Turner confident Forte has many Pro Bowls in his future

Even though rookie running back Matt Forte is third in the NFL with 1,539 yards from scrimmage, he was not voted to the Pro Bowl.

The Vikings' Adrian Peterson, the Falcons' Michael Turner and the Redskins' Clinton Portis were selected to represent the NFC, and it's hard to complain about any of those choices, since they rank 1-2-3 in the NFL in rushing yards. But Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner believes Forte will be in Hawaii for the all-star game soon enough.

"I'm surprised that he didn't get something this year," Turner said. "For what he's meant to this team and they way he's performed, in my mind, he is (a Pro Bowler), but obviously, he didn't make it. He definitely will; he's going to have a great career."

Forte, who returned to practice Friday, is eighth in the NFL with 1,115 rushing yards, and he's caught a team-best 58 passes for 424 yards, exceeding even the elevated expectations that coaches had for him going into the season.

"We had real high expectations on him, but to know that a rookie was going to come in and have the impact that he's had in all phases, it would be tough to say that," Turner said. "We had a lot of confidence in him, and we did anticipate him coming in here and having success, but to do everything he's done so consistently, I'm not sure we expected that."

Pressing challenge: In the first meeting with Green Bay, Bears receivers were challenged with press coverage at the line of scrimmage, and as a group, they failed. The Bears had just 151 yards through the air in the 37-3 loss, and Kyle Orton completed just 13 of 26 passes. The same coverage is expected Monday night, and the Bears are looking forward to a better performance.

"It's a big challenge anytime somebody comes up and presses you man to man and just says, 'I'm better than you,'" said Bears tight end Desmond Clark, who was held to 1 catch for 4 yards at Green Bay. "As a football player, you almost want that because you know who you have on you. They're going to line up right in front of you, and it's you against them, and may the best man win. As a football player, you like to see that and you like to have that challenge."

Clark offers a simple explanation for why the Packers' secondary won the first battle so decisively.

"They played better than us," Clark said. "That's why it was so hard (to take). There's no other way around it. But things go around. We really believe that we're going to be better than them (this time)."

Making progress: Although he admits he's still got a lot to learn as an NFL quarterback, Kyle Orton believes he's made significant strides this season.

"Just running an offense I think I have improved," Orton said. "I've been able to do a lot of stuff at the line of scrimmage and hopefully put our team in the best situation play in and play out. I can continue to improve. I've got a full year of playing this year, which has helped me a bunch, and over the next couple years I just want to keep on getting the reps and keep on being the guy. I think my game is just going to go from there."

Injury update: Running back Matt Forte (toe) and wide receiver Marty Booker (ribs) were limited at Friday's practice inside the Walter Payton Center. Both were listed as questionable on the injury report but are expected to play Monday night, according to coach Lovie Smith.

"We're in great shape," Smith said. "It's good to get Matt Forte back out on the field today. It seems like he's good to go."

Fullback Jason McKie (quadricep) did not practice and won't play.