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LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- A few of the 34 tryout players who attended the three-day Bears rookie minicamp are expected to be offered contracts, head coach Lovie Smith told the media at the conclusion of Sunday's practice at Halas Hall.

"The group of tryout guys who came here without a contract, I'm always anxious to see what we have for those," Smith said. "A few of the guys really made us take notice. We'll end up signing a couple of those guys. I can't really go over the names yet because we haven't told them. But this was an excellent group of guys who can hopefully contribute someway to us."

At least one position group stood out over the weekend to the untrained eye: quarterbacks. While tryout quarterbacks have struggled over the years in the Bears rookie minicamp setting, both Wisconsin-Whitewater's Matt Blanchard and Indiana State's Ronnie Fouch turned in relatively solid performances. Blanchard, 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, possesses a live arm and looked the part of a quarterback, who at the very least, deserves to be invited to somebody's training camp in the summer.

"Both of the guys did some good things. Quarterbacks have an opportunity (at a rookie minicamp)," Smith said. "They know they're going to get a chance to throw the ball and prove what they can do. Again, we did take notice."

Veteran Josh McCown, who attended Sunday's workout as a spectator, and 2011 fifth-round draft choice Nate Enderle and currently the third and fourth quarterbacks respectively on the club's depth chart.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Day 2 of Chicago Bears rookie minicamp wrapped Saturday in the rain with no surprises, according to coach Lovie Smith, who said the team’s “draft picks are pretty much what we thought they would be after a couple of days.”

The key now is to indoctrinate the players into the club’s way of doing things.

“Good second day (of practice),” Smith said. “We set the bar (Friday) for the guys. There’s so much our rookies need to learn about what we’re doing, how we’re doing things. So today was a little better as far as that is concerned. We’ll have one more good practice tomorrow, and try to blend them with the rest of the guys. Hopefully, they won’t get in the way much.”

They shouldn’t, but undoubtedly, the team’s rookies are swimming in the vast sea of information dumped on them over two practice sessions. In addition to learning roles on defense, draft picks such as Shea McClellin, Brandon Hardin, Isaiah Frey and Greg McCoy, are having to learn special teams assignments.

It’s especially more difficult for Hardin, who is making the transition from college cornerback to NFL safety.

“There’s a lot to learn, a lot of coaching,” Hardin said. “But I think it’s going really well so far. Mentally, it’s a little difficult. Physically, though, I have all the physical aspects to be a good safety. Now it’s just learning a new position, taking in the coaching and learning the different schemes and coverages.”

McClellin’s foray into special teams might not last long, according to special-teams coach Dave Toub. As the club’s first-round pick, McClellin is expected to challenge for a starting job on defense opposite Julius Peppers.

But if McClellin earns one of the top two spots on the depth chart, he likely won’t be a contributor on special teams, according to Toub.

“We’re going to work him,” Toub said. “Until he’s either a first or second guy -- either a one or a two – we’re going to work him on special teams as much as we can. We don’t anticipate him being that guy. We think he’s going to move up and be where we think he’s going to be (on the depth chart). But in the meantime, everybody comes in and they have a role on special teams. That’s just the way we do things.”

The rookies certainly are learning; and fast. Second-round receiver Alshon Jeffery spent time prior to minicamp working with backup quarterback Josh McCown, which the rookie said helped tremendously. Still, it hasn’t cut down the learning curve associated with making the jump from college to the NFL.

Jeffery said he’s looking to mesh the physical component of adjusting to the NFL with the mental side of the team’s new playbook on offense. He’s shown progress throughout the first two sessions, and has emerged as a standout at minicamp.

“It’s going well,” Jeffery said. “(It’s) just getting the playbook down, playing faster and getting a lot more reps and playing with confidence. That’s for you all to judge if I’m standing out. I’m just trying to get better and compete.”

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Receiver Alshon Jeffery returned to the field on Saturday after leg cramps caused the second-round pick to miss the tail end of the teams' first day of rookie minicamp on Friday.

Jeffery and Bears head coach Lovie Smith both described the leg cramps as a non-issue.

"Most of the guys are a little sore right now, but we see a guy with great hands, a big target that will only get better," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "He should be in the mix to help us win games this year."

The 6-foot-3 Jeffery has stood out the first two days of rookie camp, but still must adjust to the speed of the NFL game. However, from a playbook perspective, his transition into the Bears' offense was aided by veteran quarterback Josh McCown, who worked with the rookie wideout last weekend in South Carolina.

"That helped me out a bunch just being able to learn some things," Jeffery said of catching balls from McCown. "He taught me a lot. Not just running routes, but also the concepts of what everybody is doing."

McCown and Jeffery had no prior relationship before the receiver joined the Bears at the end of April. It was the veteran quarterback who reached out to Jeffery to arrange the meeting, which occurred in Rock Hill, South Carolina, a town about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte.

