The Chicago Bears were aware first-round pick Chris Williams had a herniated disc in his back before they drafted him but contend that concerns over the injury heightened only after he aggravated the injury in training camp.

Williams, speaking for the time since undergoing back surgery, acknowledged Sunday that he became aware of the herniated disc three years ago at Vanderbilt. After tweaking his back on Day 2 of camp, the left tackle had surgery Aug. 6. He is expected to miss 10 weeks.

"I had a herniated disc before I got here," Williams said. "Everybody knew that. It just was a thing where with most people, it doesn't affect (them). It wasn't affecting me. If nothing's broke, you don't fix it."

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo previously had said he was confident the injury was not pre-existing, but Angelo said yesterday the organization was aware Williams had some "wear and tear." The Bears discovered the disc problem after Williams had an MRI at the scouting combine in February.

The Bears said he had "back spasms" when Williams was sidelined at camp.

Sources said Williams tweaked the back while working out at Vanderbilt this summer, but Williams vehemently denied that.

"I worked out fine leading up to training camp," he said. "Got to training camp and just kind of fell apart, I guess."

Slowly, he's putting himself back together. Williams was on the field with his teammates yesterday and stayed after to time the offensive linemen during sprints. His stitches were removed Thursday, and he began to rehab the same day. He thinks he is ahead of schedule but has yet to be cleared to run.

"I want to put the pedal to the metal, but they won't let me," Williams said. "They're making me take it pretty slow and be pretty consistent. The healing time is something that you can't speed up."

Extra points