CINCINNATI — Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase was still fuming after Thursday’s practice that a ball didn’t come his way when he sprung open during team drills against the Bears.
Perhaps he was annoyed by the cornerback across from him, too.
The Bears’ Jaylon Johnson played Chase close, who is just two years removed from leading the league in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, during the joint practice.
“Real good corner,” Chase said. “Pretty aggressive on a couple plays.”
Too aggressive?
“I get jumped every day,” Chase said. “I get jumped for a living. I’ve got many yards getting jumped at the line. That’s not aggressive.”
Chase’s best catch — a jump ball up the right sideline — came with Tyrique Stevenson in coverage.
“On the back end, you want to see stickiness in coverage,” coach Ben Johnson said before practice. “We want to be able to stay attached and try to make plays on the football. Our calling card a year ago was the takeaways. It would be great to get a couple takeaways.”
Johnson’s performance was a good sign after he missed most of last year with a series of groin injuries.
“I’ve seen improvement out of Jaylon,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said Wednesday. “I’ve seen some flashes that say, ‘Man, he’s looking a little bit more like what you expected him to look.’”
T.J. ramping up
Linebacker T.J. Edwards hurt his calf while training off-site before training camp. He’s still not participating in full practices.
He said Thursday he didn’t know exactly when he’ll be full-go, saying he trusted the trainers and coaches to ramp him up correctly. He’s still scarred by last season, which he started with a hamstring pull that cost him all but 10 games. He then broke his leg in the playoff game against the Packers.
“I’m not used to missing anything,” he said. “So I’m not letting that happen here.”
Highway signs
The Bengals’ outdoor facility is located a block from Paycor Stadium — players have to walk in cleats from their gameday locker room to the three fields — and is located underneath a series of overpasses. Fans watched practice from the overpass — technically, the end of the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, which connects Ohio to Kentucky — on Thursday. One even managed to wriggle to the opposite side of the fencing that lined the street.
Notes
• After Johnson said he’d pay particularly close attention to special teams, receiver Maurice Alexander returned a kickoff for a touchdown in a full-speed drill with the Bengals covering.
• Running back Kyle Monangai, who hurt his knee Sunday and is considered week-to-week, stayed back at Halas Hall for rehab work.
• Safety Elijah Hicks, who’s on the physically-unable-to-perform list, was padded up as part of his return-to-play protocol.