"He just texted me," Jeffery said. "Then we started exchanging some texts and it went from there."

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Losing a Pro Bowl player would ruin the offseason for most NFL special teams coordinators.

Not Dave Toub.

Even with 2011 Pro Bowl selection Corey Graham signing with the Baltimore Ravens, Toub and the Bears still believe they came out way ahead on the special teams front in both free agency and the draft. Chicago signed core players Eric Weems and Blake Costanzo and drafted promising rookies Brandon Hardin and Greg McCoy. Throw in a contract extension for Toub, and it's been smooth sailing the past few months for the man considered by many to be the best special teams coach in the league.

"I love the guys we added," Toub said Saturday. "Eric Weems and Costanzo are solid. One is a former Pro Bowl player himself (Weems). I'm really looking forward to working with these guys. I'm really happy with them."

Toub is also convinced Hardin, the Bears' third-round draft choice out of Oregon State, can step in and make an immediate impact on special teams. Unlike some former collegiate standouts who never had to worry about special teams before the NFL, Hardin was a standout special teamer during his career with the Beavers.

"Hardin, he really loved special teams," Toub said. "He was their (Oregon State) gunner, their starting gunner. First guy down the field on kickoff, first guy down the field on punt, he made a lot of tackles. He jumped out at you on the film as far as special teams. We're really happy to have him. Great speed, good size, and he's got a great attitude."

McCoy, the Bears' seventh-round pick, is another rookie worth watching from a special-teams perspective. Although he probably will be competing against fellow rookie and sixth round selection Isaiah Frey for a roster spot, McCoy was a decorated return man at TCU. At the moment, the Bears are set in the return game with Devin Hester and Weems, but McCoy should be given plenty of opportunities to impress the coaching staff in the preseason.

First-rounder Shea McClellin, on the other hand, is not expected to have a large role on special teams, according to Toub. Even though McClellin said on draft day he embraced the idea of playing special teams, the Bears believe the majority of his time will be spent on defense. The rookie defensive end is being counted on to improve the teams' pass rush and therefore is projected to be in the rotation at the start of the regular season.

"Until he's either a first or second (string) guy, we'll work him on special teams as much as we can," Toub said of McClellin. "But we don't anticipate him being that guy. We think he is going to move up and be where we think he is going to be."

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Of the 51 players the Chicago Bears brought into rookie minicamp at Halas Hall, 34 are attending on a tryout basis, and coach Lovie Smith hinted Saturday there’s a chance a couple could find roster spots with the club based on some standpoint performances.

Smith expects the final day of rookie minicamp on Sunday to provide a clearer picture.

“We have a couple of the tryout guys that are also making us take notice,” Smith said. “So I’m glad we have one more day to make sure on what we’re thinking right now.”

While Smith didn’t single out any of the tryout players as potential signees, the first two sessions of rookie minicamp have yielded promising showings from players such as tight ends Brandon Venson and Ali Villanueva, as well as receivers Joseph Anderson.

Here’s a list of all the tryout players in attendance at rookie minicamp, which comes to conclusion on Sunday:

QB Matt Blanchard, Wisconsin-Whitewater

QB Ronnie Fouch, Indiana State

RB Embry Peeples, Georgia Tech

WR Joseph Anderson, Texas Southern

WR Willie Clark, Northern Illinois

WR David Mosley, NW Missouri State

WR Keith Nichol, Michigan State

TE Brandon Venson, Illinois State

TE Ali Villanueva, Army

OG Mike Garrity, Eastern Illinois

OT Tyler Hendrickson, Concordia

OT Jarvis Jones, Oklahoma

C Anthony Mihota, Virginia

OT Trevor Olson, Northern Illinois

OG Nick Pieschel, Central Florida

DT Myles Caragein, Pittsburgh

DT T.J. Greenstone, Vanderbilt

DT Eli Joseph, Temple

DE Josue Ortiz, Harvard

DE Jason Peters, Georgia Tech

DE Zary Stewart, Morgan State

LB Josh Biezuns, Wyoming

LB Archie Donald, Toledo

LB Tyler Holmes, Massachusetts

LB Youri Yenga, Southern Methodist

S Matthew Pearson, Kansas State

S Brian Peters, Northwestern

K Kevin Goessling, Fresno State

K Ryan Quigley, Boston College

K David Teggart, Connecticut

K Phillip Welch, Wisconsin

LS Brad Fortney, Carthage

LS Kyle Wojta, Wisconsin

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- At first glance, Bears 2012 third-round pick Brandon Hardin seems to have the proper size to be an effective NFL in-the-box safety, even though the rookie played exclusively at cornerback during his college career at Oregon State.

