LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears placed quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte on injured reserve on Tuesday, meaning they will miss the season finale at Minnesota this week.

The moves were hardly surprising given Chicago’s recent struggles.

The Bears (7-8) have lost five straight since Cutler broke his right thumb late in a win over San Diego on Nov. 20, and things took another bad turn two weeks later when Forte sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee against Kansas City.

Cutler, who was scheduled to have surgically inserted pins removed Tuesday, threw for 2,319 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Forte finished with 997 yards rushing and 490 receiving and was selected to his first Pro Bowl hours after being placed on IR. He’s the first Chicago running back to make it since Neal Anderson following the 1991 season.

With Cutler and Forte on IR, the Bears elevated defensive tackle Jordan Miller from the practice squad and signed guard Mansfield Wrotto.

Chicago also announced on its website that rookie offensive lineman Gabe Carimi had surgery Tuesday on his right knee to repair connective tissue around his patella and medial collateral ligament.

The first-round pick started the first two games before injuring his knee and briefly returned to practice before having an arthroscopic procedure on the knee in November.

He is expected to be ready before the start of training camp.

Cutler’s injury sent Chicago into a tailspin, knocking out of contention a team that appeared on its way to the playoffs after last year’s run to the NFC title game.

The Bears were eliminated with a loss at Green Bay on Sunday, but they were just about out of it by the time they arrived at Lambeau Field.

One reason was the lack of a reliable backup quarterback.

Chicago put in a waiver claim on Kyle Orton after Cutler went down, but Kansas City had priority and got him. The Bears wound up signing Josh McCown, who was coaching quarterbacks at a North Carolina high school, and passed on going after Donovan McNabb after Minnesota let him go.

Meanwhile, backup Caleb Hanie struggled and went 0-4 as the starter. McCown got the nod against the Packers and performed better, throwing for 242 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in his first NFL appearance since 2009, but the Bears saw their playoff hopes vanish in a 35-21 loss.

A healthy Forte might have made a difference, but his season ended when he took a hit to the knee against Kansas City. It didn’t help that backup Marion Barber committed costly mistakes in losses to the Chiefs and Denver the following week.

He had a touchdown catch in a 10-3 loss to Kansas City called off because he lined up illegally, forcing Chicago to settle for a field goal, and things only got worse for him the following week.

Barber got pushed out of bounds on a run near the end of regulation, helping give Denver enough time to tie the game. In overtime, his fumble led to the winning field goal.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Published: Dec. 27, 2011 at 1:14 PM

CHICAGO, Dec. 27 (UPI) — Doctors were to remove pins stabilizing the thumb of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler Tuesday, but don’t look for him to play again this season.

Head Coach Lovie Smith has not ruled Cutler out of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the 3-12 Vikings in Minneapolis, but after losing five straight games the Bears (7-8) have little to play for.

They were eliminated from post-season contention in a 35-21 Christmas Night loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers — the Bears’ fourth straight loss to the Pack.

Journeyman quarterback Josh McCown will likely get the start after leading the offense to a season-high 441 yards in a losing effort at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

Bears star running back Matt Forte also is unlikely to see action as he recovers from a sprained MCL in his right knee, the Chicago Tribune reported.

“If they’re health and ready to do, we won’t tell them no,” Smith said Monday. “I don’t know if that will be the case.”

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Ten things to take away from the Chicago Bears’ 35-21 loss Sunday night to the Green Bay Packers:

1. Going into the game, I planned to write about the gap between the wide receivers for the Bears and the Packers, a topic that is worth plenty of discussion in terms of Aaron Rodgers dueling against Jay Cutler in the years to come.

But after the Bears put up a season-high 441 yards offense against the Packers in their loss at Lambeau Field, we first have to examine the collapse of the defense in a game that eliminated Lovie Smith’s team from the postseason for the fourth time in five years. It has to be the primary concern because this is a franchise built around the defense for a coach with a defensive background and a general manager who has had his most success drafting on that side of the ball.

The Bears are supposed to be able to compete against Rodgers and the Packers because of their defense. Prior to this season, the Packers had scored more than 21 points against the Bears on just one occasion. They had answers for Mike McCarthy’s offense.

