Continuing a tradition of community spirit started by coach Lovie Smith in 2004, the entire Bears coaching staff donated 23 bicycles to local children following Wednesday night’s practice. The bikes were used by the coaching staff to get around the Olivet Nazarene campus during Bears training camp. 

"We preach being fit and staying in shape and all those things, and as a coaching staff that’s what we do,” Smith said.

The Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department and Illinois State Police worked with the Kankakee County Youth Intervention Agency to identify 23 worthy youngsters to receive the bikes. The boys and girls range in age from 10-15 years old, represent all different ethnic backgrounds, and live in different areas throughout Kankakee County.

“It brings a smile to their face,” Smith said. “But I think we get more out of it than they do.”

Cornerback Charles Tillman made the best catch in Sunday’s practice, diving to intercept a Kyle Orton pass. Orton was also picked off by linebacker Jamar Williams, who worked with the No. 1 defense in place of Hunter Hillenmeyer, who sat out with a minor hip injury. Orton rebounded by hitting tight end Greg Olsen in stride on a deep seam route and rifling a completion over the middle to receiver Rashied Davis while splitting defenders Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown. Rex Grossman overthrew running back Garrett Wolfe deep down the left sideline and tight end Fontel Mines over the middle. Grossman also made several nice throws in connecting with receiver Mike Hass in traffic over the middle and with receiver Mark Bradley on numerous occasions.

The Bears concluded Sunday’s practice with a two-minute drill. The No. 1 offense turned the ball over on downs without making a first down as Orton failed to connect with receiver Marty Booker on fourth-and-10. Taking his turn Sunday quarterbacking the No. 2 offense, Grossman completed a 26-yard strike to receiver Devin Hester to set up Zacrey Atterberry’s 41-yard field goal.

The Bears defense dominated the offense during Monday’s practice. In team drills, defensive end Mark Anderson batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage, cornerbacks Corey Graham and Zack Bowman had interceptions, and defensive backs Nathan Vasher, Craig Steltz and Josh Gattis all broke up passes.

On the first play of a two-minute drill, defensive end Adewale Ogunleye “sacked” quarterback Kyle Orton. Defensive tackle Tommie Harris appeared to “sack” Orton again on fourth-and-13, but a 22-yard completion to receiver Devin Hester that resulted in a first down was allowed to stand, angering the defense. Four plays later, Harris “sacked” Orton on fourth-and-10, ending the drive. “We did it two times!” screamed safety Mike Brown.

Defensive lineman Israel Idonije sat out practice with a knee injury that is not believed to be serious. Cornerback Charles Tillman and defensive tackle Anthony Adams were excused from the workout for personal reasons. With Idonije and Adams unavailable, rookie third-round pick Marcus Harrison took some first-team reps at defensive tackle.

Center Olin Kreutz (Achilles’ tendon) and left tackle Chris Williams (back) are both making progress. Kreutz looked close to returning while working with trainers on an adjacent field during practice.

The temperature Monday rose into the mid 80s, making it the warmest day of training camp. However, the high temperature Tuesday could surpass 90 degrees.

Bears legend Ed Sprinkle, who played 12 seasons with the Monsters of the Midway from 1944-55 and was a member of the 1946 NFL championship team, attended Monday’s practice. Sprinkle, who was nicknamed "The Claw," was voted to four Pro Bowls and was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1940s.

Watching how well Bears tight ends have performed in training camp, I can’t help but remember a time when the position annually caused the team’s fans to pull their hair out. For the first 10 years or so that I covered the Bears beginning in Mike Ditka’s final season as coach in 1992, the lack of a decent tight end was a glaring weakness. (No offense to my old buddies Keith Jennings and Ryan Wetnight!) The Bears traded up in the second round of the 1997 draft—which may have been the worst in team history—to select John Allred. They also spent third-round picks on Chris Gedney in 1993 and Dustin Lyman in 2000. I don’t have to tell you that none of those players developed into the type of starting tight end the Bears had envisioned.

Fast forward to 2008 and the tight end position is the strongest and deepest on the Bears offense. Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen may be the best tandem in the league, fifth-round pick Kellen Davis has potential, and even first-year pro Fontel Mines has shown flashes. In a brief practice session that was closed to the public Saturday morning, Olsen made a remarkable one-handed catch and Mines made a spectacular diving grab with linebacker Darrell McClover all over him.

Davis, meanwhile, is having an excellent training camp. He’s got incredibly soft hands and has shown toughness when blocking. With a great combination of size and speed—the 6-7, 262-pounder runs as fast as a linebacker—he could make a huge impact as a wedge buster on the kickoff coverage team. I can’t imagine too many opponents who would want to take him on while he’s running full speed down the field. Keep on eye on Davis on offense and special teams in the preseason.

Taking a look at our home page, it’s pretty clear that there were few developments at Bears training camp Friday that didn’t involve Devin Hester. But there were a couple of other items of interest …

After leaving Thursday’s practice early with tightness in his lower back, first-round draft pick Chris Williams was held out of Friday’s workout. Said coach Lovie Smith: “We’re being cautious with him, but again he’s a little tight. He’s not ready to play right now. I still think it’s something that’s minor and it’s muscular, but still he’s not quite ready to go yet.”

