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The Bears performance Sunday night in Denver is about the most encouraging preseason this side of the Saints marching up and down the field on the Oakland Raiders.

Between Jay Cutler leading the offense on a 98 yard touchdown drive, Devin Hester recapturing the magic with a 54 yard punt return, and the first team defense limiting the Broncos offense to 3 points in the first half all three phases were at the top of their game.

Now the Bears can simply coast through their final preseason match-up and head into Green Bay feeling like they can handle a 3-4 defense and a hostile crowd.

However, between now and then “the Bears” will consist of 22 fewer players as Lovie Smith and Co. make the finals cuts down to 53.

The personnel moves started yesterday when the Bears signed Rod Hood, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals and recently released by the Cleveland Browns. To make room for Hood they sent seventh round pick Derek Kinder packing and it’s probably not a good sign Trumaine McBride who struggled mightily Sunday night.

So who are the guys squarely on the chopping block?

Hunter Hillenmeyer: A steady performer for six years in Chicago, Hunter regularly made up for his athletic deficiencies by being the most disciplined player on the team and always knowing an executing his assignment. But after injuries robbed him of his starting job last year the coaching staff looks comfortable with going in another direction.

As a backup – unless the Bears decide to keep seven linebackers – Hillenmeyer’s limitation as a special teams contributor make him expendable. While injuries to Jamar Williams and Nich Roach give him an outside chance of sticking around the writing was on the wall when the Bears chose to resign Darrell McClover.

Adrian Peterson: He runs hard, he’s a steady special teams contributor, and his story as a division II running back who’s overcome a sever stutter is a great one. The problem is the serious number crunch on the offensive side and Garrett Wolfe’s surprising emersion on coverage units. He can still contribute in a number of ways but is so unlikely to see the field at this point.

If the coaches decide against going with four tight ends or feel too strongly that they can’t lose his veteran presence maybe Peterson makes it back for another season. At this point it’s not that he can’t play but that he simply doesn’t have a role on the team.

Trumaine McBride: It’s been a while since one poor preseason game cost someone their roster spot like McBride’s play did Sunday in Denver. During his two years with the Bears McBride has always been undersized but now he is also underperforming. The injuries to Tillman and Bowman provided him with more than enough opportunity, but Thursday night will almost certainly be his last in Chicago.

Brett Basanez: Last year the Lovie Smith wanted to carry just two quarterbacks in the regular season but Caleb Hanie’s play during the preseason made it impossible for him to do that. To say the least the ex-Wildcat Basanez has not made a similar impression starting with his three interception debut in Buffalo. Barring the unexpected Baz will be back on the open market Saturday.

Michael Gaines: His fate may be fully intertwined with that of Adrian Peterson. Peterson has the track record and history with the team, but Gaines ability to backup at fullback and the number of two tight end sets the Bears run gives him a lot more utility.

Whether Gaines get cut or not will probably also say a lot about Kellen Davis’ progress as a blocker and if coaches feel they need to have someone else in there on goal line and short yardage sets.

Josh Bullocks: Both Bullocks and Craig Steltz have been buried on the depth chart since training camp opened. Bullocks brings more to the table athletically but the Bears touted Steltz as the presumed starter at free safety all offseason. Either will fill the role of fourth safety and be a mainstay on special teams so this is where draft status will probably give Steltz the edge.

Brandon Rideau/Devin Aromashodu: I list them together because the Bears are only keeping six wide receivers at most and – assuming they won’t give up on Rashied Davis’ special teams contributions – one of these two have to go. Rideau has to be caught off guard by this position after entering camp as the #3 and earning rave reviews early, but we haven’t heard much about him lately and have seen even less production on the field.

Aromashodu appears to have the advantage of franchise quarterback Jay Cutler in his corner and the most impressive catch of the preseason against the Giants. Additionally, if Cutler leads him inside a little more he probably pulls in a touchdown grab against the Broncos. Neither guy is going to make an impact outside the offense and that means only one can stick around.