“They had a great defense,” Rodgers said Sunday night after he had a career-best five touchdown passes before being pulled with 7 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the game. “They’re very well coached. I have a lot of respect for coach (Lovie) Smith and coach (Rod) Marinelli and the job they’ve done for them. I have played them nine times as a starter and it’s always a difficult game — physical, the mental chess match that goes on between Brian (Urlacher) and myself. They played a lot more one-high than they usually do against us and guys were able to get open and we made some plays down the field.”

Smith and Marinelli got all the offense they could have expected from 32-year-old journeyman quarterback Josh McCown and No. 3 running back Kahlil Bell. The offense controlled the ball for 35:48, 11:36 longer than the Packers had it, and the Bears ran 19 more offensive plays than Green Bay. The defense hadn’t been good enough to carry the team to a victory over the previous month. In this instance, the defense was fresh and it couldn’t even keep the Bears in the game. You name it, it went wrong. They couldn’t get off the field when it counted as Green Bay converted five of nine third downs. The pass rush against an offensive line that was missing both starting tackles was anemic. The coverage was frequently compromised.

“Defensively, just didn’t have it tonight,” Smith said.

It was 14-10 early in the third quarter after left guard Edwin Williams recovered a fumble by Bell in the end zone for a touchdown. The Packers struck back almost immediately with a play that cost Chris Harris his starting job back in October. Jordy Nelson ran a Pump-8. He faked a corner route and then ran a  post ( 8 route). Free safety Major Wright did just what the Packers hoped for — he opened his hips and got turned around. All Nelson had to do was run under the 55-yard bomb from Rodgers for a touchdown, one of a career-high five for the quarterback. It’s the same route Calvin Johnson ran to burn the Bears at Ford Field earlier this season.

“That was a designed play,” Rodgers said. “With Jordy, we were trying to get him on a safety. We were fortunate enough to get two-high coverage there, which really allows him to run free on the safety. On the backside, (strong safety Craig) Steltz was kind of hanging low with (tight end) Jermichael (Finley), who was running a deep crossing pattern. The protection is usually pretty good in that type of play. I had plenty of time, raised up and kind of had a spot on the field I wanted to hit, the far hash. I put the kind of throw I wanted to on it and Jordy did a nice job running underneath it.”

Said Wright: “It’s a hard play because Nelson fakes one way and comes back in the other way. That’s it.”

That pushed the Packers’ lead to 11 and after a three-and-punt, Green Bay mounted a 75-yard drive that was capped by Rodgers 7-yard touchdown pass to James Jones, one of two on the night for him. It was a back shoulder throw and cornerback Zack Bowman, in the Cover-1 Rodgers was describing, was almost helpless. Rodgers had picked the Bears apart earlier on quick slants. There were three touchdown passes on quick slants — a 2-yarder to tight end Finley, a 2-yarder to Jones and a 2-yarder to Nelson.

The slant was there time and time again. Bowman, who was beaten twice on the slant, wasn’t quick enough to make a play on the ball and the receivers are split so wide that there is no way safety help can arrive in time. That’s the way the defense is designed, with the defensive backs taught to take away the outside. It’s why you see opponents hit the Bears in that spot.

“They are playing the fade route,” Finley explained. “And once you play the fade route and you give them the stick, they’re going to jump out the window.”

It happens seemingly year after year in this rivalry.

“It’s a thing of beauty,” Finley said.

Is he surprised the Bears have not adjusted with something vs. the Packers, especially in the red zone?

“If I was the defensive coordinator, I would try to come up with ways to stop it,” he said. “But hey, I can’t fix what are their problems.”

Rodgers said the Packers were careful to include both the quick slant and the back shoulder throw in their game plan in the tight red zone — inside the 10- or 5-yard lines.

“A little bit of both,” he said. “We had good plays called and guys ran good routes. We run a number of fades down in the red zone, and we’ve had some success with those. We mixed it up a little bit and had some success with the slants.”

LAKE FOREST — If the Bears were lucky last year, they are certainly paying for it this season.

