PLATTEVILLE, Wis. The Bears open their preseason scheduleFriday against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field, which willgive fans their first look at the team's 1994 draft picks.
Keep an eye on running back Raymont Harris, the team'sfourth-round draft pick out of Ohio State.
Coach Dave Wannstedt singled out the 6-foot, 225-pound Harrisagain on Tuesday and conceded he has been the impact player of therookie group.
"In our system we've thrown him the ball and handed it to him,and he's done a good job picking things up," Wannstedt said.
"I'm not disappointed in any of our draft picks; it's just amatter of which ones are going to help us the most this year."
ROOKIE RAVINGS: Defensive end John Thierry, the team'sfirst-round pick, has shown great potential and staggering athleticability, but he's making a jump from Division I-AA Alcorn State.
Second-round pick Marcus Spears, an offensive tackle, also ismaking the jump from Division I-AA. He has been switched to righttackle from the left side in the last couple of days and took somerepetitions with the first unit when James Williams suffered a slightleg injury.
"It's going to take those guys some time to get caught up onsome technique and things," Wannstedt said.
The coach also is excited about the future of defensive tackleJim Flanigan, a third-rounder from Notre Dame. Flanigan has beenslowed by a hamstring injury and is still learning he can't bull-rushas simply as he did in college.
"Flanigan gives great effort," Wannstedt said. "He's a toughguy, but like other rookies he's still learning the system andlearning how to adjust to better talent. There's no question he'sgoing to be a great player for us. I don't have a doubt in mymind."
STUDY TIME: The Bears will begin game preparation forPhiladelphia today.
The team worked on some short-yardage and goal-line situationsTuesday in preparation for the game, but today will mark the firsttime they begin preparing for an opponent.
"We'll take a look and talk about Philadelphia just so we can bea little bit familiar with them," said Wannstedt, who wasdisappointed with a less-than-average morning practice by thedefense. We decided to forgo our middle drill today because weneeded to get some things organized for Friday night. We adjustedthe schedule a little bit to work on a few short-yardage things wehaven't done, and any time you change up the schedule the tempo isnot quite what you're used to."
NOTES: Tom Waddle (twisted knee) did some full-speed running. Keith Jennings, who was demoted behind Chris Gedney on Monday, madea beautiful one-handed touchdown reception during the Bears'short-yardage drill. Linebacker Myron Baker and offensive tackle Troy Auzenne got into ascuffle during the evening practice. Maurice Douglass, who will start at nickelback Friday, grabbed twointerceptions during Tuesday's scrimmage. Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, returning from a broken legthat sidelined him 12 games last season, will start against theBears, coach Rich Kotite said.
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