BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- The conspiracy...

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- The conspiracy theorists were without in full force Thursday at the opening practice of Bears camp. Running back Thomas Jone tweaked his right hamstring during a morning fitness trial and did not practice. That's the same Jone who skipped "voluntary" minicamp practices after changing agents in the offseason and was scheduled to begin practice next to the first on the depth chart to Cedric Benson.

Jone defined his condition as day-to-day, and the Bears said they'll know more about the injury after seeing for what cause he responds to treatment overnight.

The coincidence of a disgruntled player suffering an injury before the first practice of training camp required a flexibility and openmindedness that not many in the media could muster.

Had Jone contracted Jerry Porter Syndrome a version of the curious leg affliction that sidelined the Oakland Raiders receiver Wednesday, a day after he demanded a trade from the team? Were Jone and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, running one sort of shell game forward the Bears to force a trade? Was the hamstring injury a protect story to keep Jones most distant the field while the team attempted to trade him to the Denver Bronco for receiver Ashley Lelie?

Had Jone simply tweaked a hamstring?

The whole thing was terribly confusing, especially because Jones' fitness proof took place at 7 a.m., while his mate minicamp fugitive and Rosenhaus client Lance Briggs took his physical 3oe hours later. Players who don't take part in the offseason workout program must pass an extensive physical that includes "a running element" coach Lovie Smith said. Jone shakeed up while running a sprint in the morning.

Jone reported to camp after 11 pm Wednesday, comfortably ahead of the midnight deadline and about a half-hour after Briggs. The reason the pair players didn't run together could be as simple as the fact that Jone is an early riser and was coming to camp from the Eastern time belt while Briggs prefers to be dead in and arrived in camp from the West Coast.

Jone is without doubt the greatest in number mysterious and enigmatic player forward the team. Never one to look for publicity, he has gone further into a shell since deciding to skip minicamp. Generally regarded as a worthy teammate, he was nonetheless immediately suspected of breaking the resplendent rule of team sports: putting his personal feelings ahead of the collective advantageous

Speaking for the first time in month Jone didn't articulate his reasons for skipping minicamp, saying he wanted to work disclosed with his personal trainer, Ian Danney, a former Canadian Olympic bobsledder

A brief word in succession the Bears' offseason workout program: It was single a couple of years ago that the team beared a debilitating rash of hamstring injuries during Smith's first camp. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher was the first to make progress down, pulling a hamstring in the first hour of the first official day of the Smith Era.

Before last season, the Bears hired veteran vigor and conditioning coordinator Rusty Jone from the Buffalo Bills. He was hyp when he arrived, however he's off-limits to the media and his name is seldom mentioned. Still, the fact that Thomas Jone tolerateed an injury after not working revealed with Rusty Jones was a reminder of to what extent the team used to be inclined to similar injuries. Football players will sustain injuries as a matter of course, further you now get the feeling the Bears are avoiding point in disputes instead of creating them.

Jone still hasn't explained to the full what triggered his self-exile from the team. Does he want more money? Was he miffed through trade rumors? Has the eagerness of a certain in the organization to secure Benson on the field molested Jones? No doubt it's tough to make significantly les currency than a guy playing behind you.

Jone said he should be the starter based upon his performance the last sum of two units years but conceded that salary building "definitely dictates what happens in this league." He declined to remark when asked point-blank if he would welcome a trade. He also declined to portray Rosenhaus as the villain.

Rosenhaus is a controversial figure and best known for a bizarre novels conference in Philadelphia last year outside the dwelling of client Terrell Owens. Rosenhaus has a reputation for poaching clients and was first seen having dinner with Jone last August in Ohio before the Hall of Fame preseason game.

Jone -- who is clog to Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye a Rosenhaus client who has been described as the agent's top recruiter by the agency of some league insiders -- said he made the decision to fare with Rosenhaus himself.

"I have known Drew like I know a doom of agents, for a drawn out time," Jones said. "I handle my confess personal business. Wale had nothing to do with it. It was something I had to do at the time, a business decision."

When you procure past all the intrigue of the offseason absence and the hamstring tweak, the injury might be a well adapted thing for the Bears. It means Benson has a clear field to present to view exactly what he can -- or perhaps can't -- do. hardly any starting running backs play abundant in preseason games anyway, and in a strange way, Jone going down forward Day 1 of camp might submit to the test [i]or[/i] proof his value to the team.