OK guys.... long day. A 10 and 12 year old son away from mom and out with dad requires a lot of special bonding time, and lots of fast food.
In a nutshell:
Attendance was much lower than I expected. Only about 100 people in line to get in at 1:45PM. Then again, last year they were coming off a Super Bowl appearance.
VERY disappointed to hear Devin Hester was a no show.
VERY concerned about center Olin Kreutz having an achilles issue. I did see him signing autographs for kids after practice, and while he wasn't moving around too fast, I didn't see him dragging a leg, or with ice on anything. He also golfed yesterday with three other guys, and they were the first ones to camp - so I think the Bears are just being cautious.
Disappointed again to hear that 2nd year DE Dan Bazuin and and 3rd year DT Dusty Dvorcak weren't participating.
Lame decision to flip a coin to see who worked with the first team at QB. From what I saw - both QBs are in exceptional shape - when working on passing drills (with no defenders) Orton's ball had a lot more zip on it, and accuracy than Rex's.
WRs: Marty Booker was the only guy in long sweats, all other players were in shorts. At first I though he wasn't practicing either, but he was - I read this morning that Hester and Lloyd were the first string WRs, and I was a bit shocked (I thought it would be Lloyd and Booker). Now I guess it's Bradley and Lloyd. Marty Booker looks old. Sure handed, but old. When being interviewed by ESPN1000's Mac, Jurko and Harry he stated he didn't know who the starters were now, or who they'd be when the season started, but all WRs would contribute, and he will as well, whether it's as the 1st, 2nd or 3rd WR on the team. He looked ancient getting up after the interview. VERY achy and slow. The other WRs looked good today - Bradley was catching everything, Lloyd, Davis and the others as well. Marcus Monk, Brandon Lloyd and Earl Bennett did nothing to stand out, but also didn't drop any accurately thrown balls. Monk is all legs, and they are rail thin. Booker had an awesome one handed catch during passing drills against the defense.
Earl Bennett was returning punts in Hester's absence. Very sure handed, didn't drop one ball and looked very natural. I'm not sure he's the long term answer there though - perhaps Hester caught the Bears by surprise, as I know Garrett Wolfe, Rashied Davis and Danieal Manning can all return punts also.
TEs: Rookie TE Kellen Davis is a ginormous guy. He appeared to be a half foot taller than Desmond Clark in one on one blocking drills (with bags). If this guy puts on a bit more weight in his ###, he'll be a helluva blocker. He and Clark looked about the same blocking - and Olsen appeared to be a good receiver when he attempted to block (if you know what I mean). Kellen Davis also had a couple of impressive catches in passing drills against the defense too.
RBs: There's no hitting, so it's really kind of tough to judge anything. Forte looked like he ran too upright. If they were hitting, that would probably change. Hell, if they were hitting, a lot would be different. Kevin Jones is built like a brick ####house. I think he was running around the side track prior to practice, but it was hard to tell, as the guy running had no jersey on, and sweats. Jones was seen walking out on the practice field towards the end with a knee brace on - and ice on the knee. So I'm sure he did something to work out today.
Jason McKie looked awesome - and I'm not a big fan of fullbacks anymore. He looked like a freight train on the FB draw play. He made a couple of nice catches on poorly thrown balls by... uh... #8 - and looked smooth on the passes thrown to the flat which hit him in the chest by ... uh #18.
Garrett Wolfe looked small and quick. Adrian Peterson looked like Adrian Peterson - sure handed, with good balance and consistant as all hell.
Defense: For the most part, they were on the far side of the field and I didn't see too much of them today. In the passing drills at the end of practice, the thing that stood out to me was the fact that I didn't really recognize too many guys. Vasher and Brown for sure. RMJ and Danieal Manning did nothing to stand out. Nutty Tillman wasn't there - some pre-excused family issue kept him out. While watching the youngsters: Payne and Steltz were playing safety on a lot of the drills that I caught, and they looked quick - but Steltz looked a bit tentative. I don't know his physical specs but he's wearing Archuleta's #20, and seems much bigger than Archuleta, and running looks more natural to him. Who knows, time will tell.
Like I said guys, I'm bummed I didn't get to see more defensive work today - I'm going to go out of my way to check it out more tomorrow.
Robbie Gould was missing on his long FG attempts (only a few) and was dead on with everything inside the 35 yard line.
Autographs for the kids (for what it's worth). Tommie Harris is quite the ham. Very funny guy - and the fans love him. He'd stand in the middle of the gauntlet that the players walk through, and depending on which side could scream his name out the loudest he'd go there. Young 10 year old Zak got Tommie Harris, Ogunleye, Tait, Booker and Chris Williams to sign his ball. He plays O-line and D-line in Pee Wee Football, so good for him. 12 year old Mad Max could have cared less (this was his 9th camp) and was more pre-occupied in getting a side-by-side banana/chocolate shake at Steak and Shake. God bless his heart, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
no QBs 
Those are reserved for the visiting fans. If you lean left, you'll see Hester running a fly pattern. Then lean right and you'll be able to get a glimpse of Orton's pass falling short. 
Waiting for Grid...
The Bears can't win. It may look stupid but Lovie made a smart move. If he would have appointed Rex as the starter for today, everyone would be complainig saying that they knew all along that it would not be a fair open competition like Lovie said it would be. If Orton got the nod, then everyone would say that he was doing that just to make Rex look better against the second team.
Thanks Grid
