LAKE FOREST, Ill. – When the Bears resumed OTA workouts Wednesday at Halas Hall, Terrence Metcalf lined up with the No. 1 offense at left guard as he has done throughout the offseason.

The seventh-year pro is penciled in as the starter, but he knows that he must perform better than he did last season when he was benched after taking over for the injured Ruben Brown.

Terrence Metcalf has played in 78 games with 25 starts in six years with the Bears.

“It’s a huge opportunity,” Metcalf said. “I feel like it’s time for me to step out and play, just do what I know I can do, do what I know the coaches believe that I can do. That’s pretty much it.

“I feel very prepared for it. All it is is putting in the work, putting in the time in the classroom, doing extra work and doing whatever I need to do to be physically ready to get on the field.”

Anointed the starter midway through last season after Brown was placed on injured reserve, Metcalf remained in the lineup after breaking his left hand in his second game Nov. 18 at Seattle. After five starts, the 6-4, 310-pounder lost his job to veteran John St. Clair.

“I don’t like to place blame on anything, but I broke my hand and I wasn’t performing well,” Metcalf said. “You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do if you want to win games and John St. Clair is an awesome offensive lineman. I wouldn’t have put me back out there playing the way I was with my hand broken.”

While Metcalf refuses to use the injury as an excuse, he concedes that it affected his play both mentally and physically.

“I couldn’t use my left hand,” he said. “I broke my left hand and it was balled up. All I could do is try to get foot placement on people, and in the NFL that doesn’t work. You need experience to do that kind of stuff, and obviously I hadn’t played long enough with injuries to be able to perform at that level. So just being healthy now is the whole issue.”

A 2002 third-round draft pick from Mississippi, Metcalf has played in 78 games with 25 starts in six seasons with the Bears. In 2005, he started the first 12 games at right guard before a shoulder injury sidelined him for three of the final four contests and a divisional playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers.

“Our expectations are for him just to take another step,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “Mentally, feel real good about what we’re doing. Take advantage of another year in the system and be able to make the right adjustments and do everything right mentally. If he does that—basically he’s a good enough athlete and good enough player—he’ll be fine.”

Asked what Metcalf must do to cement the starting left guard position in training camp, Turner said: “Just being consistent with his techniques and fundamentals, and consistent with the mental aspects of it assignment-wise and adjustment-wise.

“The biggest thing that Harry [Hiestand] will be working with him on is just his overall techniques and fundamentals with his hand placement, his feet, his sets and just the attention to detail, and Harry is as good as there is at zeroing in on that.”

You’ll never meet a more determined athlete than Metcalf, who intends to be on the field with the No. 1 offense when the Bears open the regular season Sept. 7 in Indianapolis.

“I’m excited to be back out there with the first unit and I ain’t going anywhere,” he said. “This is my job. That’s how I’m looking at it.”

Roster move: The Bears on Wednesday released rookie wide receiver Curtis Hamilton, an undrafted free agent from Western Kentucky who had joined the team April 28.