comfortable with Gary Bramberry. Today was just not a great day for that offensive line. And that's okay. I'm telling you, one of my top takeaways today was Dexter Lawrence looked outstanding out there.

So it was good for both sides of the football against some tests. Lawrence up against that bears offense and offensive line. On the other side of the football, when you got Jamar Chase and T. Higgins, Joe Burrow, going up against that defense with a secondary being tested. You got some really good battles out there today. Chris, we're talking to Chris Emma. He's joining us life from Cincinnati. He is our reporter at 1043, the score covering the bears.

He is also at the score, Chicago.com. And Chris, how many run plays did you see? Because I know Ben Johnson touched on it after the game on Saturday. He talked about how the run game he wanted to see more out of. I think this is independent of D'Andre Swift at this point. We know Swift had a wonderful camp. What were your observations about the run game? I think today was really interesting.

day for that third running back, Knicks, if that's something you're interested in, because Kyle Manung guy did not travel with the team, nor did Tyson Bayesian, by the way, if you're looking ahead to Saturday. So they're getting a look at some of these other guys. Briddon Brown had one of my favorite plays I think I've ever seen, honestly, in training camp today where, you know, they have those guardian caps on top of their regular helmet. And there comes Britt and Brown along the edge, with the end zone in sight. He took on contact to the point where his guardian had was popping off, and then he finished his run in the end zone. It was just a bulldozer type play. He's had his moments.

Savon Akhmet is a guy who we saw Flash last week in the preseason opener and a really interesting player. Somebody got hurt last year with a really catastrophic injury during camp and trying to get matched in that form, but somebody that Ben Johnson clearly trusts. So, DeAndre Swift has looked fantastic throughout this training camp. We saw him really flash, especially that live streamage last week, that first play he popped along the sidelines. I didn't feel really good about this running back, Nick, certainly with Menungi factored in, and they hope that is not a serious injury where he's missing board. than a few weeks at this point.

But they got a good evaluation than that today. Britton Brown and Savon-Ockman really stood out. So we know that it's a matchup of exciting quarterbacks that played out in real-time because we saw a backup step into the role like he was Joe Burrow and Joe Flacco last year. But now we've got Burrow back to full health. And I understand he had some things to say about the guy that plays quarterback in Chicago, right? It's cool to have that dynamic too in Chicago because I remember a few years ago when the Bengals came to Alice Hall for a joint practice and thinking this is pre-Kaleb Williams now that

that Joe Burrow is the best quarterback that's ever practiced at Hallis Hall before. And now the Bears got a guy in Caleb Williams who's considered one of the best in the league. And in that elite class, he seems to be heading that way. That's the hope at least that he becomes one of those top ten quarterbacks in the league in a true bona fide franchise arm. And if you ask Joe Burrow, Caleb Williams is becoming that. Here's Joe Burrough on Caleb Williams.

Yeah, he made some incredible plays. And they always seem to come up in a huge spot. And, you know, that was exciting to see. Obviously, I've known him for a long time. And he takes it very seriously, and he's a very talented guy and fun to watch. And, you know, so to have him make those plays in those big spots, it's good for the league. It's good for Chicago. It's good for everybody.

So when you have players like that, it just makes everybody that much better. It's the respect, right? The respect factor is in order here? I think it's incredibly cool that the bears have one of those guys who a player like Joe Burrough has that kind of respect for that admiration for. And there's going to be more of that. Caleb Williams, especially what you do as he did in the playoffs, everybody in the football world watching that. There's so much respect for Caleb Williams as a buddy franchise quarterback. And think about where he was a couple years ago when C.P. Stroud kind of had that awkward moment with Caleb Post game.