It was well documented that the Bears caught break after break last season as they rolled all the way to the NFC championship game. They basically suffered no key injuries, while their opponents were constantly downgraded due to breaks and sprains just before facing off with the Bears. The schedule parted for Chicago like the Red Sea, setting up easy matchups all the way through. The fact that they opened the playoffs against the only postseason team (Seattle) with a losing record just fit right in to the well-paved road that was 2010.

But this year, karma is biting back.

“Unfortunately,” Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said Friday, “situations arose that have caught us off guard.”
One after another, after another.

It all started in the second week of training camp in Bourbonnais, when a regional power outage forced the Bears to move practice to a different facility midsession. Just a few days later, the condition of the field at Soldier Field was a disgrace, thus causing the cancellation of Family Weekend, and forcing the Bears players and coaches to board a bus back to camp and practice late into the night.

It didn’t seem too bad at the time, but now we see it was just a sign of what was to come.

The offensive line was so disheveled early on that line coach Mike Tice was called upon to work his magic numerous times, changing the alignment four times in the first six weeks, which included the season-ending injury to his No. 1 pick Gabe Carimi. He has brought it all back together each time, but it hasn’t been easy. And the line hasn’t even been the worst of the Bears’ troubles.

Devin Hester’s “biffing” incident in an area casino; veteran safety, and fan favorite, Chris Harris was benched, then waived; Cutler, playing the best ball of his career, broke his thumb while making a tackle after a fluke interception; Forte, leading the league in yards from scrimmage at the time, went down the next week with a sprained knee.

Then they got “Tebowed” so hard Sunday it may have just knocked them out of the playoffs, and Sam Hurd capped it all off by getting busted for trying to start a drug ring in Chicago that would have made Scarface proud.

Whew. Now that’s a season full of adversity.

“Yea, we’ve had our share this year,” Cutler said. “That’s how it works in this league. … One day you’re in great shape, the next you’re down.”

Last year the Bears were one of the healthiest teams in the league, losing starters for only five games while placing just two players (linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer and running Harvey Unga) on injured reserve. This year, they haven’t been so lucky as six players are already on IR and they have lost nearly 30 games to injured starters.

First came linemen Carimi and Chris Williams, then long-snapper and special teams’ captain Patrick Mannelly went down. And this was a young team to start with. There have been 27 different first-year Bears on the roster this year, with eight undrafted free agents trying to slip into the mix.

Chicago tried to retool in certain areas with players like safety Brandon Meriweather and Cowboy-castaway wide receivers Roy Williams and Hurd. I think we all know how those moves turned out.

“That’s how life goes,” Bears head coach Lovie Smith said Friday, shortly before it was announced that Hurd had been waived. “There are life lessons that are being learned here by our football team.”

This year, the Bears have been learning the hard way.

Jay Taft covers the Chicago Bears for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.

The 2011 NFL seasons for the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bears couldn’t be more different at this point. The Broncos, behind second-year quarterback Tim Tebow and a much improved defense, have gotten better with every game since Tebow took over in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins. They’re making a surprising playoff run at this late stage of the season.

The Chicago Bears, on the other hand, are seeing their playoff hopes fall apart in recent weeks after losing Jay Cutler to season-ending surgery to repair a fractured thumb. If things weren’t bad enough for the Bears with the loss of their quarterback, the loss of star running back Matt Forte to a sprained MCL has further crippled the offense. After going 7-3 to start the season, the Bears have lost their last two games in a most pitiful fashion and don’t look like they can win another game with the crew they have on the field now.

There are two possible ways that this game can go on Sunday. One possibility is that the Broncos finally expand their offensive scheme and open things up like they did against Minnesota in an attempt to score a few touchdowns in the first half. The Broncos are actually a team perfectly suited to protecting leads late in game rather than having to come from behind. With a strong defense and a rapidly improving running game, the Broncos are the kind of team that should be protecting leads in the fourth quarter and not scrambling to try and put points on the board at that point. Against the offensively hapless Bears, a solid two-touchdown lead should be all they need to win the game.

The other possibility is that the Bears find a way to win this game. The Bears currently have the eighth-ranked rushing defense in the NFL, allowing just 99.8 yards per game. They also have lots of team speed on defense which should prevent Tim Tebow from getting out on the edge and gaining valuable yards. If the Bears can hold the Broncos running attack to minimal yards and find a way to get a lead, the Broncos might unleash Tebow to pass a little earlier in the game than they normally have.

