Graham, McBride step in for Bowman
BOURBONNAIS - Zack Bowman's hamstring injury has further jumbled a Bears secondary that was already a bit shaken up because starting cornerback Charles Tillman's will be sidelined at least another three weeks after mid-July back surgery.
Bowman stepped into Tillman's spot and played exceptionally well until he was hurt Wednesday, which he said didn't shock him.
"I haven't surprised myself because I knew that I could do it all along," Bowman said. "It's just having an opportunity to do it and just being confident and going out there and playing ball and not thinking about making a mistake."
The 2008 fifth-round pick from Nebraska scored a touchdown on special teams and intercepted a pass in his first NFL game last season but also suffered a season-ending torn biceps.
With Nate Vasher starting at one corner, third-year players Corey Graham and Trumaine McBride, who started nine games as a rookie when injuries plagued the secondary, will get longer looks in practice.
"Trumaine McBride has played a lot around here," coach Lovie Smith said, "and we're getting some good play from Corey Graham."
Both players got reps with the first team at Thursday night's practice in front of approximately 8,000.
Graham, who started nine games at corner last season when Vasher was injured, had been switched back to corner after Tillman's surgery, and now it looks like he'll be there for a while.
"I was playing safety for six or seven weeks (in the off-season), so now I'm back at corner trying to get back into the swing of things," Graham said. "To be honest, I want to play wherever I can get on the field. I'll play defensive tackle if I can play in a game. I don't know. I'm anxious just like everybody else to see what I'm going to be doing, what my role is going to be, whether it's going to change. As of this moment, I don't know. Right now I'm just playing nickel, I'm playing corner and it's the same as always."
Bumps and bruises: With starting strong safety Kevin Payne (lower leg) and free safety Danieal Manning (hamstring) held out of team work Wednesday night, veteran Josh Bullocks and rookie Al Afalava got most of the snaps with the first team.
Bullocks picked off a Jay Cutler bomb in 7-on-7 work.
"I like being able to get some of the takeaways that we were able to get," coach Lovie Smith said. "Josh did some good things back in the secondary."
Neither injury is considered serious, and Payne and Manning are expected back at practice today. Zack Bowman (hamstring) and Hunter Hillenmeyer did not practice and Orlando Pace did not participate in team work.
"Orlando and Hunter, some of the guys right now are a little banged up," Smith said, "but hopefully they'll be ready to go in the next couple of days."
Hawaiian connection: Free-agent center Donovan Raiola signed with the Bears on Thursday.
The 6-foot-2, 293-pounder is the younger brother of Lions center Dominic Raiola, and the brothers are boyhood friends of Bears center Olin Kreutz. All three played high school football in Honolulu.
While Kreutz played at St. Louis High School, Donovan Raiola attended Kamehameha Secondary. Raiola entered the NFL with the Rams in 2006 as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin. He spent time on the practice squads of the Rams ('07) and Seahawks ('08) and also spent time with the Steelers in '07 Cardinals this year, but he has not appeared in a regular-season game.