And he had that eye roll. And like now the top guys around the league are looking at Caleb Williams saying he is one of us. He is becoming a top quarterback. And it's really cool. You're going to hear more of that as you go throughout the course of this season. But this is a guy that everybody in the league is looking to saying that's Caleb Williams team and the Bears are going to go wherever Caleb takes them. And it's been all arrows pointing up here in training camp. I've come away really impressed by Caleb Williams, the process that he's had, the determination that's in play for a guy who has continued to ascend in this league.

And what I've seen on the field, the emphasis on ball plays and putting the ball right on that spot where you can get that. that received reception, that yards after catch and really enhance Ben Johnson's offense to the next level. I see a guy in Caleb Williams who's really dialed in on doing what the coaches want and getting the best out of himself. Because he knows after last season that Ben Johnson has his best interest in mind and they're going to go really far together if they embrace that. Yeah, Joe sounded like he was cheering on the greater good there, which also involved Caleb. Chris, what can you tell us about what Ben Johnson had to say about the practices? Well, I'm just curious about this because the bears have now multiple joint practices. Next week, week from today, they will be in Nashville working with the Titans.

They did multiple last year. They've done a handful of these even before Ben Johnson came to the helm. And it's more of a new school thought, the ability to do these practices away from the preseason now and structure it accordingly, where rather than playing with the randomness of a preseason game and anything that the variables in play there, you got two practices basically going. Bears O versus Spengles D. Bears D versus Spengles O. And it's just rapid fire.

It's great action. This has become more of a priority around the league where there's a bunch of these going on today. So I asked Ben Johnson about why this is more important work in his mind than the preseason. Here's Ben Johnson. Yeah, well, I mean, they're controlled reps here. You know, the emphasis is going to be on our starters. And, you know, talking with Zach, he feels the same way. They'll get the bulk of the workload here.

And we'll assess where we're at after the practice just in terms of that workload. But, yeah, it's exciting because we know, you know, there's ground rules stay away from the quarterback. You know, we're thudden up and things of that nature. And so we can just make sure it's safe, it's controlled. And yet the competition goes up. The intensity goes up. You can't help. But when you have a new face across from you, you want to go out there and make sure your identity and who you're about,

everything you're about shows up on tape. And so that's what we're looking for today. we talked about it this morning. We want to see our style of play transfer and translate, even though we're on the road here. Knowing that there are joint practices each of the next two weeks now before these last two preseason games, does that mean we're really not going to see the starters in the preseason, specifically Caleb Williams? I think that's going to be the case. I would be very surprised if you see the bear starters on Saturday night here at Picard Stadium next week looking ahead.

Ben Johnson's serious when he says they need to determine after these practices. And I was trying to imagine what kind of catastrophic and sloppiness would it take for the bears to run their starters out and change course and do that on Saturday night. I don't think you're going to see any of those starters out there for that preseason finale down in Nashville. I think they're going to really prioritize the work you get on the fields here, Cincinnati and then Tennessee and getting the best out of those joint practices. And they feel really good about it. And Ben Johnson's done it beautifully last week. He's like, do I need to see Kimmel Williams in the preseason? No, I see him every day in practice.

So last year, it was different because that was year one of the offense. They really needed every rep in a race against the clock to be totally prepared. And they really even win that race last September. It took while to get that offense up to speed. The offense is more than up to speed right now. Caleb Williams is the guy taking the lead. Not only what Ben Johnson wants, but everybody else on the field. So they feel like they're in a really good spot for that side of the football.

I think they feel plenty confident about the work. Zach Taylor, the Bengals seem to suggest same as what the Bears want to do, that they're going to hold out their starters as well for Saturday night. As I mentioned, Tyson Bayesian's not here. So that means Case Keenham, Miller Moss, those are going to be your quarterbacks, most likely on Saturday night. That's incredible. We've been trying to figure that out, Chris.

And after seeing Case Canem sling it in that third quarter last week, I assumed he would be getting the start if that were the case. I know it's not ideal for the bears. But for those of us who just love yards, just a lot of passing yards? Completion percentage. All of it, I feel like I'm in a good place with this. I just want to take a moment to you like Case Keenum, the level of appreciation for that guy. He's 38 years old.

