Tuesday's Bourbonnais bouillabaisse

For the first time since the Bears opened summer camp on Friday, oppressive weather came to the Kankakee River Valley. The hot, sticky weather bothered the fans (one lady passed out while watching the Bears work on red-zone situations) and some players celebrated the muggy weather by mugging each other.

Offensive lineman Tyler Reed and defensive end Mark Anderson instigated a little brawl that had a relatively serious tone. Late in the afternoon, wideout Rashied Davis and cornerback Zackary Bowman clutched and grabbed to start a relatively mirthful free-for-all in the end zone. It looked and felt a lot like a baseball “brawl,” where maybe a couple of guys are serious and the rest are smiling as they look for a partner to dance with.

Another highlight, so to speak? Second-year nose tackle Marcus Harrison finally joined the active roster and looked like a guy who missed the first four days because he weighed too much.

During the D-Line’s drills with a set of four tackling dummies (they use head slaps, twists and other moves to power through four 6-foot-tall dummies before “sacking” the QB dummy), Anderson slipped and fell on two occasions before he could get to the fourth dummy.

Ten minutes later, during a drill where the nose tackle lines up against a guard-center-guard alignment and must work against a double team, I could’ve sworn DL coach Rod Marinelli had Harrison take a lot more consecutive reps than anyone else. I didn’t count the exact number, but Harrison must’ve done 8 or 10 reps in a row. Near the end, Marinelli offered Harrison the chance to catch his breath. When his turn mercifully ended, he needed some time on his knees in order to recuperate.

Neither Harrison nor Tommie Harris took part during the team sessions on Tuesday.

Here’s the best and the worst of the rest at Bears camp:

GOOD: Third-year linebacker Nick Roach, a Northwestern graduate, dropped the word “oxymoron” on me. He, of course, used it correctly, which is more than I usually can say.

GOOD: Keeping with the Northwestern theme, third-string QB Brett Basanez completed a quick “out” pass to free-agent signee Eric Peterman during 11-on-11 work. It’s the first pass I’ve seen Peterman catch during team work, which could either be a good sign or just his day to get on the field for a few reps. He has long odds to make the team, though Peterman would make an excellent practice-squad guy, in my opinion, because he's willing to do any special teams task as well.

BAD: During 7-on-7 drills in the red zone, CB Zack Bowman got fooled by a Jay Cutler pump fake and let Brandon Rideau go uncovered into the end zone for a touchdown.

GOOD: On the next snap, Bowman picked off a pass meant for TE Greg Olsen in the back of the end zone. Yes, Boers and Bernstein, Bowman is a little more than the usual “Some little-known dude is doing good in August and get some publicity, but won’t be heard from after Labor Day” fling.

GOOD: In more red-zone action, Basanez hooked up with Devin Aromashodu for a 12-yard score in the corner of the end zone as CB Marcus Hamilton and rookie S Al Afalava were late on the scene.

GOOD/BAD: On the next play, Basanez and Aromashodu hooked up for another score when there was a mixup in coverage over the middle.

GOOD: Jay Cutler threw a flawless deep ball to Greg Olsen on a wheel route. Olsen was running right along the sideline and LB Pisa Tinoasamoa was all over him in coverage, but the ball was thrown in the perfect spot. A little later, Cutler wound up and fired a 30-yard strike to Earl Bennett on the opposite sideline. It took very little time for the ball to get from Cutler’s right hand to Bennett’s hands.

BAD/GOOD: Cutler tried to look off Brian Urlacher during 7-on-7s, but the veteran MLB had none of it and intercepted a pass over the middle. As per the defense’s custom, Urlacher ran the 70-plus yards to the end zone even though his last pursuer gave up before the 50-yard line.

DIFFERENT: Two skill-position players lined up in “Wildcat” and took direct shotgun snaps from center. One of them rolled out and threw an incomplete pass that didn’t look too shabby. One fan cried out that he should be the Bears QB. Did I mention it was muggy and a few people lost their heads?

LW