Hester expects 'a lot of changes'

Bears wide receiver Devin Hester said he knows there will be offensive changes in personnel after a third straight year of missing the playoffs.

"It's tough," Hester said. "There will be a lot of changes, I know that for a fact, and I hope it's for the better."

Asked how he knows there will be changes, Hester said: "(I'm) not blind. Everybody sees it. There are going to be a lot of new players in probably, and some other things change around here. I talk to (wide receivers) coach (Darryl) Drake a lot. We all know that things are going to change, new people are going to come in, old people are going to leave, so we've just got to hope for the best, and at the end of the day make sure that you do your part."

Unless the offensive production gets a lot better in a hurry, coordinator Ron Turner, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton are all potential casualties along with the remainder of the offensive assistants.

Pep talk: Offensive coordinator Ron Turner and coach Lovie Smith watch game film every Monday with the entire staff, and they discuss what works and what needs work. Smith said he tries to offer encouragement to Turner and everyone on his staff.

"Do we need some words of encouragement?" Smith said. "Yeah, when you're 5-8, (and) I try to give that. We're grown men. We realize where we are right now. It's disappointing. It's not a feel good for any of us right now, for Ron, for me and for the rest of our guys. But we're professionals. We come to work every day.

"Ron and I have been here a long time together (since 2005). We pretty much know what's going on. We've been in a tough situation before - all of our coaches and our team - and you're just trying to get out (of it)."

Confidence game: Jay Cutler admitted that a disappointing season peppered with 22 interceptions and 29 sacks has caused his confidence to take a hit.

"It's tough," he said. "As many struggles, as many interceptions (as we've had), it's tough to go out there and throw the ball 20, 30, 40 times and be confident on every one. There is definitely part of me trying to scale it back a little bit and trying to be more careful. (But) I'm still going to take shots at some of the chances."

Injury update: Wide receiver Devin Hester (calf) and cornerbacks Charles Tillman (back) and Zach Bowman (ill) did not participate in Wednesday's practice.

Tillman and Bowman are expected to play Sunday, and Hester said he's day to day.