Although his time on the field was limited, cornerback Zack Bowman returned to practice Saturday after sitting out a couple of days with a hamstring injury.
Bowman participated in individual drills, then did some light running alongside linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer and defensive back Woodny Turenne.
“It felt real good today, just to get out there running,” Bowman said. “I was just trying to get my legs back underneath me.”
Bowman hopes to be cleared for full practice soon.
With Bowman slowly working his way back and Charles Tillman still out following back surgery, the Bears might start Saturday’s first exhibition at Buffalo with Nathan Vasher and Trumaine McBride at the corners. Both are shorter than 6 feet, and new Bills receiver Terrell Owens is 6-3.
Coach Lovie Smith is pleased with the defensive line and linebackers but wants to see more from the secondary. Corey Graham picking off a Caleb Hanie pass to end Saturday’s practice showed progress.
“I like the play from our safeties, but our corner play has to pick up a little bit with two of our top guys down,” Smith said.
First in line: Newcomer Frank Omiyale started practice as the first-team left guard for the first time this camp. He continues to battle Josh Beekman for the starting role, and they alternated at the spot Saturday.
“Man, it felt good, especially being here at the home stadium,” Omiyale said of the first-team reps.
Omiyale was asked if running with the second team the first eight days was frustrating.
“Nah, man. I told coach (Smith) the first day I got here that I was ready to do whatever he told me,” Omiyale said. “I want to make the team better. My time’s going to come.”
Clearing the air: Quarterback Jay Cutler wanted to clarify some comments he made on WMVP-AM when he said Chicago fans are a “9” compared to a “6” in Denver.
“Denver has great fans. I wasn’t saying anything about their fans,” he said. “I was saying stuff about our camp at Bourbonnais, just how expansive it is and how much money and effort and energy they put into it down there. We get 11,000 fans on a Saturday. If it wasn’t for the fans coming out like that, we wouldn’t have to have such a big camp.
“Every NFL team has great fans. The fans are great everywhere we go, but I still love Chicago fans.”
Extra points: Devin Hester returned to practice and showed no limitations. … With Danieal Manning still resting a sore right hamstring, rookie Johnny Knox got the first chance to return kicks. Garrett Wolfe followed. … Graham played nickel with Manning out while rookie Al Afalava got some first-team reps at safety with Manning out. … Tommie Harris did some early work but again was rested during full-team work in favor of Israel Idonije. On offense, Orlando Pace shared reps with Kevin Shaffer. … End Alex Brown doubled as a television camera man at the start of practice. … Receiver Devin Aromashodu worked his way into some reps with the first team and made a few nice catches.
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vxmcclure@tribune.com
