Thank you, Muhsin Muhammad. We enjoyed your hands-of-brick, too.

Speaking to SI’s Peter King about his three-year stint with the Bears, current Carolina Panthers’ wide receiver, Muhsin Muhammad, said, “That’s right. It’s where receivers go to die.“

And to think, all this time I thought the mind-frenzying hysteria induced by a coke binge was the place all receivers went to die.

Continuing our list of…well…read the title, buddy.

# 3. Tommie Harris

When Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris is healthy, he’s on. And when he’s on, he is on. And at no time has this been more evident then in the first month of the 2006 season. Harris led the NFL with 5 sacks through the first four games, and received the “NFC’s Player of the Week” award twice in three weeks.

Unfortunately for Harris and the Bears, a hamstring injury would keep him from participating in the final four games of the season, but nonetheless, he still garnered Pro Bowl honors.

Fast forward to 2007. Harris achieved a career-high eight sacks despite playing through — for most of the season — nagging injuries related to his left knee. And while nobody’s questioning his heart or toughness, because it’s been tested and is obviously there, you could only imagine what Harris is capable of when completely healthy.

This year, Harris will be counted on to lead a defensive line thats ability to apply constant pressure will be imperative to the team’s success. As the only proven player at his position, he will also need to fill a mentor’s role for the likes of Matt Toeaina, Dusty Dvoracek, and Marcus Harrison.

A promising start to Harris’ reign as an elite defensive tackle occurred this offseason, when he and the Bears came to terms on a four-year, $40 million contract. Now that he is locked up, (a sensitive term with professional athletes) Harris can focus solely on playing football. After all, it’s football that has made him, whether warranted or not, such a wealthy individual — a fact even Harris, himself recognizes:

“We play a game-a kids’ game-and get paid a king’s ransom.”

Here’s to that ransom paying big dividends in ‘08.

The Bears’ revamped running game just got another boost. Running back Kevin Jones will practice with the Bears for the first time tonight after being cleared medically to do so.

Jones had been recovering from reconstructive knee surgery he underwent in January. The timetable for such a recovery was said to be at least 10 months, which makes today’s news even more remarkable.

The Bears signed Jones, the Lions castoff, in July with hopes that he would be ready for the season opener. Now, it looks as if that’s a realistic possibility.

Jones will likely bid for playing time as a part of some type of one-two combo with rookie Matt Forte.

Of all the songs to choose to sing in front of a group of 80-something grown men, Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” has to rank up there with The Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men” and Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” as most embarrasing. Yet, it’s the song that Bears rookie tight end, Kellen Davis, was forced to perform as part of his rookie initiation.

As to be expected, Davis’ teammates were none too impressed with his performance. Fellow Bears tight end, Desmond Clark, offered, ”Kellen was bad, really bad, plus he looks like the guy who sings that song.”

I, personally, don’t get it. What could not be appealing about a 6′7, 252-pound man belting out one of, if not, the biggest gay anthems of the nineties all time?

At least, Davis’ reason for choice of song was of merit. According to the Detroit Free Enterprise, Davis chose “I’m Too Sexy” after learning how impressed head coach Lovie Smith was of Davis’ body.

…Awkward.

PRESEASON WEEK 1

Kansas City 24, Chicago 20 – ESPN Box Score

When your first-round pick, and instrumental cog piece to a seemingly, already mediocre offensive line, undergoes potential season-ending surgery, you have the right to worry.

A day after left tackle, Chris Williams, had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back – an injury unrelated to the one that had been keeping him out of practice — the Bears took the field against the Kansas City Chiefs for both teams’ first preseason game of the year.

Suprisingly, starting in place of Williams, veteran John St. Clair and the rest of the Bears offensive line looked anything but worried. All night, quarterbacks Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman, and Caleb Hanie had ample time to throw the ball. Better yet, gaping holes were aplenty for the team’s slew of running backs, as Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson, Garrett Wolfe, P.J. Pope, and Lousaka Polite all looked impressive at times.

What’s more inspiring is that projected starting left guard, Terrance Metcalf, was also absent from the game, out after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.  Even so, second-year pro, Josh Beekman, played admirably in his place. As a matter of fact, Beekman played quite well. The O-line would do well for themselves to carry this momentum foward through the rest of the preseason and into the season opener. At least then, any period of time Williams could miss would fall under disappointing and not devastating.

