Healthy Harris is great news for Bears' defense

With all the talk about how five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers will impact a Bears defense badly in need of a catalyst, defensive tackle Tommie Harris has been flying under the radar.

That's OK with Harris, a three-time Pro Bowler who has been nagged by knee injuries and surgeries the past couple of years and has seen his effectiveness and practice time limited.

But a return to form for Harris, who's in his seventh season but still just 27, could be just as big for the Bears as Peppers' presence.

If Harris can recapture his knack for disrupting the interior of the line, infiltrating the enemy's backfield and stuffing running backs and sacking quarterbacks, the Bears will be a much better defensive team than they've been the past three seasons.

Early indications are that Harris is healthier and more effective than he has been in years.

On paper, a healthy Harris and Peppers in his prime make for a devastating combination, but a handful of training-camp practices don't prove much.

"It helps out a lot," Harris said of his improved health and his new line mate, "but we have to see it on the (playing) field. We just can't talk about it; we have to go out there and do it, and I believe we can."

Harris' play actually started to pick up in the second half of last season, when he had 7 of his 10 tackles for loss and all 21/2 of his sacks but still just 27 tackles.

That's not the level he played at from 2005-07, when he made the Pro Bowl each season, racked up 18 sacks and averaged 50 tackles per season despite battling frequent double-teams.

But it did provide a glimpse of what used to be there.

"The difference was I finally started to (get healthy)," he said. "A lot of people were talking about my knee (being fine) and different things, but I had back-to-back (knee) surgeries, and (some of) my muscles were atrophying, so they weren't fine at all.

"It finally started turning on once I started really practicing and pushing it and pushing it. Once you get those muscles all firing again, you're good to go."

That's what the Bears are hoping to see this season, and so far, so good.

"I've been very pleased with what Tommie Harris has done," coach Lovie Smith said after Monday's practice. "He made it through all of the OTAs (in the spring), and he's been out here every day working hard."

But, as any player who has battled through knee injuries knows, it's a process - and sometimes a long one - to get back to peak performance.

"There's a lot of taking two steps forward and one step back, and then three steps forward and one step back," Harris said. "But I keep getting stronger and stronger.

"The biggest thing is just getting your body conditioned. It's these little muscles and these little movements that I haven't been able to do in a long time, but my confidence is continuing to build up, so I'm trying new things and just perfecting my craft."

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