Along with those veterans there are also an unusual number of draft picks who will be sweating out the final cuts. Here are a few guys whose future with the Bears may be on the practice squad:

D.J. Moore: After the draft Angelo really talked like he’d gotten a steal who could provide immediate depth at cornerback. While the steal part still might be true there is going to be nothing immediate about Moore’s impact on the Bears.

After recording one pass break up against the Bills, Moore has been virtually invisible and has lost playing time to less known players Woodny Turenne and Rudy Burgess. Moore is trying to overcome the same size issues as Trumaine McBride and so far has been unable to do so.

Marcus Freeman: If the Bears are seriously considering letting a player of Hunter Hillenmeyer go –and it’s a safe bet they are – then someone like Freeman really doesn’t have much of a chance. Despite his interception Sunday in Denver and his blog over at chicagobears.com Freeman’s impact has been limited.

Freeman has gone from a projected second round pick two years ago to a practice squad candidate. With Jamar Williams potentially a free agent after this year – pending a new collective bargaining agreement – the coaching staff can hope a year with the organization can have Freeman ready to step in and step up next summer.

Henry Melton: As a converted running back out of Texas everyone knew that Melton was going to be a project. Unfortunately given the number crunch along the defensive line the Bears really can’t afford to carry a project on the 53-man roster. Thankfully it’s unlikely anyone else can either and Melton should make it through the waivers process.

With a year of tutelage from Rod Marinelli while on the practice squad Melton could be someone to watch. With the impending free agency of Adewale Ogunleye and Mark Anderson, Melton could be provided with a unique opportunity to make a serious impact next season

It would probably be considered putting it lightly to say that was not what Bears fans expected from the first appearance of their new franchise quarterback. In fact, if not for Kyle Orton’s own disastrous – three interception – debut with the Broncos there might have been a few twinges of regret.

But for all the disappointment surrounding the overall up and down nature of Jay Cutler’s first 14 snaps as the Chicago Bears quarterback, two days later all the attention is focused on one particular snap, one particular throw, and one particular comment after the game.

Watching Jay Cutler step up in the pocket and heave an ill-fated pass down the left sideline that landed in the hands of Buffalo corner Leodis McKelvin instead of Devin Hester probably made more than a few fans flashback to their Rex Grossman nightmares.

Then hearing Cutler after the game classify Devin Hester as more of a “go-get-it guy” and not a “back shoulder, or jump up and get it” guy gave me a flashback to Rex Grossman standing on Soldier Field after being dismantled by the Green Bay Packers on New Year’s Eve and admitting he wasn’t prepared for the game.

A word to the wise Jay: wing and a prayer, 50-50 deep passes and a little too much candor and honesty in your post-game interviews are probably not the path to success as a Bears quarterback.

Trust me on this.

In the end though, more might never have been made over a single preseason interception.

A strong-armed, aggressive quarterback tried to make a big play in a game that essentially means nothing and yet the world seems to be coming to an end. In this quarterback starved town that is the inevitable burden of being labeled “the franchise”.

Was the pass a poor decision? Yes. But considering how little preseason generally equates to regular season success fans should probably take a deep breath and relax. It was a small step in a long process and should only cause worry when it becomes a pattern instead of an anomaly.

Even worse has been the reaction to Cutler’s comments after the game. Ever searching for scandal and the signs of discontent a simple observation was turned into throwing a teammate under the bus.

What was so untrue about Cutler’s comments? I don’t foresee the 5’11” Hester leaping high over cornerbacks to pull in spectacular downfield grabs, do you? Hester is a guy who’s going to get behind defenders and beat them on quickness and what I read from Cutler was simply that observation.

Members of the media and fans are often hypocrites when it comes to their cries for players to answer questions with and display candor, honesty and personality. This is exactly why they don’t.

When a simple answer to a question gets blown this out of proportion it’s a wonder why every Bears player doesn’t adhere to the Lovie Smith guide to dealing with the press.

For so many reasons Jay Cutler’s first go-around as starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears was a learning experience. Perhaps just most surprising is that the person he probably needs to learn the most from is Rex Grossman and not repeating his mistakes.

