Tolliver Promises To Be Different But He's On A Short Leash.

CB Kevin Toliver vows to be ‘different beast,’ but Bears have short leash

Patrick Finley

Cornerback Kevin Toliver was one of the stars Friday of the rookie minicamp — before suffering a hamstring injury during an interception that limited him Saturday.

Still, it was a promising start for the undrafted free agent. His 6-2, 192-pound frame looks like that of an NFL star — as does his five-star rating out of high school.

Toliver left LSU early despite expert opinions telling him he shouldn’t. Questions about his character meant he went undrafted.

Bears cornerback Kevin Toliver II catches a ball during rookie minicamp Friday. (AP)

“Even if I would’ve gone first round, I still would’ve been hungry, but going undrafted, that just made me hungrier,” he said. “They’re going to get a different beast out of me than they saw at LSU.”

If not, he won’t last long. The Bears have been honest with Toliver and others with character concerns: They have no room for error.

“If you tell them that,’’ coach Matt Nagy said, ‘‘then they have ownership, and they respect it, and if they blow the opportunity, they blow the opportunity. That’s not on us. No matter who it is, we’re going to let them know they have a clean slate. We’re going to give them every opportunity to shine. We want success stories. We want happy stories. We want steals of the draft. That’s what we want.”

Olin back

Two days after having seven alums — Steve McMichael, Alex Brown, Jay Hilgenberg, Charles Tillman, Marcus Robinson, Charles Tillman, Bob Wetoska and James “Big Cat” Williams — speak to their rookies, the Bears welcomed former center Olin Kreutz to practice.

“Any knowledge that they can get from Olin, we’ll take,” Nagy said. “Whether it’s him just observing or giving ideas, suggestions, they’re going to take it.”

Excused

Patrick Finley
Follow me on Twitter @patrickfinley
Email: pfinley@suntimes.com