That could easily benefit the Bears as they are capable of grabbing several turnovers in a relatively short period of time in any particular game. The defense has been largely responsible for why Chicago has a +7 turnover differential (3rd in the NFL) despite the six interceptions that Hanie himself has thrown in the past two games. If Tebow underestimates the speed of players such as Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs in the short field, then the Bears could potentially give Tebow his first multiple-turnover game as a starter in 2011.

Ultimately, I think that the Bears defense is quite capable of controlling the Broncos offense. Unfortunately, the Broncos defense is equally (or more) likely to be able to control the Bears offense. This game could come down to a couple big plays on defense. The team that wins the turnover battle will most likely come out on top in this game.

Julie is a lifelong Chicago Bears fan living in Denver. The Broncos are her second favorite team, and she has admittedly begun to believe that Tim Tebow could be the Broncos starter in 2012. That story at least distracts her from the mess that the Bears’ season has turned into.

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The Chicago Bears are on their last legs—literally.

Brett Favre is still deciding if he will return for another season in the NFL. His offseason ankle surgery may play a big role in that decision.
Wikimedia Commons

With quarterback Jay Cutler(notes) sidelined with a broken finger and running back Matt Forte(notes)—who should have gotten paid weeks ago, I might add—out with a knee sprain, it didn’t take long for someone to mention that one former quarterback from Hattiesburg, Miss.

You know, that one guy who played in Green Bay for a long time, then went to New York, then ended his career in Minnesota—or so we thought. Now, Brett Favre(notes) has been said to be interested in the Bears’ quarterback job.

Well, that’s if the Bears decide to risk backlash from their faithful fans and call up a guy who used to hate playing against them when he was wearing green and yellow in the NFC North.

I don’t see it happening, for a few reasons.

First of all, Favre is up their in age. He is 42, and the last time NFL fans saw him he was barely walking straight in his final go-round with the Vikings. He is not getting any younger and he can’t take a hit as well as he could five or ten years ago, and with essentially no running game, Favre would take a beating.

Then there’s the public perception of having Favre on your football team.

The circus has swirled around Favre more in the past five years than in all his other years combined, bitterly leaving Green Bay in a move that made Aaron Rodgers(notes) the starter. (How did that work out for Packers GM Ted Thompson?) Favre then rode his tractor, er, car, to the Big Apple and had a pretty decent season with the Jets. An injury ruined his time there, but he wasn’t done.

The 2009 season was a magical one for Favre, posting great numbers on what many considered the NFC’s best team, or at least close to it. But a costly Favre interception (and he does hold the all-time interception mark in NFL history) ruined the Vikings’ chances of playing in another Super Bowl and gave way for the skeptics to come out once more and say that was everything he had in his tank.

And they were pretty much right. The Vikings struggled mightily in 2010 and Favre couldn’t even finish the season.

After all that, the bitter escape and constantly being ridiculed by the public, Favre’s name pops up again because, well, we all know he loves toying around professional franchises and media members. Favre was Tebow before Tebow, and Favre does make Tebow look like a saint in many regards. No. 4 has a reputation that has taken a few too many hits in recent years, and the NFL is a what have you done for me lately-type league.

The Bears have come out and said they aren’t interested. For some reason I think Favre will stay retired. As a Detroit Lions fan, I hope he goes to the Bears, actually.

But really, who am I kidding?

Sources:

NFL.com

Yahoo! Sports NFL

ESPN.com

ProFootballTalk.com

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The Kansas City Star reports Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has decided Tyler Palko(notes) will be his starter Dec. 4 against the Chicago Bears. Yet he also told the publication that he will do whatever it takes to win the crucial game.

Haley also said that newly acquired Kyle Orton(notes) took about half of the snaps in practice this week in preparation for the next game. Despite his assertions, it appears Haley is having trouble deciding on which quarterback will be in the game against the Bears.

