Bears have high expectations for Forte
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Coach Lovie Smith is expecting even bigger and better things from Matt Forte after he rushed for 1,238 yards and caught 63 passes for 477 yards as a rookie last season.
"The offensive line is better this year," Smith said. "Of course the passing game has improved. All of that should help Matt in his second year as our star running back."
Forte carried just 18 times in the preseason, but he averaged 4.4 yards per carry and said he got plenty of work in preparation for the regular season.
"I wouldn't call it 'limited,' " Forte said of his preseason workload. "There's a certain number of carries that I guess guys should get in the preseason. Some guys need 20, 30, 40 carries of live action to get ready. I've gotten more than enough plays to be ready for the regular season."
Forte didn't find much running room, finished with 55 yards on 25 carries for a disappointing 2.2-yard average.
Injury epidemic: The dislocated wrist that knocked six-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker Brian Urlacher out early in the third quarter would be a major concern by itself. There's a chance it could be a season-ender, and at the very least Urlacher should be out for at least six weeks.
Added to the right knee sprain that knocked strong-side linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa out for the game on the opening series, it could be devastating.
"I'm not going to try to look into the future to see what will happen with the guys," coach Lovie Smith said.
Nick Roach, a nine-game starter last year, replaced Tinoisamoa. Hunter Hillenmeyer, who lost his starting job on the strong side to Roach last year, replaced Urlacher.
Trumaine McBride also suffered a sprained knee. Left guard Frank Omiyale left with an ankle injury in the third quarter and was replaced by Josh Beekman. Tight end Desmond Clark suffered a bruised back.
Getting involved: Lovie Smith is running the defensive meetings this season in order to put his personal stamp on a unit that has underachieved the past two seasons. He's also handling the defensive play-calling this year for the first time since he was the Rams' defensive coordinator in 2003 before he became the Bears' head coach. "It's definitely different for me, even though I have been involved (in the defense) all along," Smith said. "It's just like riding a bike, you never forget how to do things like that."
The Bears' defense held the Packers to just 226 total yards and allowed them to convert just 4 of 14 third-down plays. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times, twice by Adewale Ogunleye, but he completed 17 of 28 passes for 184 yards and a passer rating of 92.0.
By the numbers: The Bears entered Sunday night's game having gotten at least 1 takeaway in 25 straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL by 14 games, but they did not force a turnover against the Packers. Robbie Gould entered the season needing to hit his first 5 FG attempts to tie Mike Vanderjagt as the most accurate kicker in NFL history. Gould was 2-for-2, hitting from 47 and 21 yards.