"I talked to him about mentally staying in there and staying positive, which is what he did," said Tiller, who attended Thursday night's game. "I thought he handled it very well in his second year. (But) last year he was frustrated. He didn't express it publicly. Sometimes they say things to me they don't say to other people. I could tell it in the tone of his voice."

Tiller said Orton had a completely different mindset when he came to training camp last summer.

"He was very confident coming into this season," Tiller said. "I spent time with him (last) summer and will spend time with him this (coming) summer because he will come to our place in Wyoming. He was confident he could get the starting job and hang on to it."

Tiller also coached Saints quarterback Drew Brees at Purdue, and he says there are similarities between him and Orton.

"They are similar in their mental makeup," Tiller said. "They are both fiercely competitive. They are extremely bright guys. They are articulate. They have great poise under pressure. They have different physical skills, but their mental skills match up."

--After 14 weeks, tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark had combined for 70 catches, 37 by Olsen and 33 by Clark; and 762 yards, 450 by Olsen and 312 by Clark.

The top two wide receivers, Devin Hester and Rashied Davis, had combined for 72 catches and 932 yards. Hester had 39 catches for 522 yards, while Davis had 33 receptions for 410 yards.

"I just think our tight ends are some of our best players," quarterback Kyle Orton said. "You always try to get your best players the ball. We feel like we have good matchups week in and week out with the tight ends, and if they're open, we certainly try to throw it to them."

Olsen caught a career-best eight passes Thursday night for 45 yards, and Clark had three catches for 11 yards.

--The Bears dropped four very catchable Kyle Orton passes last Sunday, including one each by starting wide receivers Rashied Davis and Devin Hester. As a group, the Bears' wideouts haven't been very productive for several weeks, so the recent drops were especially noticeable.

"We try not to press," said Davis, who, before Thursday night, had just six catches in the past five games and at least three drops. "I have probably been pressing the most out of anybody, so it's disappointing. All you can do is try to push through it and come out of it. Eventually, everybody comes out of it.

"I just have to get back to having fun like I always do, smiling and stuff."

Davis did not catch a pass vs. the Saints, and Brandon Lloyd caught just two for 21 yards. Hester had four catches for 46 yards but drew pass interference penalties of 38 and 39 yards by getting behind the Saints secondary.