Look for Bears' Whitehair to get start at center Sunday

Veteran Ted Larsen is listed as the No. 1 center on the Bears' depth chart, but other signs point to rookie Cody Whitehair lining up with the starters today.

Whitehair spent almost all of training camp and the preseason at left guard. But since the acquisition of three-time Pro Bowl left guard Josh Sitton this past Sunday night, Whitehair has lined up at center with the ones during the portion of practice that is open to the media.

"We think Cody has position flexibility," offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. "We knew that when we drafted him. We saw a guy that had played tackle and had the ability to play guard and center."

Ironically, center was the only O-line position Whitehair didn't have at least one start at Kansas State. But the second-round pick has the confidence of quarterback Jay Cutler.

"You saw the kid in there (at guard), and things come natural to him," Cutler said. "He's a natural football player, a natural offensive lineman. He just hadn't snapped as much as some of these other guys. But he's a heck of an athlete, and the last couple days have been a smooth transition for him."

Ready for prime time:

John Fox and his staff expect to see significant jumps from players in their second year in the league, and nose tackle Eddie Goldman seems primed for success after an impressive rookie season.

The second-round pick from Florida State was fourth on last year's team with 4½ sacks, although stuffing the run is his forte.

"I think he's prepared," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "Last year he improved during the season, as the season wore on, both mentally and physically. He's continued that progress throughout training camp. He's in much better shape than he was last year at this time."

Goldman has dropped about 15 pounds from last year's 335.

Competitive advantage:

Coach John Fox was coy when asked about who will handle the punt-return job.

"Without getting into too much detail," Fox said, "we feel confident about who we'll put back there on both the kicks and the punts."

The Bears only list one player, Eddie Royal, as a punt returner on their depth chart. Deonte Thompson is the only kickoff-returner listed.

Marc Mariani, who was waived in the final roster reduction, had 29 of the 31 punts the Bears returned last year. Royal picked up 16 yards on his only return last year. The nine-year veteran has 112 career punt returns (10.6-yard average) but just 19 in the past three years (8.3-yard average). Mariani averaged 6.6 yards last year.

Thompson took over the kickoff-return duties from Mariani midway through the 2015 season and averaged 29.2 yards, which would have been second in the NFL if he had enough attempts to qualify.

Next man up:

With starting cornerback Kyle Fuller (knee) and nickel corner Bryce Callahan (groin) both limited this week, fourth-round pick Deiondre' Hall could play key snaps vs. the Texans.

He had some flash plays in the preseason but also some rookie mistakes.

"He's gotten better," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "He's kind of been one of those guys where he's taken two steps back to go one step forward, so it has not been a straight line up. There's been downturns in there. It's normal for a rookie, but I do see upside there."

Different strokes:

Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall took a knee during the national anthem Thursday night saying he was "against social injustice," and quickly lost a national endorsement deal.

Forty-Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick started the commotion by sitting during the anthem before a preseason game to protest the treatment of people of color by the police.

Bears coach John Fox, whose step-father was a Navy Seal, was asked if any of his players planned a protest for Sunday.

"I don't go though and poll guys on all their thoughts on everything," Fox said. "We have to pretty much cram to teach them football and game plans for that week's work. Not that I don't care, I do care about what guys think and feel, but I haven't polled our guys, no."

But Fox knows how he would want his players to respond.

"We strongly encourage them to pay respect to the anthem," he said. "It's not anything we can mandate, but we strongly recommend it. So far, that's been the case."

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