LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Today marks the latest installment of a regular feature on ChicagoBears.com. Senior writer Larry Mayer sits down with general manager Jerry Angelo to discuss the most pressing issues involving the Bears on the first and third Wednesday of each month during the offseason and every Wednesday throughout the season.

This unique feature will provide you with inside information directly from Jerry that you can’t get anywhere else. Jerry will candidly discuss relevant issues affecting the Bears that avid fans are most interested in.

Brian Urlacher has had what many team insiders believe is his best offseason since joining the Bears.

JA: Brian spent the whole offseason here, and that’s a big thing for me personally to have him train with us because when he played his best football for us he was here in the offseason. The last two years he wasn’t here for varying reasons. That’s part of it, not all of it. But he did look good in OTAs in terms of his movement. There are some things that I’m sure he’s going to be more focused on to do better than what he had done maybe last year. But I feel that he can get back to a Pro Bowl level. He expects that of himself and we expect that of him as well.

LM: I asked you the same question heading into OTA workouts, but you may have a different answer given that the pads will come on in a few weeks in Bourbonnais: Which individuals and/or position groups will you be most interested in monitoring during training camp?

JA: It’s pretty much what I looked at during the OTAs—our secondary and receiver positions mostly. Obviously we’ll get a better feel for our offensive line now that we’ll be in pads and certainly I want to watch how they come together. Other than that, it won’t be any different than what it was in the spring.

LM: How much does the evaluation change, even with the skill positions, when the pads come on and you’re watching “real football” with contact in training camp?

JA: In the OTAs or anytime we’re in shorts, that’s about development. When you put the pads on, the real evaluation starts because now we’re really simulating game-like conditions. So I put a lot more stock in what we see at training camp.

LM: How do you personally evaluate players? I know you watch every practice, but do you study practice tape or monitor specific drills? And how often do you discuss players with the coaches?

JA: I pretty much know what the coaches feel. We’ve talked about our players ad nauseam. Now it’s a matter of evaluating, and I like to do that objectively. To do that objectively, I watch the practices and the practice tapes. What I really look for is consistency. I have a pretty good feel about their athleticism in terms of their change-of-direction and speed. But again, it’s a matter of making plays and doing so on a consistent basis.