As Chris Harris met with Bears coach Lovie Smith on Thursday morning, the veteran strong safety never sensed it was personal.
Harris figured he wasn't in the Bears' future long before Smith summoned him for a five-minute meeting, especially with former third-round draft picks Major Wright and Chris Conte now the starting safety combination.
And after Smith informed Harris of his release, Harris was unclear about the reasons behind the decision but refused to lash out.
"There was no bad blood,'' Harris said, "at least not on my end.''
As Smith explained to reporters Thursday that the decision to release Harris was based on production. In three starts, Harris had 14 tackles and did not have an interception. He tied for the team lead with five interceptions in 16 starts last season.
Harris was willing to play special teams but said he never was asked, so the fact he wasn't a regular special teams contributor may not have been the deciding factor.
"Chris Harris helped us win a lot of football games, but it is a business and for us it's about production,'' Smith reiterated. "We felt like we had some other options that we felt pretty good about.
"… That's never any fun when you have to go a different direction from one of the guys who has been around here a while. We're excited about the safeties we do have here. You don't make a move like that unless you feel pretty good about it, and we do."
In the locker room, Harris was admired for leadership and praised for his football intelligence.
"It's tough, man,'' linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "He's one of my best friends on the team. He's a great guy and a great teammate."
Harris, a sixth-round draft pick in 2005, started 39 of 44 games during two stints with the Bears, recording 10 interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
But now, he and the Bears must move forward.
Harris, 29, expressed a desire to reunite with the Broncos' John Fox, his former coach on the Panthers, or with former Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, who replaced Fox.
Because the NFL is well beyond the trade deadline, Harris has to go through the waiver process. If claimed, his new club would be on the hook for $644,000, the remainder of Harris' $1.095 million salary this season.
As for the Bears, Smith expressed confidence in the often-injured Wright and the unproven rookie Conte, with Wright at strong safety and Conte at free.
"They'll get better each rep,'' Smith said. "We feel like we can play winning football with them. Brandon Meriweather moving into the third safety slot also. Craig Steltz, Anthony Walters, we still have five safeties on our roster. No team has six. This is the right thing to do.''
The Bears claimed former Rams linebacker Jabara Williams off waivers to take Harris' roster spot. But there's still a void without Harris around.
"He was one of most well-liked guys on our team," Urlacher said. "I guess the message here is that anyone can get cut at any time."
