Bears give safety spot back to Manning vs. Steelers

Danieal Manning returns to the starting lineup Sunday at free safety, with Kevin Payne grabbing a seat on the bench and rookie Al Afalava holding on to the strong safety job.

Manning started training camp as the No. 1 free safety, but a hamstring injury that sidelined him for three weeks also relegated him to the nickel back position on passing downs. Now that he's 100 percent, Manning will start at free safety but still switch to nickel back when the Bears expect a pass, with Payne coming in at free safety.

Manning's speed will be a welcome addition to a secondary that must contain Steelers wide receivers Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward. Holmes caught 55 passes for 821 yards last season and was the Super Bowl MVP. Ward had 81 receptions for 1,043 yards.

"They're going to come in and try to establish the running game, but we know they're going to get back to their base, and that's passing the ball," Manning said. "When you have a quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger and those great receivers, you know he's going to pass the ball."

Last week Roethlisberger threw for 363 yards and the Steelers rushed for only 36 yards on 23 carries.

Works for me: Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has led his team to two Super Bowl wins in his first five years in the league, and he's in the second year of an eight-year, $102-million contract.

He says one of the keys to his success has been maintaining an even keel.

"Being the leader, everyone's kind of watching you and looking at you, and seeing how you react," he said. "Even if inside my heart is racing, and I'm going crazy, I try to at least look on the outside like I'm even-keeled, just so the other guys see that and can hopefully be the same."

Roethlisberger was then asked if he had any advice for the Bears' Jay Cutler, who tends to display his emotions a bit more.

"Well, shoot, he was a Pro Bowler last season," Big Ben said. "He should give me some advice. He's a great quarterback who's going to a bigger market. Pittsburgh's not really a big market, so it's hard for me to give him advice."

How cool: Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs wasn't very emotional over being named a captain to replace injured Brian Urlacher.

"That means you get a patch with a 'C' on your jersey," Briggs said.

But what does it mean to you, personally, he was asked.

"It means I get a little patch that says 'C,' and I get made fun of by my teammates. They're like, 'Ooh, you're a captain.'"

Seriously, though, Briggs said he won't have to change his role on the team.

"I had a leadership role before," he said. "I don't think you necessarily change who you are. I think that would be wrong, so I continue to be me. I've probably each year subtly become more vocal anyway."

Odds and ends: Although Nick Roach will start Sunday's game in place of injured Pisa Tinoisamoa (knee) at strong side linebacker, he'll split reps with Jamar Williams. -

Tight end Desmond Clark (ribs) is also out this week, but defensive tackle Tommie Harris (knee), Al Afalava (shoulder), guard Frank Omiyale (ankle), defensive end Mark Anderson (toe) and Danieal Manning are all listed as "probable" and will play.