The Bengals don't have to deal with arguably the best defensive tackle in the NFL this coming weekend, a welcome relief to members of the offense.

Tennessee sent Jeffery Simmons to the Bears today in a blockbuster move ahead of the 2026 Trade Deadline. The 2025 AP First-Team All-Pro is 10th at his position in Pro Football Focus grading this season while leading all interior linemen in ESPN pass-rush win rate and ranking fifth in pressure rate.

Ja'Marr Chase and Ted Karras spoke about the ease of the game plan Thursday, while acknowledging you can't take anyone lightly in the NFL.

"I don't have to block him, but we're definitely glad he made it a little better for us with the game plan," Chase said.

Karras did have to take him on and he is breathing big sigh of relief to not face the eighth-year star.

"Two hours of anxiety last night is gone," Karras joked. "I'm going to take a deeper look and kind of try and predict how they're going to play without them. They got good players. John Franklin-Myers has been playing at the top of his game for a long time. I remember when he was young on the Jets; he's been dangerous forever. So they got a lot of good players over there. So we got to go out and execute and win this ball game, but yeah, I mean, obviously, a dynamic player is on the Bears, so Joe Thuney has to deal with him at practice."

Cincinnati's easy schedule got a tad bit easier with the move, and they cannot afford to lose this game while pursuing the top regular season goal: The AFC's No. 1 seed.

Chase wants to see his team come out much faster than the donut they posted in the first half a few days ago.

"I think we got to look at the bright side of us playing at home," Chase noted. "That's the one thing we got to look at. We're playing at home, so we got to keep the crowd in tight for us. We got to keep the fans ready. And two is just coming out faster than what we did last week. You can't look at this game like they lost Jeffery Simmons and not still be good, you know what I'm saying? Cause they still got good players up front."

The Bengals star also pointed out his ankle is feeling fine after a full day of Thursday practice.

Cincinnati gets a chance to show that hunger at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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