Lou and Cassie breakdown Friday's Chicago Bears-Buffalo Bills joint practice
The Chicago Bears welcomed a second AFC East team to Halas Hall on Friday, as the Buffalo Bills came to Lake Forest for a second and final joint practice.
Like the first joint practice with Miami, the Bears found themselves using the practice as a benchmark to see where the team is in relation to putting an offense together and piecing together the 11 best players to start on both sides of the ball.
This time, they were doing it against a Super Bowl-contending team.
Here are our Bears takeaways and standout players from Friday's joint practice with the Buffalo Bills.
A rise in energy
Compared to last week's joint practice with Miami, the Bills seemed like they had brought a completely different energy to Halas Hall.
It seemed like they were intentionally holding and goading the Bears gunners during a special teams drill, trying to see how the Bears would respond. It wasn't a dirty drill by any means, the Bills knew what they were doing. But it was clearly a different speed compared to last Friday.
Buffalo is a contender and knows it. The Bears aspire to be that, and the Bills were seeing if the Bears would rise to their energy in the second half of practice when red zone and two-minute drills really determined how successful a practice it would be for the Bears.
The left tackle battle remains at a standstill
Before Friday's practice, Bears head coach Ben Johnson said he was still waiting for the Bears' starting left tackle to emerge from the crowded room.
Originally, the Bears were shuffling between rookie Ozzy Trapilo, second-year player Kiran Amegadije and three-year starter Braxton Jones, hoping one would emerge.
Now, it's a little more complicated.
Trapilo, as he has done all week, practiced exclusively at right tackle with the second-team offensive line. Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet split time at left tackle with the first-team. Amegadije remains with the third team at left tackle, seemingly out of the mix.
Benedet is a late addition to the mix, but Johnson said Friday he has much of a chance as anyone else on the roster.
"I think he's right in the middle of it," Johnson said. "He was probably overlooked to start this competition."
With Jones and Benedet getting first-team reps on Friday, there was a chance for one or the other to make a statement and pull ahead. Neither had a standout practice.
Benedet started the day with the first-team offense at left tackle. Jones took over with the first-team offense in red-zone team drills, but the Bears went back to Benedet for the situational two-minute drill and for the final team drill of the day.
Benedet was pulled for Jones in that final 11-on-11 period of the day after the first rep, but Jones didn't fare much better. The Bears scored on a catch-and-run by Olamide Zaccheus, but the last two reps of the drill were both sacks coming from Jones' side.
The case of the Bears at left tackle remains unsolved, but Sunday night's game vs. Buffalo could provide more clarity.
Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills is interviewed after an NFL football game against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium on December 11, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images)
Bears' defense holds its own vs. Buffalo's star power
The Bills are contenders for a reason. It goes beyond their high-powered defense, too.
Josh Allen is a star quarterback in the league and is reveling in a six-year, $330 million contract extension with $250 million guaranteed that he signed with Buffalo in March. He played like it too. When Allen delivers passes he gets the ball out efficiently with accuracy, and the pass gets to his receivers quickly but without being too powerful.
That also doesn't include running back James Cook, tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid, plus receivers Keon Coleman and Khalil Shakir.
The Bears still made big plays vs. the Bills' first-team offense. Safety Kevin Byard intercepted Allen during the 7-on-7 period, and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Allen at the goal-line in red zone drills.
Safety Jaquan Brisker made a play to tip the ball, where Edmunds was able to snag the ball out of the air.
"I said, ‘bro, appreciate you,’" Edmunds said. "I was able to make a play."
Edmunds, who was drafted by the Bills in the same Buffalo 2018 NFL Draft Class as Allen, knows how important Friday's test was for the Bears' defense.
"You want that type of competition. We're a good defense," Edmunds said. "We were able to come away with some takeaways."
The Bears weren't perfect, but they were still able to hang their hat on a few key moments that could translate to gamedays .
"Going against an MVP quarterback, it challenges you," Edmunds said.
Bears joint practice standout players
Jaquan Brisker:
It was another practice where the Bears were probably very happy to have Brisker back after he missed so much time.
Brisker brought the energy and capitalized on it with a big pass break up in 7-on-7 drills and a pass break up that led to Edmunds' interception. It countered the energy the Bills brought to start.
"Brisk, he's been doing that all camp," Edmunds said.
Alex Cook:
One of the biggest plays of the day Friday came in the situational drill when Cook was a one-man wrecking ball with the second-team defense.
The Bills swung a pass out Ty Johnson, and Cook had a punch out to force a fumble, recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Those are the players a fringe players hoping to make the roster needs to make.
Rome Odunze:
For what felt like the third straight day of Bears' practice, Odunze was Caleb Williams' favorite receiver.
Williams targeted Odunze an unofficial 10 times during practice Friday, and Odunze caught six of those passes. He had touchdowns on consecutive reps in the red zone drills, one where the protection held and Williams hit Odunze in the back of the end zone. The next rep, Williams hit Odunze short of the goal line, but Odunze was able to roll into the end zone.
Odunze displayed powerful hands and top-tier body control in coming down with some passes Williams placed where only Odunze could get them.
Olamide Zaccheus:
Zaccheus earned Ben Johnson's trust, and has slyly become one of Williams' most dependable targets in camp. When he's not a play's first read, Zaccheus has still found ways to get open and make plays after the catch.
On Friday, he had a 46-yard touchdown in the final team period where he caught a pass over the middle and outraced everyone to the end zone. It's an important development in camp as Odunze and DJ Moore are already established parts of the offense.
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