He may have a case of the Oakland Raiders on his hands. When Oakland lost Jason Campbell(notes) for the season due to a broken collarbone, the quarterback tandem of Carson Palmer(notes) and Kyle Boller(notes) managed six interceptions between them at home against the Chiefs. Palmer has since settled into the Raiders lineup after coming out of a self-imposed exile with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Palko will start for the third straight game. But Haley’s message is clear. Don’t be surprised if fans see Orton under center sometime against the Bears. It will be a matter of necessity and pragmatism for the Chiefs. If Orton can save the Chiefs’ season, so be it.

A loss means they may be out of an AFC West division title. With five games to go, Kansas City is behind Oakland by three games. Another loss, coupled with a win by the Raiders, will put them in a precarious position of being four games behind with four remaining on the schedule. Plus Kansas City also has the San Diego Chargers ahead of them in the standings. Overcoming a deficit to not one but two teams at this stage is going to take a turnaround of epic proportions.

The Haley plan for the the preseason failed in the first game. Then there was optimism when Kansas City won four games in a row. Then they returned to their losing ways with four straight defeats. A division title is not out of reach, but clearly more setbacks will make it more difficult.

How the Chiefs respond against the Bears, after coming so close to defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers a week earlier, will basically make or break the season. If Kansas City makes a game of it, at least fans can say the Chiefs improved on the year and did the best they could with so many injuries. If the Bears blowout KC, look for an interesting offseason full of changes.

William Browning is a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs after latching on to the team during the lean years of St. Louis football. Born in the gateway city, he is also a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. He currently resides in Branson, Mo.

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Note: The opinions expressed here are my takes on each player’s individual matchup. As always, use your best judgment and conduct your own research on who to start or bench each week. You know your individual team and/or league situation better than anyone else.

Caleb Hanie(notes), QB

Hanie had a solid 20.16 fantasy point performance last week against the Oakland Raiders despite throwing three interceptions during the game. He looks to have a favorable matchup this week against the Kansas City Chiefs who are giving up 16.74 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season. He still does not have enough experience to warrant a start however.

Matt Forte(notes), RB

While averaging 15.20 fantasy points per game, Forte has cooled off in the past couple of weeks. He scored just 8.40 fantasy points last week against the Raiders and shared time with Marion Barber(notes) who scored 6.30 fantasy points of his own. He does look to have a favorable matchup this week against the Chiefs who are giving up 22.35 fantasy points per game to running backs this season. Even if he splits touches again this week, he should at least put up totals just below his average.

Roy Williams, WR

I am including Williams this week because of the five targets he got from Hanie last week against the Raiders. With the Chiefs giving up 21.09 fantasy points per game to wide receivers and the I believe Williams could be one of the sleeper picks of the week.

Johnny Knox(notes), WR

Knox has been red hot these last two weeks scoring 15.70 fantasy points against the San Diego Chargers and 20.50 fantasy points last week against the Raiders. He has a favorable matchup this week against the Chiefs and even with Hanie under center; he looks poised for another big week this week.

Kellen Davis(notes), TE

With just 12 receptions all season, it is hard to consider Davis a viable fantasy tight end option. Strangely enough, he leafs the team with four touchdown catches. He had a solid 8.50 fantasy point game last week against the Raiders, but has been too inconsistent all season to warrant a start. I would suggest looking for more reliable options this week.

Robbie Gould(notes), K

Averaging 10.50 fantasy points per game, Gould is a very solid fantasy kicking option this season. He scored 12.00 fantasy points last week against the Raiders and looks to have a favorable matchup this week against the Chiefs. Kansas City is giving up 8.50 fantasy points per game to kickers this season leading me to believe he will put up a total near his average this week.

Defense

Averaging 12.00 fantasy points per game, the Chicago Bears’ team defense are one of the top in fantasy football. The scored only 6.00 fantasy points last week against the Raiders but hope to rebound this week against the Chiefs. Kansas City is allowing 9.90 fantasy points per game to team defense leading me to believe they will perform close to their average this week.

Sources:

All data provided by Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football

Paul Rados is an avid fantasy football participant and a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Follow him on Twitter @PSRados or leave him a message on Facebook. For a complete look at his freelance work please visit his Blog.

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Ten thoughts to take away from the Chicago Bears’ 31-20 victory Sunday over the San Diego Chargers:

1. Here is the challenge for Caleb Hanie: Win three of the final six regular-season games to help guide the Chicago Bears into the playoffs.

