Bruce: Bears have playmakers
BOURBONNAIS - Future Hall of Fame wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who had some of his greatest seasons with the Rams when Lovie Smith was a defensive coach there, took in his first Bears practice as a guest coach.
"He's a guy that believes in our system and knows how to be a great receiver in it," Smith said. "He can only help our players. We're just going to let him try to teach the guys some of the tricks of the trade that he's learned."
Bruce was asked what was missing in the Bears' offense from what his explosive Rams teams had.
"I don't see much missing," Bruce said. "I see guys out here who can make plays. You've got a quarterback out here who can wing it. I always like that. You've got guys on the outside who can make plays and who are fast and can run routes without breaking down. When you've got guys like that in this offense it's always good."
Different mold: In a perfect world, offensive line coach Mike Tice would have a roomful of players with the same type of mentality that helped him have a 14-year playing career in the NFL as a no-nonsense, smash-mouth, lunch pail-type tight end.
The tenacious Tice has also spent 14 years as a head coach, assistant head coach, offensive line coach and tight ends coach in the NFL.
Tice values aggressiveness on the O-line, and he'd like to see more of it from left tackle Chris Williams to go along with his improving skills.
"I'd like to see a little more tenacity there, but we can't change people's makeups," Tice said.
Injury update: Ten players missed Thursday afternoon's practice under partly sunny but much less hot and humid conditions.
Tight end Desmond Clark had a scheduled veteran's day off, while wide receiver Devin Hester (lower-body soreness) and safety Josh Bullocks (quad) joined the group, which continued to include safeties Chris Harris (back) and Major Wright (groin), wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias (quad), linebacker Brian Iwuh (knee) and running back Harvey Unga, quarterback Mike Teel and defensive end Barry Turner, who all have hamstring injuries.