Danieal Manning is quickly becoming the Bears' jack of all trades and master of some. He's entrenched as the nickel back, and on his rare blitz opportunities Monday night, he put more pressure on Aaron Rodgers than any of his teammates. It was Manning's deflection of a Rodgers pass that resulted in Alex Brown's interception.
"I'm very impressed with Danieal and how he's just elevated the team," Smith said. "Now everyone is getting up every time he goes back to return kicks. And we're getting good play from him as a nickel back. He's a good athlete, maybe the best athlete on our football team, and I'm just glad to see that he's getting more confidence in himself."
In addition to all his other diverse duties, Manning filled in as the personal protector for punter Brad Maynard after Kevin Jones, who was filling in for Garrett Wolfe, suffered a hamstring injury.
At Abilene Christian, Manning scored touchdowns on kickoff returns, punt returns, as a receiver, on a fumble return and on an interception return. Is there anything he can't do on a football field?
"I can throw it ... probably," he said. "But I haven't tried at this level, so I don't know."
What about receiver?
"We'll see," he said.
PLAYER NOTES
--S/KR Danieal Manning leads the NFL with a 29.4-yard average, and he had a 70-yarder Monday night that set up the Bears' first field goal.
--PK Robbie Gould is the third-most-accurate FG kicker in NFL history (among players with at least 100 made field goals) with an 85.8 percent success rate, including 25-for-28 this season.
--RB Matt Forte leads the Bears with eight rushing touchdowns and is tied for the team lead with four receiving TDs.
--TE Greg Olsen is second on the Bears with 50 receptions and with 544 receiving yards. He is tied for the team lead with four TD catches.
--WR Devin Hester is the Bears' leader with 580 receiving yards, nearly twice last year's total of 299 yards. He has 45 receptions, more than double last year's 20.
GAME PLAN: The Bears should be able to pound it on the ground against the Texans' soft run defense, but they have to be able to throw it better than they have in the past eight games, when they've managed more than 175 yards in the air just once. But the burden will once again fall on rookie RB Matt Forte, who is second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage. In addition to his 303 carries, Forte has a team-best 60 receptions.
Defensively the Bears have been solid against the run nearly every week, so slowing down the Texans' rookie RB Steve Slaton probably won't be a problem. But even mediocre passing attacks have piled up big yardage against the Bears' soft coverage and a pass rush that only shows up occasionally, so they might consider bringing more pressure than they've been getting from the overrated, overpaid front four.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Bears CB Charles Tillman vs. Texans WR Andre Johnson - Tillman, who was sidelined briefly Monday night with an ankle injury, will face one of the NFL's elite wide receivers. Johnson leads the NFL with 1,427 receiving yards and is second with 105 receptions. Tillman and the entire Bears secondary have been victimized by loose coverage throughout the season, which is part of the reason they rank 28th in passing yards allowed.
Bears LT John St. Clair vs. Texans DRE Mario Williams: St. Clair has struggled against top-flight pass rushers most of the season. He allowed four sacks to Jared Allen in two games against the Vikings. Williams leads the Texans with 11 sacks.
INJURY IMPACT: CBs Charles Tillman (ankle), Marcus Hamilton (ankle), safety Mike Brown (calf) linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer (ankle) and running back Kevin Jones (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday.
Tillman is expected to play Sunday, the others are probably questionable at best, especially Brown. FB Jason McKie (quad) was limited.