For all intents and purposes the Bears roster is set. While fans and even players might dream of the addition of Plaxico Burress or another veteran wide receiver, GM Jerry Angelo doesn’t seem to share that vision and seem content to go with this roster.

So during this lull, where few changes are likely to be made, it’s a good time for reflection and self-evaluation. Breaking down this roster and trying to determine what the biggest questions facing this team still are.

Over the next few weeks I am going to ask some of those questions and do the best I can to answer them. Most of them are obvious, but there are a few that might surprise you. The first question revolves around the man thought to be the great answer: Jay Cutler.

Will Cutler’s interceptions keep him from significantly improving the Bears’ offense?

It seems blasphemous to suggest that the great savior has a flaw, after all considering what’s been trotted out under center for the Bears most of the last 20 years Cutler really might seem perfect.

But lost in all the character assassination of Cutler – with NFL experts and journalists calling him a party boy, prima donna, and questioning his leadership – has been a stunning lack of analysis of other parts of Cutler’s game.

Everyone knows about the 4,000 yard season, the 25 touchdown passes, and the Pro Bowl appearance. Everyone talks about the big arm and surprising mobility. But far too many have neglected to mention the 32 interceptions over the last two seasons, or that he posted a QB rating under 80 in half of his starts last year.

Most of Cutler’s struggles, such has his career 17-20 record, have been explained away as the result of Denver’s terrible defense the last few years. Supports say he’s 13-1 when he’s team holds their opponents under 21 points.

That all may be true but he’s also 2-6 over the last two seasons when throwing more than one interception in a game. Cutler also has only nine interception free games over his last 32 starts and only three of those came in 2008.

KC Joyner – the football scientist – has even gone as far as to suggest Cutler will remind fans of Rex Grossman. While that may seem insulting Joyner has also been quick to remind people that Rex also quarterbacked the Bears to a Super Bowl.

Now KC isn’t suggesting that Cutler is suddenly going to be fumbling snaps, throwing off his back foot and taking terrible sacks, but Jay’s arm strength – like Rex’s – is both a blessing and a curse. It allows him to make big plays and fit balls in tight spots, and it also encourages him to throw passes he shouldn’t.

That was something the Bears could overcome in 2006 as offensive mistakes were quickly erased by a dominant defense. However, over the last two seasons the Bears have stayed afloat by not making mistakes and forcing other teams to drive the length of the field.

Without a dominant 2005 or 2006 style defense it does seem reasonable to raise the question of whether or not the Bears will be able to overcome Cutler giving opponents a short field. Because for all those deep balls fans are envisioning landing in the arms of Devin Hester, there are going to be a few that also end up in the hands of defenders.

Cutler is still a young quarterback and maturity and a stronger supporting cast could lead to less risk taking and fewer turnovers. Matt Forte will provide a strong running game and Ron Turner will ensure he won’t be asked to carry the entire offense as he was in Denver, but all that is not going to curb Cutler’s affinity for the big play.

Given his current status as savoir Cutler will get a much longer leash than Rex ever did. His lows won’t be as low and his highs will be just as high, if not higher. But while a slow start would be explained away by new teammates and a new system, it might be a different story if three interceptions cost the Bears a game in November.

In the end Cutler’s ability to make the offense significantly better will likely have more to do with how few passes he throws to the other team instead of how many he throws to his own.

Define irony: a guy you fired three years ago because you thought you could do a better job without him coming back to take your job because you couldn’t do it without him.

Maybe not poetic enough for Alanis Morissette but it could be a reality for Lovie Smith.

Lost in the high and residual buzz of the Jay Cutler acquisition was the January decision of Smith to take over the defensive play-calling. That decision officially started the clock on Lovie’s head coaching tenure in Chicago.

What Lovie announced with that move was “I [Lovie] the defensive guru can fix this with coaching rather than changing players.” This season is now a referendum on Smith’s coaching ability.

