Players like Tommie Harris and Mike Brown were held out of the Bears last exhibition game to keep them healthy, but Harris hasn't practiced since the third game.  His status is unknown.

A source said the Bears' medical staff has expressed concern Harris' knee injury might be more serious than the team first thought, but team officials rejected that idea Tuesday night. It was pointed out that similar concerns were raised last season about Harris' health after he sprained his left knee against Dallas, but he was in action for the next game Sept. 30 at Detroit.

Bears still trying to figure out their safety depth chart.

"We haven't necessarily locked it in," said Bears coach Lovie Smith.

"Around Wednesday or so we'll kind of come out with our starting lineup. Both guys will play a lot for us, I'll say that. Both will be on the field at some point."

Don't look know, but it is the 4-year anniversary of the Marty Booker/Adewale Ogunleye trade.

'I don't really think about it, but I did this year because Marty is here on the team now,'' Ogunleye said. ''It was a bad situation for him, and I was coming into a much better situation. Miami was a catastrophe. It was just a bad, bad place at the time. I am so happy to be here. Every time I see Jerry [Angelo] and Lovie [Smith], I thank them. Miami is a great place to live, but it hasn't been a good place to play football.''

The Bears still have not solidified a number of their skill positions.  Looking at the names below, who do you think will become a starter first at some point this season. Depth chart rankings are approximate.

Caleb Hanie QB Depth Chart: 3rd

Marty Booker WR Depth Chart: 3rd or 4th

Kevin Jones QB Depth Chart: Unknown (likely 2nd when ready)

Mark Bradley WR Depth Chart: 5th

Jamar Williams LB Depth Chart: 2nd (can play all 3 LB spots)

Craig Steltz FS Depth Chart: 2nd or 3rd

The Bears were planning to go into camp with Devin Hester and Brandon Lloyd as their starting wide receivers.  With a hold out by Hester, Marty Booker stepped in and ran with the first team.

The Bears lack experience at the wide receiver spot.  Only Marty Booker has more than 3 years experience with meaningful playing time. What the Bears do have is a lot of speed and a ton of potential.  Hester, Bradley and Lloyd all have high end speed.  They also are carring two promising rookies.

The Bears current roster of wide receivers looks like this:

Devin Hester
Marty Booker
Brandon Lloyd
Rashied Davis
Mark Bradley
Earl Bennett
Marcus Monk
Mike Hass
Brandon Rideau

Hester, Booker, Lloyd and Bennett are probably locks at this point.  Based on OTAs the Bears have probably seen enough good out of Monk to keep him. Rashied Davis was the Bears top performer during OTAs, I'd like to see them keep him.  At least he is familiar with the play book.   I don't know how many recievers the Bears are going to run with, so Hass and Rideau are either cuts or practice squad players.  Mark Bradley is the X Factor.  The Bears seemed intent on marking him a starter going into this year, but with his latest surgery the Bears don't know when he will be ready.

Let's take a look at the numbers of those with NFL experience:

(numbers after the jump)

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Bears wide receiver coach Darryl Drake has said that he feels the receiving corp in Chicago is better than the one last year .

He feels there is a lot more explosiveness on the field now.  While this initially seems like it might be a dig at Berrian, really it is just a statement that the Bears overall talent pool has improved as a whole. While no one Bears receiver will likely duplicate Berrian's numbers this year, there is not reason to think that the squad will not be able to cover it.

Last year the Bears were pretty much just Bernard Berrian and an occasional bomb to Devin Hester.

This year though we replace the no longer sure handed Mushin Muhammad with the sure handed Marty Booker.  Hester will get a full camp in at the wide receiver position and rookie's Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk are both playing surprisingly well.  And from early reports Brandon Lloyd is working hard to regain his career and if he can catch on it gives the Bears another burner at the position.

While at the beginning it was assumed the Mark Bradley would be the default winner of the #1 receiver spot, there is now a possibility that when he is recovered from his knee surgery he could be fighting just for a roster spot.

But the Bears might get production from an unsuspecting place, though I don't know why he was written off to begin with:

'But the best player for us probably out on the field has been 81 [Rashied Davis],'' Drake said. ''He's quicker, he's faster, he's stronger. He puts more fear in them -- you go ask those guys on defense who puts fear inside them.''

Two years ago, Davis was clutch and a big piece of the puzzle, but last year he was lost and it looked like this year he might find his way off the team, but I guess he has something to say about that.

