Bears' linebacker Tinoisamoa out for season
Here's the final countdown on Pisa Tinoisamoa's first year with the Bears: Three quarters of action, two knee injuries, one lost season.
Lovie Smith announced Wednesday the veteran strong-side linebacker, a key offseason acquisition, is out the rest of the year with cartilage damage in his right knee.
"Unfortunately his knee injury will require surgery," Smith said. "It's a shame you didn't get a chance to see Pisa really play for an extended period of time. He's a heckuva football player."
Tinoisamoa suffered his initial knee injury on the season's first play from scrimmage at Green Bay. He returned to the lineup for Sunday's loss at Atlanta and produced 4 tackles and 1 forced fumble before leaving in the third quarter.
Fortunately for the Bears, middle linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer returned to practice on Wednesday after missing the last two games with a cracked rib.
The official injury report claimed Hillenmeyer saw "limited" practice time - which put him in the same category as defensive tackle Israel Idonije (knee) and special teams stalwarts Corey Graham (ankle) and Josh Bullocks (ankle).
Presuming Hillenmeyer is healthy enough to play Sunday at Cincinnati, Lovie Smith declined to say whether he or Nick Roach would start in the middle.
In the wins against Pittsburgh and Seattle, Hillenmeyer played in the middle and Roach started on the strong side.
Two Bears didn't participate in Wednesday's practice: running back Adrian Peterson (knee) and defensive tackle Tommie Harris. While Peterson isn't expected back this week, Harris simply was resting his knee.
Harris owns 9 tackles - 3 of them for losses - in the first five games. Coming into this season, Harris averaged 3.3 tackles per game and 1 sack every three games.
Forte OK: Second-year running back Matt Forte ranks 18th in the NFL in rushes per game (17.2), but just 24th in yards per game (58.8).
That leads to a less than stellar 3.4 yards per carry, which is a half-yard worse than Forte's rookie-year average. There's obviously an issue there, but Forte says it has nothing to do with health - or lack thereof.
"I don't think anybody plays at 100 percent, but my knee is fine," Forte said. "If I wasn't capable of playing, I wouldn't go out there."
No line change: In order to have its voice heard, the Josh Beekman Appreciation Society will need to kickstart an e-mail campaign or picket outside Soldier Field.
Lovie Smith declared the Bears will trot out the same offensive line at Cincinnati as their first five games. That includes Frank Omiyale staying at left guard ahead of Beekman, who started every game there last year.
"I think the O-Line is good," Omiyale said when asked if the line is frustrated. "Everybody has their own personal deal saying, 'I wish I could have done better,' after they look at (the tape). That's our main goal today: To pick one thing and get better at it."