Chiefs’ Orton injured on only play

Kyle Orton’s playing time in his return to Soldier Field was brief Sunday, just like the quarterback’s responses to questions following a 10-3 victory by his new team over the Bears.

Orton, signed off waivers the previous week, made his Kansas City Chiefs debut on the first play of the second quarter. Entering the game in place of starter Tyler Palko, Orton threw a flea-flicker pass that fell incomplete.

On the play, he injured a finger on his throwing hand and did not return.

“I don’t know if I hit it on the guy’s hand or whatever,” Orton said. “Just some bad luck.”

Which finger did he injure?

“A finger on my right hand,” Orton said.

“It was pretty sore. Unlucky deal.”

The extent of his injury?

“I have no idea,” Orton said.

At least his return to Chicago, where he played three seasons before being dealt in 2009 to Denver in the Jay Cutler trade, was enjoyable.

“It was great,” Orton said. “It was great to see some old faces. I’ve got a lot of great memories here. Just a huge win for the team. We really needed it moving forward.”

There was speculation that after Denver waived Orton two weeks ago the Bears might claim him to help in the absence of Cutler, who had broken the thumb on his throwing hand the previous Sunday against San Diego.

Did he think he might end up back with the Bears?

“You never know what’s going to happen in this league,” Orton said. “I just want to keep on fighting and help this team as much as a I can.”

With Orton one-and-done, second-year pro Palko returned to lead the Chiefs to victory. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 157 yards — and no interceptions or turnovers.

“I thought Tyler did a great job managing the game and putting us in a great position to win,” Orton said.

“I thought he played well,” former Bears running back Thomas Jones said of Palko. “He made some great throws, was poised and led the offense. He did a really good job of putting guys in the right place. He had a tough week, and he stepped to the plate.”

Kansas City entered Sunday’s game ranked last in the NFL in sacks with 13.

The Chiefs sacked Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie seven times. Rookie linebacker Justin Houston had his first 3 sacks of the season.

“Everybody was doing their job,” Houston said. “We had great coverage. Everybody was where they were supposed to be.

“We knew (Hanie) was a running quarterback, so we had to get him before he got started. That was the main thing. We wanted to keep him in the pocket and not let him run.”

The Bears were 0-for-11 on third-down conversions and came up short on a pair of fourth-down tries.

“Defensively, another really, really good performance,” said coach Todd Haley, whose Chiefs lost to Pittsburgh 13-9 the previous week. “Our young guys have really taken a step forward, which has helped the veteran guys step up their game.”