Bears Blitz

Published by Nick Shepkowski on August 13, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

On a bad baseball night in the city of Chicago, the Bears took part in what was their final full pads practice before Saturday night’s preseason opener in Buffalo.

Bears coach, Lovie Smith, claimed the starters will: On the upcoming preseason game Lovie Smith claims the starters will: “Probably play a little more than you probably think they will.” He also went on to say they will play until the second quarter.

What Lovie did fail to kill were the rumors of Michael Vick; but he did say he thinks Vick will find an NFL team this year; and that having Tony Dungy in his corner speaks volumes for him. 

But the chances of his happening in Chicago are slim to none. I even doubt that Vick gets a shot to play this season at all.

On the injury front: Jamar Williams sat out today with a shoulder injury, while Zack Bowman still remains sidelined with a hamstring injury from last week. Charles Tillman has yet to practice, but has continued to keep up on conditioning. Kevin Payne was taken off the field early this afternoon, but did return. Daniel Manning sat out with a sore hamstring on Wednesday; and Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark sat out as they were both granted “Veteran’s Day” passes.

Tommie Harris Watch ’09: The veteran defensive tackle practiced today as he participated in individual drills. He still hasn’t taken part in full team drills, and we have no word yet on his status for Saturday night’s game or a potential play count that he may be on.

On the offensive front, Bears Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner continues to experiment with the Wildcat offense in camp.

Today saw RB Matt Forte complete one pass to WR Devin Hester. Hester also took a snap and ran on a keeper with Brian Urlacher stopping him quickly right around the line of scrimmage. Jay Cutler also lined up out wide on both occasions.

Since the wildcat craze began last season in Miami, why have so many teams adopted it? And why do I feel like this “Wildcat” phenomenon is going to go terribly wrong at least once this season?

Finally, Jay Cutler feels he will have at least some say in who is ultimately selected as the #2 receiver. The odds on favorite in my eyes have to be Cutler’s old go-to-guy at Vanderbilt, Earl Bennett.

In final, no more full pads in practice the remainder of the week.

Tomorrow, the Bears will wear helmets and shoulder pads before they take a break from Bourbonnais and head to Buffalo for their game Saturday night. The Bears will be back in Kankakee County for practice at 3pm on Monday.

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