Last year's sqaud that had a record catch are:

Bernard Berrian, Mushin Muhammad, Devin Hester, Mark Bradley and Rashied Davis

This year's squad looks like this:

Devin Hester, Mark Bradley, Earl Bennett, Marcus Monk, Brandon Lloyd, Rashied Davis, Marty Booker

This makes Curtis Hamilton, Mike Hass and Brandon Rideau and possibly Bradley ,depending on how many receivers we carry,  cuts or practice squad  players.

Obviously not having Berrian is a big hole, but despite their overall youth, I like the looks of this squad.  At least as much as I can for not having really seen them play many games.

Add to this that Desmond Clark is still solid and Greg Olsen should have a bigger role.

If either Grossman or Orton can have a consistently decent year, the Bears can do some damage.

Many on the team and almost all off the team are still worried if any Bears QB will be able to get the job done.  Marty Booker for one doesn't care who lines up under center.  Of course that might have to do with the fact that he has been on two teams, Chicago and Miami, that have had a revolving door at the position.

"Dude, in my career I've had like almost 20 different quarterbacks (17 actually), so as far as adjusting to anybody, that's not a problem," he said. "That's the least of everything."

While on the Bears Booker has caught passes from the likes of Shane Matthews, Cade McNown, Henry Burris, Jim Miller and Cory Sauter.

The Miami Dolphins used 9 QBs over the last 4 years.

Regardless of why he is able to remain careless, it is nice to hear somebody take the I'm coming to work to do my job and not worry about somebody else's.

Devin Hester wants a new contract and will get one, but even he cannot miss out on this opportunity afforded to him with the surgery to Mark Bradley and he has shown up on OTAs on Wednesday.  I was not aware of this, but apparently Bradley was anointed the #2 receiver next to Marty Booker.  With Hester likely filling the slot.   With Bradley having surgery the entire backend of the Bears receiving corp opens up to competition.  Hester would be foolish to not get into the swing of things and win that spot.  His value to this team and his leverage on contracts would both go up should he grab the #2 spot.

Last week it was mentioned  that with the impressive play of Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk that newly signed Brandon Lloyd might get let go before he even played a down.

It has was also assumed that Mark Bradley or Devin Hester would fill the number 2 receiver spot next to Marty Booker.  Apparently that has all gone by the way side.

Mark Bradley had arthroscopic knee surgery this month and might not be back in time for the start of training camp.

During camp Brandon Lloyd filled the number two spot.  If Bradley isn't ready that leaves Lloyd, Hester and Bennett to compete for the #2 spot.

I am not sure where this leaves Rashied Davis in this equation.

Matt Forte wasn't the only rookie to impress at Bears rookie mini camp. Vanderbilt receiver Earl Bennett despite a shaky start and Marcus Monk from Arkansas both impressed.

The Bears’ work-in-progress WR corps is widely considered ordinary at best, with the team’s OTAs set to begin early next week. With that in mind, the consensus among team insiders is that both rookie pass catchers Earl Bennett and Marcus Monk — drafted in the third and seventh rounds, respectively — have an opportunity to make their presence felt fairly quickly. That much was expected from Bennett, who excelled at Vanderbilt in the tough Southeastern Conference, but not necessarily Monk, who according to recent rookie minicamp observers, was more consistently impressive than the receiver the Bears drafted four rounds earlier. Bennett got off to a shaky start in the minicamp, appearing to have a bad case of the jitters initially, but he steadily improved as the camp wore on, to the point where he was catching every pass thrown his way by the time the final day had been completed. Monk, meanwhile, caught everything in sight from the get-go, according to one close observer. “He could be a serious sleeper,” the observer told PFW. “He doesn’t have a lot of speed, but his size (6-4, 222) and hands could make him a real red-zone weapon.”

 

The article then goes on to put out that the two might lead to the Bears releasing newly signed Brandon Lloyd.  They follow by suggesting that there are rumors floating around Halas Hall that that might be the case.

I am pleased to see that Bennett and Monk are instilling such confidence, but I just can't see Bears releasing Lloyd unless he has some off the field incidents between now and then or gets shown up at training camp.  Aside from Marty Booker the Bears don't have anybody who has a lot of experience as a starting receiver.  Devin Hester, Rashied Davis and Mark Bradley have all had playing time and might have a start or two under their belts, but nothing more significant.  Lloyd despite what skills he may or may not have has been at least a #2 in the league for a few years, that does count for something until somebody else proves they are the better option.