LAKE FOREST, Ill. – With Lance Briggs absent from the Bears’ weekend minicamp, Jamar Williams gained valuable experience working with the first-team defense at weakside linebacker.

“I think it went real well,” Williams said following Sunday’s practice. “I felt better than ever out here. I feel like I’m knowing what to expect and able to make more plays.”

Linebacker Jamar Williams played in just three games as a rookie in 2006 before he sustained a season-ending injury.

Williams appears faster after losing eight pounds and reducing his body fat. The 2006 fourth-round draft pick is also more familiar with the defense as he enters his second year in the system.

With Briggs threatening to sit out at least part of the upcoming season, Williams could find himself starting alongside All-Pro middle linebacker Brian Urlacher.

The Bears designated Briggs as a franchise player, guaranteeing him a one-year contract worth $7.2 million, the average of the five highest paid linebackers in the NFL. But the two-time Pro Bowler is upset about not being permitted to become an unrestricted free agent.

“You can’t replace a guy like that,” Williams said. “I just try to come in and do my job the best I can and every day I am out here I try to get better. I’m not looking forward to the future with that situation. I am trying to better myself and help the team out the best I can.”

As a rookie last year, Williams was just beginning to impress on special teams when he was lost for the season with a torn pectoral muscle in a Week 3 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

A year later, he performed well with the No. 1 defense in minicamp.

“Jamar’s great, he’s done a good job,” Urlacher said. “He’s moving around well. He’s recovered from his pectoral injury. He’s fast. He’s learning the defense pretty well. He’s got to get some experience on the field. That’s the only thing he’s missing right now.”

While Urlacher hopes that Briggs returns, the middle linebacker is confident that the Bears can move on without him.

“We have guys that have been in the system for a couple years now,” Urlacher said. “We have guys that can step in. They’re not going to replace Lance—we know that—but we have some guys that can fill in for him and do a good job right away. I want Lance out there, obviously, but if he’s not here, we’ll be fine.”

While Williams is the leading candidate to ultimately replace Briggs, there's more than one promising young player at the position. The Bears selected weakside linebacker Michael Okwo in the third round of the draft. Okwo was not permitted to participate in the weekend minicamp, however, because classes are still in session at Stanford.

Williams and Briggs keep in touch via telephone, and judging by a recent conversation, the disgruntled linebacker is rooting for Williams to excel. Briggs apparently believes that the Bears would be more willing to trade him if they had a suitable replacement ready to step in.

“I spoke to Lance a couple weeks ago and I told him, ‘You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,’” Williams said. “He just told me, ‘Show them that I am replaceable.’

“I know Lance wants to do what is best for him. He wants to be here, but he has to get his money. He has to do what is best for him and I am just going to try to step in as best I can.

“I have never been in his type of situation. I am still kind of a rookie and still kind of new to this thing. But I know the coaches trust me enough to put me in the starting job and I am just trying to show them that I am ready enough to be here.”

After playing all three linebacker positions as a rookie, Williams has benefited from working strictly at the weakside spot.

“I wouldn’t say the ‘Will’ is the hardest job, but you just have to know what you’re doing out there and know your keys and know your job,” he said.

“Coming into last season I played a little bit of ‘Will’ and then I moved to ‘Mike’ and went to ‘Sam,’ so it was a little hectic not knowing where I was going to fit. But this year coming in playing ‘Will,’ it’s easy to know what I’ve got to do and hone in to what I have to do every day.”

While Williams is concentrating more on his own game than on the Briggs saga, the second-year pro knows what’s at stake.

“I know I have a great opportunity and a chance to maybe step into that starting job,” Williams said. “So I just try to come out here like a professional every day and just get better.”