Bears risers and fallers: Kaden Davis, Jamree Kromah excel in preseason win

CHICAGO — For the third time in four preseason games with Ben Johnson as head coach, the Bears scored at least 29 points.

Their 34-10 win over the Browns on Saturday at Soldier Field included 34 unanswered points after Cleveland took a 10-0 lead. The Bears offense started slow before scoring on six of its final nine possessions.

Johnson took pride in the team having only two penalties after emphasizing being disciplined on all three sides of the ball.

“I thought our guys were able to cut it loose,” he said. “We simplified the game plans from what we’ve been doing in practice and just let them go out there and play.”

In our annual look at “risers and fallers” from a Bears preseason game, there wasn’t much to put in the negative section.

Risers

Backup receivers: One of the stars of training camp, Kaden Davis, continued his scintillating summer with four catches for 88 yards from quarterback Tyson Bagent. Davis was with Johnson in Detroit earlier in his career and is competing to be the final wideout on the roster. He certainly provided some good tape for other teams watching. Maurice Alexander, who had some impressive moments last summer and then spent the season on the practice squad, had three catches for 42 yards and a score.

“Had a little crosser route, came off with a clean release, snapped it off and caught the ball and ran to daylight,” Alexander said.

Veteran Scotty Miller added three catches for 37 yards. It’s early, but those three are giving the Bears plenty of reason to keep six wideouts and then try to get the others to the practice squad.

“That’s just the expectation we got in the receiver room,” Alexander said. “We all out there rooting for each other, all out there going hard, just having each other’s back and leaning on one another. So that’s just the work we put in. That’s how we go to work every day and how we approach practice.”

Caleb Williams’ backups: Bagent had one interception and the starting offense had back-to-back three-and-outs, but he got rolling in the second quarter with his touchdown pass to Alexander and the explosives to Davis. Case Keenum went 9-for-10 passing for 151 yards with two scores, good for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. That included a fourth-down conversion to receiver Ray-Ray McCloud. It’s exactly what Johnson wants from his quarterbacks: the ability to execute the offense and provide more faith in what the team has surrounding Williams.

Salvon Ahmed: Another camp standout, Ahmed reversed field and scampered 49 yards for a touchdown on a screen pass. His two rushes went for 17 yards. Fellow running back Roschon Johnson had an impressive 19-yard run on third down on the Bears’ first touchdown drive, and he probably still has the upper hand as the No. 3 back with his special teams background, but Ahmed is having a strong summer. The fourth- and fifth-string backs also found the end zone — Brittain Brown on a 6-yard pass from Keenum and undrafted rookie Coleman Bennett on a 3-yard run.

Bears defensive end Jamree Kromah had two sacks Saturday, including this one of Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel. (Patrick Gorski / Imagn Images)

Jamree Kromah: Kromah signed as an undrafted rookie in 2024, all the way back in the Matt Eberflus era. Aside from a brief stint on the Patriots’ practice squad, he’s been with the Bears in some capacity, and he had his best moment when he beat the Browns’ right tackle and got his hand on the football, stripping quarterback Deshaun Watson and then recovering it. The Bears scored their first touchdown four plays later.

Kromah said he lost 20 pounds in the offseason but got stronger with more lean mass. He had three tackles for loss total among his six tackles. He’s likely looking at a practice-squad spot for the third year in a row, but this was his best preseason performance as a Bear.

Run defense: The Bears held Browns running back Quinshon Judkins to 9 yards on four carries. They had a fourth-down, short-yardage stop in the second half with Kromah and linebacker Jon Rhattigan getting credit for the tackle. Through three quarters, they gave up only one run longer than 6 yards to a running back. Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore had two tackles for loss.

Fallers

Left tackle challengers: From our vantage point, neither left tackle Kiran Amegadjie nor Jedrick Wills asserted himself as someone who could supplant Braxton Jones and start Week 1. It looked like Wills got beat for a sack. Amegadjie gave up some space on a few snaps, once to a spin move and another to an inside move. The two left tackles looked solid out in space blocking, but the pass protection didn’t seem exemplary.

Amegadjie said he felt he had an up-and-down game.

“I think I was kind of getting my feet underneath me for a second,” he said. “It was tough to get into rhythm, sitting in the second quarter and coming back with a two-minute drill and then the third quarter. So it’s a good learning opportunity, obviously, just what I need to do to stay ready in those moments if there is another occasion like that.”

Amegadjie, a third-round pick in 2024, is as healthy as he’s been in a training camp as he tries to show the coaches the consistency they want from the position.

“I’ve started one game in three years and I’ve been injured multiple times, so there’s obviously that level of frustration. I’m not the player that I want to be yet,” Amegadjie said. “Obviously I’m working towards that. Everybody has a different path in the NFL. … I’m healthy now and I’m focused on staying on the field as long as I can.”

If Jones is the Week 1 starter — and Johnson expected Jones to be back at practice this week — Amegadjie and Wills are still competing to be the backup left tackle for the regular season.

Keep an eye on …

The cornerback situation: While the Bears can feel good about their starting outside corners, Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson, the preseason game reminded us of the injuries that have been a story this summer. Josh Blackwell was the corner in coverage for three of Cleveland’s long passes, but he’s well down the corner depth chart and will make the team because of his special teams prowess. Kyler Gordon was present and on the sideline but is still on the physically unable to perform list. Terell Smith and Jaylon Jones remain out.

Rookie Malik Muhammad, in his NFL debut, got flagged for holding but also had a strong tackle in the open field for a loss.

“That was a huge emphasis with me coming out this year in the draft, like working on tackling, working on attacking,” Muhammad said. “Just knowing that I’m going to play nickel and be in the box, you got to be physical and be able to tackle.”

This week’s joint practice and then game in Cincinnati should offer Muhammad a bunch of valuable reps before the Bears may need to call on him come September.

Beanie Bishop, one of the team’s newest corners, had two interceptions and a pass breakup.

Quick hits

• Tight end Nikola Kalinic left the game with a knee injury and did not return. He had a brace on the knee in the locker room. He’s had reps with the first-team special teams units in camp.

• Linebacker Nephi Sewell sustained a concussion. Safety Xavier Woods injured his groin. Linebacker Ruben Hyppolite had a shoulder injury.

• Cairo Santos missed his first field goal try of the afternoon, a 50-yarder, but he made the next two from 51 and 49 yards, respectively.

• Caleb Williams and the starters ran 60 plays before the game. The Bears will practice Sunday afternoon, which is expected to be mostly the first-team players who did not play in the game, before an off day Monday.