Glennon earns early TD as Bears roll over Titans

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chicago coach John Fox thinks having a whole week to prepare for an opponent helped Mike Glennon turn in a strong performance for the Bears.

How much Glennon helped himself to the Bears’ starting quarterback job remains to be seen.

Glennon capped an opening 96-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Dion Sims as the Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 19-7 Sunday in the third preseason game.

“We’re very happy with the way Mike responded as far as a real game plan and what he did. I thought he played very well,” said Fox, who also noted coaches will keep evaluating.

Glennon was an efficient 11 of 18 for 134 yards passing despite losing starting wide receiver Cameron Meredith late in the first quarter. Meredith was carted off with a suspected left ACL injury, which Fox said must be checked by an MRI exam first.

Having a week to prepare and study for an opponent fits Glennon’s strengths.

“That’s kind of what I pride myself on, being well-prepared and working hard through the week,” Glennon said.

Mitchell Trubisky, the second overall pick out of North Carolina, opened the third quarter with the Bears’ starters. But Trubisky threw two incompletions as the Bears (2-1) went three-and-out. Trubisky also fumbled a snap on his next series, though he rebounded with a 45-yard TD pass to Tanner Gentry for a 19-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Titans (1-2) had issues on offense, defense and special teams. The Bears could have led 14-0 if Adam Shaheen controlled the ball before going out of bounds after Roy Robertson-Harris blocked a punt into the end zone early in the second quarter. Instead, Chicago led 9-0 after referee Ed Hochuli finally changed his ruling of a touchback to a safety.

Tennessee’s offensive struggles prompted coach Mike Mularkey to keep his first-team in until Mariota tossed the ball to Derrick Henry on the first play of the fourth for a 3-yard TD that kept Tennessee from being shut out. Mularkey said he wanted the first team to finish the drive in a game that featured too many mistakes.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Mularkey said. “We’ve got two weeks to do it.”

Redskins 23, Bengals 17

LANDOVER, Md. — Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals’ starters shrugged off a rough start to the preseason to finish exactly the way they wanted.

Dalton was 8 of 13 for 70 yards and Cincinnati’s first-team offense and defense looked sharp against Washington on Sunday as the Redskins won 23-17 on the strength of their backups. A.J. Green had four catches for 43 yards, Jeremy Hill ran for 15 yards and the Bengals regulars’ first exhibition touchdown before his day was cut short with an ankle injury.

“We just executed,” Green said. “Once we’re clicking on all cylinders and everybody getting their touches, we can be a dangerous offense.”

And a dangerous defense, too.

Linebacker Vontaze Burfict intercepted Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins’ pass and returned it for a touchdown, stiff-arming the quarterback at the end zone and jumping into the stands, before leaving with a back injury. Chris Smith and rookies Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson each sacked Cousins as defensive coordinator Paul Guenther seems to have the edge rushers he was looking for.

“Good job today on third down, which was key,” Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said after his team improved to 1-2 in the preseason. “We haven’t played as well on third down defensively this preseason yet and so we made some good strides.”

It was the opposite for Cousins and the Redskins’ starters, who ended their preseason with nine three-and-outs on 15 possessions. Washington went three-and-out three times on Sunday as Cousins was 10 of 19 for 109 yards and an interception, which he called “entirely” his fault.

After generating 1 whole yard in the first quarter, the starters eventually put together a touchdown drive, but there’s reason for the Redskins (1-2) to be worried about slow starts continuing in the regular season.

“I’m a little concerned,” coach Jay Gruden said. “We just got to figure out something new, maybe eat a different pregame meal or something.”