Graham doing all he can to stay on the field

When injured cornerback Nate Vasher is healthy enough to return, he may have a difficult time getting his job back from Corey Graham.

The Bears hope to have Vasher and Charles Tillman available for their next game (Nov. 2 against the Detroit Lions) following this week's open date.

Vasher has missed the past three games with a wrist injury that required surgery and stabilizing pins. Tillman missed last week's game with a shoulder injury.

As a result, Graham, a fifth-round pick last year from New Hampshire, has started the last three games and four of the last five. His 33 tackles in the last three weeks are more than any other Bear, and he picked off his first pass last week and forced a fumble a week earlier.

"Corey Graham has played well every time he's been given an opportunity," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "You look at the play of Trumaine McBride (who started last week alongside Graham) and Corey. Those guys really stepped up and helped our team win."

Graham started his first NFL game in Week 3, even before Vasher was injured, because coaches preferred his more physical presence against Tampa Bay's strong running game. Graham says physical play always has been his style, and at 6 feet and 193 pounds, he has enough size to withstand the collisions.

That could make him a natural for the nickel back spot and would allow the Bears to keep their top three corners on the field for much of the time.

"The exact same thing I do here is what I've been doing since I was in little league football," he said. "I've always loved making tackles. I was taught since I was very young always run to the ball. So I've always been a 10-, 11-, 12-tackle-a-game guy."

Graham was one of the Bears' best special-teams performers last season, finishing second with 20 tackles.

But from the first day of training camp this year he showed the potential to be much more than that, especially when he got extensive playing time with the first team while Tillman was away dealing with his infant daughter's health problems.

That opportunity to play with and against the starters was a key to his development.

"The more experience you have playing against the (No.) 1s and faster guys and better receivers, that helps," Graham said. "(And) over the off-season, the key for me mostly was just staying healthy and learning the defense better."

While casual fans may be shocked by Graham's emergence as a starting-caliber corner, he's not surprised by his success.

A fractured leg wiped out the second half of his senior season, and an ankle injury impeded his progress as a rookie when he already was scrambling to learn a new defensive scheme and get acclimated to the NFL.

This year Graham's healthier, and the game has slowed down a bit.

"I knew I had it in me," he said. "It wasn't something that just popped up out of nowhere. I just finally got an opportunity to show it.

"Last year I wasn't 100 percent. I was trying to learn the defense on the run, trying to do a million things at once. I'm getting the opportunity finally, and it helps out a lot. You've got to take advantage of it."

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