Bear Essentials

Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs had a quick response to Seahawks wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s vow to show Bears GM Jerry Angelo what he missed by not signing the former Bengal when he was a free agent last off-season.

“He sounds like a bitter guy,” Briggs said. “Maybe he wanted to play in Chicago. If he’s going to show what he’s going to do on Sunday, I’ll tell you what: ‘So are we, so am I.’ I’ve been playing against T.J. since college, so I know what type of competitor he is. The guy can play.
But his personal feelings toward us, I could care less.”

Houshmandzadeh was at Oregon State while Briggs was at Arizona. The Seahawks’ wide receiver also claimed that he could beat Bears cornerbacks 95 percent of the time.

Tight end Desmond Clark (cracked rib) was listed on the injury report that appears in the locker room as a “did not practice” early Thursday afternoon, but when the Bears took the field at 1:30 p.m., Clark was in full practice gear, including shoulder pads. He wasn’t moving at full speed, but it was an encouraging sign.

Defensive end Alex Brown (sprained ankle) was going through warm-up drills without pads and was jogging without a limp, but he was also listed as not practicing, as was linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (sprained knee), who was limited to stretching.

DL Israel Idonije (knee) was limited at Thursday’s practice, while DT Tommie Harris (knee) and OG Frank Omiyale (ankle) did everything.

Defensive end Alex Brown (sprained ankle), linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (sprained knee) and tight end Desmond Clark (cracked rib) did not practice on Wednesday.

Tinoisamoa and Clark are not expected to play Sunday in Seattle, but Bears coach Lovie Smith said on Monday that Brown would “be good to go.”

Brown is second among NFL defensive ends, having played in 113 consecutive games, including 93 starts. The fourth-round pick from Florida was inactive for his first NFL game back in 2002 and hasn’t missed a game since.

Guard Johan Asiata was re-signed to the practice squad Wednesday after being cut last week. He replaced cornerback Woodny Turenne whose contract was terminated.

It’s ridiculous that former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress got two years in jail for shooting himself in the thigh in a New York nightclub with a gun that wasn’t registered in that state.

As a comparison, consider that Rams defensive end Leonard Little got 90 days in a workhouse for killing Susan Gutweiler, a mother of two, while driving drunk in 1998. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and also received an eight-game suspension from the league.

Burress, whose only victim was himself, will miss at least the 2009 season, and he’ll be 33 before he plays in another NFL game, even if he gets out early, which could be in 20 months. And that’s if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell doesn’t tack on a suspension on top of Burress’ jail time.

The Bears are getting great play from defensive ends Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown, which they must continue to get in order to pick up the slack left by the season-ending wrist injury to Brian Urlacher.

Ogunleye had 2 sacks in the season opener, and Brown had 2 against the Steelers.

The problem is the Bears are getting next to nothing from defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who isn’t even a shadow of his former Pro Bowl self. Harris has had 1 tackle in each of the first two games. He’s a non-factor most of the time, and that has to change in a hurry if the line is to carry the defense.

Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee), tight end Desmond Clark (ribs) and cornerbacks DeAngelo Smith and D.J. Moore, guard Lance Louis and wide receivers Devin Aromashodu and Juaquin Iglesias are inactive today.

Recently signed linebacker Tim Shaw is wearing No. 58.

The new sod at Soldier Field doesn’t look much better than the old stuff they tore out earlier in the week but it seemed to hold up OK during pregame warmups. The possibility of rain later in the afternoon could make for an interesting playing surface, considering the installation of the new turf wasn’t finished until Wednesday.

Danieal Manning will return to the starting lineup this week at free safety, with Kevin Payne grabbing a seat on the bench and rookie Al Afalava holding on to the strong safety job.

Manning started training camp as the No. 1 free safety, but a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three weeks relegated him to the nickel back position on passing downs. Now that he’s 100 percent, Manning will start at free safety but switch to the nickel spot, with Payne coming in at free safety.

Also, although Nick Roach will start Sunday’s game in place of injured Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee) at strong side linebacker, he will have to split reps with Jamar Williams.

Not a good week for Brian Urlacher.

On top of Sunday’s season-ending dislocated wrist, now, according to the NationalFootballPost.com, he’s been dropped by Dreams Inc., with whom he had a four-year, $1.1 million contract to sign memorabilia and make appearances.

Urlacher filed suit Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court for breach of contract, seeking to uphold the contract and to receive the roughly $600,000 remaining on the contract that was to run through 2011.

Regardless of how things play out in court, Urlacher should be OK financially.

Zack Bowman will start at cornerback Sunday ahead of Nate Vasher.

The 6-foot-1, 193-pound Bowman has a size advantage on the 5-foot-10, 187-pound Vasher, and he was playing better in training camp before a hamstring injury sidelined him for three weeks and kept him out of all but the final preseason game.

Vasher started the season opener but Bowman played in a rotation with him and Tillman in the first half.

“I thought he played well in the limited time he had the other day,” coach Lovie Smith said of Bowman. “We’ve been bringing him back from an injury. He's done a lot of good things when he's had an opportunity to play.”

Cornerback Trumaine McBride has been waived/injured, and the Bears picked up free-agent cornerback DeAngelo Smith.

McBride suffered a sprained knee in the season opener against the Packers. He started all four preseason games because Charles Tillman was still recovering from back surgery and Zack Bowman missed three weeks with a hamstring injury but did not play well enough to keep his spot on the roster despite his solid work on special teams.