"In the players lounge before practice, the face of the franchise starts out on all fours. Then he kicks his feet up in the air as high as he can with his hands still on the ground. He does this 10 times.

"Donkey kicks," they are called, and they could help restore the Bears' defense to its former glory.

"My favorite," Brian Urlacher says.

Donkey kicks are part of an elaborate stretching program the 30-year old middle linebacker has embraced to ease him into the next phase of his career. In April, three months after his neck surgery and four months after a season that was diminished by an arthritic lower back, Urlacher decided to try a program called Egoscue to treat musculoskeletal pain.

Fellow aging NFL players Junior Seau and John Lynch had vouched for it after successful results. The program uses some of the same concepts as yoga and pilates, but it's different, in part because each person is prescribed an individualized routine.

"It's a lot of core work, holding a pose for a minute or two," Urlacher says. "Some weird stuff. It's hard. Muscles you didn't even know you had start burning. But it makes you more flexible and functional. When I get done I feel great."

Urlacher never stretched much in his previous eight NFL seasons. But he never was 30 before. And he never had back problems before. So now every morning he spends about 25 minutes doing Egoscue before practice, usually in the players lounge. Then he goes out to practice and has Bears physical development coach Rusty Jones lead him through another 25-minute routine of more traditional stretches.

"It only took me eight years to do it, but I'm going to be a limber dude," he says. "I'm moving well. I feel I'm functional again."

What a welcome sight it is for the Bears to see their defensive centerpiece running and hitting without pain. Urlacher's back could stiffen at some point, but at the moment he is feeling no pain, and he believes he has learned to manage his problem.

He also is pleased with the result of neck surgery to relieve a pinched nerve. Urlacher has a vertical scar that's about an inch and a half long just below where his neck meets his shoulders, but he also has greater range of motion in his neck than he had in a long time. "It moves better than before," he said, turning his head side to side. "It's unbelievable how well my neck moves."

Of course, there had been some concern about those first hits of summer on July 23. "The doctor told me I was OK and I believed him, but I was curious to see what it would feel like the first time I put on pads," Urlacher said. "I wanted to get downhill and test it out. I had no problems. I'm a little sore now, but I think everyone is."

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo could be excused for holding his breath that day. He had just agreed to give Urlacher $6 million in guaranteed money and up to $18 million total, even though Urlacher was already under contract.

Urlacher is relieved the contract extension — two years in the making — is behind him. And he is grateful to the Bears. "They didn't have to do anything," he said. "I realize that. But I also feel I earned what I got."

The ultimate team guy, Urlacher is as pleased that many of his teammates also were rewarded with contract extensions. "Jerry takes care of our guys," Urlacher said. "We don't sign a lot of free agents. We have great drafts and re-sign our own. Now it's up to us."

All that is left now for Urlacher is football."