Walker eager to raise fitness level into 'football shape'

BOURBONNAIS -- Defensive tackle Darwin Walker suited up for his first practice as a Bear on Monday but only participated in individual position drills.

"The first day for all of our players, we try not to get them a lot of contact," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "(Today) we'll pick it up a little bit. We just wanted to get him into the mix Monday, show him our routine, let him go through some of the individual drills."

Walker hasn't played football since the Philadelphia Eagles' loss to the New Orleans Saints in an NFC divisional round playoff game Jan. 13, so he's pacing himself.

"I'm in great shape," he said, "but you can't get in football shape unless you play football. That's the way it is. I'm in great condition as far as my fitness, but I've got to knock a lot of rust off."

Walker didn't participate in any of the Buffalo Bills' OTAs or mini-camps before he was traded to the Bears.

Back home: Pro Bowl weak-side linebacker Lance Briggs, who missed the first two days of practice, was back with the first team Monday after spending most of Sunday's practice with the twos.

"Was he with the No. 1s today?" Lovie Smith joked. "I was looking at a lot of offense. I didn't even notice that. Lance is our starter. We wanted to make sure that he was ready to take a lot of reps. He came in in good shape, No. 1, and he had a good day (Sunday). No reason to keep him down."

Briggs again refused interview requests Monday, although he did so with a smile.

Pinpoint passing: Rex Grossman, whose passing has been precise in every practice, threw his first interception of training camp Monday.

Grossman hit safety Danieal Manning in the numbers in 11-on-11 work but was otherwise sharp again.

"He's throwing the ball really well," said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. "I think a big part of that is there's been very little indecision. That's one of the things that we looked at in the off-season. When Rex got in trouble last year, we all talked about his mechanics and throwing off his back foot. It came when there was maybe some indecision. Part of that's on us. We can't blame Rex.

"We have to look at what we're doing and eliminate that indecision. We've tried to do that in the off-season."

Moose on the loose: On Monday Muhsin Muhammad had one of the best receptions of camp when he stuck his right hand up to stop a bullet over the middle from Rex Grossman and then gathered in the pass deep over the middle, as another large crowd responded with calls of "Moose."

The loudest crowd reactions in early practices have been the result of catches by converted cornerback Devin Hester and rookie tight end Greg Olsen.

"Hopefully, we'll have a whole lot of crowd-pleasers this year," Muhammad said. "We have a lot of guys who can light the scoreboard up."

Injury update: Safety Mike Brown was given what Lovie Smith calls a veteran's day off Monday to ease the wear and tear on his surgical foot.

"We're going to give him days off from time to time," Smith said. "That's a coach's decision right there."

Northern Illinois University rookie running back Garrett Wolfe missed a third straight day of practice with a strained hamstring but said he might return to the practice field by the weekend. Defensive tackle Antonio Garay returned after missing two days with a hamstring injury.