Bear Essentials

Guess who won’t be seeing 1 cent of his $2.5 million roster bonus on June 1, 2010?

If you guessed Tommie Harris, you are correct. Harris has about as much chance of getting another big payday from the Bears as Lovie Smith does of winning coach of the year for 2009.

A quick look at Harris’ four-year, $40 million extension shows that he’s already been paid way more money than he’s worth. In the first year of the deal, Harris received a $6.5 million signing bonus and a $3.5 million roster bonus plus a $620,000 base salary.

Harris had the same base salary this year, but he also got a whopping – and undeserved -- $6.67 million roster bonus on Feb. 27.

Bears backup running back and special teams standout Garrett Wolfe suffered a lacerated kidney in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals and could miss up to a month before he returns. Wolfe was in Northwestern Memorial Hospital Monday morning.

Cornerback Charles Tillman’s injured shoulder knocked him out of Sunday’s game in the second quarter, but he is expected to play Thursday night vs. the 49ers in San Francisco.

The Bears have yet to make a determination on rookie strong safety Al Afalava, who suffered what appears to be a shoulder stinger in the second quarter Sunday and did not return.

After warming up briefly, Cardinals Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin will not play because of a nagging ankle injury.

Boldin caught 89 passes for 1,038 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. He has 35 receptions for 404 yards this season despite the ankle injury. Boldin will be replaced in the starting lineup by Steve Breaston, who caught 77 passes for 1.006 yards last season and has 30 catches for 400 yards this season.

The Bears’ inactives are wide receivers Juaquin Iglesias and Devin Armoashodu, cornerback D.J. Moore, safety Josh Bullocks, linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa, guard Lance Louis and defensive tackles Matt Toeaina and Jarron Gilbert.

Devin Hester has already been on the field stretching, warming up, catching passes and, most importantly, running at close to full speed.

There is no trace of the ankle injury that kept him out of practice Wednesday and Thursday and limited him on Friday, so he will be active today.

It also appears that Cardinals Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin will play despite a nagging ankle injury.

Based on the only portion of practice that the media is allowed to watch, the first 5 minutes, Devin Hester appeared to be on schedule to play in Sunday’s game.

Hester stretched with teammates and was running without a limp, as he practiced Friday for the first time this week. Hester is expected to be limited at today’s practice, but he was moving much better than he had at any time since last Sunday’s game, when he suffered a mild ankle sprain that sidelined him briefly.

Over the past three weeks, Hester’s 21 catches are second in the NFL to Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald’s 25.

WR Devin Hester is not practicing for the second day in a row because of an ankle injury suffered during Sunday’s victory over the Browns. Hester is at practice but is walking gingerly, although he does appear to be moving somewhat better than on Wednesday.

Coach Lovie Smith had hoped to have the Bears’ leading receiver back on the practice field today, and he is not counting him out for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals at Soldier Field.

Hester leads the Bears with 35 receptions and 454 receiving yards and is second in the NFL over the past three weeks with 21 receptions, trailing only the Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald, who has 25 catches.

Although defensive tackle Tommie Harris practiced on Wednesday, he was limited by, according to the team, a knee. Last week Harris claimed that he didn’t have a knee problem and that was something the media made up.

Other Bears limited at Wednesday’s practice were linebacker Lance Briggs (shoulder), defensive end Adewale Ogunleye (ankle), tight end Greg Olsen (ankle), safety Craig Steltz (biceps) and defensive tackle Matt Toeaina (calf). All are expected to play Sunday, with the possible exception of Toeaina.

As noted earlier, wide receiver Devin Hester did not practice because of an ankle injury suffered last Sunday against the Browns, but it is believed to be a mild sprain.

The ankle injury that briefly knocked Devin Hester out of last Sunday’s game may be a bit more serious than first thought.

Hester did not practice at all on Wednesday, but he’s expected to be on the field Sunday against the Cardinals at Soldier Field.

For the second straight Wednesday, defensive tackle Tommie Harris was on the practice field Wednesday and didn’t appear limited. According to coaches’ review of Sunday’s game film, Harris was credited with a season-high 4 tackles (1 solo, 3 assists) against the Browns.

I’ve gone back and forth on this, as one alert reader was quick to point out last week, but I’m not sure if this year’s Bears should even bother trying to be a team that gets off the bus running.

After seven games, I don’t think they have what it takes to be a team that can establish the run on a regular basis – maybe not at all. This looks like a team that may have to throw the ball effectively to set up the run, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It seems to work pretty well for the Colts and the Patriots.

Anyone who doesn’t think Devin Hester is a legitimate No. 1 receiver hasn’t been paying attention to the past three games.

In that time, Hester has 21 catches, and only the Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald has more. Hester’s 21 receptions have produced 265 yards. Maybe even more impressive, in the past two games, Hester has been targeted by Jay Cutler 17 times, and he has 15 catches, meaning that he’s getting open and he’s catching everything close.

For the season, Hester has 35 receptions, 10 more than the nearest teammate, Earl Bennett. Hester has 454 receiving yards, 120 more than Bennett, who is second. That puts Hester on pace for 80 catches and 1,038 yards, which look a lot like go-to-guy numbers.