Here is the schedule:

Nov. 27 at Oakland

Dec. 4 Kansas City

Dec. 11 at Denver

Dec. 18 Seattle

Dec. 25 at Green Bay

Jan. 1 at Minnesota

If Hanie and the Bears can put a W next to three of those games, they’ll be playing on the weekend of Jan. 7-8

2. The key to winning when backup Kyle Orton ran the show in 2005 was pretty simple — he never got in the way of a young roster that was coming together. Orton’s numbers at the end of the season weren’t pretty. He completed 51.6 percent of his passes for 1,869 yards and nine touchdowns. He threw 13 interceptions. But consider that in 13 of his 15 starts he had one or zero picks. The Cincinnati Bengals feasted on Orton for five interceptions in a Week 3 meltdown. Take that game away, and he didn’t lose any other games. He might not have won them, but he didn’t throw them away.

So, the challenge is for the defense to raise its level of play. That ’05 Bears defense allowed 202 points. This year’s model has already allowed 207, but the defense ranks in the top-third of the NFL in that category.

3. Go figure, Jay Cutler was injured in a game when he wasn’t sacked. It’s the second time in three games he didn’t get sacked, one of the reasons his loss is going to be difficult for the offense to handle. That rhythm and timing that Cutler needed not only with his wide receivers but his offensive line was coming together. Mesh that with the play calling by offensive coordinator Mike Martz, and the thing was working. The proof is on the scoreboard. The Bears scored 30 or more points in the last three games, the first time that’s happened in three consecutive weeks since the middle of the 2005 season. The Bears have scored 30 or more points in six games this season and the offense has had 30 or more in eight of the last 13 regular-season games going back to last season.

4. Jay Cutler’s injury information is the most important business on the plate of the team Monday. But the situation for long snapper Pat Mannelly also needs to be sorted out. Mannelly left the game after injuring his left knee on a Robbie Gould field goal in the first quarter. The medical staff made a preliminary diagnosis of the injury but Mannelly didn’t want to share it.

If Mannelly is sidelined, the bet here is the Bears hold a tryout to find a replacement.

5. Those driving the Charles Tillman for the Pro Bowl train had to tap the brakes as San Diego’s Vincent Jackson posed more problems than Detroit’s Calvin Johnson did a week ago. Like the Bears did with Johnson, they moved Tillman all over the field to cover the 6-5 Jackson. But Jackson consistently got behind Tillman in coverage and made seven receptions for 165 yards. Jackson would give Tillman a slight fake to the outside and then he was by him. The difference in speed was obvious.

6. Just like that, Major Wright has an interception in three consecutive games. Philip Rivers made a terrible decision in floating a pass straight to Wright in the end zone when Vincent Jackson was behind him, but it doesn’t matter how Wright gets them, it’s that he does. That is what the Bears have been seeking in the back end — a playmaker with a nose for the ball. Wright still has a long way to go to be that player consistently. But the more he comes up around the ball and with his hands on it, the better things are going to look for him. He continued to split some time with Brandon Meriweather, but Wright is starting to settle in and the improved play of the safeties has been a big difference from the first month of the season.

7. After execution, the key to any successful trick play is going to be the element of surprise. The Bears certainly had that going for them when they ran a fake punt with 1:59 remaining and facing a fourth-and-8 on the Chargers’ 45-yard line. Punter Adam Podlesh’s throw for a wide open Craig Steltz was just a little too far. The Bears were up 31-20 at the time and the idea was that a completed pass would allow them to run out the clock. Instead, it set the Chargers up at midfield. But fill-in nickel back Corey Graham came up with an interception on the next snap.

8. The Bears are being smart with Devin Hester as he tries to heal up from some minor injuries. He was questionable last week with a sprained ankle when he pulled off another return touchdown. The ankle wasn’t quite the same issue leading up to the Chargers’ game, but Hester was limited to a role on special teams. He returned two punts and had one fair catch and returned three kickoffs. He was also on the field for Nick Novak’s 55-yard field goal try on the final play of the first half when the Bears were hoping he could return a miss out of the end zone.

