Ends still figuring in the action

Coach Lovie Smith claims Friday's first training camp practice wasn't orchestrated to feature the tight ends, who were supposed to be a mere afterthought in new offensive coordinator Mike Martz's scheme.

But by unofficial count, a whopping 18 passes were caught by tight ends during the 2-hour-plus practice, including 8 by Desmond Clark, who was supposed to be the odd man out with former first-round pick Greg Olsen and free-agent acquisition Brandon Manumaleuna dominating the playing time.

"It was just a part of installing our offense," Smith said. "There will be days when you will have to concentrate on the tight ends a little bit more. The offense was designed to get the ball to different skill positions. Today, the tight end caught more balls."

Especially Clark, who joked that Friday's practice was just a ruse and that the tight ends really were going to be ignored in the passing game.

"That's just trying to throw people off," Clark said. "We're not getting the ball this year, so there's no need to cover us. We'll just be blocking at tight end all year and just trying to help the running game. That's what everybody says, so it must be true."

History lesson: Defensive players are dialing back the clock and trying to adopt the ways of their forefathers, even wearing "Monsters of the Midway," T-shirts.

"You've got to take it back to the old school," cornerback Charles Tillman said. "You can learn a lot from your past, and back in the day, when (the Bears) had the Monsters of the Midway, they were a force to be reckoned with. That's what we're trying to do, trying to bring that back."

Tillman admits he hasn't actually watched many old Bears game on film, but he said the team has seen highlights of great Bears defensive teams of the past.

"Coach Smith showed a couple plays here and there," Tillman said. "They were brutal. I'm sure the style of football they played is somewhat illegal nowadays, with the forearms, but we'll try to get as close to that as we can without penalties."

Smith is encouraging the throwback attitude.

"We're the Chicago Bears, we have to play good defense," he said. "We're going to talk a lot about the Monsters of the Midway, getting back to that brand of football, being a tough, physical group. We feel like we can do that."