Smith has a wish — more takeaways

Bears coach Lovie Smith had just one complaint at his Wednesday afternoon press conference as he discussed the team's defense, which was No. 4 in the league in fewest points allowed.

“Defensively, I'm not pleased with the amount of takeaways we've gotten lately, but that's about the only thing I can complain about,” Smith said. “They come to work each day; showed up every game.”

The Bears had no takeaways in their divisional-round playoff victory over the Seahawks, and they were also blanked in that department back to back in Weeks 13 and 14. But they still finished tied for third in the league with 35 takeaways.

Smith acknowledged the return of middle linebacker Brain Urlacher and defensive end Julius Peppers as major reasons for this season's improvement.

“Getting Brian Urlacher back; we were a 7-9 team last year,” Smith said. “Getting a player like Brian Urlacher back has meant the world to our team. Julius Peppers has been everything we wanted him to be. He's played as advertised. We've had our role players who have stepped up and filled our roles, and our stars have played that way each week, and that's why we're here.”

Balance is good:

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz has to constantly refute the idea that he hates running the football.

While the Bears were excessively pass heavy in the first seven weeks, they were more balanced between run and pass than any team in the NFL for the next eight weeks.

“I've always been very pragmatic about football and how you impact a team offensively,” Martz said. “You have to do what you have to do to move the football, score points and win. We've got what I think is the best back (Matt Forte) in the league, the offensive line has gotten better every week, our tight ends are terrific on the edge, (and they) allow us to get around the edge.

“It's a lot more fun and it's a lot easier to call plays when you can mix it up like we've been doing.”

Injury report:

Safety Chris Harris (hip) was the only Bear who missed practice because of an injury, although wide receiver Earl Bennett and cornerback Zack Bowman were absent for non-injury-related reasons. Defensive end Israel Idonije (thumb) was a full participant.