Hester shows up at Bears camp after short holdout

The Bears have given new deals this offseason to Lance Briggs, Tommie Harris, Brian Urlacher, Desmond Clark and Alex Brown. And on Wednesday they signed this year's first-round pick, Vanderbilt offensive lineman Chris Williams, to a five-year deal reportedly worth $16 million.

Meanwhile, Hester waits.

"He has a contract," Smith said. "When he's ready to go (physically), I assume he'll be out there."

The arrival of Hester, who could be fined about $30,000 for missing the first two days, boosted the mood at Bears camp. Fans cheered as he rode in on a trainer's cart with about 25 minutes left in practice and mobbed him for autographs afterward. Teammates and coaches were glad to see him, too.

"He's definitely a team player," fullback Jason McKie said. "He definitely wanted to be around this team and get back into camp and get back to work. That's the kind of guy he is. ... I think that speaks volumes about his character, coming here even though his contract situation is not resolved."

McKie said Hester woke him up around 1 a.m. Friday, after arriving at Olivet Nazarene University.

"He was like, 'I'm here,"' McKie said. "I'm like, 'Man, so what? Go to bed.' But I was happy he was back."

So was offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

"Big smile, big smile, happy he's here," he said.

Hester looked lost at times on offense, but there were also enough flashes of brilliance -- like an 81-yard touchdown reception against Minnesota -- to convince Chicago that he could play an important role.

"You see what he did in the return game?" Clark said. "He can do that for our offense, also."

He needs practice, though. He needs to master the entire offense, not just the scaled-down version the Bears ran when he was in last season.

"He's come a long way, and a big reason is he's committed to it full time," Turner said. "Last year, the returning part was No. 1 and he played some receiver in a very limited role. We talked in the offseason and the objective was for him to become a full-time receiver. ... He's going to learn the (whole) offense."

Note

Williams sat out with lower back stiffness on Friday, after leaving practice early the previous day.