Bear Essentials

For a team that supposedly, "gets off the bus running the football," according to coach Lovie Smith, the Bears seem to be stumbling quite a bit.

The Bears managed 83 rushing yards on 23 attempts in Sunday night's 21-14 loss to the Falcons, only because QB Jay Cutler had a 30-yard scramble that gave him 34 yards for the game and made him the Bears and, for that matter, the game's leading rusher.

Matt Forte, the presumptive featured runner, had 23 yards on 15 carries, for a 1.5-yard average with a long gain of 5 yards. And that wasn't the worst of it. Forte fumbled on back-to-back carries from the Falcons' one-yard line, losing the second one and contributing to one of the Bears' three red-zone trips that produced no points.

Pisa Tinoisamoa started at strong-side linebacker for the first time since suffering a sprained knee in the season opener.

Nick Roach started at middle linebacker for the second straight game in place of Hunter Hillenmeyer (ribs), who was inactive.

The Bears’ other inactives are: wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias, running back Adrian Peterson, cornerback D.J. Moore, guard Lance Louis, defensive tackles Matt Toeaina and Jarron Gilbert and newly acquired defensive end Gaines Adams.

Wide receiver Devin Aromashodu is active for the first time this season.

The Bears terminated the contract of tight end Michael Gaines on Saturday to clear a roster spot for defensive end Gaines Adams, who they acquired from the Bucs on Friday for a second-round pick next season.

Gaines, who was signed away from the Lions as an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, appeared in one game this season with no receptions.

Adams, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft, was at Halas Hall Saturday and flew to Atlanta with his new teammates for Sunday night’s game against the Falcons. He played in the same Cover-2 scheme the Bears run for the first two years of his career in Tampa, totaling 12 ½ sacks, before the Bucs changed schemes this year under new coach Raheem Morris.

The Bears on Friday night traded their second-round pick in next year’s draft for Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Gaines Adams, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft.

Adams led all rookies with 6 sacks in 2007, and he had 6 ½ last season, but just 1 this season for the 0-5 Bucs. He had 10 tackles this season as the Bucs’ starting right end and has an NFL total of 86 tackles with 2 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles.

Adams signed a six-year, $46 million deal with the Bucs that included $18.6 million in guaranteed money. The 6-foot-5, 258-pounder was considered an impact pass rusher after picking up 12 ½ sacks in an all-America senior season at Clemson. He ran a 4.64 40-yard dash at 258 pounds at the 2007 Scouting Combine.

The Bears on Friday night traded their second-round pick in next year’s draft for Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Gaines Adams, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft.

Adams had 6 sacks as a rookie and 6 ½ last season, but just 1 this season for the 0-5 Bucs. He signed a six-year, $46 million deal with the Bucs that included $18.6 million in guaranteed money.

The Bears are now without a draft pick in the first two rounds next year, having traded their first-rounder to the Broncos as part of the Kyle Orton-for-Jay Cutler deal.

Linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (ribs) and running back Adrian Peterson (knee) did not practice Thursday and are not expected to play Sunday.

Nick Roach should start his second straight game at middle linebacker in place of Hillenmeyer. Roach started the previous two games at strong-side linebacker in place of Pisa Tinoisamoa, who has practiced all week and is expected to start on the strong side for the first time since the season opener.

Defensive tackles Anthony Adams (toe) and Israel Idonije (knee) were limited participants on the turf inside the Walter Payton Center at Halas Hall, where the Bears took refuge from the rain and cold. After all, it is the cold and flu season. Besides, Sunday night’s game is in the Georgia Dome.

In light of Kyle Orton’s 35-for-48 performance and 330 passing yards along with 2 touchdowns on Sunday against the Patriots, it seems only fitting to reiterate some of the points I made last week.

Most of you got that I was merely pointing out how well Orton has played this season, while a couple others took it as a slap in Jay Cutler’s face. Cutler’s better, but Orton is playing excellent football, too.

Again, I’d rather have Cutler. He’s put up numbers that are almost as impressive as Orton’s, and he’s done it with far less talent. That’s not to disrespect Devin Hester, Earl Bennett and Johnny Knox. They’ve played extremely well, but Cutler has made them better.

Running back Adrian Peterson (sprained knee), defensive tackle Israel Idonije (arthroscopic knee surgery) and linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (ribs) did not practice Monday, but everyone else was at least a partial participant after getting the weekend off.

Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa (sprained knee), who has been out since the first series of the season opener, is expected to start Sunday night against the Falcons, with Nick Roach starting in the middle, where he played extremely well against the Lions filling in for Hillenmeyer.

Nothing against the job that Jay Cutler has done for the Bears, and he’s been outstanding since halftime of the season opener, but you have to give Kyle Orton kudos for the way he’s played in Denver so far.

Orton is the only full-time starting quarterback in the NFL who hasn’t been intercepted this season, and he’s ninth in the NFL with a passer rating of 97.7. Cutler is 13th at 89.3. Cutler has been excellent in the fourth quarter, with a passer rating of 111.5, which is sixth best in the league. But Orton has been even better, with a fourth-quarter passer rating of 144.7, and a whopping 362 yards on just 23 passes, 17 of which have been completed.

Defensive lineman Israel Idonije underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this morning.

Idonije has been playing with minor irritation in the knee for most of the season, and he chose to have the procedure during the bye week to minimize the number of games he might miss. Idonije, who had 1 of the Bears’ 5 sacks Sunday against the Lions and also forced a fumble that the Bears recovered, has not been ruled out for the next game, against the Falcons, Oct. 18 at Atlanta.