Bears' Anthony Adams makes push to start

In last week's loss to the Packers, Bears nose tackle Anthony Adams was singled out for his exceptional play, which included 6 solo tackles and a fumble recovery.

"Anthony played outstanding ball, making tackles and the big fumble recovery, which was huge for us at the time," coach Lovie Smith said. "He is one guy I can say who really played well from start to finish."

Yet Marcus Harrison has started the past seven games while Adams has come off the bench, even though his stats have been clearly superior to Harrison's for more than a month. Adams has 19 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack in the past five games, while Harrison has 5 tackles, 1 sack and no tackles for loss.

"Those guys have both played a lot this year," Smith said. "We evaluate everything based on that week, and we'll do the same this week."

Which would seem to mean that Adams will start today, but the 6-foot, 310-pound, seven-year veteran from Penn State said he doesn't expect any change in the lineup. Both players see a fairly equal number of snaps, but there is pride in being a starter.

"You always want to start," Adams said. "That's your goal, to hopefully start 16 games and just stay consistent. But if you're not, it's not the end of the world. You still have to have confidence in yourself and your ability. I talk to Marcus all the time, whether I'm starting or he's starting. I just want to win. It's hard to coach in this league and make (those) decisions. I don't want to say it's easy to be a player, but I'll take being a player over a coach any day."

In 2007, when Adams left the 49ers after four seasons and signed with the Bears as an unrestricted free agent, he started the season behind Dusty Dvoracek but quickly became the starter when Dvoracek suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1.

Adams started eight games before an elbow injury sent him to injured reserve for the final three games, but his 49 tackles were the most among Bears interior linemen. Last year Dvoracek started the first 12 games and had 40 tackles before a torn triceps sidelined him. In his first two games replacing Dvoracek, Adams had 16 tackles, and the Bears won three of the four games he started.

Adams' recent numbers suggest he deserves to start again, but he seems resigned to the situation.

"It is what it is," he said. "I don't hate anybody or anything like that. You just have to understand that it's a business and handle yourself in a professional manner, and I think I've done that."