Tillman, Hester put dust-up behind them
BOURBONNAIS -- Neither cornerback Charles Tillman nor wide receiver Devin Hester held a grudge a day after their tiff at the end of Tuesday's practice.
"I think y'all are hyping it up more than really what it is," Tillman said of the tussle. "Don't instigate nothing. It wasn't nothing extra; it wasn't none of that.
"It was just two guys competing and got caught up in the moment, which is uncalled for by him and myself. It shouldn't have happened. We're over it, it's in the past, there's no hard feelings. Everything was left on the field, left for (Tuesday). That's it."
Hester missed Wednesday's practice with a tender hamstring unrelated to his skirmish with Tillman. Because opposing cornerbacks figure to get physical with Hester, the fleet wideout believes he's benefited from practicing against Tillman during camp.
But on Tuesday it went too far.
"It got a little too physical," Hester said, "and there's only so much that can happen. But, at the same time, we're trying to better each other and get prepared for the season.
"He gave me an apology. We're teammates, we're brothers, and we're both on the same team, so we're going to see each other every day. At the end of the day, I stated, 'My bad.'"
Fan favorites: Bernard Berrian made back-to-back crowd-pleasing grabs in front of another large crowd of sweaty onlookers during Wednesday's noon practice.
Berrian displayed his vertical leaping ability to snag a bullet from Rex Grossman that appeared to be way overthrown. On the next snap, the fourth-year wide receiver streaked past Charles Tillman and ran under a perfectly thrown deep ball from Grossman.
Undrafted rookie free agent cornerback Greg Fassitt made the most spectacular interception of camp. In a 7-on-7 passing drill he dived full out to get his hands on a Kyle Orton pass, bobbled it and then secured it while in mid-air and hung on as he bounced off the soggy practice field.
Seventh-round rookie cornerback Trumaine McBride, who has moved up to second on the depth chart, picked off Brian Griese on the next play.
Coming and going: The Bears waived injured offensive tackle Aaron Brant, a seventh-round draft pick, and third-year fullback Jon Goldsberry on Wednesday. They added offensive tackle Steven Vieira, who spent the 2007 NFL Europa season with the Berlin Thunder.
Brant has been bothered by a left knee injury, and Goldsberry recently returned to the practice field after missing two weeks with a hamstring injury.
Vieira was originally signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted rookie free agent on April 29, 2005 and spent the final eight games on their practice squad. In 2006 he played all 10 games for the Hamburg Sea Devils. Vieira had 41 consecutive starts at guard left tackle for the UCLA.
Missing in action: Pro Bowlers Tommie Harris, Brian Urlacher, Olin Kreutz and Devin Hester missed Wednesday's practice with assorted minor ailments, as did wide receiver Mark Bradley (knee) and safety Tyler Everett (foot).
Something more: Monday night's nationally televised second preseason game with the Indianapolis Colts has a little more importance than most, considering it's a rematch of Super Bowl XLI.
"I guess it's only a preseason game," coach Lovie Smith said, "but whenever you get a chance to play against the world champions it's big. Of course we have a history with them."