Bears Bennett never complained about lack of involvement

After seeing his involvement shrink in the passing game, especially in the red zone, Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett grew frustrated in the weeks before he landed on injured reserve Tuesday with a cracked rib.

But Bennett did not take his complaints to offensive coordinator Adam Gase. "He did not ever say anything to me," Gase said.

Bennett still leads the Bears with 53 catches, and Gase said he had no problems with the outspoken tight end who was voted to the Pro Bowl after last season.

"He did everything we asked him to do," Gase said. "I was really happy with how he came in and really accepted what we were doing on offense. He did all three phases of that position as well as anyone could have done it."

After a career-high 6 TD catches in 2014, Bennett had just 3 TDs this year, and his 8.3-yards-per-catch average was the second lowest of his eight-year career.

"He was really impressive in his run blocking and pass (protection)," Gase said. "We were struggling for a little bit early in the season, and we had to leave him in there (to block), and I know a lot of people were wondering why we weren't getting him the ball that much.

"He had to kind of take one for the team and help us in protection. I would have liked to get him the ball more, but we kind of needed him to be great in a couple other areas, and when we did throw him the ball he did a good job of making yards after contact."

The main man:

Despite missing five games and playing at less than 100 percent in another, Alshon Jeffery leads the Bears with 690 receiving yards.

In his six other games, the 6-foot-3 Jeffery has averaged 7.3 catches and 111 yards. He's quarterback Jay Cutler's go-to guy for a lot of reasons.

"He's a tough cover for those guys," Cutler said. "He's so long. He attacks the ball. He gets in and out of his cuts well enough that he puts corners at a disadvantage. He's not as quick as Eddie (Royal), probably not as quick as (Kevin White), but he's quick enough.

"You can run a lot of different routes with him. You can cross the field, you can throw it up. Anytime we do have Al 1-on-1, it's going to take a lot to get me off him."

Just the facts:

The Bears have until Tuesday to activate first-round draft pick Kevin White from the physically unable to perform list or place him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Coach John Fox was asked about reports that the decision to sit the wide receiver for the final four games already has been made.

"There are always a lot of reports," Fox said. "Then there are facts. We just take it a day at a time."

Promotion time:

Cornerback Demontre Hurst was added to the 53-man roster from the practice squad Saturday to take the place of wide receiver Marquess Wilson, who was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury.