Running back Matt Forte, who accounts for fully one-third of the Bears’ 2015 offensive production, came out of Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings as a significant “questionable” with a knee injury that casts uncertainty over at least his short term.
Forte was forced out of Sunday’s game after a hit to his right knee on a tackle by Minnesota safety Harrison Smith, leaving the field under his own power.
Coach John Fox reported no more specifics than what was known Sunday, but “obviously there’s some kind of damage to the knee,” Fox said Monday morning on his WBBM radio appearance. “We’ll find out the extent of that damage as the week goes on.”
[BEARS GRADES: Some good, some disaster for RBs vs. Vikings]
The Bears did not believe the injury involved Forte’s ACL, according to FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer. But Forte missed the final four games of 2011 with a Grade 2 MCL sprain, and a sprain typically takes a player down for a minimum of two weeks.
The Bears already have lost a running back – Jacquizz Rodgers to injured reserve with a fractured arm – to injury this season.
Forte has scored three of the Bears’ 13 touchdowns through seven games and accounted for 767 of their 2,331 total yards. Rookie Jeremy Langford stepped in Sunday and rushed for 46 yards on 12 carries, but dropped the one pass thrown to him by quarterback Jay Cutler.