Bears stock report: Biggest winners and losers from ugly preseason loss to Bengals

Cincinnati rested Joe Burrow, Joe Flacco, and essentially its entire starting lineup. Chicago, meanwhile, opened the game with Caleb Williams and most of its starting offense. The Bears also had several first-team defenders on the field when 40-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson engineered a 14-play opening drive that lasted more than seven minutes.

That's not exactly what Ben Johnson had in mind for Chicago's second preseason game.

The final score doesn't matter. The performances do.

Several Bears fighting for jobs strengthened their cases Saturday night. Others missed opportunities, while a few lingering problems throughout training camp followed Chicago straight to Cincinnati.

Here's the Bears' stock report coming out of Preseason Week 2.

Stock up: Jordan van den Berg, DL

If there was one defensive performance worth getting excited about, it came from Jordan van den Berg.

The rookie defensive tackle continued what has become one of the more intriguing developments of Bears training camp. Van den Berg showed penetration and athleticism against Cincinnati and was one of the few Chicago defensive linemen who consistently looked disruptive.

That's significant because the Bears desperately need someone to emerge up front.

Van den Berg has already worked his way into some first-team run-defense reps during camp, and his preseason performance is giving Dennis Allen more reasons to keep expanding his role.

Van den Berg is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. And eventually, players who keep showing up tend to get opportunities that weren't necessarily part of the original plan.

Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Stock up: Maurice Alexander, WR

The battle at the bottom of Chicago's wide receiver depth chart got considerably more interesting Saturday.

Kaden Davis entered the game with most of the momentum after an excellent training camp and an 88-yard performance against Cleveland. Against Cincinnati, however, Maurice Alexander seized his opportunity.

Alexander was one of the Bears' most dependable offensive players, catching all five of his targets for 60 yards and leading Chicago in receiving.

Those numbers matter, but Alexander's roster case will require more than catching passes.

Special teams will likely determine who wins the final spot or two in Chicago's receiver room, and that's where Davis could still have an advantage. But Alexander needed to remind the coaching staff that he belongs in the conversation.

He did exactly that.

Stock up: Skyler Thomas, DB

Chicago's defense didn't produce many momentum-changing moments Saturday night. Skyler Thomas provided one of them.

Thomas intercepted Sean Clifford in the fourth quarter, stepping in front of a pass intended for Caleb Etienne for Chicago's only takeaway. The Bears offense failed to capitalize, but that doesn't diminish the importance of the play for Thomas.

General manager Ryan Poles has an increasingly complicated secondary puzzle to solve before roster cuts. Coby Bryant is expected to miss months following knee surgery. Kyler Gordon remains sidelined. Rookie Malik Muhammad is pushing for an immediate role, and several defensive backs farther down the depth chart are fighting for jobs largely through versatility and special teams.

Thomas needed his splash play to separate himself from that group.

Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Stock up: Salvon Ahmed, RB

Salvon Ahmed didn't duplicate the kind of performance that generated buzz following Chicago's preseason opener, but he didn't disappear from the running back competition, either.

Ahmed again showed the burst that makes him a different type of runner from Roschon Johnson, turning six carries into 36 yards.

Ben Johnson made it clear after the Cleveland game that the Bears feel comfortable with D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai atop the depth chart. Everything after those two will likely come down to special teams, pass protection, and which reserve can provide a useful complementary skill set.

That's still the challenge for Ahmed. But two preseason games into this competition, he's done nothing to play himself out of it.

Stock down: Braxton Jones, LT

Braxton Jones entered Saturday with an opportunity to take control of the Bears' left tackle competition. He didn't.

Ben Johnson recently moved Jones back into the first-team role, while Theo Benedet struggled at times during Thursday's joint practice with Cincinnati. The door was open for Jones to put some distance between himself and the competition.

Instead, his most noticeable moment came for the wrong reason.

Jones was called for holding on Chicago's opening possession, wiping out a Roschon Johnson run that would have given the Bears first-and-goal from the Cincinnati 7-yard line. Chicago couldn't recover from the penalty and settled for a Cairo Santos field goal.

