Angelo says jury still out on Harris

SAN FRANCISCO - Bears general manager Jerry Angelo believes inconsistent defensive tackle Tommie Harris can be an impact player in the second half of the season, but Angelo won't be convinced of it until he sees it.

"Everything that he needs to do from a physical standpoint, we've seen him do, on the practice field, and in games," Angelo said shortly before Thursday night's prime-time clash with the 49ers. "But he has to do it for four quarters, and he has to start stacking games up, playing at that Pro Bowl level. I'm confident that he has the ability to do it, but he (still) has to do it."

Angelo also expressed confidence in the maligned offensive line, which he says has struggled in recent blowout losses because the Bears fell behind early and were forced to abandon the run and become one-dimensional.

"I thought we've done a pretty good job as of late in protection and some good things in the running game too," Angelo said, despite 8 sacks of quarterback Jay Cutler in the two games before facing the Niners. "Offensive lines take a little longer to evolve, but I feel like right now we're playing pretty good football with our line. Two of the last three games, with what the score was, we pretty much became one-dimensional. We put a lot of pressure on them, when defenses know that you're not running the ball.

"For the most part I think we've done a pretty good job. I like what they did last week (against the Cardinals). I think we're getting better, and I feel like that's going to continue to get better each and every week."

Although left guard Frank Omiyale was benched three games ago in favor of Josh Beekman, and the reviews have been mixed at best on second-year right tackle Chris Williams, Angelo said the O-line has enough young talent that the position isn't a major concern, even though left tackle Orlando Pace is 34, center Olin Kreutz is 32 and right guard Roberto Garza is 30. Omiyale and Beekman are both 26.

"We always look at our lines, but I feel the nucleus of our (offensive) line is here," Angelo said. "We've got some young kids that we like. We need to continue to work with the guys we have. We like their traits, and they fit our profile for the most part."