Bears' cornerback Tillman no strip tease

There may not be anyone in the NFL better than Bears cornerback Charles Tillman at stripping the ball from opponents.

He proved it yet again last week when a left jab dislodged the ball from a Cowboys wide receiver and Brian Urlacher recovered for the Bears. That was the 22nd forced fumble of Tillman's eight-year career, the most among all NFL defensive backs since 2003. Fourteen of Tillman's forced fumbles have come in just the previous three seasons. He says there's no secret formula, but it doesn't happen by chance either.

"It's just something I try to work at," he said. "I don't have the key, I just see the ball and try to get it. There's no technique, there's no magic behind it. Coach (Lovie) Smith does a good job of emphasizing turnovers. So does coach (Rod) Marinelli, and I like to keep those two off my back.

"So, the way I do that, is by stripping the ball. I'm going to just keep trying to strip the ball and keep those two guys happy."

It would seem to require extraordinary hand-eye coordination to punch the ball out during a play, but Tillman isn't so sure that's it.

"You could say it's good hand-eye coordination," he said, "but at the same time, I (stink) at baseball, so what does that say? I guess I'm pretty good at it. I seem to do a good job. I'll keep working at it see what happens on Monday."

Practice makes perfect? Kevin Shaffer has the benefit of a full week of practice time heading into Monday night's Packers game, unlike the previous week when he was thrown in on the fly.

Shaffer will start at right tackle Monday night after filling in there for most of last week's game after Frank Omiyale moved from right to left tackle to take over for the injured Chris Williams, whose hamstring injury will keep him out vs. the Packers.

"On paper, I go through every play in my head of what's going to happen," Shaffer said. "But I'm not going to get a rep of everything (in practice) as a backup. I get some reps here and there, but I have to prepare mostly on paper. Seeing it actually against a defense, it makes it so much easier from a preparation standpoint."

Shaffer started only five games last season, all at right tackle. But he was a 16-game starter at right tackle with the Browns the previous two years and a 31/2-year starter at left tackle before that. So moving back into the starting lineup isn't much of an adjustment.

"We do everything together, and we're just a tight unit," Shaffer said. "If somebody goes down, somebody else comes in and you want to not skip a (beat). Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get the continuity back. But you want to just move forward and move on."

Take it back: To honor the Monsters of the Midway - the Bears teams who won four NFL championships in the 1940s - players will wear throwback uniforms from that era in Monday night's game, including navy blue jerseys with orange numbers.