CINCINNATI — Ben Johnson wanted to make sure that the Chicago Bears’ brand of football was on display in a joint practice in Cincinnati.

“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,” he said before Thursday’s practice. “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.”

We saw the toughness, even if it was in a few minor kerfuffles. The run game produced a big gain from D’Andre Swift early in the session and another first-down run by Salvon Ahmed, but otherwise was mostly bottled up.

Specifically on the field where it was the Bears’ starting offense against the Bengals’ starting defense, though, things weren’t as “clean” and “concise” as Johnson hoped.

“We’ve got to clean up the penalties,” quarterback Caleb Williams said. “That was the first, I’d say, 90 percent of practice. … I haven’t been able to watch it, so don’t know for sure, but that’s how it felt at least out there.

“And then in the situations, just got to be better. Whether it’s myself and protecting the football or the front or wide receivers, all of us, it’s a combination of all of us being able to go out there and execute. It’s going to be a focus point for sure.”

Player in the spotlight: QB Caleb Williams

Williams threw three touchdown passes on his first five throws in the initial seven-on-seven drill. On the second drill, he had to scramble twice and didn’t complete a pass.

When the team drills got going, he opened things up with an out route to wide receiver Rome Odunze, who stayed in bounds and then turned upfield. Williams showed pinpoint precision on a deep out to receiver Kalif Raymond, floating it with an NBA shooter’s follow-through.

But on the second set of downs, Williams got pressured several times. He was incomplete on attempts to tight end Colston Loveland and Raymond.

This was the pattern of the morning practice. Some good, some not so much. And it ended on a low note. During a move-the-ball drill, Williams hit Raymond with a play-action strike on the first play, but after consecutive incomplete passes — one when he was under duress — his screen attempt got tipped and intercepted by All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.

In the first two-minute situation, Williams had to contend with Lawrence again while throwing three incomplete passes, including one on fourth down to receiver Jahdae Walker.

“He’s one of the best, if not the best, D-tackles with Chris Jones and all of them up there,” Williams said. “He’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Williams did add that, with it not being a normal game week, they didn’t necessarily prepare for Lawrence like they would during the regular season.

Then to end practice, Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy beat left tackle Theo Benedet for a sack. Williams had to scramble and step up on the next play, and his pass to Loveland was late and tipped before landing in the arms of Bengals cornerback Jalen Davis.

“I got to bring the ball down. I left it up top too much. Released it too high,” Williams said. “Trying to move. Then I got some pressure on the back side and just tried to check it down, get the drive going. … Just trying to find a way to help the back side if I can do anything in stepping up or getting the ball out faster, so we’re going to go look at that.”

Bears coach Ben Johnson, left, chats with Bengals coach Zac Taylor during joint practice in Cincinnati on Thursday. (USA Today Network)

In the red zone

Williams thrived in the red zone drill, hitting Loveland, Raymond and receiver Kaden Davis for touchdowns. The throw to Loveland was a highlight.

“I saw them rotate down into one-high, and then just knowing it’s Colston, that’s my guy, going up the seam, and the defender’s back was turned to me,” he said. “He turned around just at the end, but the ball was already going over the top. Colston ran a great route and made a great catch.”

Loveland made another big catch in that period, and Williams was his most accurate on the day.

“Just being able to get the ball out, being able to know where I’m hot from and the offensive line doing a good job down there,” he said.

Williams believes the defense has the advantage in the cramped confines of the red zone.

“So things happen faster, so it’s just being able to deliver a ball and see coverage and give the guys a shot,” he said.

Pressing question

How will the tape look for center Garrett Bradbury?

The pressure on Williams often seemed to come from the interior. That’ll happen when Lawrence is on the other side, and we don’t know who didn’t get a block or an assignment.

That’s why it’ll be interesting to see how it all looks for Bradbury, the one new piece of the Bears’ interior offensive line.

“It was a good test for us, some things to work on, for sure,” Williams said. “We spoke about them out there on the field. We had a fumbled snap on our first one, and that’s not something you want to happen in a game or practice. It’s just being able to communicate on those and figure out what happened — if I was too quick, if I was too slow — because obviously first snap you want to get moving.

“It’s just (Bradbury) and I being able to work together and communicate on those things.”

We haven’t seen or heard any indications that Bradbury is at risk of entering a competition with rookie Logan Jones just yet, and a review of the tape may show flaws across the board that led to the Bengals’ success. As the communicator up front, Bradbury has a big role in keeping Williams clean.

“What I want to see is alignment, assignment, pre-snap taken care of,” Johnson said about the quarterback-center exchange before practice. “A year ago, those joint practices, they were discombobulated, so that’s not what we’re looking for.”

Things looked good on the opening drive for the offense and then in the red zone. Coaches will have plenty to pick apart from the rest of the day.

Keep an eye on: WR Kaden Davis

The star of training camp got some run with the starting offense Thursday, which included going low to haul in a touchdown pass from Williams.

“Him being able to come in and learn the plays pretty fast,” Williams said. “Where to line up. How to line up. How to run the routes. … And then just being in the right position. He’s made plays for us so far, whether it’s in practice or in the game. He’s been explosive. He’s been fun to watch. I’m excited for him to keep growing and keep working.”

Davis has gotten a lot more attention than you’d expect for someone who has zero regular-season NFL catches and has appeared in only three games since 2022.

Luther Burden’s injury is providing more reps for receivers, and Davis had four catches for 88 yards in the preseason opener. He should get plenty of snaps Saturday night. If the Bears keep six receivers, he’ll be in that conversation.

Quote to note

Linebacker T.J. Edwards is one of the longer-tenured Bears, and coming off his own frustrating season of injuries — the first he’s had in his career — he offered some perspective on nickel corner Kyler Gordon, who remains sidelined.

“I think Kyler is one of the best nickels in the game; I really do,” he said. “I think when he is on the field, he changes the game, and, you know, his ability to blitz, his ability to stop the run, his ability to cover when needed, play the pass.

“I know he’s working his butt off, and I talk to him every single day. Man, he’s just itching to get out there, so we’ll be ready when he gets back. We know who he is when he is on the field.”

Quick hits

• Defensive end Marcus Davenport was present but not participating in practice. A first-round pick for Dennis Allen’s Saints defense, he also played two games in Detroit when Johnson was offensive coordinator. “I think he’s going to add some competition to us on the edge there,” Johnson said. “He’s still a very hungry and motivated individual and we got a plan for how we want him to come back and be able to help us out.”

• Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson returned to practice. Cornerback Terell Smith was also back out there but in a limited fashion.

• The following Bears made the trip but did not practice: Gordon, cornerback Jaylon Jones, Burden, safety Elijah Hicks, linebacker Noah Sewell, guard Luke Newman and defensive tackle Shemar Turner.

• Defensive back William Wright, linebacker Tony Fields II and offensive linemen Kyle Hergel and Wesley French also did not practice.

• Johnson said quarterback Tyson Bagent’s injury is “week to week.” He did not travel to Cincinnati, and neither did running back Kyle Monangai.

• Expect a lot of quarterbacks Case Keenum and Miller Moss on Saturday night. Johnson said earlier in the week that whether starters played in the preseason game would be dictated by the joint practice, but Bengals coach Zac Taylor said his starters aren’t playing, an indication of what Johnson might do.