Toeaina takes start in stride

Matt Toeaina had an inkling he'd get his first NFL start Monday night, but he tried to take it in stride and not let his emotions get out of control.

"I kind of sensed that earlier in the week when I was getting all the reps with the ones," he said. "I was surprised, but then I got over it because I didn't want to come in and be all in shock. I had to act like I've been here before."

Toeaina, who was signed by the Bears off the Bengals' practice squad near the end of the 2007 season, started in place of 2004 first-round pick Tommie Harris.

The 6-foot-2, 308-pound Toeaina had played in just five NFL games before this season.

Although the Bears struggled as a team in the preseason, Toeaina's impressive play earned him a solid position the Bears' four-man tackle rotation.

Toeaina said the Bears' unimpressive preseason was misleading.

"People doubted us because we were 0-4 in the preseason," he said. "But the preseason's pretty much for evaluation, seeing who's capable of being on the team for the (regular) season.

"We're off to a 3-0 start, a perfect start. We can't get any better than that. We just have to keep it moving."

Tough enough: Quarterback Jay Cutler has already been sacked eight times this season, knocked down at least that many times when he wasn't sacked and roughed up in general.

But it hasn't caused him to miss a single snap or appeared to have fazed him in the least.

Against the Packers linebacker Clay Matthews grabbed Cutler's facemask in the process of the quarterback's 10-yard run, adding 15 yards to the play.

In the fourth quarter, linebacker Frank Zombo drove his helmet into Cutler's chin, drawing 15 more yards for roughing the passer and negating a would-be interception by Nick Barnett.

Every time Cutler gets hit, he gets back up. Hopefully for the Bears, he doesn't have to keep proving his toughness every week.

"I've come to expect Jay not blinking when he takes a shot," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "He's a tough guy. We'd like to have him take less hits of course, and we'll keep working on that. "But that's a part of it. We played a good defense (Monday) night. They were coming after him quite a bit. But he stood in there and made plays."

Into the fire: Cornerback Tim Jennings didn't have much advance warning before he was thrust into Monday night's game after starter Zack Bowman missed a tackle late in the first quarter.

"One play they just told me to be ready, and then the next play they threw me in there," the 5-foot-8, 185-pound Jennings said. "But it's not my first rodeo. I played a lot at Indy."

Jennings spent his first four years with the Colts and played in 31 games the past two seasons with 17 starts. He was jacked up Monday night to get a chance to contribute to his new team.

"I just want to be a part of it out there and play with some of the best guys in the league," he said. "It felt good to be out there with those guys."

By the numbers: Devin Hester's 62-yard punt-return TD Monday night was the eighth of his career, along with 4 kickoff-return TDs. The combination of 12 kick-return touchdowns ties him for second in NFL history with Dante Hall and Eric Metcalf, just 1 behind Brian Mitchell's record of 13. - Robbie Gould's 19-yard field goal with four seconds left Monday night was his ninth game-winner, seven of which have come at Soldier Field. - Johnny Knox's 94 receiving yards were a career high. ... The Bears signed guard Johan Asiata to the practice squad Tuesday.