Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye looked around the Chicago Bears' locker room at Halas Hall Monday and had flashbacks.

"It feels like I never left," he said.

The Bears had announced Okoye's signing earlier in the day after he was cut by the Bucs, and at the same time cut defensive tackle Brian Price to make room on the roster.

Okoye left the Bears for a $2 million, one-year deal in free agency after he made four sacks last year in a role as the backup three-technique defensive tackle.

Okoye said he always thought he would eventually be a Bear again, especially because he signed only a one-year deal in Tampa.

"My heart was always to come back," he said.

Playing the three-technique position seemed like a good fit for Okoye last year when he was Henry Melton's backup. The system suits his quickness off the ball and ability to get into a gap and the backfield.

"It fits like a glove," he said. "Being here last year and knowing what I like to do, and what this defense asks of me to do, it's perfect."

Okoye had arthroscopic knee surgery in June and said he's fine now. He passed a Bears physical. He had pain in the knee in preseason and the Bucs put off his return, then eventually got tired of waiting and cut him.

"I went into camp a little too early," Okoye said, "I should have took a couple more weeks, just getting that stage of recovery with the weight-bearing and resistance and stuff.

"So I didn't do that and that's what caused the inflammation. After that happened, and I played the first preseason game, the training staff and I decided to just cool it down with limited practice until the season started."

Ironically, Okoye went to Tampa and thought he'd be playing alongside or at least with Price, who came to the Bears for a seventh-round draft pick. When Okoye came back to the Bears, Price was cut and Okoye didn't play with him again.

Price's personal problems -- taking custody of his late sister's two children after she was killed in a hit-and-run accident and the murder years ago of his two brothers -- and his long recovery after a complete reattachment of his two hamstrings were factors holding him back.
"I was definitely looking forward to playing side-by-side with him in Tampa or here," Okoye said. "But it's the bad part of the business and it's unfortunate."

Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLCHI.