Bears Notes: Marquess Wilson Back To Practice
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) For the first time since breaking his collarbone on Aug. 4 in Bourbonnais, Bears receiver Marquess Wilson was back on the practice field Wednesday with his teammates.
"Marquess was out there, got some work during practice, got a little work after practice," Chicago coach Marc Trestman said. "His 21-day clock will start today, and it'll be day-to-day with him to see how he progresses. It'll be up to trainers and the doctors to assess him on a daily basis."
Trestman said Wilson's status is "day-to-day" but wouldn't commit to him being on the field this Sunday at Green Bay. The Bears now have 21 days to evaluate Wilson's health before choosing to activate him -- and make a roster move -- or leave him on the reserve/injured list for the remainder of the season.
The Bears had a near-full roster on the field for Wednesday's practice, with only offensive lineman Eben Britton (appendectomy) and linebacker Darryl Sharpton (hamstring) not participating.
Slauson still not on reserved/injured list
This past Monday, the Bears officially put Lamarr Houston (ruptured ACL) on the reserved/injured list, but they haven't done the same with left guard Matt Slauson (torn pectoral muscle).
A week ago Monday, general manager Phil Emery said that Slauson was lost for the season, but his torn pectoral wouldn't require surgery. Trestman explained the situation Wednesday, though it's still somewhat unclear.
"That'll be again a day-to-day thing," Trestman said. "There's a lot of reasons behind that, but it'll be one day at a time with Matt right now. Obviously he won't be playing this week."
Mills back at right tackle
When previously asked about who might be in the mix to replace Slauson at left guard, Trestman mentioned Jordan Mills, who practiced at left guard this past Monday. However, Mills was back at his customary right tackle spot for Wednesday's practice.
"He went back to the right side today, and we'll continue to move him around, but he was on the right side," Trestman said. "We had Mike (Ola) playing guard today."
It seemed unusual for the Bears to make such a drastic switch at the midpoint of the season, considering Mills hasn't played guard since high school. Ola played well at left guard in Slauson's place, and it seems logical to keep that continuity intact. This situation will be monitored for the rest of the week.
Allen found his half-step
In a moment of honesty after the Patriots game, defensive end Jared Allen said he had to find a half-step during the bye week. Through seven games, Allen has only 1.5 sacks and will be called upon to play more snaps now that Houston is out of the defensive end rotation.
Allen went on to clarify exactly what he meant with that comment.
"Finding the difference between a sack and a pressure and a quarterback hit is about a half-step, a half-second," Allen said. "So I went back and I watched all my rushes from the first half and just trying to find little, small technical things that I can gain a half-second, a half-step."
Allen maintains he can still run a 4.6-second 40-yard dash and challenged the assembled media to a race. Allen beating left tackles around the edge is the more important challenge for the final eight games of the season.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.