Listed at 6-3, 217 pounds, Hardin arrived at Bears' rookie minicamp with a clean bill of health after sitting out the entire 2011 season due to a fractured shoulder that required surgery. Although he is currently the only unsigned member of the club's 2012 draft class, Hardin signed an injury waiver in order to participate in the three-day rookie camp at Halas Hall.

"It's nice to be back out here after dealing with that injury last season," Hardin said. "But actually, I feel fine. I don't feel like I have too much rust on me. It was easy to go back into it and start running which was really the fun part. Lucky enough, I got to play in the East-West Shrine Game back in January, so I was able to hit, tackle and test out the shoulder. What I found from that was that I was healthy and totally ready to go."

Hardin remained unsigned as of the start of Saturday's practice primarily because agents have found negotiating contracts for third-round picks to be difficult. While the deals for first-round choices are essentially slotted, the handful of third-round contracts completed so far have contained a wide range of bonus money, making it tougher for agents and teams to find common ground.

But while his contract situation gets resolved, Hardin's main focus over the weekend is to begin making the transition from cornerback to safety. He recorded an impressive 63 tackles at corner in 2010 which convinced the Bears that the young defensive back had the ability to handle the additional rigors of playing strong safety. Hardin joins a group of safeties that includes Major Wright, Chris Conte, Craig Steltz and Anthony Walters.

"(Bears assistant defensive backs/safeties coach) Gill Byrd is coaching me up really well," Hardin said. "I'm taking some of the athletic ability I had at corner and using it at safety. I never played safety at Oregon State, I was strictly a cornerback, but I did play safety at the East-West Shrine Game. I think mentally it will be the biggest transition (moving to safety). Learning the different route combinations and learning the different coverages. Getting that down to an NFL caliber. But I can play both free and strong safety. Whatever they want, I'll do it."

ESPNChicago's Jeff Dickerson and Michael Wright discuss Bears news from rookie minicamp.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice kept mentioning the “new personality” of the offense Friday during a seven-minute meeting with reporters following the first practice of rookie minicamp at Halas Hall.

The problem, however was Tice didn’t elaborate. At first, anyway.

So what exactly is this new personality?

“Just that we want to play fast,” Tice explained later. “We don’t want to be out on the field and have the kids think[ing] too much. We don’t want to make it hard for the kids. We want to make sure the kids know exactly what we’re gonna do, when we’re gonna call it and why we’re gonna call it. That’s our job as coaches. We have some great athletes on offense. We have to put them in a position to show us and show the fans, and show the people that love the Bears, their athleticism and explosiveness. We want to be explosive.”

That’s perfectly fine, but obviously steps need to be taken to accomplish the task. So thus far in an offseason somewhat lacking on a free flow of information from Halas Hall, the Bears have actually installed their 2012 offense not once, but twice.

So basically, the team’s progress in terms of offensive installation stands at the halfway point with training camp approaching in July.

(Read full post)

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears offensive tackle Gabe Carimi is expected to return the field sometime before the team wraps up its offseason workout program in the middle of June, according to offensive coordinator Mike Tice.

"He's right on track," Tice said Friday following the first day of rookie minicamp. "We expect to see him at some point before the session is over. Sooner than later. So we're pretty excited about that."

Carimi, the No. 29 overall selection in the 2011 NFL draft, opened the regular season as the Bears' starting right tackle before suffering a partial dislocation in his right knee during a Week 2 loss in New Orleans. The offensive lineman eventually underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure on his right knee in early November before eventually landing on injured reserve on November 19. Carimi then had an additional surgery in late December to repair connective tissue around his patella and medial collateral ligament.

Despite Carimi's injury plagued rookie campaign, coupled with the documented struggles of left tackle J'Marcus Webb, the Bears resisted the temptation to use a draft pick on a tackle or to sign a veteran one in free agency. The current options at tackle besides Carimi and Webb includes 2008 first round choice Chris Williams who was moved to guard the past two years under Tice, Lance Louis and Levi Horn.

"If we felt that tackle was a dire need for us, I'm sure we would of answered the bell on draft day," Tice said. "I'm sure with the change in scheme, the change in personality if you will, an offseason, and getting some guys healthy will make a big jump in the offensive line. I think it takes time for young guys to play good in all areas, and I think we have a couple of young guys who have played good football in half the scheme. They need to pick it up in the other half of the scheme. We have a number of guys like that. We also have some guys who got hurt we need to get back."

The Bears organized team activities (OTAs) are scheduled the begin in less than two weeks while the offseason program ends in mid-June (12-14) with a mandatory three-day veteran minicamp.

Chicago Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery went down with leg cramp in the team's first rookie minicamp workout on Friday.

Trainers came out to stretch out Jeffery, but the 6-4, 229-pound second-rounder out of South Carolina couldn't continue and was taken off the field for precautionary reasons. He's expected to be fine.