What happens if the defense doesn’t turn it around? What happens if the Bears don’t make the playoffs?

It might seem crazy to suggest that the Bears wouldn’t make the playoffs in ’09. After all they were 9-7 last year and upgraded the two most important positions on offense with Cutler at QB and Orlando Pace at LT, they have to get better.

But that 9-7 easily could’ve been 7-9 or 6-10 given how poorly they played over certain stretches. And both the Packers and Vikings are primed for playoff runs themselves, rarely do three teams from the same division make it.

So put yourself in Jerry Angelo’s shoes. You’ve just put the team right back into full fledged win-now mode with the bold trade for Jay Cutler, you’ve got 4 years remaining on your own contract and are dealing with a defensive coach who can’t get the defense together and hasn’t made the playoffs in three years.

Would you stand pat under those circumstances? I am not sure Angelo would.

So if you let Lovie go, with two years left on the contract he signed after the Super Bowl season, you know the McCaskey’s aren’t shelling out big bucks for a Mike Shanahan or Bill Cowher. That limits the options.

And on the West Coast there is an ex-Bear player and coach who could be leading the Chargers defense on a Super Bowl run. A former linebacker, who looked to be a head coach candidate just a few years ago, was forced to step back to linebackers coach, and is now on the rise again. A coach, who knows our personnel and has the utmost respect of the established veterans on this team.

Ron Rivera sure would sound like a good option for this team, and as a first time head coach he would come cheap.

Maybe Lovie leads the defense to a bounces back season.

Maybe the Bears — with Cutler at the helm — make a deep playoff run.

Maybe none of this comes to fruition.

But don’t fool yourself, the clock is running on Lovie’s time leading the Monsters of the Midway. If he can’t get it done the logical replacement would be the guy he fired 2 years ago. Isn’t that ironic.

Rex Grossman…His name alone brings about a staggering variety and range of emotions that just might match the peaks and valleys in his play. He is the most polarizing Chicago sports figure of the new millennium, and maybe any millennium for that matter.

Not an easy task when you consider that Sammy Sosa went from helping the Cubs get to within five outs of a World Series to more or less run out of town after the following season.

His fall from grace might have been one of the roughest and most brutal ever for an athlete who didn’t break a rule, law, or get involved in some sort of crime/sex scandal.

As one of the last off the Rex bandwagon I can personally attest it was a bumpy ride.

How did he go from NFL Offensive Player of the Month for September 2006 and starting Super Bowl XLI to:

* Having his agent twitter about him just to make sure everyone knows he’s still around and didn’t secretly retire or give up football.
* Watching Kyle Boller, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dan Orlovsky, Patrick Ramsey and Joey Harrington all find jobs before him.
* And have his name surface as a possible try-out candidate for a new four-team football league that might last slightly longer than the XFL.

Where exactly is the rock that stops this bottoming out?

This is the end result of all the injuries, fumbled snaps, interceptions, constant media and fan scrutiny. A player with obvious talent, that once exuded unshakable and infectious confidence, being so broken that he can’t find a job in a league that employs the likes of Brock Berlin, Ken Dorsey and Marques Tuiasosopo.

But it’s easier to look back on Rex’s tenure in Chicago now, now that we’ve got Jay Cutler.

What was once a painful nightmare, an open wound, is instead just scar. Something fans can look back on with the confidence of someone who’s climbed the mountain and has a begrudging respect for all the trials and stumbles along the way.

The way Red Sox fans can embrace Bill Buckner.

The way Cubs fans will apologize to Steve Bartman—and they will once the Cubbies win it all.

Fans can look at Rex Grossman now and with wistful sympathy say, ‘He was simply over-matched.’ Injuries that derailed his development left him unprepared for the pressure of filling the most important position for the most important team in Chicago, especially during a title run.

Kyle Orton couldn’t do that. Jay Cutler can.

Jay Cutler makes it possible for a fan to suggest bringing Grossman back to be the veteran back-up this team needs and having people in the room pause just long enough to escape without bodily harm.

