TE Greg Olsen and QB Jay Cutler found a rhythm in 7-on-7 drills in Bears practice Sunday night. The TE caught 5 TD passes on 12 throws near the goal line. "Our red-zone package is pretty impressive," Olsen said. We’re not advocating drafting Olsen as a starter -- that ship has sailed. But he makes a solid late-round backup with a fair amount of upside.

The hottest rumor floating around the Combine these past few days was that Bears TE Greg Olsen is on the trade block.  It makes sense considering Bears new OC Mike Martz has never utilized the TE in his passing attack.  Olsen is just 24-years-old and is already a top-10 TE in the league.  We could see the Patriots, Dolphins, and Rams being interested.

Bears HC Lovie Smith insists that, despite the arrival of OC Mike Martz, TE Greg Olsen will stay heavily involved in the offensive gameplan.  "He will be successful in this offense," Smith said. "His role has increased as far as us going to him every year. I don't see that changing."  Unless Smith will be the one calling the plays -- which won't be the case -- we have a hard time believing this one.  The 49ers said TE Vernon Davis would stay involved when Martz joined the team in 2008.  Davis finished that season with just 31 catches for 358 yards.

According to Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune, Bears' OC Ron Turner has spent the team's bye week finding ways to get Greg Olsen more involved in the offense.  Pompei also added that he wouldn't be surprised to see Olsen emerge as the Bears' leading receiver by season's end.  After 4 games, Olsen is on pace for just 40 catches.

According to the Chicago-Sun Times, Greg Olsen is already a favorite target of Jay Cutler's. Olsen had 574 yards receiving and 5 scores last year. He also has a huge upgrade at QB, so it is not a reach to think Olsen will add 15% to last year's numbers. That would give him 660 yards and 6 TDs. Those numbers would make him a top-5 TE.

Bears TE Greg Olsen caught 54 passes for 574 yards & 5 TDs in 2008. 17 of his 54 catches went for 10+ yards. He also scored 3 of his 5 TDs in the last month. After some early-season fumble problems Olsen settled down and made plays. Olsen's numbers are pretty strong, considering it's only his 2nd year -- and Desmond Clark plays equal snaps in this 2-TE offense. Clark caught 41 passes for 367 yards & 1 TD.  Unfortunately for Olsen (and Clark), Bears OC Ron Turner is not going to ditch his 2-TE packages anytime soon. Over the last two years Turner has lined up 2 TEs a whopping 32% of the time.

Bears TE Desmond Clark was added to the injury report with a pulled hamstring. He's questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Jaguars. If you needed a little shove to get Greg Olsen in your lineup this is it.

Co-starting TE Desmond Clark sprained his knee vs. the Seahawks and we're hearing he limped badly (with an ice-wrap) to the team bus afterwards. This could be the break Greg Olsen needed.  Olsen could catch 2-3 more passes per game if Clark is out. We raised Olsen's projections.

Profootballweekly.com reports: "Team sources saw Bears rookie TE Greg Olsen involved in a very animated discussion with one of the coaches in a practice before the teamâ??s recent loss in Washington, apparently pleading his case for more downfield receiving opportunities." It's tough to argue with Olsen on this one. Despite displaying his potential midway through the season, Olsen has caught just 6 balls over the past 3 weeks. He's also dropped a few catchable balls though.

Bears TE Greg Olsen (knee) is expected to play Sunday night vs. Dallas. It will be his NFL debut since he sprained his knee in the preseason.

Greg Olsen caught a pass in last night's exhibition and slammed his left knee onto the ground hard when tackled. The Tribune reports: "He retreated into the locker room for X-rays and was spotted looking downcast after the game with a brace on his knee. Smith said an MRI is scheduled Friday and knee sprains typically take two to four weeks to heal." We're trimming his projections to reflect a few missed games. Hopefully that's the extent of it.

Bears TE Greg Olsen hasn't had an MRI on his knee yet because the swelling hasn't gone down. Lovie Smith changed his opinion from "bruise" to "sprain" yesterday when he talked to the media. This really sucks for Olsen, getting hurt in the 2nd quarter of a meaningless 4th exhibition. Desmond Clark's fantasy value is re-solidifying if Olsen misses more than 2 games.

Bears rookie TE Greg Olsen has practiced mostly with the 2nd-team offense but teammate FS Mike Brown says that could change. "I haven't seen any tight ends who run like he can," Brown said. "He's got great hands, he's a big target, and he's a pretty good route runner. That's always a weapon when you have someone in the middle of the field who can get chunk yardage." We're sure Olsen will be all over the field when September rolls around. The Bears didn't draft him the 1st round - ahead of DT Alan Branch (Michigan), OG Arron Sears (Tennessee) or WR Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio State) - just to groom him slowly.

The Chicago Bears signed rookie TE Greg Olsen to a 5-year contract. Terms not disclosed. Good news for Olsen, he'll be in camp on July 27th. We're still waiting for the big dogs (JaMarcus Russell, Calvin Johnson, etc.) to start the dominos falling. A lot of these 1st-rounders won't get signed until the player right before them is signed and a template is in place.