Bears’ Bush says he’s more than goal-line back

On his 8-yard touchdown run Saturday night, Michael Bush proved with a nifty sidestep at the line of scrimmage that anyone who pigeonholes him strictly as a short-yardage specialist does so at their own risk.

“I don’t see him as (just) a goal-line back,” offensive coordinator Mike Tice said. “I just see him as a guy that’s going to go out there and make plays for us.

“He happens to be a bigger guy, so it makes sense to put him in those situations — short yardage and goal line — but there are other things that he does very, very well, and we’re not going to shy away from calling anything with Michael.”

That’s good news to the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Bush, who believes he gets typecast as a one-dimensional player because of his bulk.

“Just because I have a long stride, some people say I’m slow,” Bush said. “Because I’m big, some people say I can’t move. But I don’t know what y’all been watching. I’ve been doing it for a while.”

For the previous four years in Oakland, Bush was the backup/complement to Darren McFadden, the Raiders’ first-round pick a year after they selected Bush in the fourth round out of Louisville.

He had a career-best 977 rushing yards last season and has scored 15 touchdowns over the past two seasons.

“I think you guys don’t know what you’ve got,” Bush said. “I just keep showing everybody each week and just getting better.”

Getting a shot:With punter Adam Podlesh (hip flexor) out for at least the remainder of the preseason, undrafted rookie Ryan Quigley gets an opportunity Friday night to prove he#146;s worthy of filling in for longer if the injury lingers.#147;He#146;s going to get a good shot this week,#148; said special-teams coordinator Dave Toub. #147;This is going to be a good test for him. He gets to play with the ones. He hasn#146;t done that all season. He#146;s going to be our punter for this game. We#146;ll see if he can handle it.#148;Podlesh will see a specialist this week, and the Bears are anxious about the injury that occurred in Saturday#146;s game.#147;I#146;m very concerned,#148; Toub said. #147;It#146;s a bad injury for a punter to have, whether it#146;s the kicking leg or the opposite leg. We#146;ll figure out what we need to do.#148;Bad grass:While left tackle has been a soap opera, the only concern offensive coordinator Mike Tice has at right tackle is keeping Gabe Carimi#146;s knee healthy.#147;Right now he#146;s gotten better every day, gotten better in every game,#148; Tice said. #147;We know he#146;s going to be an excellent player for the Bears for however long he wants to play, but we#146;ve got to keep him healthy.#148;That#146;s why Tice wasn#146;t thrilled when Monday#146;s practice was moved inside to the Walter Payton Center on artificial turf.#147;At the end of the day, it#146;s all about getting to Indianapolis with the right five guys,#148; Tice said of the O-line.#147;He#146;s the right guy at right tackle if he#146;s healthy, and right now he#146;s doing well, but this AstroTurf or whatever you call it is not good for him.#148;Odds and ends:Brian Urlacher (knee), Stephen Paea (ankle), Chris Conte (shoulder), Brandon Hardin (neck), Matt Spaeth (leg), Dom DeCicco (groin) and Adam Podlesh (hip flexor) did not practice. #133; Corey Wootton returned to practice. #133; Defensive tackle DeMario Pressley was waived/injured.