The Bears may never bring him back for an opening coin toss or to make an appearance at the fan expo, but at least people won’t go out of their way not to mention his name. Jay Cutler has done that.

And whether he plays in the NFL this season—as Rosenhaus insists he will—or not Rex will be remembered differently this year than anyone expected. Maybe he should send Jay a thank you card.

The NFL schedule makers are part gamblers, part fortune-tellers. They take educated guesses months in advance of how teams will finish and try to set compelling match-ups, especially down the stretch.

One such match-up they seemed to nail already was the final Monday Night Football game week 16, when the Minnesota Vikings are set to visit the Chicago Bears. Already potentially a showdown for the divisional crown the rumored return of Brett Favre shoots the potential ratings off the chart.

Imagine Brett Favre walking in to Soldier Field, wearing Viking purple instead of Packer green, and dueling it out with Jay Cutler for the NFC North. ESPN execs may require plastic surgery to remove the smiles from their faces. Tony Kornheiser is already losing what’s left of his hair trying to figure out how to fit in all the John Madden jokes.

It would be the NFL’s, ESPN’s and the media’s dream come true. A late Christmas present from Santa Claus.

And I think it’s going to happen.

It’s plain to see at this point that Brett Favre can’t help himself. Upset at ending his career with an interception in the NFC Championship game he came back last year and forced his way out of Green Bay.

Now unable to handle finishing his career collapsing down the stretch and taking the Jets from AFC favorites to out of the playoffs he wants to return to the NFC North with the Vikings. Favre simply wants to erase last year and prove the Packers wrong by going and winning at the place the refused to send him last season.

This guy’s ego is unbelievable.

Last year Bears fans could ignored the Favre drama. He was headed out of the NFC, and why should they care about a player who tormented them for years tarnishing his legacy? He was just another pro-athlete who didn’t know when to hang ‘em up.

But now it’s a different story. Now Favre is Arnold Schwarzenegger at the end of Terminator, right down to the corny “I’ll be back” line. You can shoot him, run him over with a truck, blow him up, but he just won’t go away.

There is no denying the Vikings are a Super Bowl ready team that’s only missing the quarterback. They are being held back by having to choose from two inconsistent and mistake prone QBs – Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels – when they just need someone who won’t turn it over, hand the ball to Adrian Peterson and occasionally go deep to Bernard Berrian and Percy Harvin.

Is Brett Favre really that guy at this point? His finishing kick in New York might suggest otherwise.

As a Bears fan, if the Vikings want to hitch their Super Bowl wagon to a soon-to-be 40 year old fading QB then I say “bring it on” and I am sure most Packers fans feel the same.

Who ever thought there would be a time when everyone in Green Bay didn’t love Brett Favre? That’s what an uncontrollable ego will get you.

So circle December 28th on your calendars now. It could be a movie script ending along the shores of Lake Michigan when Brett “The Terminator” Favre finally gets crushed, this time by Jay Cutler.

The Fridge is an icon in Chicago sports, making the gap tooth hip long before Michael Strahan got on the scene. That’s why it’s a hard day for every Chicago sports fan to hear that William Perry has been hospitalized in South Carolina and is in serious condition.

Only 46-years old Perry was diagnosed last year with Guillain-Barré syndrome – a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves – and spent five months in the hospital recovering; now a flare up has him back. The cause is unknown and there is no cure, but treatments can elevate symptoms and shorten the length of the disease which most patients recover from.

A larger than life figure in many ways during his rookie season and 10 year NFL career, Perry had slipped off the radar screen after football. There was the occasional eating contest, Ultimate fighting exhibition, commercials and even a Sports Illustrated cover about his life working in construction. But on the whole “The Fridge” was enjoying a quiet retirement out in the garage.

The best news is that Perry is expected to make a full recovery and that the disease isn’t fatal. He should be around for many ’85 Bear reunions to come.

So pop in that Super Bowl XX tape or DVD, throw on the Super Bowl shuffle, and take a trip down memory lane with a man who captured Chicago’s imagination like few others. Then send your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery so we can see that gappy smile on the shores of Lake Michigan again.

