Bears' Craig Steltz has stepped up at strong safety

The secondary will be without rookie free safety Chris Conte for the remainder of the season, but second-year safety Major Wright will be back this week after missing most of the Chiefs game and the following two games with a shoulder injury.

With Wright sidelined, Craig Steltz has stepped in at strong safety and been a force against the run with 27 tackles, including 3 for negative yardage and his first career sack.

“Safety play is critical against this (Packers) offense,” said Bears defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. “But these guys have been good. Craig Steltz has played excellent football for us, and we're really happy with him.”

Brandon Meriweather filled in last week after Conte was injured in the second quarter and had 6 tackles.

“Brandon has got to step up and play really well,” Marinelli said.

“It'll be big for us to get Major Wright back, but Steltz has played well,” said Bears coach Lovie Smith. “Brandon Meriweather is anxious to step in, so we should be OK.”

Conte hobbled through the locker room Thursday on crutches and with a cast on his injured foot and ankle.

“It's a pretty bad sprain,” he said. “I was in on a tackle and one of the linemen just came through and my leg got caught in the ground. I was really pretty lucky that it wasn't worse than it was.

“It's not anything serious. I'll make a full recovery. Just do some rehab and stuff as soon as the season's over. I'll probably have a cast on it for three weeks.”

Aging gracefully:Since training camp, 31-year-old linebacker Lance Briggs has compared the Bears' defense to fine wine when the subject of its advancing age has been broached.Most recently, he was asked about the chance of all the 30-something defenders getting old at the same time, sometime in the near future.#8220;Well, I can tell you one thing,#8221; Briggs said, #8220;if everybody's jumping off a bridge, I'm not going to follow. I think we all scale our own hills, and we all have our own paths. For me, playing next to 5-4 (33-year-old Brian Urlacher), maybe I'm biased, but (he) just keeps getting better. (No.) Thirty-three (30-year-old Charles Tillman), same way, (he) keeps getting better. They're just adding to their legacies.#8221;Injury update:Running backs Matt Forte (knee) and Marion Barber (calf), linebacker Lance Briggs (ankle), wide receiver Devin Hester (ankle) and quarterback Jay Cutler remained out of practice Thursday. Briggs is expected to play, while Cutler and Forte will not. Defensive tackle Henry Melton (shin) and tight end Kellen Davis (back) were limited at practice.#8220;We're going to need every good player we have to beat a mighty team like the Packers,#8221; Lovie Smith said. #8220;We need to get a win in the worst way.#8221;For the Packers, defensive end Ryan Pickett (concussion) did not practice, while offensive tackle Chad Clifton (hamstring/calf) and linebacker Desmond Bishop (calf) were limited.