--The Bears are also interested in extending the contract of WR/return specialist Devin Hester, which still has two years remaining, and they have discussed terms with his agent, Eugene Parker.

The difficulty is deciding whether Hester should be paid as the best return man in NFL history or as the best return man in NFL history who also could wind up being a starting wide receiver this year.

"It's a very difficult dynamic," general manager Jerry Angelo said. "I know I've never been involved in one quite like this with a player of Devin's abilities. It's a good problem to have, and we certainly want to take care of Devin. He certainly deserves our attention. We've talked to his agent and we'll just have to wait and see."

--Despite playing in just 21 games over the past four seasons of his eight-year career because of a string of injuries, safety Mike Brown is the all-time franchise leader with seven defensive touchdowns, including four on interceptions and three on fumbles. He averaged 99 tackles a year in his first four seasons, when he didn't miss a game and started 63 of 64 contests.

But the rash of injuries began in 2004 with a season-ending ruptured Achilles' tendon in the second game of the year. The following season he was voted to the Pro Bowl, even though a calf injury forced him out of the final four regular-season games. Brown's '06 season ended after six games because of a foot injury.

Through four serious injuries and lengthy rehabs, Brown hasn't lost his passion for the game, which is why he's already jacked up about regaining his Pro Bowl form and helping the Bears' defense attain the elite status it enjoyed in 2005 and '06.

"I have a total passion for the game, and I feel that I can still play," Brown said. "If I didn't have my skills, if the injuries were diminishing my skills any, I would think long and hard about it. But every time I come out here and see myself on film, I still look pretty good.

"When I'm on the field, I think I'm one of the best safeties in the league. I have a lot of confidence, and I feel like I bring a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of intensity. I love playing with this team. I love the defense, I think it's conducive to the way that I play and I just want to show people what I can do."

--The depth chart at wideout is in flux with newcomers Marty Booker and Brandon Lloyd figuring prominently in the mix along with Devin Hester, Rashied Davis, Mark Bradley and rookie Earl Bennett, plus holdovers Mike Hass and Brandon Rideau fighting for roster spots.

"Right now the position is wide open," Hester said. "The best two are going to step up and play."

Hester sees himself as a starter; if not now, then soon.

"If you're a receiver and you don't feel that way, then you don't deserve to be out here on the field," he said. "It's competing for a job, and that's how the next man (on the depth chart) gets better. That's what I'm out here doing, and when the season kicks off, I'm hoping I'll be one of the No. 1 guys."

Booker and Lloyd have gotten most of the first-team reps, but Hester has also been utilized. Receivers coach Darryl Drake said no final decisions have been made.

"Right now we don't have clear-cut starters," Drake said. "Those guys (Booker and Lloyd) are in the mix. Devin is in the mix. So those guys are probably the ones."

Hester has been focusing on running more precise routes and fine-tuning his timing with quarterbacks Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton. He said the mental aspect of his game has improved over last season, his first as a full-time receiver.

"I'm a lot better at knowing the game," he said. "I'm starting to understand the defense as well as the offense."

For now, though, Hester's forte remains the deep ball, where he can utilize his rare speed to get behind even the fastest cornerbacks. His communication with the quarterbacks on those plays is simple.

"Whenever we have a deep ball, I just tell them throw it as far as you can and hopefully I'm going to run it down," he said.

--While Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are fighting for the same job on the field, Grossman says it's possible to separate their professional and personal lives.

"It's pretty easy," Grossman said. "I think you'd have to be pretty immature to take it to a personal level. I don't think there's a downside to (the competition) for anyone other than Kyle and I. Obviously we'd both like to have the job. If anything, it probably makes you better to concentrate that much harder."

Coach Lovie Smith said he's in no hurry to determine the winner of the QB battle and that it would not be decided by the start of the preseason.

"Just some time during training camp, during the preseason," Smith said of the timetable. "Ideally, you would like to have someone in place by going to that last week of the preseason, but we'll just let it play out. If it's not clear by then, we'll let it go right up until (the start of the season)."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're in fourth place right now in our division. So that's the mindset that we have. We have a long ways to go." -- Bears coach Lovie Smith on the team's attitude after completing off-season practices.

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