Sunday Practice Notes

A blazing hot day in Bourbonnais on Sunday.  Here's what I thought was interesting from practice:

-Chris Harris missed another day with back issues.

-Brian Urlacher, Olin Kreutz and Tim Jennings were back at practice.  Jennings had a great day including making a over the shoulder diving catch on an interception.

-Devin Hester and Devin Aromashadu both have looked good through the first 3 days, but Johnny Knox looks fantastic.  Of all the receivers, he's been the most fluid.  His breaks on routes have been fast and clean and he looks comfortable with the new offense.  Earl Bennett has been struggling to find himself in this new system.

-During run-drills, Frank Omiyale had 2 false starts in a row.  He got booed.

-The defensive line is ahead of the offensive line at this point.  Mark Anderson has looked strong playing opposite of Julius Peppers.  I asked Lovie Smith after practice what he wants the other "End" to look like.  Here's what the Bears Head Coach had told me:

"That player needs to be able to win 1-on-1 battles.  I feel like teams will of course look to Julius first...they'll try to deal with him (Peppers) with more double teams.  It should open up opportunities for our other guys, not just for him, but it'll lead the tackle away from Tommie also."

NUGGET:  Kahlil Bell has some wiggle to him, but Garrett Wolfe has actually looked pretty good too.  Can both players make the team?  It's doubtful, with two durable potenital starters (Chester Taylor and Matt Forte) I think the Bears would lean towards having an 4th TE or perhaps a 2nd FB.

TIDBIT:  Jerry Angelo took particular interest in the run drills, taking a close look at the offensive line.