Hester OK, but point has been made

If the defense can't afford to be without Tommie Harris or Mike Brown, the offense has a player that is just as irreplaceable: Devin Hester.

But not for his potential on offense.

It's what he does for the offense while on special teams, and he can't do that if he's getting beat up playing offense.

That was the fear when the Bears converted Hester to wide receiver in the off-season.

There also was a question of his size and whether he'd learn technique, and that was a factor Saturday night at Soldier Field when he suffered a left shoulder injury six minutes into the game.

As Cedric Benson was getting hit for a 5-yard loss, Hester went too low while attempting to block safety Michael Lewis, and he hit his shoulder on Lewis' left knee.

Hester was done for the night, and though the Bears say it's just a bruise, the point was made.

The Bears need Hester, and you have to wonder if his potential on offense is worth the potential for disaster.

That same potential -- for disaster, that is -- exists every time Rex Grossman handles the ball, and he displayed that again Saturday in the Bears' 31-28 victory over the dreadful 49ers.

When he had time to throw, which was on every offensive play except for one, Grossman hit wide-open receivers and had a field day, using short fields to march the Bears in for easy scores against a woeful defense.

Just like early last season, he also got lucky with dropped interceptions that would have changed his day and the score of the game.

He did throw one pick that went 52 yards the other way for a Walt Harris touchdown, and he tossed another a few minutes later that also should have been collected and run back. But that one was dropped.

Earlier, one sequence summed up Grossman's night and was eerily similar to a good portion of last season.

With the score 17-7, the Niners' Nate Clements dropped a Grossman pick that might have gone the other way for a TD, on the only play when the Niners got pressure.

On the next play, Brad Maynard was supposed to punt from deep in his own end, but after dropping the ball, Maynard ran for the first down and Grossman then led the Bears easily down the field for a touchdown.

Instead of a close game, it was a 14-point swing and the contest was over.

If you're keeping score, Grossman could have had 3 picks returned for TDs, to go along with a fumbled exchange from center, after insisting this week that the problem had been fixed.

On the other side of the ledger, Grossman went 13-for-20 (211 yards) with 2 TDs.

As he was last season, Grossman remains a very good quarterback when he has time to throw, short fields, wide-open receivers and a horrible opposing defense.

There's nothing wrong with taking advantage of that, but his 100-plus QB rating was as deceptive Saturday as it was in several starts last season, when the real stars were Hester and the defense.

The sycophants -- and Lovie Smith -- will point to it and say Grossman's headed to the Hall of Fame. The haters will say he can't protect the football and ought to be replaced immediately.

As usual, it's somewhere in between. Grossman was very good on a lot of plays and terrible on just a few.

Against a good team, he might have been eaten alive, but the NFC is filled with bad teams, and he will have plenty of chances to pile up big numbers this year.

It'll help considerably if Devin Hester stays on the field.

brozner@dailyherald.com