Forte Expects To Be 100% For Monday

From Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com:

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Matt Forte rested his sore toe Tuesday when the Bears returned to the practice field. But the rookie running back expects to be at full strength for Monday night’s game against the Packers.

“Oh yeah, I’ll be 100 percent,” said Forte, who ranks eighth in the NFL in rushing with 1,115 yards and seven TDs on 280 carries.

The second-round pick from Tulane injured his toe on the Bears’ first play from scrimmage in last Thursday night’s 27-24 overtime win over New Orleans. Forte returned to the game against his hometown team and rushed for 34 yards, including a 1-yard TD.

“It was real big, especially against the Saints,” said the Louisiana native. “It was a big game I was looking forward to. Unfortunately things happen like that—you get hurt on the first play—so it was good for me to go back out there and play the rest of the game.”

Forte already has set Bears rookie records with 1,539 yards from scrimmage and 58 receptions, breaking marks that were held by Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Mike Ditka, respectively.

Forte needs 69 yards to eclipse Anthony Thomas’ team rookie rushing record of 1,183 yards set in 2001. But more importantly, the former Tulane star is determined to get back on the field at 100 percent to help the Bears (8-6) earn a playoff berth.

Asked about the biggest challenge in recovering from his injury, Forte said: “Just to get rest and when you have treatment go to it because a lot of people think it’s just a toe. But a toe’s very important when you’re a running back because you have to make cuts and things like that.”

Change of plans: The Bears held a brief workout Tuesday and will push back their preparation schedule by one day because they play on Monday night instead of Sunday. That means that players will be off Wednesday and practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Forte wasn’t the only player who didn’t work out Tuesday.

“We kept out quite a few of our players today to just heal up,” said coach Lovie Smith. “We’ll get on our regular game-week routine on Thursday and I expect we’ll have all of our players out there then.”

Playoff picture: The Bears are focusing all of their attention this week on their game against Green Bay, but there’s a chance they could be eliminated from the playoffs entirely even before stepping on the field Monday night.

That would occur if the Cowboys beat the Ravens Saturday night coupled with wins on Sunday by the Vikings over the Falcons, the Buccaneers over the Chargers and the Eagles over the Redskins.

“It is hard not to look at [the various playoff scenarios],” said defensive end Adewale Ogunleye. “You’ve got to see the big picture that your destiny’s out of your hands. We always talked about that early in the season. But right now we’ve just got to hope and pray that things work out the right way.”

Williams out: The Vikings received some bad news Monday when it was learned that defensive tackle Pat Williams—half of the so-called “Williams Wall”—will miss 2-6 weeks with a fractured shoulder sustained in Sunday’s 35-14 rout of Arizona.

Defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams were suspended for four games by the NFL for violating the league policy on steroids and related substances. But a federal judge in Minnesota issued a temporary injunction, enabling them to continue playing.

The Vikings run defense, which ranks second in the NFL, will face the league’s top two run offenses in the Falcons and Giants the final two weeks of the season. The only way the Bears can win the NFC North is with wins over the Packers and Texans coupled with two Minnesota losses.

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