Injury stalls Orton's breakout season

Call it a career year, a breakout season or a team MVP campaign, but that's the kind of 2008 Kyle Orton was having before he suffered an ankle injury in the final minute of the first half Sunday.

Orton could return quickly and pick up where he left off, but it's likely he will miss at least some time.

For the Bears, having to switch quarterbacks is nothing new, but usually it doesn't happen when the incumbent is playing so well.

"It's disappointing, but that's how it goes," coach Lovie Smith said. "Injuries happen. We'd like to start and finish the season with the same guys, but it doesn't happen like that.

"You hope that you don't have season-ending injuries, and we've been lucky with that for the most part."

After nine weeks, Orton is tied for 10th in the NFL with a 90.8 passer rating. He has not thrown an interception since Sept. 28, during which time he has 5 TD passes.

Among the 35 quarterbacks with enough playing time to qualify for the league standings, only three have thrown fewer interceptions than Orton's 4.

Despite missing the second half of Sunday's game, the four-year veteran still is 11th in the league with 1,777 passing yards.

"Hopefully he's not going to be down for any long stretch of time," tight end Desmond Clark said. "We're not looking forward to (that) because Kyle has been leading us and getting us through a lot of tough games.

"We definitely want to have him out there, but if we have to go with Rex (Grossman), we're ready to go."

Safety measures: Coach Lovie Smith expressed concern over safety Mike Brown's latest injury because his past four seasons all have been marred by serious physical ailments. But Sunday's calf injury doesn't appear to be in the same category.

"Mike doesn't have a season-ending injury," Smith said. "So right now I'm looking at it like other (minor) injuries that we have - hopefully it's not anything that will keep him out for long."

Rookie fourth-round pick Craig Steltz was thrust into the lineup to replace Brown, and the LSU product snagged his first career interception a yard deep in the end zone to snuff a Detroit scoring threat early in the fourth quarter.

"That was a great play," Smith said. "They were driving, and if Craig doesn't make the interception, who knows? You need your free safety to make some plays like that. Craig did a lot of good things. He's been paying attention, and he was ready for his opportunity."

Brown had his first pick of the season on the Lions' first possession.

Positive feedback: When a chorus of boos fell upon the Bears as they headed up the tunnel to the locker room at halftime Sunday on the short end of a 23-13 score, six-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher raised both arms with his palms up in what seemed to be a sarcastic response to the dissatisfied fans.

Coach Lovie Smith said he'd prefer if the fans took his glass-half-full approach in trying times.

"The fans are a big part of what we're doing," he said. "When you go through adversity a little bit, I see everyone rallying together, being positive, using positive reinforcement.

"Negative reinforcement has never really worked for me. We don't do it that way. I would just hope that most of the time we'll hear positive reinforcement to help us get through some of those times. That's what a team does."