The transition at strong safety from Shaun Gayle to Marty Carter has been encouraging so far.
More will be known about how well Carter fits into the secondary when the Cleveland Browns practice against the Bears Thursday and Friday at Platteville and finish the exercise with a Saturday scrimmage.
“Marty has been accepted well by the defense and the whole team,” coach Dave Wannstedt said of the free-agent acquisition from Tampa Bay.
Of course, most of the Bears remember well Carter’s season-high 13 tackles against them in the Bucs’ 20-6 loss last Nov. 6.
Clicking . . . and yet: Wannstedt praised the advancement of the offense this preseason compared to his two previous camps, but issued a word of warning too.
“All three quarterbacks are performing better,” he said. “We are making less mistakes than the last two years as far as decision-making, without a doubt. When you do that, it’s going to affect your entire offense.
“But we need a better practice Wednesday before the Browns get here. We’re not to the point yet where we are executing well enough to line up and feel good about it.”
Shane shines: Shane Matthews won’t get much attention as the third quarterback. But let it be noted that his 2-minute drive drill was by far the shortest of the trio in Tuesday’s afternoon practice. All it took was three plays for Matthews to score. Erik Kramer needed eight plays and had Michael Timpson on his side. Steve Walsh required 11 plays and was aided by a fourth-down interference call in the end zone on linebacker Joe Cain.
Gone swimming: It was a perfect day for swimming in Platteville. But defensive end Alonzo Spellman was in the pool on serious business, rehabbing his back spasms. Spellman has missed three of the last four days of drills, but the Bears continue to say the injury isn’t serious and expect him back on the field Wednesday or Thursday.