Bear Essentials

The Bears just came out for final warm-ups at Invesco Field, and Devin Hester immediately ran over to where former Bears quarterback Kyle Orton was warming up with the Brocnos’ receivers to shake hands. Cornerback Nate Vasher came over a few moments later to greet Orton.

A couple minutes later, Jay Cutler jogged onto the field with the Bears’ offense and, not surprisingly, was showered with boos from the couple thousand fans who arrived early. There were still several No. 6 Broncos jerseys on tailgaiters in the parking lot before the game, though.

Because the starters will play into the third quarter, Sunday night’s third preseason game is actually worth watching and, with a little game-planning thrown in, the performances mean something, unlike the other three preseason games that NFL charge full price for.

Other than comparing the starting quarterbacks, here’s what’s worth watching:

Devin Hester is supposed to get a chance to return punts for the first time this year. Even though he was a major disappointment in that role last year, he’s still a major attraction.

Al Afalava, a lightly regarded sixth-round pick, has had a greater impact than any rookie on the team, and there’s a good chance he’ll get a third straight start with the Bears being extra cautious with Danieal Manning’s hamstring injury.

According to the Bears’ website, injured nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery Friday to determine the severity of the injury he suffered to his right knee Saturday night against the Giants.

Dvoracek, who was injured while sacking Andre Woodson late in the third quarter, has already been diagnosed with a sprained MCL (medial collateral ligament). But team doctors Gordon Nuber and Mark Bowen will determine in the Friday procedure if Dvoracek also has torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), which would end his season. If his ACL is intact, Dvoracek could play in 2009.

The third-round draft pick from Oklahoma has played in just 13 games in three seasons because of a variety of injuries.

Sunday's third preseason tune-up could be the make-or-break game for one or more wide receivers fighting for roster spots.

Brandon Rideau had an impressive training camp but was blanked in the preseason opener, although he had 2 catches for 21 yards in Game Two.
At first he tired to say that Sunday's game at Denver wouldn’t be the most important contest of his NFL career, which began in 2006, but then he reconsidered

“You look at it like every game is important,” Rideau said. “It's just as important as the one last week. Actually … it's more important than the one last week because it's the next one."

With Jay Cutler returning to Denver, the game will take on added importance, but for Rideau, it’s already important.

For the fourth time in his four years in the NFL, Bears nose tackle Dusty Dvoracek has suffered a season-ending injury.

The knee that Dvoracek injured in Saturday night’s 17-3 victory over the Giants will require surgery, and he will be placed on injured reserve, ending his season. It is the second time in his short career that Dvoracek has suffered a season-ending injury before the start of the regular season. After he was drafted in the third round out of Oklahoma in 2006, the 6-foot-3, 303-pound Dvoracek played just two preseason games before a foot injury shelved him for the season.

Saturday night’s preseason game against the Giants will provide a much more accurate glimpse of what Jay Cutler can mean to the Bears’ offense.

Why?

Because Cutler is expected to have TE Greg Olsen in the lineup after he missed the preseason opener last week with a minor hip injury. By failing to bring in a veteran wide receiver, the Bears have practically guaranteed that Olsen will be a focal point of the passing game, which isn’t a bad thing at all.

As long as he stays healthy, Olsen should catch 70-80 passes and could threaten the 1,000-yard mark, which is rare for a tight end. Olsen is talented enough to put up big numbers in any offense, but he might wind up being the Bears’ go-to guy by default.

The Bears break camp after today’s 3 p.m. practice, which figures to be a glorified walk-through before Saturday’s second preseason game.

The remainder of preseason work will be done at Halas Hall, but this is an excellent time to look back on the three weeks in Bourbonnais and recognize some outstanding achievements and some disappointments.

Most Impressive Newcomer: This one is easy, it’s got to be sixth-round pick Al Afalava, a strong safety from Oregon State, who has been running with the ones because Danieal Manning hasn’t practiced in over a week because of a hamstring injury. Afalava has played well enough to be considered a starter – right now, even after Manning returns.

In talking to Bears players, I get the strong impression that they’re actually looking forward to facing Brett Favre twice this season.

They know that the old gunslinger isn’t nearly as deadly a shot as he was from 1994-2003, when he was leading the Packers to 18 wins in 20 games against the Bears. They know he’ll put the ball up for grabs a couple times a game, the way he did in his last six vs. the Bears, when he was picked off 13 times, while throwing just 2 touchdowns. The Bears also know Favre, as he approaches his 40s, doesn’t have nearly the elusiveness that he did in his 20s, so he’s a lot easier to sack.

It seemed odd the other day when LB Lance Briggs said he hoped that Favre would make the Vikings a better team. But his explanation made sense.

The Bears need to get cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Zack Bowman back and 100 percent healthy before the start of the regular season or it’s going to be an unpleasant trip to Green Bay September 13.

The Packers were No. 8 last season in passing yards, and QB Aaron Rodgers could have a field day if the Bears have to line up with Nate Vasher and Trumaine McBride at cornerback. Both are undersized and could be overmatched against Greg Jennings and Donald Driver. Their performance in the preseason opener against the Bills wasn’t very impressive, and neither looked very good at Monday afternoon’s practice. McBride, especially, was beaten often in Monday’s 11-on-11 drills, giving up long completions to Earl Bennett and Brandon Rideau.

There are five things I’m anxious to see in tonight’s preseason opener:

How well the Jay Cutler-Greg Olsen collaboration works against a team in different uniforms. Olsen has been one of Cutler’s favorite targets all through training camp, especially on longer routes that the tight end rarely got a chance to run last season. We already know Olsen can get open against the Bears’ secondary, but it will be interesting to see how well he does against the Bills.

The early involvement of wide receiver Earl Bennett in the passing game. The Bears are anxious to prove that he has made huge strides since his rookie season last year, when he failed to catch a pass, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him as the primary receiver several times.