He's in year 15 of the league. He truly embraces being the backup quarterback for this guy, being a sounding board between Caleb Williams and the rest of this team and the coaching staff and being a true veteran presence. That's a guy who just loves football. He keeps coming back and doing this work because he loves ball. He loves being part of the team. So it's going to be fun to watch him out there.

And from the other side last week with the Browns, like Case Keenum could be the starter for the Browns. I mean, trade a draft pick, whatever you need to do to get that guy. That was a mess that they had between Deshaun Watson and Tudor Sanders. Case Keenum is worlds above those Cleveland quarterbacks that they had out there. So it speaks volumes to the way that he prepares in the work he's still putting in now at age 38, you're 15 to be successful. All right. I really got to hit this because you haven't mentioned a couple of names.

Jalen Johnson, Montes, Sweat, Dio, Dingbo. Did any of these guys on defense flash against what we assume is going to be a world-class, offense quarterback by Joe Burrow with that receiving core. You know who flashed today, even better, they'll go with the young buck. That's number 31, Dylan Thineman. From my perspective, I was watching the offensive side, and there was kind of multiple plays going at the same time, and I hear a roar on the other field. I kind of look up, but there's 31, and what I found out was the ball was deflected off the

hands of T. Higgins. Dylan Thineman pulls it in and is just gone down the sidelines. And the Bears' defense, and really the bears as a whole, they were loud at it. They made their voices heard. That was the loudest that field three got, as Dylan Thineman was. flying down the field as well. So it was great to see him back out there. Dio Dainbo, and we have to talk with T.J. Edwards today. He kind of leaned into the ongoing bits that he looked motivated out there. So 55's healthy out there. I'll give you another

report, too, because there's been a lot of focus on Kyler Gordon. He was out there today on the sidelines, not in uniform, of course, but watching practice closely. Look, we've heard a lot from the Bears about Kyler Gordon's side. My understanding as well is that he's frustrated. He's bent down on his luck with the injuries. And I think a lot of that, frankly, it's probably something he's not doing right. When you have this level of soft tissue injuries and these injuries, one after the other for him, I'm sure he's incredibly frustrated that he's not playing. Look, I think there's something that he and the bears have to get on the same page with in terms of the preparation to be out there. But at the very least, I not seen Tyler Gordon really at all, aside from in the locker

and postgame Saturday. So he along with Luther Berger there watching on the sidelines, cheering on their teammates and part of this trip. So that's good to see. I think you just buried the lead. T.J. Edwards is aware of motivated Dio? He got a laugh out of that one, too. He's heard. I think everybody in that locker room has heard of the motivated Dio bit. So look, they're thrilled that he's out there. And I know it's become like a social media meme and everything out there. But for Dio Dainbo to come back, the injury was here in Cincinnati on that field,

that for him to come back, go through this process, embrace it, and come back stronger than this. Obviously, it's a different leg. He's dealing with a different injury than he had years ago. But that process of rehabbing from that allowed him to come back with a clean process, a clean rehab, and be stronger than before. So this is a key guy for the Bears. We know Montes Sweat carried a little over for that pass rush. They are counting on 55 to be part of this as well, along with the guys like Austin Booker and the complimentary pieces that you have in this rush. So you're able to get Dino and Dainbo back to form.

This defense is going to be in a really good place. All right. Well, that is huge. Chris, you've done a great job reporting from Cincinnati. We look forward to your reports tomorrow as well. Take care. That is Chris Emma, our Bears reporter. You can check his work out at the scorechicago.com.

Of course, he is at Chris Emma 1 on Twitter. Who knew? He'd be typing, he'd be talking, he'd be asking questions, and he'd be recording. That's Chris Emma. Amazing. Trading cam coverage on the score is sponsored by IDOT. At some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian.

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