In the offseason the Bears decided Israel Idonije would pack on some pounds to play defensive tackle this season.  He has and has responded well.  Looking very active in the 1st quarter of the second pre season game.  The Bears liked what they saw so much that they are going to move him???  With Mark Anderson getting thumb surgery the Bears may take a look at Idonije at defensive end against San Francisco.

Mark Anderson will miss the game after having minor surgery on his right thumb. The Bears are hopeful he will return in time for the regular season. In the meantime, they'll evaluate Idonije at end, where he has played previously. That's not good news for former second-round pick Dan Bazuin, who is hoping to stick as a backup to Adewale Ogunleye.

Idonije dominated the Seahawks' Steve Vallos, a seventh-round pick who was filling in at center for Chris Spencer, and made a power move past perennial Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones on one play. He had two tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, two quarterback hurries and one deflected pass, all in limited playing time.

While it's difficult to imagine general manager Jerry Angelo cutting a second-round pick after one year, Bazuin still isn't fully recovered from a knee injury he suffered in rookie minicamp. It swells up from time to time. Complicating matters for him is the need for depth inside at tackle, where the Bears were overrun by injuries last season. If it comes down to keeping an extra interior lineman or an end, the Bears are going to look inside, and Idonije provides roster flexibility.

As a rookie Mark Anderson came out and tallied 12 sacks and a second place finish in the Defensive Player of the Year Award behind Houston's DeMeco Ryans.  He was then given the starting end spot over Alex Brown.  Since then he has a close to disastrous season, then was benched in favor of the man he once replaced, now he had to have some surgery.  The surgery was however minor.

Defensive end Mark Anderson has undergone minor surgery to repair his injured right thumb, coach Lovie Smith said. Anderson is out for Thursday's game vs. San Francisco and Smith didn't provide a timeline for a return, but tried to emphasize it was a minor procedure.

It is not uncommon for linemen both defensive and offensive to play with their hands almost completely wrapped up, so unless this is just to painful I wouldn't think it keeps him from any playing time outside of pre season.