LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Brian Urlacher was on the football field Thursday, but he wasn’t tracking down any running backs, blitzing any quarterbacks or intercepting any passes.

Brian Urlacher tosses a pass during a drill at his football camp Thursday.

The Bears middle linebacker instead was teaching the finer points of the game to a bunch of star-struck young players on the second of Urlacher’s three-day football camp at Lake Forest High School.

“It’s fun, No. 1,” Urlacher said. “It’s a chance to get out and interact with some kids and teach them a little bit about football, but more importantly just have a lot of fun.”

There are about 230 kids ages 6-18 attending the camp, which is being held in the Chicago area for the second straight year. Urlacher conducts a similar camp in his home state of New Mexico.

“I like kids, and this is a lot of fun,” Urlacher said. “I didn’t get a chance to do this when I was a kid. I didn’t grow up anywhere close to where there were professional athletes. So it’s cool to do something like this and have a chance to meet some of the kids.”

Instructors at Urlacher’s camp include Bears teammate Dusty Dvoracek and several New Mexico prep coaches, including J.T. “Speedy” Faith, Urlacher’s former high school coach in Lovington.

“This is awesome,” Faith said. “To get to be with Brian for another week after the Albuquerque camp is great for us, but the most important thing is having interaction with the kids, and I really enjoy that.

“The kids light up when they see Brian. It’s unbelievable. Really he does the same thing out here for these kids that he did at the high school level and that he does for the Bears, and that’s make everybody else around him better. The kids think that they can do more than they can actually do when they see him. He’s an inspiration.”