chicagobears.com:
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Having moved their minicamp up two months, the Bears returned to the practice field en masse Tuesday on a windy and unseasonably warm afternoon at Halas Hall.
“We wanted to get to some form of football as soon as we can,” said coach Lovie Smith. “That’s why we’re having a camp when we’re having it. It was a great day to get some fundamental work in as much as anything to get our start for the 2009 season.”
The minicamp is typically held a few weeks after the draft, but it was switched to mid-March to set a tone for the upcoming season, give new defensive assistants Rod Marinelli and Jon Hoke a chance to work with their players and provide a final glimpse at the roster before the draft.
“Everybody knows that a message is being sent, and that message is it wasn’t good enough last year,” said quarterback Kyle Orton. “We’ve got to do whatever we can to get to the playoffs and get to the Super Bowl, so that means you’ve got to work as hard as you can.
"Most of the guys are here anyway, so we might as well just get to work. Nobody’s happy about last season, so we get that behind us and move on and get to work."
“It’s good that we’re getting a jump on it seems like every other team out there,” added cornerback Nate Vasher. “We’re just setting a tone right now that we’re going to come out and dominate.”
Orton and fellow quarterbacks Caleb Hanie and Brett Basanez all looked sharp despite strong wind gusts.
Orton completed 18 of 21 passes in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills. He connected on seven short throws to Matt Forte; three seam routes to Greg Olsen; two passes apiece to Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Jason McKie; and one each to Desmond Clark and Brandon Rideau.
“It felt good, besides the wind,” Orton said. “But we got some work in and I thought the guys ran well and caught the ball well. It was a pretty good first day actually for the offense.”
Orton’s only costly mistake came when his pass intended for Rashied Davis was intercepted by a leaping Craig Steltz and returned along the left sideline for what would have been a touchdown.
Operating the No. 2 offense, Hanie completed 12 of 14 mostly short passes. He showed his athleticism and quickness when he rolled out and connected with Fontel Mines and Jason Davis. Basanez completed 7 of 8 passes, making crisp throws on curl routes to Rashied Davis and Devin Aromashodu.
Working with the No. 1 offense along with Hester, Bennett made nice catches along the right sideline and on a quick slant over the middle.
“Definitely, it felt good to be out there, winging the ball around in this wind,” Bennett said. “It was a lot of fun today.”
Expectations are high in 2009 for Bennett, who did not catch any passes as a rookie last season.
“I got a whole lot better, especially coming in and out of my routes,” Bennett said. “I know today I went through a route in 7-on-7 and had perfect timing with Kyle. Just working on the little things like that in the offseason help a lot.”
First-year pro Cody Balogh lined up with the first team at right tackle and likely will continue in that role at least in the short term after it was learned late Tuesday that free agent John St. Clair had signed a three-year contract with the Cleveland Browns.
“This is an opportunity to get myself better and get the team better,” Balogh said. “I’ll help the team get better any way I can do it and it gives me reps which I can always use.”
The Bears are expected to bolster the position in the draft and possibly also free agency. Another option would be to move recent free-agent acquisition Frank Omiyale, who previously played tackle for the Carolina Panthers but worked exclusively at left guard with the No. 2 offense in Tuesday’s practice.
Omiyale wasn’t the only new face on hand Tuesday. Free-agent acquisition Josh Bullocks worked with the No. 1 defense at free safety, making an impact (literally) when he broke up a pass by smashing into Bennett.
Marinelli, who's considered one of the NFL's top defensive line coaches, also worked with his troops for the first time.
“It’s really a very athletic group; a rangy, tall group,” Marinelli said. “It’s a good veteran group. They’re tight and there’s a lot of veteran leadership in that group.”
ChicagoTrib bears blog:
Some early observations from Chicago Bears mini-camp
By Vaughn McClure
Here are a few quick takes on mini-camp:
Newcomer Frank Omiyale is a big man, especially for a guy slated to line up at left guard. He drawfs Josh Beekman.
Left tackle Chris Williams seems to have filled out a little bit. He was rather slender last year as he recovered from back surgery.
Rashied Davis dropped a couple of passes in early drills. Not a good sign. Earl Bennett also dropped one. Oops.
The defensive linemen seems pretty receptive to Rod Marinelli, who appears as much of a hands-on coach as everybody touted him to be.
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BACK AWAY FROM THE LEDGE AND CLOSE THE WINDOW....