If the Chicago Bears do not open training camp on time, safety Chris Harris doesn't think the team should play in the Hall of Fame Game against the St. Louis Rams on August 7, Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune reports.
"No one wants to play four exhibition games, but that's what we do. I'm cool with playing (the Hall of Fame) game if we get training camp started on time," Harris said on Tuesday. "But anything past (July 22) then I'm not cool with it.
"Even if we report three days later, then it's still past that date. The Bears organization, Lovie (Smith) and Jerry (Angelo) made the decision to have training camp when we're having it because of that preseason game on August 7. So that's the amount of time it would take for us to get ready for the game. That's how I look at it."
The uncertainty of the NFL's labor situation has had an affect on ticket sales for the Hall of Fame Game, with Hall president Steve Harris telling ESPN that half of the 22,000 seats for the game remain available.
"Ticket sales are lagging behind where they were compared to this time last year," Perry said "That's understandable. There is some uncertainty out there. But we're planning to have the game. Nobody has told us otherwise. In fact, both sides have told us they want to play the game."
A 2005 sixth-round pick by the Bears out of Louisiana-Monroe, Harris, who turns 29 the day before the Hall of Fame game, had 70 tackles and a career-high five interceptions in 2010, his first season back in Chicago after spending three seasons with the Carolina Panthers.
Projected to start at free safety, Harris likely wouldn't play too deeply into the second quarter in the first preseason game.
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