That's exactly the type of mistake the Bears can't afford from whoever wins this job.

Chicago doesn't need its left tackle to become an All-Pro. With Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson and Darnell Wright anchoring the rest of the line, the Bears need someone who can simply be dependable and avoid sabotaging otherwise successful plays.

Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Stock down: Bears defensive depth

This was probably the most troubling development of the night. Cincinnati didn't just rest Burrow. The Bengals also held out Flacco and many other significant players, leaving Josh Johnson to start at quarterback.

Yet the Bears couldn't consistently get Cincinnati's reserves off the field.

The Bengals answered Chicago's opening field goal with a 14-play drive that consumed more than seven minutes against a Bears defense featuring several starters. Cincinnati eventually took control with three consecutive touchdown possessions spanning the second and third quarters.

You'd expect Chicago's established defenders to look noticeably better than another team's backups. At times Saturday, it looked like the Bears were the team playing its second unit.

Stock down: Bears pass rush

The pass rush was bad enough to deserve its own category.

Chicago entered 2026 betting heavily on improvement from players already on the roster before recently adding veteran Marcus Davenport. Saturday night provided little evidence that the problem has been solved.

The Bears didn't record a sack against Cincinnati. Josh Johnson had enough time to settle into the game, completing 15 of 23 passes with two touchdowns before Sean Clifford added another touchdown pass in the second half.

Sure, Van den Berg's performance was encouraging. But Chicago needs pressure off the edge, too.

Montez Sweat can't be the entire pass rush. Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Davenport and whoever else makes this rotation have to give Allen another reliable way to affect quarterbacks, and that didn't happen Saturday.

Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Stock down: Kaden Davis, WR

Kaden Davis has been one of the best stories of Bears training camp. But Saturday just wasn't his night.

Davis entered the game after catching four passes for 88 yards against Cleveland, earning praise from Press Taylor and Williams and continuing his impressive summer with a touchdown during Thursday's joint practice.

Then he went without a reception against Cincinnati.

One quiet preseason game doesn't erase everything Davis has accomplished. His special-teams ability also remains an important part of his roster case.

While Davis was quiet, Alexander caught five passes for 60 yards. JP Richardson added five receptions for 48 yards.

No, Davis didn't necessarily lose his roster spot Saturday. But he did allow some of his competition to gain ground.

Stock down: Chicago's discipline

Chicago committed only two penalties for 10 yards in its preseason-opening win over Cleveland, a performance Johnson praised for its discipline. Against Cincinnati, that progress disappeared.

The Bears were penalized 11 times for 81 yards and converted just 2 of 14 third downs.

After Thursday's joint practice, Williams said cleaning up penalties accounted for "90%" of what the Bears needed to fix. Two days later, penalties were one of their biggest problems.

Stock down: The idea that joint practices can replace preseason reps

This might be the biggest takeaway from Saturday night.

The Bears got plenty of good work from their starters during Thursday's joint practice. Williams threw three red-zone touchdowns. Colston Loveland made an impressive touchdown catch despite tight coverage. Dillon Thieneman intercepted Burrow. Chicago's offense produced explosive plays.

That was encouraging. But a controlled joint practice still isn't a game. Saturday made that distinction painfully obvious.

Williams' only possession featured some positives, including completions to Rome Odunze and Loveland. But the drive stalled after Jones' holding penalty and ended with Santos kicking a 45-yard field goal. Williams finished his night after five attempts.

Then Chicago's defense allowed Cincinnati's reserves to possess the football for more than seven minutes on its first opportunity.

Saturday provided a pretty compelling argument that this Bears team could benefit from more actual game reps before the results start counting.

Chicago closes the preseason against the Tennessee Titans, with another joint practice scheduled before the game. Johnson now has a decision to make. He can again treat the joint practice as sufficient preparation for his starters, or he can look at what happened in Cincinnati and decide his team needs one more legitimate dress rehearsal before Week 1 against Carolina.

After Saturday night, the latter suddenly looks a lot more appealing.