Forte hobbled; Knox impressive

The end of Wednesday’s practice featured a tense moment when running back Matt Forte limped off the field with what appeared to be a left leg injury. But the Bears downplayed the situation.

“He had some leg tightness,” said team spokesman Scott Hagel, the Bears’ senior director of corporate communications. “We try to be overly cautious with even the smallest thing at this point in the off-season.”

It’s depressing to consider the Bears’ offense without Forte, who accounted for 34.99 percent of the team’s yards from scrimmage last season, the highest percentage of any player in the NFL.

Forte was clearly the Bears’ top rookie last season. Based on early returns in OTA’s, this year’s top Bears rookie has been wide receiver Johnny Knox, the fifth-round pick from Abilene Christian.

Knox, who is arguably the fastest player on the field, has shown sticky fingers in almost every practice, catching anything within his grasp and rarely having a bobble let alone a drop. He’s still got a long way to go before he gets on the field once the regular season begins, but Knox will challenge for playing time in three and four-wide receiver sets if he continues to show the same sure hands and run-after-the-catch ability.