Safety net:  Starting strong safety, Brandon McGowan, was all over the field tonight. With free safety, Mike Brown back in the fold, the Bears’ have themselves a more-than-solid duo. And despite what I might think, having Troy Polomalu hair does not make you Troy Polomalu. Regardless, I’m excited about safety Leonard Peters’ energy and aggressiveness. Special teams kamikaze, anyone?

Return woes: Watching other people, not named Devin Hester, return punts and kicks made me realize that I never want to see someone other than Devin Hester return punts and kicks. Ever.

Quarterback stalemate: Neither Kyle Orton or Rex Grossman did anything substantial to distinguish themselves as the clear favorite to win the starting job, tonight. Grossman, however, did remind us of how easy it is to trip over your own two feet. Ah, football is back, baby.

It looks as if Bears right guard, Roberto Garza, will brave the curse and don the cover of this year’s special, Spanish edition of Madden: Madden ‘09 En Espanol. According to IGN, the game features “exclusive Spanish language content, including additional music tracks, and Spanish play-by-play and game analysis voice-over.”

FIELD GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL ES GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Madden ‘09 En Espanol is set to be released on Sept. 16. Ironically, that’s just nine days after the regular season opener, and just five days before the entire Bears offensive line should be expected to collectively blow out their knee sockets.

Good luck on trying to convince Donnie Edwards — or better yet, Ron Mexico — to appear on the 2010 cover, EA.

For all the talk that left tackle Chris Williams’ back injury is nothing serious, it sure is taking a long time to heal. Williams, the Bears’ first-round pick, has been out since July 24 when he left practice due to stiffness in his lower back.

Hopes were high that Williams could come in and start right away at left tackle — no easy feat for a rookie by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, as he missed his 13th straight practice on Monday, the optimism that he’ll be at left tackle on opening day has begun to fade.

The next question presumes to be, “Is this a bigger injury than it’s being made out to be?” Williams came up lame on only his first day of practice, during non-contract drills of all things. If I’m the Bears, I’m a little worried about the way the beginning of the Williams era has played itself out.

Then, there are the rumors about a possible neck injury Williams may have suffered while at Vanderbilt (although Williams denies it). Even if the rumors are unfounded, it hints at how the extended length of Williams’ absence should be cause for concern.

The funny thing is Williams has said how if he sustained the same injury during a game, he could have gone back in and played. If this were true, would he sit out 11 days of practice afterward?

John St. Clair is currently slated as the starting left tackle, per the Bears’ first depth chart of the summer.

We’re already aware that Danieal Manning is believed to be the distant cousin of former Bears cornerback, Ricky Manning, Jr. What isn’t clear, however, is why the first depth chart of the summer shows Danieal “manning” the safety position and not nickel back.

It was reported that Danieal, after bouncing back and forth between the two positions last year, had finally found an established home at nickel this offseason.

Perhaps the contradiction in the depth chart was a simple blunder, but maybe the Bears have changed their fickle minds again. If they have, Trumaine McBride or Corey Graham will jockey for playing time at the position – a prospect I can more than live with.

Regardless of which position Danieal will miss tackles at in ’08, one thing is for certain: he shouldn’t have much time to bond with cousin Ricky, who has slid his way down the Bears’ depth chart, and all but out of the teams’ future plans.

But, alas, there are always other ways to build a relationship. Like late night outings. In fact, I heard Denny’s has top-notch flapjacks. And if they go after midnight, maybe cousin Ricky will demonstrate the uh…proper way to deal with nerds. Oh, please, cousin Ricky! Please!

Just a short couple of days after praising SportsFansNetwork for broadcasting to the public – what remains to most of us — a private event, SFN has changed course and decided to make their video highlights of the Bears’ 2008 Training Camp…well, private. And at least for now, the highlights will be made accessible only through invitation.

Nonetheless, you can still view Training Camp highlights from the Bears’ official Web site, ChicagoBears.com. As a matter of fact, as one would expect, the highlights on the official site have a much better production value and are generally, more extensive. So, take that, you SFN bastards!

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