The offense the Cincinnati Bengals will face Sunday in Jacksonville will be similar to the one many of the veterans competed against in practice for a number of years.

Bob Bratkowski, who was the Bengals offensive coordinator from 2001-10, is in his first season in that same role with the Jaguars.

“It’s fairly similar to what he did here,” Cincinnati defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said of the scheme Bratkowski is running with the Jaguars. “It’s his offense.”

Those words alone may have many Bengals supporters feeling confident about Sunday’s game. Bratkowski had some early success in Cincinnati — the 2005 AFC North Division champions ranked sixth in the NFL in total offense — but toward the end of his 10-year tenure with the club, he was the one drawing the brunt of the fans’ criticism, with predictable play calling and a lack of results being the main talking points.

His offense finished dead last among 32 teams in 2008, and it had only improved to 20^th by 2010, leading to his firing.

Bratkowski spent last season as the quarterbacks coach in Atlanta, working alongside offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who was hired as head coach at Jacksonville in the offseason and brought Bratkowski along as his OC.

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said the Jaguars offense he sees on film looks familiar to what the team ran under Bratkowski, but it also has elements of what Mularkey ran as Steelers offensive coordinator in 2001-03.

“There’s obviously some similarities to things, because ours was similar to what Bob did and was comfortable with in Seattle,” Lewis said. “But I’m sure he’s learned some from the things they were doing in Pittsburgh with Mike. It’s kind of collaboration of both.”

Through three games this season, Jacksonville ranks 30^th in total offense, averaging 268.3 yards per game. But the Cincinnati defense has had struggles of its own, allowing 416.7 ypg, which ranks 29th. And now the Bengals have to face an opposing coordinator who has a little more insight that normal in terms of scheme and language.

“You do worry a little bit about, ‘OK, he knows all of our blitzes,’ ” Zimmer said. “But I know all of his checks and things like that. But, you know, it’s the guys out on the field who matter.”

For the most part, Zimmer said he didn’t pay much attention to what Bratkowski and the offense were doing during their time together in Cincinnati. When the offense was on the field during games, Zimmer had his back turned while he talked to the defense on the sideline. And the only film the defense watched was of itself or the upcoming opponent, never the Bengals offense.

“That was none of my business to be evaluating what they do,” he said. “When we were going against each other, I never said, ‘OK, he always does this so I’m going to do that. We had a good working relationship. He never tried to (get) me, and I never tried to (get) him.

“Now this week is different.”