Matt Forte Fantasy News

Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 12:19pm

"We'd like to (work out a long-term deal with RB Matt Forte)," Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips said. "But as Phil pointed out we obviously will at least consider placing the franchise tag on him. We don't have any intention of letting Matt hit the open market. We'll sit down with him privately, Phil will, and discuss what the plans are prior to the Feb. 20 franchise tag date."

Friday, January 20, 2012, 12:46pm

While it's common today for NFL stars to back out of the Pro Bowl for the smallest reasons, first-time players rarely miss.

Bears running back Matt Forte isn't going to pass on an expenses-paid trip to Hawaii. The club announced that Forte passed a physical and has been cleared to participate in the all-star game Jan. 29 in Honolulu.

Stevan Ridley impresses in his rookie season
Wednesday, January 4, 2012, 2:01pm

It would be easy to overlook the contributions of Stevan Ridley this season in an offense featuring names like Brady, Gronkowski and Welker. After all, 53 running backs had more rushes than Ridley’s 87 carries, and Ridley only scored one touchdown on the season. However, evidence is mounting that the Patriots found a pretty solid player with the 73rd overall pick in last year’s draft. Ridley’s 5.1 yards per rush is 10th among the 56 running backs with at least 85 rushes. Ridley has been among the league’s most powerful runners, averaging 2.6 yards after contact per rush. That trails only Ben Tate, Isaac Redman and Donald Brown among running backs with at least 85 carries. However, Ridley was far more than just a niche power rusher, averaging a 20+ yard run once every 17.4 carries. That was the seventh-best average among backs with at least 85 carries, trailing Darren Sproles, DeAngelo Williams, Darren McFadden, C.J. Spiller, Matt Forte and Fred Jackson.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011, 7:48pm

The Chicago Bears have placed quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte on injured reserve.

Monday, December 26, 2011, 1:52pm

Reading between the lines, Marion Barber is going to have an awful hard time holding off Kahlil Bell as No. 2 back next season.

RB Marion Barber inactive for Bears
Sunday, December 25, 2011, 7:50pm

Chicago Bears inactives for week 16:

DT Anthony Adams
RB Marion Barber
QB Jay Cutler
QB Nathan Enderle
RB Matt Forte
T Levi Horn

Report: Marion Barber expected to miss Week 16
Friday, December 23, 2011, 11:13am

Running back Kahlil Bell is set to make just his second career start against the Bears' biggest rival.

Veteran Marion Barber is expected to miss Sunday's game against the Packers in Green Bay with a calf injury, according to a league source. That leaves Bell as the primary ball carrier because Matt Forte still is sidelined with a sprained right knee.

Coach Lovie Smith expressed confidence in Bell as the starter.

"There are bigger concerns I have, and Kahlil is not one of them,'' Smith said Thursday. "I vividly remember his first carry he had at Soldier Field (a franchise-rookie record 72-yard run). I see him every day in practice going against our No. 1 defense.

"He can make you miss in the open field. He can run with power inside. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. I'm excited about the opportunity he has.''

Sunday, December 11, 2011, 3:23pm

Bears Inactives
Anthony Adams DT
Jay Cutler QB
Nathan Enderle QB
Matt Forte RB
Ricky Henry OG
Andre Smith TE
Major Wright SS

Thursday, December 8, 2011, 10:39am

Marion Barber and Kahlil Bell will share the workload against Denver.

Bell acknowledged that it’ll be tough to replace Matt Forte.

“I’m confident in my abilities to play the game,’’ Bell said. ‘‘I feel like I can catch the ball. If they need me to do that, I’m going to do that to the best of my abilities. I’m not going to try to be anybody else that I’m not.”

Bell did note, though, that he and Caleb Hanie have had plenty of time to work together because they were on the scout team the last two seasons.