It’s highly doubtful Bears rookie tight end Greg Olsen will play Sunday in San Diego.
Olsen was on the practice field Thursday doing limited drills away from the receivers and tight ends. He wore a black sleeve to stabilize the left knee he injured in last week’s exhibition with the Cleveland Browns.
Olsen tried to jog lightly but was hobbling noticeably. Simply balancing on the knee while standing in place seemed taxing for Olsen.
Coach Lovie Smith expressed caution while addressing Olsen’s status.
“Just like we do with all our players, we won’t put them out there until they’re ready to go, been cleared medically,” Smith said. “We know we have Greg Olsen for the long term. He will help us win a lot of football games in the future. We’ll just take our time.”
Blocking out
The curiosity surrounding Cedric Benson on Sunday is whether he will come out strong in his first “real” game as the unquestioned starter.
But Benson has another concern besides getting the running game off the ground. Quarterback Rex Grossman is counting on him for some protection.
“I know he’s on it, because he’s telling me all kinds of blitz pickup situations, narrowing things down for me,” Benson said. “I’m sure that will happen every week, but I guess San Diego, that 3-4 look, we have to key on some things to make it at little easier out there.”
No California dreamin’
Brian Urlacher hasn’t played a game in San Diego since college. But if you think the Bears middle linebacker is hyped about this trip to the West Coast, guess again.
“I’m not a big California guy, to tell you the truth,” he said. “There’s nothing really much that I like about it. I try to stay away from there when I can. I like Palm Springs, because they have nice golf there. But that’s about it.”
Uniform decision
The Bears will wear their dark home uniforms on the road Sunday because the Chargers chose to wear white to help beat the heat.
The Bears will follow the same procedure and wear their white jerseys for their home opener Sept. 16 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