Center Olin Kreutz (Achilles’ tendon), defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek (calf), running back Kevin Jones (knee) and guard Chester Adams (stomach) remained sidelined. … Cornerback Charles Tillman practiced for the first time after missing the first two training camp workouts due to personal reasons. … After practicing in shoulder pads and shorts Thursday, the Bears worked out in full pads Friday for the first time, including game pants.

Rex Grossman’s best pass of the day came when he completed a deep out pattern to Mike Hass with a strong throw that split defenders Brandon McGowan and Danieal Manning.

Kyle Orton rifled a completion to Mark Bradley between two defenders and made a nifty throw to Garrett Wolfe deep down the middle of the field. Safety Kevin Payne intercepted an Orton pass intended for Hass, but judging by the reaction of Bears coaches, it appeared that Hass was more to blame than the quarterback.

Concluding Friday’s practice with a two-minute drill, the Bears’ first- and second-team offenses moved the ball to set up “game-winning” field goals. Robbie Gould connected from 53 yards, but missed a 51-yard attempt. (Gould made a 58-yarder during a team period earlier in practice.) The key play for the No. 2 unit in its two-minute drill came when rookie receiver Earl Bennett slid to make an 18-yard catch of an Orton pass on fourth-and-six.

Practicing in pads as the Bears did for the first time Thursday requires some minor adjustments. Said quarterback Kyle Orton: “Getting back to playing real football, the timing’s a little different because [defenders] are jamming [at the line of scrimmage] and it takes a little while to get off the ball.” Receiver Rashied Davis, who caught two long TD passes—one from Orton and the other from Rex Grossman—said that wearing pads contributed to him suffering muscle cramps during the workout. “It affected me early,” Davis said. “I was cramping like crazy, just a little dehydrated. But once I got the fluids back in my body, I was able to come back and make some plays. Thank God I didn’t cramp up again.”

Coach Lovie Smith knows that it takes players a few days to get used to wearing pads again. “We have a routine we go through,” said the Bears coach. “Hopefully it’ll look a lot better a little bit later on, but it’s a process. That’s why you don’t get too high or too low early. You just don’t want to have a lot of injuries and you want the guys to be able to practice and get better.”

Alternating on a daily basis with Grossman, Orton took his turn operating the No. 1 offense Thursday. Both quarterbacks looked fairly sharp. Orton threw the only interception of practice, but it clearly wasn’t his fault. Tight end Greg Olsen got tangled up with linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer while running down the sideline, and Hillenmeyer picked off the pass.

Orton spread the ball around, hitting Brandon Lloyd near the sideline, splitting defenders Brandon McGowan and Corey Graham to connect with Mark Bradley over the middle and zipping a pass down the field to Brandon Rideau, just out of the reach of Danieal Manning. Working with the No. 2 offense, Grossman completed quick slants to Rideau and Earl Bennett, who displayed exceptional hands for the second straight practice. Bennett did mishandle two punts, however. On one of his rare reps, rookie quarterback Caleb Hanie threw a strike to complete a deep out pattern to Bennett, just out of the reach of rookie cornerback Trey Brown.

Veteran cornerback Charles Tillman, who was excused from the first two practices for personal reasons, was spotted leaving the cafeteria after dinner Thursday with teammate Mike Brown.

Doesn’t Kyle Orton know that “tails never fails”? He learned that lesson earlier today when he called “heads” in a coin flip with Rex Grossman to determine which quarterback will work with the No. 1 offense during the first training camp practice later this afternoon. Orton took the crushing defeat in stride, knowing that he will operate the first unit Thursday given that the two quarterbacks will alternate on a daily basis as they did throughout offseason workouts. Said Orton: “Just like OTAs, it’ll go back and forth. They’ve done a great job of charting everything to make sure we get equal reps. Whether I get the [first-team] reps today or tomorrow doesn’t matter. We’re going to get the same amount of reps. There’s just as much emphasis when you run with the 2s as there is when you’re with the 1s. You’ve just got to go out every day and focus and play well.” 

Orton didn’t provide the quarter for the coin flip, but joked that he wishes he could have kept it to pocket an extra 25 cents. Of course, Wednesday’s coin flip was far from the most significant one in Bears history. Longtime fans will recall that the Bears lost a coin flip with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1970, losing out on the chance to draft quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

Orton addressed the media outside the cafeteria Wednesday afternoon, but no before trading a few “Seinfeld” lines with myself and two other scribes inside the mess hall. Eating lunch with the writers, we discussed our favorite lines from the hit television show. Mine is simple yet funny: Sitting in a sauna with Jerry and George, Kramer sighs: “It’s like a sauna in here!” We threw a few “Seinfeld” lines at Orton and he had the correct follow-up response each time. But that isn’t a big surprise given that he’s such a big fan of the show that he named his dog “Elaine” after the character played by Julia Louise-Dreyfus.