"[He was just] cramping up," Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "Guys do a lot of working out on their own, but it's not like when you come here and work out. I really liked what Alshon did earlier in practice, for most of the practice really. I didn't see him drop a ball. He's got great hands, is a big target and really liked the way he came in. He's going to be a good football player for us."

Offensive coordinator Mike Tice also was impressed with Jeffery.

"I saw him make a few plays over there in the one-on-ones," Tice said. "Back in the day, we called that 'picking peanuts.' He was picking peanuts off some guys’ heads it looked like to me. So I think he’s gonna have the ability for us to make plays.

"You could tell he has some explosiveness about him. You could tell he has some ball skills. That’s why we drafted him so high. You can tell that he’s gonna be a playmaker for the Bears for 2012, and hopefully for many years to come."

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears made sure to start rookie minicamp on Friday with first-round pick Shea McClellin in attendance.

Minutes before the start of the club's first minicamp workout at Halas Hall, the Bears announced they agreed to terms with McClellin on a four-year contract with a fifth-year option. Terms of the deal weren't immediately closed.

Read the entire story.

CHICAGO -- After saying on draft weekend that he would look for help at defensive tackle via free agency, Bears general manager Phil Emery on Friday announced the signings of John McCargo and DeMario Pressley, plus defensive end Cheta Ozougwu, to one-year contracts.

Read the entire story.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears agreed to terms on a four-year contract with 2012 sixth-round draft choice cornerback Isaiah Frey, the club announced Wednesday.

Frey was a first-team all-WAC selection for Nevada his senior year, when he had a team-high five interceptions and broke up 21 passes. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound defensive back appeared in 51 games for the Wolfpack from 2008 to '11, and finished his career with 141 tackles, seven interceptions, 38 passes broken up and two forced fumbles.

There is expected to be competition to make the roster at the cornerback position after the club signed veterans Kelvin Hayden and Jonathan Wilhite in free agency, then drafted Frey and Greg McCoy (seventh round) at the end of April. Last year’s starter Tim Jennings was re-signed after fellow cornerbacks Corey Graham and Zack Bowman departed via free agency.

Frey is now the fourth member of the 2012 Bears draft class to agree to a deal, joining second-round pick Alshon Jeffery, fourth-round selection Evan Rodriguez and McCoy, a seventh-round choice out of TCU.

The Bears will conduct their annual rookie minicamp May 11-13 at Halas Hall.

CHICAGO -- The entire Chicago Bears 2012 draft class is scheduled to descend on Halas Hall beginning Friday for the club's annual three-day rookie minicamp, but second-round choice Alshon Jeffery recently got an introductory lesson to the offense courtesy of veteran third-string quarterback Josh McCown.

Jeffery ran routes and caught passes from McCown when the two worked out together last weekend in Rock Hill, S.C., a city about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte, N.C. Jeffery hails from St. Matthews, S.C., while McCown played quarterback for the Carolina Panthers from 2008 to '09 and maintained a residence in the area. McCown was a voluntary assistant football coach for a North Carolina high school before he signed with the Bears on Nov. 23, 2011.

McCown left the workouts impressed with the rookie wideout, whom the Bears moved up five spots to grab at No. 45 overall on Day 2 of the draft.

"He seems like a good kid," McCown said. "I was very impressed with him mentally. Great hands, too."

Jeffery was a first-team All-American at South Carolina in 2010 when he hauled in 88 passes for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns. His numbers dipped his final season at South Carolina when the Gamecocks dismissed their starting quarterback and went to a more ground-based attack. But Jeffery wrapped up his collegiate career by taking home MVP honors of the Capital One Bowl after he managed to catch four passes for 148 yards and a touchdown in a rout over Nebraska.

"I had a chance to watch him play a couple games last year, and he's a big, physical receiver," Bears receiver Earl Bennett said Wednesday on ESPN 1000's "Carmen, Jurko and Harry Show." "A guy who is going to do very well in the red zone because of his height. I'm pretty sure he's motivated to come play in the NFL and prove people wrong that he should've been a first-round pick. I feel like he's got a chip on his shoulder to come out and prove people wrong."

The Bears worked to quickly sign Jeffery, who agreed to terms on a four-year deal May 2. Now that Jeffery is under contract, he and other signed draft picks (Evan Rodriguez, Greg McCoy and Isaiah Frey) are eligible to start participating in the Bears' official offseason workout program at the start of next week, following the conclusion of this weekend's rookie minicamp. Jeffery also turned down an invitation to attend the 2012 NFLPA Rookie Premiere, an annual event at which selected rookies are flown to Los Angeles to be photographed for their NFL player cards, in order to spend more time participating in the Bears' offseason program, according to a league source.