"If something breaks down, that's why they rely on me to spark the return game. I've got to be the one to step up and make big plays. It hasn't been the way it's been, so I take some of the blame for it."

Hester had 11 kick-return touchdowns in his first two seasons but has none so far this season. Special teams coordinator Dave Toub believes opponents still respect Hester's return ability as much as ever, so he has to prepare for when they kick to him and when they try to avoid him. He understands why Hester feels responsible for the drop-off in the return game.

"He's a competitor," Toub said. "He's holding himself accountable, which we want all of our players to do."

Bears coach Lovie Smith said it's been difficult for Hester to keep up the NFL-record pace he established in his first two seasons.

"We had never seen anything like it before," Smith said. "And now, after seven games, he hasn't scored, and we're kind of wondering what's going on. But there is a lot of football left. We need Devin, just like the rest of our players to step up, and he will."

--The negative feedback earlier in the season from outside the Bears' locker room didn't affect the maligned offensive line. "We don't listen to what anybody says," St. Clair said. "We try to focus on ourselves. That's what we did in training camp. We work hard, and our practice carries over into the game. We believe in each other. We're a bunch of humble guys. That's what has carried us this far.

"We don't have any egos. No guy thinks he's above the others. You take a guy like (center) Olin Kreutz, who's been to the Pro Bowl six times, and he's just as humble as anybody on the offensive line. We have good players who help each other. We want to see each other do well."

--Strong-side linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer practiced with a bulky cast protecting his thumb, which required surgery last week. He has not been ruled out for Sunday's game, but he missed the final three games in 2005 with a similar injury, although he said that injury "felt a lot worse."

Hillenmeyer isn't sure of the exact time of the injury, which occurred early in the Vikings game, Oct. 19.

"I think it was in the very beginning of the game on that reverse to Adrian Peterson, but I really don't know," said Hillenmeyer, who had a season-high 9 tackles in the game. "It didn't really hurt that bad."

BY THE NUMBERS: 36 -- Return touchdowns for the Bears since Lovie Smith became head coach in 2004, the most in the NFL. They had 3 in the Week Seven 48-41 victory over the Vikings.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Rod Marinelli doesn't want any sympathy. He's a fighter. That's a part of the life in the NFL. You'll go through some tough times. Tough people get through it. Rod is a tough guy. He'll have his team ready to go this week." --Bears coach Lovie Smith on Lions coach Rod Marinelli, who was the Bucs' defensive coordinator when Smith was the linebackers coach there.