Quad-City Times from Davenport, Iowa • 42

SC" OUAD-CITY TIMES Thursday, Aug. 29, 1996 CHICAGO BEARS I- alaam deals with not being able to play in the opener Continued from Page IS still got a little bit of swelling in there," Wannstedt said. "The knee's coming along great, it's just the hamstring thing is something that's not ready to go." Said Salaam: "I'm real upset, but injuries are part of football. You have to learn to overcome them and keep a positive mind." The resolution of Salaam's status now will force Wannstedt's hand on how to replace him. Earlier in the week, the coach had suggested fullback Raymont Harris might shift to tailback, with backup fullback Tony Carter earning a start That drew an angry reaction from backup tailback Robert Green, who long has coveted a chance to expand his role.

A meeting with Wannstedt apparently mollified Green. "Whoever's the starter, I'm not going to worry about it," Green said after practice. "I have to be ready when my number's called. "If I'm not ready, all the talking and all the wanting to get in there isn't going to sound good at all." Wannstedt said Green still could be the starting "Robert, he would like to be the guy to get the ball every down. And he might.

He might. But he also is involved in our special teams, he's involved in our third downs, and he is going to have to make some critical plays in the game in a lot of areas in order for us to be successful. "It's just a matter of being smart and utilizing everybody we've got." The running back order will be set today. "We'll meet late and hard tonight and we'll decide how we're going to work the running situation," Wannstedt said. "With our receivers being healthy, we might just come out and throw the ball." Roster roulette The Bears added and subtracted a pair of players Wednesday, but a new cornerback was not part of the exchange.

Gone are wide receiver Travis Hannah and offensive lineman Mike Sullivan. In are defensive tacklelong snapper Rob Davis and wide receiver John Jackson. Davis long snapped for Bears kicker Carlos Huerta in the Canadian Football League last year. Jackson, a former USC teammate of Mark Carrier, has been to training camps with three NFL teams, but hasn't made a roster. He reached Triple-A in a baseball career with Minnesota and California, but didn't play Class A in the Quad-Cities.

Practice, practice The Bears rounded out their practice squad, adding free-agent tight end Charles Randolph and cornerback Chris Martin. Randolph, a 6-foot-l, 287-pounder from Northeast Louisiana was waived by Baltimore. Martin, a rookie from Northwestern, was in Bears camp. Other players: wide receiver Mill Coleman, a developmental squad member a year ago, and running back Michael Hicks, a seventh-round draftee last spring. Numbers game Linebacker Michael Lowery is wearing his fifth number since joining the Bears.

He started with 62, then wore 54, 91, 95 and now finally 53. arris tackles is io fufi i i I No. 1 pick can make the big stick By Craig DeVrleze QUAD-CITY TIMES LAKE FOREST, 111. If Walt Harris played cornerback as softly 1 as he speaks, the Chicago Bears wouldn't have much of a first-round draft pick. Lucky for Dave Wannstedt, the 22-year-old Harris from Georgia speaks softly but can make the big stick.

"I think that's one of my strong points," the 5-foot-ll, 194-pound defensive back said of his tackling prowess. "It's something I still can improve upon. There's times I miss tackles. But I do think it is one of my positives." Improbably, Harris figures to be of the Bears' chief positives this coming season. When he lines up at right corner- in Monday's prime-time season opener vs.

the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys, Harris will become the first opening day rookie starter in Wannstedt's four Bear seasons and the Bears' first defensive rookie starter since Mark Carrier in 1990. "It will be very exciting," Harris said. "It is something I have been I looking forward to and something my family has been looking for-' ward to." 1 In another breath, though, Harris declared the whole she-bang his Xirs.t NFL game, the start, the Cow-'. boys, the Monday Night Football stage no big deal, "I don't look W7 I ft 'Aft- I 1 HI I 1 III Ill make boom fob ttcoe ueot mil SftUE MEN'S BASKETBALL Nike Air RUNNING MAXTRIAX at it as being a bigger game than the next one," he said. Harris' apparent lack of awe is probably a good thing.

If the quiet Mississippi State product were capable of being intimidated by his surroundings, he might be something less than the potential answer to one of the NFL's softest pass defenses of a year ago. After standing out in early training-camp drills, Harris didn't lose a WAY UP 14177457) i'i want to jgo out there and a great impression 'on and let them know I can play." Chicago No. 1 pick ZZWalt Harris -TZbout playing Dallas Monday night GREAT NAMES LI ICE Nike adidad qacbdk newbalance SAUCONY. A130 LOTS MORE! step in presea Limited sizes ovailotle. MEN'S MEN'S TENNIS Nike Air Wilson ZONAL SCREECH (44982831 VKVrr-' ii low IAjXM 0833411 59" "034 i III jr ii i 1 y-'X if ss il 59" son-exhibition tests.

He finished 20 tackles, 14 of them solo and was credited with a pair of passes defensed. He didn't see four quarter's worth of one of the finer quarterbacks around as he will Monday vs. Troy Aikman but Harris said, think I'll be prepared. The four preseason games helped me have a lot of confidence." -Ie may need it against the Cowboys, although the absence of sus- pended All-Pro Michael Irvin should ease the challenge. Still, Harris said of Aikman, "You have to give him his props.

He's a great quarterback. A Super Bowl quarterback." Aikman also is a quarterback savvy, enough to go straight at a rookie cornerback. "Anybody would want to test the rookie," Harris said. "That happens Annually, Bears rookies are tested severely placed under close fan and media scrutiny and burdened with big expectations. -On the one hand, Harris said, "I want to go out there and make a great impression on everyone and let them know I can play." On the other hand, he stressed, "What people say, that's not my concern.

As long as I stay focused on what I have to do, everything should fall into place." Just like the ball carriers and pass catchers with whom Walt Har-rr-is lides. Cm 53rd Street Rfil EP MON-SAT SUNDAY 0:30 AM-6PM fir.