July 30, 2008

With the Bears managing to take care of their primary business on the contract front with new long-term deals for Brian Urlacher and Devin Hester, the focus in Bourbonnais, Ill., has switched to an offensive line that has looked rather offensive, to say the least. A key factor behind the line’s early ineptitude has been injuries to six-time Pro Bowl C Olin Kreutz and first-round OT Chris Williams. Kreutz had been on the physically-unable-to-perform list with an Achilles ailment since the start of camp until Tuesday, when he passed a physical and returned to the practice field. Williams has been sidelined since suffering an untimely back injury early in the team’s second training-camp practice. Williams was getting closer to returning to practice at this writing, but the consensus among team insiders is that he has already lost valuable development time at left tackle, the position he was expected to man as the starter in Week One. “The more practices he misses, the harder it will be for him to start,” a longtime team insider told PFW. “They really need to get him out there.” Williams’ absence is increasing the likelihood daily that versatile John St. Clair will start the season at left tackle. In the meantime, the D-line has been steadily winning the battle in the trenches since the opening of camp, which doesn’t bode particularly well for an O-line that regressed significantly last season.