Bears' Young ready to start if Allen can't go

Through three weeks, defensive end Willie Young had half of the Bears' 8 sacks and a share of the NFL lead.

Washington's Ryan Kerrigan moved ahead of Young with 1 sack Thursday night to start off Week 4 of the NFL.

Young got off to a great start despite playing behind starters Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston. Now the 6-foot-4, 251-pound Young may get his first chance to start Sunday because of an illness that kept Allen out of practice all week.

"This is an opportunity," said Young, who started 15 games for the Detroit Lions last season before signing with the Bears in free agency. "That's why we're all here. Jared will be missed. Hopefully we still have some leadership and his presence on the sideline with us.

"We're professionals here, and when one guy goes down we have to look for guys to step up and be effective and just go from there."

After four seasons with the Lions, Young knows how difficult it can be to get to get to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, even though only two teams this year have allowed more sacks than Green Bay's 9.

"When you think you've got him, you've got to make sure," Young said. "He's an A-to-Z quarterback. He's an all-around, well-rounded athlete. He can run. You've just got to be on point with everything. You have to finish plays."

Young and the Bears, however, say they must keep running back Eddie Lacy under wraps before they can focus on taking down Rodgers.

"We can talk about the pass all day and getting Rodgers off his spot and just corrupting his timing," Young said. "But we also have to be effective up front against the run game, too. We can't sleep on the run. It's not a pushover team. It's going to be a physical, physical battle."

Sackless in Chicago:

Jared Allen's 128½ sacks since he entered the league in 2004 are the most in the NFL. But he hasn't added to that total as a Bear, and that represents just the sixth time in his 11-year career he has gone three straight games without a sack.

Allen is tied for the team lead with 3 quarterback pressures, and the Bears will miss his all-around game against the Packers if he's inactive or less than 100 percent.

"Jared is a complete football player," defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said. "First and foremost, he's committed to being a run defender. He sets the tone for those guys up front. He talks about it, and he also backs it up with his actions, the way he practices, the way he plays, in terms of the run game.

"He provides great leadership for us and plays with a very, very high motor. He has a relentless mentality. He's always applying pressure by the way he plays, and I think that helps the other guys."

Forget about it:

The memory is still fresh for many: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers escaping around then-Bears defensive end Julius Peppers and lofting a 48-yard TD pass over the head of safety Chris Conte to Randall Cobb for a 33-28 victory in the final minute to capture the 2013 NFC North title.

But Conte, who is questionable for Sunday's game because of a shoulder injury, is trying not to dwell on it.

"It's a big rivalry game," he said. "Obviously the way things went down last year, it's a big game. But there's a been a lot of things this year that have been big. So it's just another one."

Lost in the rubble of that defeat was Conte's earlier interception. He also had picks in the first two games this season but failed to finish the Week 3 victory over the New York Jets because of the shoulder, which also prevented him from finishing in Week 2.

"I just want to play aggressive and play fast," Conte said. "If I'm on the field, that's how I want to play. If I can't play that way, I don't want to be on the field."

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