Even in a practice setting, Devin Hester never ceased to amaze Friday during the Bears’ first training camp session.
When Hester inhaled a pass and then made a quick head fake to leave big-money cornerback Nathan Vasher lunging for air, safety Mike Brown stood in the background just shaking his head in disbelief.
“It’s nasty,” Brown said of Hester’s ability as a receiver. “He’s a dangerous person in the open field. And [facing him] only is going to make us better in the secondary.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in the league — few guys — who can do what he does in the open field. One that comes to mind is [Carolina’s] Steve Smith.”
The Hester-to-offense experiment was one of the big topics of the off-season, and it is sure to be a constant source of chatter throughout camp.
Friday was a good start for Hester, as it was for all the receivers. Then again, that’s to be expected when a team practices without pads.
Coach Lovie Smith gushed about the offensive potential he saw, singling out newcomer Greg Olsen, the rookie tight end out of Miami.
Mark Bradley, apparently injury-free, made a personal highlight reel with a number of spectacular catches against reserve cornerback Dante Wesley — although Wesley got revenge with an interception later. Bernard Berrian looked a step faster — from turbo to supercharged. And even old vet Muhsin Muhammad was spectacular, snatching a pass between Charles Tillman and Brown.
But the buzz around the perimeter of the practice field was about Hester, the player who electrified the NFL last season with a league-record six returns for touchdowns.
Quarterback Rex Grossman was wide-eyed when talking about his new weapon.
“He’s an amazing talent,” Grossman said. “He knows the routes. He knows the offense. Now he just needs to get more reps.”
Although it’s unclear how many offensive snaps Hester will get, he’s taking the approach that he’s playing every down. After showing during off-season team workouts how easily he could adjust to the position switch from the secondary, he spent hours poring over tape of some of the NFL’s great receivers, specifically Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Steve Smith.
“I want to say I studied it twice a week,” Hester said of the films. “I watched a lot of Jerry Rice one-on-one when he was with the 49ers. All his routes looked the same, but they were different routes. He was consistent with everything. That’s probably the hardest to stop — when you can make all your routes look the same.”
Hester looked fluid in his route running Friday, as he did during off-season workouts. He could be ideal as the slot receiver with such a quick first step. And he surely would excel on crossing routes, given his ability to pick up yards after the catch.
“Just the natural ability he has, he can pretty much run any route we have,” receivers coach Darryl Drake said. “What we have to do with him is just create opportunities, and create mismatches for him. We have to try to get him on the move. Try to give him opportunities to do what he does, whether that’s stretching the field deep, whether it’s stretching the field vertically or horizontally.
“We just have to get the ball in his hands and let nature work for us.”
The one luxury the Bears won’t have is keeping Hester a secret, not after last season’s exploits. Word of his switch to offense circulated around the league quickly.
Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma called Hester to say he is itching to get a shot in. The Chargers’ Shawne Merriman said the same face-to-face when he and Hester saw each other at the ESPYs.
“I just laughed at him because he’s a great ballplayer,” Hester said. “I’m looking forward to playing him.”
Hester’s confidence as a receiver is well evident. After one of his catches Friday, he promptly flipped the ball behind his back. Drake asked him if he was in the circus or something.
Judging by the way he’s progressing, Hester certainly seems poised to run rings around opposing defenders.
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vxmcclure@tribune.com
