In the first of a two-part series, coach Lovie Smith answers email questions from fans exclusively on ChicagoBears.com:

How do you plan on conducting the quarterback competition between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton in terms of reps in training camp and the preseason, and what are the exact factors the Bears coaching staff will look for to determine who wins the starting job?

Kyle Orton started the final three games last season, leading the Bears to two wins while passing for 478 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The quarterback competition is an open competition, and they are both coming into the competition on equal ground. As far as how we’re going to conduct it, we’re going to let them go play. We haven’t named a starter. They know that. They both know that we’ve been evaluating them since we started offseason workouts and it’ll continue up until it’s obvious to us that we know which guy should be the starter. When that’ll happen, it’s hard to say. I don’t think you can necessarily gauge exactly who the guy is based solely on practice. There isn’t anything live in practice. So to me I see it going into the preseason, seeing what happens during the games and then making a decision from there.

Who’s the frontrunner to replace Ruben Brown at the left guard position and who else is in the mix to compete for the starting job? Also, would the Bears consider re-signing Ruben?

Matt
Orange City, Iowa

Terrence Metcalf has started a few games since he’s been around here, and we like his potential. Josh Beekman hasn’t had a chance to play, but he’s done some good things too. We know that John St. Clair has started for us inside, but right now John St. Clair is a tackle. I would say it would be between Terrence Metcalf and Josh Beekman at this time. As far as your second question, there aren’t any plans to re-sign Ruben right now.

How much do you anticipate Devin Hester’s role expanding on offense, and with him being more involved on offense, do you see his role on special teams being reduced?

Benjamin
South Bend, Indiana

We definitely see his role expanding on offense. Now you can say he’s had about a year at the receiver position, and I’ve seen him grow so much. With that, he should be able to do more for us offensively. That’s the plan. As far as that taking away from his special teams role, that’s not necessarily what will happen. We’re going to see how that plays out. But I see him still handling the returns and becoming a bigger part of the offense.

What are your plans to get the Bears defense back to the level it performed at in 2006? Will you incorporate more blitzes, different coverages or more safety support to stop the run?

Chris
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

The simple thing to do in the offseason is to say that we’re going to blitz more and we’re going to do different coverages and do things like that. But that’s not the case. We didn’t play well based on some of the basic things we’ve done. Our system isn’t about changing every year. We have a system we believe in. If we play it right, we’re going to be successful. So we’re going to do the things that we believe in better this year and go from there.

I’ve always liked Mike Hass. With the free-agent acquisitions of Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd and the drafting of Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk, how much of an opportunity will Hass have to make the Bears’ 53-man roster?

Jeff
La Porte, Indiana

He’s one of the receivers. Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad were our starters. They’re both gone. So I see it as open competition too. To me, wherever we lost a starter from last year, that spot is open. No one has had a chance to do anything to win a role. We like the guys we have at receiver, and Mike Hass has just as good a chance as anyone else to make the roster and get [playing] time. The good part about where we are right now is when you come off a 7-9 year, you want the team to be hungry and we have a lot of positions that are open.

With rookie tight end Kellen Davis excelling in limited action as a pass rush specialist at Michigan State, do you have any plans to give him reps at defensive end in training camp?

Bo
Lexington, Kentucky

He’s a tight end. You can be a part-time guy and do it OK in college, but that’s not the case here. We have defensive ends that get paid to do that and they play it very well. He won’t be playing defensive end for us.