National Football League

Bears' Taylor ready to face old team

Published Nov. 11, 2010 12:55 a.m. ET

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When Chester Taylor left the Minnesota Vikings last March to sign with the Chicago Bears, he probably never imagined being used in this role.

Taylor is getting some carries in short-yardage situations heading into Chicago's game against his old team Sunday at Soldier Field.

''I mean, if they call on me to do short yardage, goal line, anything, I'm going to go out there and try my best to get it done,'' he said.

While also performing some relief duties for starter Matt Forte, Taylor recorded the Bears' first touchdown run from the 1-yard line this season in last Sunday's 22-19 victory over Buffalo. They failed the first 10 tries this season.

Taylor signed with Chicago in free agency expecting to be a third-down back like in Minnesota, and while he's done some of that, he's also become the team's top short-yardage option.

''He's a north-south guy,'' Bears coach Lovie Smith said. ''Chester is about making a cut and going downhill.''

Forte rates higher for breakaway speed, but Taylor's ability to break tackles and avoid negative yardage led to offensive coordinator Mike Martz looking his way at the goal line.

''He's a physical back when he needs to be,'' Martz said. ''He's such a low runner. He runs through arm tackles.

''He hits those little creases and blows them up, and yet he's got the speed and the hands to be a complete back.''

Taylor had 160 receptions in four seasons with Minnesota, giving the Vikings a different look when Adrian Peterson went to the sideline the last couple years.

They had to adjust at the start of the season with Taylor now with the Bears.

''I'm not going to sit here and say it hasn't had an impact,'' quarterback Brett Favre said during a conference call with Chicago reporters. ''We all know it's had an impact.

''I still say this, I thought Chester was very underused last year. It was my first year here, but his ability to play really, a wideout position, run screens from a halfback position, just his feel overall for the game and blocking responsibilities and things like that were as good as any of the guys I've ever played with at that position.''

Favre described the 5-foot-11, 213-pound Taylor as ''kind of a tweener.''

''I just thought we could have had more packages and used him in so many different ways,'' Favre said.

The Bears haven't exactly thrown a lot of work at Taylor, either. He's topped 10 carries twice this season and hasn't had more than three receptions in a game.

But Taylor's 64 rushing attempts are way ahead of the pace he had the two previous seasons behind Peterson, when he had 101 and 94 carries.

When Taylor sees Peterson and Favre at Sunday's game, he said he's going to make a point of reliving a few memories. The Bears also could use Taylor more during a game Chicago needs in order to climb back into a first-place tie in the NFC North with idle Green Bay.

''I think you have to do that,'' Martz said. ''It's a special game for him and we want to make that special for us as well.''

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