Ted Karras confirms Bengals’ joint practice against Bears is the sign Cincinnati needed entering the 2026 season
Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras enjoyed every second of watching the Bengals’ defense unleash its fury against the Chicago Bears during their joint practice.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ starting offense got a break this week when they went up against a defense that isn’t their own. Center Ted Karras and the Bengals put in quality work against the Chicago Bears, and had the opportunity to watch Cincinnati’s defense unleash its fury against other players for a change.
He enjoyed every second of it.
“It was [expletive] great,” Karras said after Thursday’s practice. “It validated a lot of my insecurities.”
Chicago’s offensive line had a tough time handling the Bengals’ new and improved defensive line. For once, it wasn’t Karras and Co. dealing with the likes of Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, and the rest of the group that has been making life miserable for Cincinnati’s offense throughout camp.
Karras may have gotten personal validation, but I think offense as a whole should have been feeling the same.
Bengals’ offense has been playing on hard mode
Thursday’s joint practice says a lot about the kind of work the Bengals’ offense has been putting in this past month. They’ve been in relatively uncomfortable waters trying to get the most out of their under center packages. The defense is on its own mission, and it showed it matches up well against another quality unit.
The Bears proudly boast a quality starting offensive line in front of quarterback Caleb Williams. Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson are about as stable of a guard duo as you’ll find in the NFL. Darnell Wright recently inked a massive contract extension at right tackle. Garrett Bradbury is now in the mix after Drew Dalman unexpectedly retired this offseason, but Bradbury has many years of experience in this league. The only relative weak spot is Braxton Jones, and Lawrence and the rest of Cincinnati’s interior defensive line didn’t even see him during the joint practice.
Chicago’s line was overwhelmed by Lawrence, who had a tipped pass interception to himself along with many other dominant reps. Myles Murphy and Cashius Howell caused havoc off the edge, and Allen provided his own disruption up the middle.
None of it was new to Karras and his teammates. They’ve experienced nothing else for weeks. To see it fluster a completely different group, a division champion group at that, has to be reassuring.
Cincinnati looks to be on the right path
Camp is always about fighting through struggles and getting things right for the regular season. It rarely looks pretty, but the Bengals have had it especially challenging against the defensive unit that received the most investment this offseason.
Cincinnati meticulously built an imposing defensive front almost from the ground up, one that is supposed to help take them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2022. It’s very much looking the part.
The offense had its wins against the Bears defense, but I think the biggest takeaway for them was realizing just how much they’ve accomplished. They’re going to be better off for having gone through a month of combat against a defensive line that gave Chicago all it could handle in the last real live session before the regular season.
Insecurities from Karras will soon become insecurities for those standing in the way of his teammates.
