Chicago Bears' defensive end Marcus Harrison practices with the tackling dummies in the gauntlet Tuesday afternoon at Bears Camp. The Daily Journal/Michelle Gannon
The end of the first week of training camp is traditionally a time for fighting.
Players fight for a higher spot on the team’s first official depth chart, set to be unveiled prior to the first preseason game.
They fight fatigue and tired legs as they work themselves back into game shape.
They fight the heat of the dog days of August. They even fight each other.
Tuesday’s practice at Olivet Nazarene University saw players partake in all those fights.
Temperatures approached the upper 80s, Marcus Harrison made his return from the nonfootball injury list and several minor skirmishes between players broke out in one of the more entertaining practices of this year’s camp.
The tussles all occurred late in the workout, with the first one being an altercation between offensive lineman Tyler Reed and defensive end Mark Anderson that saw several players intervene and Reed’s helmet getting thrown from the ensuing pile-up.
Later, during the first red-zone drills of this year’s training camp, wide receiver Earl Bennett and cornerback Zack Bowman got into a shoving match. When offensive tackle Chris Williams came to the defense of Bennett, madness broke out, with center Olin Kreutz trying to tackle defensive lineman Israel Idonije. Guard Roberto Garza entered the fray, throwing some knees at no one in particular.
“It’s always fun to go out there and mess around with the defensive line,” Garza said. “After a couple days in camp, it’s going to happen.”
Later, Kreutz put a nasty block on safety Danieal Manning, who took exception and appeared ready to confront Kreutz, only to be immediately rebuffed by guard Josh Beekman.
The fights didn’t really accomplish much and served only to take time away from actual practice. Coach Lovie Smith has never really been a fan of such fights, but has come to realize they’re a part of training camp.
“It’s just a matter of time before tempers flare, but no damage done,” he said. “I tell the guys, if you’re going to fight, just fight like you would fight your brother.”
Harrison returns
Harrison, a late-round draft pick in 2008 who made an impressive rookie debut, wasn’t expected to be taken off the NFI list until later in the week, but the 25-year-old from the University of Arkansas apparently worked himself into shape quickly after arriving to camp overweight.
“It was hard watching your teammates as they went through the grind,” Harrison said, “but now it’s time for me to get back in it.”
The issue was not only a speed bump on the career path of Harrison, who expected to enter camp with a chance to win the starting nose tackle position, but it was also a sort of public embarrassment to be placed on the NFI list essentially for being out of shape.
“I think he learned his lesson the first day,” Smith said. “What you learn is that life goes on without you. He wants to be a part of this. He’s one of the guys now.”
Harrison was humble, soft-spoken and even a bit humorous in talking with the media after practice, stating he thought his weight was “dropping as we speak.”
Harrison, who gained the weight while rehabbing from offseason knee surgery, saw little action in the practice, being limited to individual drills.
Anthony Adams still appears to hold the starting spot at Harrison’s position, with Dusty Dvoracek hoping to stay in the mix and rookie Jarron Gilbert waiting in the wings.
Gilbert made a nice play while taking some of his first-ever reps with the first unit in 7-on-7 drills. With the offense lined up in the popular Wildcat formation, Gilbert contained a rollout attempt by Devin Hester, who was lined up at quarterback.
Gilbert is a third-round draft pick out of San Jose State, known for his almost freakish athleticism for his 6-foot-5, 285-pound frame. He gained a bit of viral notoriety earlier in the year when a home video of him jumping out of a four-foot deep swimming pool began circulating the internet.
Other notes
• The hot and humid conditions likely played a factor in causing one fan to faint just behind the ropes near the 10-yard-line. A police officer who responded said the woman was OK.
• The Bears signed guard Maurice Miller on Monday night, but the undrafted free agent from the University of Mississippi failed to pass his physical and was released before the team announced his signing. The Bears still have two open roster spots and will likely fill at least one of them in the coming days, though with only one player (cornerback Charles Tillman) currently missing practices, it’s not a pressing issue.
• Smith in the past has stated he wants Brian Urlacher to be a member of the “5-5-5 Club” — register five sacks, five interceptions and five forced fumbles in one season.
If Urlacher has a similar goal in training camp, his interception total is already two-fifths complete.
For the second time this camp, quarterback Jay Cutler apparently failed to know the location of Urlacher and threw a pass right to the middle linebacker. Urlacher earned an easy interception, causing several members of the media to scramble for their Blackberry phones and other devices to report the play on social networking Web sites.
• Cutler got some redemption later, zooming a pass right by Urlacher to tight end Greg Olsen for a touchdown in red-zone drills late in the workout.
Olsen has apparently taken over Desmond Clark’s starting spot in single tight end formations, as he is getting the grand majority of the first-unit reps.
• Before his scuffle with Bennett, Bowman stepped in front of Olsen for an interception of a Cutler pass in red-zone drills. The interception came one play after Cutler missed a wide open Brandon Rideau for what would have been an easy touchdown, prompting one fan to vocally berate the new QB by comparing him to Rex Grossman.
• Gilbert snuffed out one of the offense’s plays from the Wildcat, but the offense had some success earlier in the practice in the formation with running back Matt Forte under center.
