Bears enter first full week of practice

Running back Adrian Peterson protects the ball as safety Josh Bullocks reaches out to stop him. The Daily Journal/Mike Voss

With buzz around campus subsiding, Chicago Bears Training Camp seemed to start for real on Monday afternoon at Olivet Nazarene University.

A skirmish broke out, a rookie made an eye-opening appearance and, for the first time this year, the practice ended with the wildly popular two-minute drill.

In an otherwise inconsistent day for the new Bears’ quarterback, Jay Cutler made a couple fine throws in leading the offense to a field goal against the defense in the two-minute drill. He would have likely scored a touchdown if wide receiver Earl Bennett had held on to the ball while attempting to make a remarkable diving catch near the goal line on a deep pass.

“He’s been in the (two-minute) situation a few times,” coach Lovie Smith said. “We feel comfortable with him. That’s the money part of the game. With a guy like Jay, that seems like that’s been his track record. He knows how to take us down the field.”

The two-minute drill capped a workout that earlier saw veteran wide receiver Rashied Davis mix it up with second-year cornerback Trumaine McBride, a standout in last year’s camp.

Davis and McBride briefly shoved each other, with the young defensive back losing his helmet before he and Davis calmed down and broke themselves apart without needing to be separated.

The skirmish attracted some attention from those in attendance. The size of the crowd was substantially less than Sunday’s record crowd of 11,000, though the workout was still well-attended. In all, attendance during the first four practices has totaled approximately 30,000.

Big man on the run

Fourth-round draft pick Henry Melton, who is buried deep on the depth chart at defensive end, has shown his chops as a possible special teams contributor thus far in camp. On Monday, he took it a step further, lining up as a returner and chugging upfield during drills.

Melton, who ran the ball briefly his freshman season at the University of Texas, may even get a chance to return a kickoff during a preseason game. Melton, at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, would certainly be quite a load to take down on a kickoff return.

Position battles unclear

If anybody is trying to glean an idea of which players are winning the various position battles, they probably aren’t having any luck just yet.

Most of those battles see players splitting time, such as Nick Roach and Pisa Tinoisamoa at strongside linebacker. Meanwhile, repetitions with the first unit at other positions may not be indicative of who is winning the battle, Smith suggested.

Right now, for example, Josh Beekman is getting the majority of the reps at left guard, even though Frank Omiyale, a free agent signed from the Carolina Panthers in the offseason, is expected to win the job.

Smith downplayed the relevance of Omiyale not getting first-string reps.

“We really don’t have a depth chart right now,” Smith said. “(Beekman) is getting great work with our best defensive linemen. We’ll get the guys in their rightful position as far as the depth chart once we do a little bit more.”

Harrison still out

Another key position battle is at the nose tackle spot, which won’t fully begin until second-year player Marcus Harrison works his way back into shape.

Harrison could be back by the end of the week, though Smith wouldn’t specify an exact timetable.

“I’ll just say soon,” Smith said. “Every day he misses, of course, is hurting him because there’s great competition at the nose guard position. Of course, Dusty Dvoracek and Anthony Adams aren’t worried about him not being out there and our team has to move on.”

Adams currently is receiving the majority of the first-unit reps at the spot and likely will continue to do so even when Harrison returns, but his grip on the job is tenuous at best.

Adams received inconsistent playing time last year and was even inactive for six games, including five times when he was healthy.