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Twitter spat prompts Bears' Marshall to challenge fan

Coach Marc Trestman doesn't believe wide receiver Brandon Marshall will be distracted from the task at hand on Sunday following a two-day Twitter feud with a critic whom Marshall challenged to a boxing match.

As if he didn't have enough to do to figure out why his team has lost five of six games, Trestman on Friday was pressed about the latest distraction involving Marshall.

"The No. 1 thing is that it will be addressed," Trestman said. "No. 2 is - and I've said this many times in here - that we're in a new world of social media.

"We talk to our guys about it. We don't police everything that they do, (but) we ask them to take a deep breath before they press that 'send' button. Hopefully they make decisions that are in the best interest of their team. Certainly that's not the most important part of our weekly focus but, at the proper time, we can talk about."

Coming off two straight demoralizing losses, this week isn't the proper time, but that apparently didn't enter into Marshall's thinking.

"It don't matter about no timing," Marshall said. "I'm a grown man. There's no timing. Because we're 3-6 you expect me to change who I am? This is who I am. I'm not changing who I am. This is who I am. I'm not trying to impress you. This is who I am."

That's the problem with Marshall, and that's always been the problem with Marshall. He just doesn't get it.

The PR nightmare began when a random Lions fan was critical of Marshall on Instagram and then insulted his mother. Marshall said, on Twitter, he'd give the guy "5K to get in the ring with me" and "another 10K" if he beat Marshall.

Somewhere in Marshall's idiotic scheme was a plan to "launch a campaign of anti-bullying."

Marshall also talked about Showtime covering the event. After he ridiculed the attention that his Twitter spat generated, Marshall continued to prattle on. Trestman seemed eager to forget the incident.

"We cannot monitor everything our players do," the Bears' coach said. "For the most part, our players do a terrific job on social media because I get feedback from people responsible for looking at it. There have been (other) times; it's happened infrequently, and if it does, we address it with our players and move forward. But none of us are perfect in this area."

Especially Marshall.

Back in action:

Wide receiver Marquess Wilson was added to the 53-man roster from injured reserve/designated to return, and he's expected to be active on Sunday against the Vikings.

Before he suffered a fractured collarbone in early August during a training camp practice, the 6-foot-4 Wilson was being groomed for the No. 3 wide receiver role. Despite catching just 2 passes as a rookie in 2013, the seventh-round pick had shown great promise.

"We saw it out there, and we saw it in the spring," coach Marc Trestman said. "He was ascending, was learning the offense, was involved in making plays out there for us, and we were excited about it. "(Now), we're optimistic that he'll be in position to help us."

Getting mental:

In losing their previous two games by a combined 106-37, the Bears have seen seen mistakes and ineffectiveness snowball into an avalanche of points and a tidal wave of emotion they couldn't reverse.

Offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer said those issues have to be addressed before the Bears can stop the tailspin.

"Football is mental toughness," Kromer said. "It's mental stability, it's resiliency in a game or in a play and going on to the next play. All those things are a factor, and that's where we have to get better."

Health beat:

Tight end Martellus Bennett (ribs), wide receiver Brandon Marshall (ankle), cornerbacks Tim Jennings (knee) and Terrance Mitchell (illness) and defensive end Cornelius Washington (illness) are all probable for Sunday. All were full participants in Friday's practice, except Marshall, who was limited.

Right tackle Jordan Mills (ribs) is doubtful and wide receiver Josh Morgan (shoulder) is questionable. Neither practiced, nor did guard-tackle Eben Britton (appendectomy), defensive end Trevor Scott (knee) or linebacker Darryl Sharpton (hamstring), who are all out.

• Follow Bob's Bears and NFL reports on Twitter@BobLeGere.

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