Final shot for some nonstarters

About the only motivation Bears starters have for Thursday night's preseason finale at Cleveland Browns Stadium is to come out of the game healthy.

But for a lot of nonstarters, it will be the last time they wear a Bears uniform - or maybe any NFL uniform.

Twenty-one players must be trimmed by Saturday at 3 p.m. in order to reach the 53-man final roster, although up to eight can be brought back the following day when the practice squad is formed.

"The fourth preseason game is always important," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "For a few of the guys, they have one last chance to prove that they belong here, so we'll be watching closely."

Truthfully, most of the tough decisions already have been made as far as who goes and who stays. But for the handful of players on the bubble, an exceptional performance, good or bad, in an otherwise meaningless exhibition can be the difference between making an NFL roster and getting a real job.

At first glance, defensive end Dan Bazuin would appear to be safe, considering he was the Bears' second-round pick in 2006.

But the career sacks leader at Central Michigan spent his rookie season on injured reserve with a knee injury, he still has some lingering effects from the surgery, and he has not shown enough yet in the preseason to guarantee a roster spot.

"It's definitely a big game, especially for the guys who aren't starting," Bazuin said. "It's the coaches' and scouts' last chance of seeing us out on the field before they make their final decisions."

Starters Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown are roster locks, along with top backup Mark Anderson, and the Bears only kept three on the active roster last season.

They also drafted Michigan State's 6-foot-2, 260-pound Ervin Baldwin in the seventh round this year, and he is the same type of undersized pass-rush specialist as the 6-3, 260-pound Bazuin.

"I'm not concerned with the roster," Bazuin said. "That'll take care of itself. I just have to go out there and play my game and show the coaches and the personnel people the progress I've made both with my injury and as a football player."

The Bears have just 6 sacks as a team, 1 by Baldwin and none by Bazuin, but those two and the other nonstarters will get their longest looks of the season in this game. Most starters will be off the field by the end of the first quarter.

Offensively, the most interesting decisions could be at wide receiver, where the Bears probably will keep six. But there hasn't been much to separate the fifth- and sixth-best wideouts from the seventh and eighth.

Mike Hass spent the entire 2007 season on the active roster but played in just one game. Brandon Rideau was impressive last preseason before an ankle injury led to his release, although he was re-signed to the active roster before the regular-season finale.

Rideau has 2 catches for 64 yards and Hass 2 for 14. Both are longshots to stick this year if the Bears keep Devin Hester, Rashied Davis, Brandon Lloyd, Marty Booker, third-round draft pick Earl Bennett and Mark Bradley.

It's true coaches do the evaluating, but as Smith and many other coaches say, players dictate their fate by their performance.

"It's tough, but normally if you let them play, they'll tell you," Smith said. "For the most part we know what our roster will look like, but there are a couple of guys that could gain a little bit of ground. They realize that. They know exactly who they are."

Waving goodbye: Six-year veteran cornerback Ricky Manning, Jr. was released Tuesday.

Manning picked off a career-best 5 passes to tie for the team lead in 2006, when he was the Bears' No. 1 nickel cornerback and started six games after being signed to a five-year, $21 million contract as a restricted free agent from the Carolina Panthers.

But his production slipped last season, and he was replaced as the No. 1 nickel this off-season by Danieal Manning.