Bears' linebacker Brian Urlacher reported for the team's mandatory minicamp on Friday, according to The Associated Press. "When it says mandatory, you're supposed to be at those things, so that's why I'm here," Urlacher said. "I'm supposed to be here. I'm not trying to send any message. It's a mandatory team function, and we're supposed to be here." He did not participate in the team's voluntary workouts because of displeasure with his nine-year contract that expires after the 2011 season. "All that matters is I'm here with my teammates," Urlacher said. "That's really the only thing that matters right now."

Brian Urlacher plans to attend the Bears' mandatory three-day minicamp starting on Friday, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday evening. Urlacher had missed voluntary offseason team activities to this point. He previously asked for more money than the Bears offered in a one-year extension.

There are rumors swirling that the Bears could be looking to deal cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. as they contemplate replacing him at nickel back, according to The Chicago Tribune. Danieal Manning, a tremendous athlete, was used as the nickel back during the team's training activities on Wednesday. He has a knack for the ball, which could keep his value up in the trade market.

Lance Briggs is very empathetic concerning Brian Urlacher's current situation with the Bears. "I can relate because I've been there," said Briggs. "There's a difference between not being in mini-camp and the first game," said Briggs, who also has had a salary squabble with the Bears. "The first game is going to hurt [without him]. I definitely don't want to step out on the field without Brian." "Absolutely, I'm hopeful [of a resolution]. I want him to be there, but I know how things ... have to be worked out."

In an email Q&A, Lovie Smith said that Cedric Benson is still the Bears' starting running back. "Cedric was our starter last year, and he?s our starter right now," writes Smith. "For someone else to be the starter, they?re going to have to beat him out. I?m going to put Adrian Peterson and Garrett Wolfe in there also. We like what Matt Forte brings. When you draft a player that high, you?re expecting him to eventually play and have a role with your team. But Cedric Benson has looked good in workouts out here. I?m hoping that Cedric will get back to form and we see that guy that we know he is."

Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher could skip the team's mandatory workouts because of his unhappiness with his contract, according to a report on ESPN.com. Chicago's involuntary workouts begin on May 30. The Bears haven't budged on his contract demands, despite his absence from the team's voluntary minicamp. "I would bet I wouldn't be there," Urlacher said, according to Yahoo.com. "My agents and the team had some good dialogue early on, but nothing's happened lately. It's been almost two months since there's been any action on their end, and it's a waiting game right now." He has four years left on his nine-year, $56.5 million contract, but feels it's outdated.

One of the NFL's most consistent kickers, Robbie Gould on Monday signed a five-year extension that will keep him under contract with the Chicago Bears through the 2013 season.

Bears' running back Cedric Benson has hired a new attorney to help him fight charges of drunken boating and resisting arrest in Texas, according to ESPN.com. "I do not believe that Cedric was intoxicated when his boat was boarded by the [Lower Colorado River Authority] officers for a safety inspection," Benson's new lawyer Sam Bassett said Thursday to the Chicago Tribune. "I also am concerned that the force used by the LCRA officers, particularly the use of pepper spray, was not necessary under the circumstances." Another witness vouched for Benson on Thursday, claiming that the police 'manhandled' the running back unnecessarily. "As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped. He said, 'I am fine, I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch said, according to the report. "They ended up -- I don't know why -- but laid him on his back, I heard him say, 'Please don't pepper-spray me, please don't pepper-spray me,'" Patch said, according to the report. "It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."

A female friend of Cedric Benson's, who was present when he was arrested by police on Saturday night, claims that the Bears running back did not seem drunk and did not resist arrest, according to ESPN.com. Elizabeth Cartwright, 22, also said that she called her father to inform police about the way Benson was being treated by the arresting officers. "I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,'" Cartwright recalled, according to the Chicago Tribune. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

Strong safety Adam Archuleta was released by the Chicago Bears on Tuesday. Archulea broke his hand early last season and started just 10 of the 15 games in which he appeared. He lost his starting job to Brandon McGowan and finished the season on special teams. "Adam, just like some more of our players, didn't have the type of season we were hoping, he was hoping," Lovie Smith said. "But he's still a part of our ballclub, and we're expecting him to come back stronger this year."