Over the last few days the articles about Jay Cutler have been flying fast and furious. They’ve taken approaches as wide ranging as ‘Cutler is a whinny baby who will regret leaving Denver’ to ‘Jay Cutler is the savoir and Jerry Angelo is the messiah for bringing him here.’ I think the rational Bears fan knows it all fall somewhere in between.

But perhaps the most stunning and inexplicable article I’ve read was one posted over at si.com “Kyle Orton could throw more TDs than Jay Cutler”. The bloggers five reasons are: receiving corps, offensive line, defense (Orton will play from behind), Josh McDaniels’ offense, and that Orton is underrated.

It an argument that on the surface looks completely reasonable and to some people might make them think that “hey, the Broncos didn’t make out so bad in this thing after all”. But I find the flaws in that to be nearly as bad by judging a starting pitcher simply on his win-loss record, too many other factors are involved.

Anyway, the whole point is this article prompted me to finally put down some thoughts on the situation. This is especially aimed at the writers and pundits who’ve been ripping Cutler and overhyping Orton since the deal… I’m looking at you Rick Morrissey, Gene Wojciechowski, Trent Dilfer and Mark Schlereth, Hub Arkush, Mel Kiper Jr., and this idiot who also wrote “Broncos won’t lose much if they trade Cutler”.

As a Bears fan I wish Kyle Orton the best in Denver. He was a solid football player for us and made the best of his talents and situation.

As a football fan I won’t be stupid enough to act like the Bears didn’t pay a premium for Cutler or believe that “giving up 2 first round picks isn’t a big deal because the GM would’ve screwed them up anyway” is a valid argument.

But for all the people on the “Kyle Orton is underrated” bandwagon, you are in for a bumpy ride. People talk about Orton’s great first half before the ankle injury but all it was were 3 good games against 3 terrible pass defenses (Detroit, Atlanta, Minnesota) and that’s it

Orton lacks anything that really resembles mobility; he doesn’t side step the rush or extend plays. Additionally Orton has a ton of problems when having to come off of his first read, and if he does it’s generally to play it uber-safe and dump it to a running back.

It should also be noted that Orton completed one, ONE pass that traveled more than 30 yards in the air all of last season. That one pass was in the last game of the season, was under thrown, and would’ve been picked if Hester had not come back underneath the defender to make the catch.

It’s not a lack of arm strength, because his shorter and medium passes have zip, but a lack of trajectory as Orton just chucks up rainbows on any pass over 25 yards. And for a guy who’s 6′4″ he has an absurd number of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.

As for Cutler, as a Bears fan I realize he’s not a savior. He’s not Brady or Manning yet. He’s a gunslinger prone to mistakes from trying to make throws not even his incredibly gifted arm allows. I openly acknowledge and admit to all of that.

But this is also the first time in my lifetime the Bears have anyone playing the most important position in sports that is even remotely worth the term “franchise”. For once as a Bears fan I can talk about the QB making the players around him better instead of frantically figuring out how they were going to get better at the other 10 spots to raise the game of an average QB.

Jerry Angelo filled the biggest gap in any franchise in sports history. The Bears are THE original NFL team and yet Sid Luckman still holds 75% of our passing records. So should Bears fans care that he’s a “whiner”? Maybe it’s more likely that Cutler’s just a QB who has the leverage to get himself out of a situation he didn’t want to be in and did so. Isn’t that how the Broncos got John Elway in the first place?

There is a difference in weapons and offensive philosophy that could mean Orton throws more TDs than Cutler, but in this record breaking offense last year with the best players in the league the guy Josh McDaniels initially wanted – Matt Cassel – threw just 21 TDs, so this is no guarantee. More importantly I’ll take the balance of this new Bears offense that will not only be able to run the ball but throw it effectively to all three levels: short, medium AND deep.

Orton is what he is: 58% completion with a dink-n-dunk approach. He is passable and the very definition of an average QB. Jay Cutler brings a lot more than to the table right now and has the chance to get better. To get better here in Chicago and grow as the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future, as a Bears fan two first-round picks and a third-round pick is a small price to pay for that.