9. The protracted and sometimes confusing search for an offensive coordinator by the Bears nearly two years ago included the name of Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson, who had been the quarterbacks coach of the Baltimore Ravens, where he got credit for working with Joe Flacco. Jackson’s name came up and he had an interview set up with the Bears, but was never considered a serious candidate for the job. Jackson said he canceled an interview while on his way to Chicago and instead accepted the offensive coordinator job with the Raiders under coach Tom Cable. When Cable got run out in Oakland, Jackson took over and he’s done well since. Seven days after Jackson said he spurned the Bears, the team hired Mike Martz for the job. Martz, of course, is in the final year of his contract. He turned down an extension offer from the club during the offseason.

10. It’s also worth noting veteran Bears players will be able to catch up with Raiders offensive line coach Bob Wylie, who held that position for the Bears from 1999 to 2003. Wylie was very popular with the players in the locker room. He was hired by Hue Jackson during the offseason after splitting duties the year before coaching the line for the Denver Broncos. Wylie was in charge when the Bears had to make a decision between centers — Olin Kreutz and Casey Wiegmann, who is still starting in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kreutz and Wiegmann were battling for the job in 1999, Kreutz’s second season in the league. Wylie was new and wasn’t certain how he wanted to handle the competition. He figured because Wiegmann had more experience, he’d let him start the first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. Wylie announced his decision with just the two of them in the O-line meeting room. Kreutz walked out of the room, slamming the door so hard the handle blasted a hole in the wall.

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has a broken thumb on his right, throwing hand and will undergo surgery, a major blow for a team contending for a playoff spot in the NFC.

Coach Lovie Smith said Cutler will be out “for an extended time” but expects to get him back this season. He would not say when the surgery would take place, just “hopefully fairly quick” and provided few details about the specific nature of the injury.

He did make one thing clear, though.

“Is it a season-ending injury? No,” Smith said Monday. “From what I’ve been told right now, we can expect him back at the end of the regular season.”

The regular-season finale is Jan. 1 at Minnesota.

With Cutler out, the Bears will turn to backup Caleb Hanie against Oakland this weekend. They’ll also look to bring in a veteran quarterback.

Hanie has thrown just 14 regular-season passes in four years. He made some plays in the NFC championship game against Green Bay last season after Cutler was injured and Todd Collins struggled, helping keep the Bears in it, but Chicago ultimately lost to the Packers.

Cutler was injured trying to help tackle Antoine Cason on an interception return in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 31-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers.

Story continues below

Cutler stayed in and finished with 286 yards passing. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while leading the Bears (7-3) to their fifth straight win.

Around the league

Jets • Coach Rex Ryan was fined $75,000 by the NFL on Monday for using profanity while angrily responding to a fan at halftime of New York’s 37-16 loss to New England on Nov. 13. Ryan received an official notice from Commissioner Roger Goodell in the morning, and said he will not appeal the penalty.

“The commissioner’s got a tough enough job,” Ryan said. “I’m an NFL lifer. I know I represent the NFL and I know I represent the Jets, so I’m accountable for my actions.”

Ryan spoke to Goodell a few days ago to discuss the matter, and to apologize to him.

Vikings • Running back Adrian Peterson has a high ankle sprain that will put him in a walking boot, leaving his availability for Sunday’s game at Atlanta question. Peterson’s left ankle rolled hard late in the first quarter on Sunday against Oakland while he was tackled at the end of a run. He didn’t return. Peterson has missed three games in his five-year NFL career.

49ers • Safety Dashon Goldson insists his fight with Arizona wide receiver Early Doucet was a one-time transgression and said he addressed his teammates and coaches after Sunday’s 23-7 win over the Cardinals regarding the mistake. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an email that the league doesn’t plan to suspend Goldson, who will get word on a potential fine when they are handed down Friday.

Chiefs • Kansas City placed quarterback Matt Cassel on injured reserve with a hand injury, ending his season. Cassel had surgery on his right throwing hand Nov. 14 after being injured one day earlier in a 17-10 loss to Denver. He was placed on IR shortly before Monday night’s game against the New England Patriots. His absence made Tyler Palko, who had thrown 13 NFL passes, the first-stringer with rookie Ricky Stanzi the backup.