Clinton-Dix suffered a knee injury at the end of the Bears' offseason program in June. It lingered as the team reported to training camp last Thursday. The 26-year-old Clinton-Dix returned by working in a limited fashion while the Bears held a 10-10-10 scripted walk-through practice.
"We thought that he’s ready," coach Matt Nagy said of Clinton-Dix's return. "He did some (individual drills) today and we'll just kind of glide into it with him. He had a great OTAs with us mentally, running around, physically.
"I like where he’s at, and it’s good for him to get out there."
The Bears signed Clinton-Dix to a one-year deal this past March, moving the 2016 Pro Bowler into the starting spot vacated by Adrian Amos, who signed with the Packers, Clinton-Dix's former team.
Nagy had maintained all along the Bears would be cautious with Clinton-Dix as he worked the knee back to health.
"We don't play until September, so we wanted to just be careful and make sure I'm ready to go," Clinton-Dix told reporters after practice.
It remains unclear when the Bears will ramp up Clinton-Dix to become a full participant in practice. Under the PUP list rules, any player must be officially activated before returning to practice in any form.
The Bears also activated veteran tackle T.J. Clemmings off the PUP list. He has played in 41 games over four NFL seasons, starting in 32. He hadn't practiced while recovering from a knee injury last season.
Rookie receiver Riley Ridley remains out of practice with a hamstring injury he first experienced last Friday. The Bears are scheduled with an off day Wednesday before practicing in Bourbonnais on Thursday and Friday morning.
The team will travel to Chicago on Saturday for the Family Fest practice inside Soldier Field.