Reported on ESPN.com and NFL.com the Bears have traded for disgruntled Broncos’ QB Jay Cutler.

While ESPN and NFL have not reported the details of the trade they have announced on ESPN 1000 that the Bears sent Kyle Orton, this year’s first-round (#18 overall) and third round picks, and a first-round pick next year to the Broncos.

This is completely stunning as a Bears fan… it’s almost inexplicable, but the greatest gap in any franchise in any sport has finally been filled. With Cutler under center the future job security of Jerry Angelo and Love Smith, not to mention the entire outlook for the team just shot through the roof.

While some have questioned in recent days whether it was worth a steep price to acquire a player seen in some circles as a prima donna or a malcontent, it was undoubtedly the right move. Quarterback is such a unique position in sports and one that it is so important to have filled. This season Bears fans will witness a quality of play in the blue and orange never before seen.

Being strong at QB can make the other 10 players on offense better. It’s a much easier situation to work with than what the Bears have tried to do since Jim McMahon, and that was have the other 10 players raise the quality of the quarterback.

This is truly a special day for all Chicago Bears fans. I’ll have a full analysis of the trade up later tonight and a special episode of Bearscast coming soon, but for now let’s all sit back and enjoy this ray of sunshine Jerry Angelo has brought Chicago on a cloudy day.

Some news and notes from Bears mini-camp, which started yesterday. The three-day camp, which is traditionally held in May or June, was moved up as a way to kick-start a crucial season. Without big improvement Lovie Smith will find himself on the hot seat.

Injury News – There are a number of players who won’t be participating in the camp. Hunter Hillenmeyer is out with an ankle injury which is not particularly good timing given his job is on the line.

Dusty Dvoracek is in the same boat still recovering from the torn bicep that put him on IR for the third straight year, he needs to get healthy quick or is going to lose out to Anthony Adams and Marcus Harrison.

In the secondary the Bears will be missing projected starters Charles Tillman and Kevin Payne who are both still rehabbing shoulder injuries. This means Nathan Vasher and Corey Graham will be the starting corners during camp and Josh Bullocks will be slotted in at free safety next to Craig Steltz.

Trumaine McBride will also not participate in camp.

Danieal Manning stays at nickel and under Lovie’s wing – With questions surrounding the free safety position there were early off-season rumors that Manning might be moving back there. Those rumors have been officially put to rest.

Manning finally began to emerge as an impact player in the nickel role while getting a lot of 1-on-1 coaching from Lovie Smith. And that situation will continue in ’09 as Lovie plans to keep close tabs on Manning along with his new defensive play-calling duties.

Zach Bowman moves to FS – While Manning is staying it will be Zach Bowman moving to safety. Bowman is an attractive option at free safety for many of the same reasons as Charles Tillman, who was rumored about making the switch, because of his combined size 6’1”/200lbs and athleticism.

Bowman made a mark early in the season with a game clinching interception against the Vikings but was then out the remainder of the season with a bicep injury. Now he can hopefully be molded into the playmaker in the secondary this team so desperately needs.

Omiyale still working at LG – With John St. Clair now in Cleveland the Bears options are getting very thin at right tackle. With Angelo, Smith, and Co. sticking to the plan of keeping free agent signing Frank Omiyale at left guard as camp opened and the only choice is Cody Balogh, who spent last year on the practice squad.

So far the company line is that Omiyale will compete with Beekman at left guard, Roberto Garza and Dan Buenning competing at right guard and right tackle will be fixed later. Balogh is fine when the players are going through the motions in shorts and t-shirts , but without an addition through free agency the Bears better be ready to move Omiyale back to tackle.

UPDATE: Well it didn’t take long but the Bears have officially moved Frank Omiyale to right tackle. He’s stated that’s where he is most comfortable and how long he stays there could depend on if it’s easier for the Bears to add someone else to the mix at guard or tackle.