CHICAGO - Vikings tailback Chester Taylor's status is uncertain after bruised ribs forced him from Sunday's 23-13 loss to the Bears.
Taylor suffered the injury in the second quarter and left the game for good late in the third. Coach Brad Childress said "nothing's broken," but Taylor gave way to Ciatrick Fason and Mewelde Moore in the fourth quarter.
"I tried to fight through it," Taylor said, "but it was too much to bear."
Taylor finished with 99 yards on 17 carries, including a 42-yard run in the second quarter. He became the Vikings' first 1,000-yard rusher since Michael Bennett rushed for 1,296 yards in 2002.
If the injury is deemed serious, Fason and Moore likely would handle the rushing responsibilities in Sunday's game at Detroit. Fason, who has been inactive for eight of the Vikings' 12 games this season, rushed for a career-high 75 yards but also was tackled in the end zone for a safety in the fourth quarter.
"Unfortunately Chester got banged up, and then it was my turn to go in," Fason said. "It felt good that I got a chance, but on the other end it doesn't feel good that we lost."
Point taken
Vikings safety Darren Sharper continued his verbal barrage against Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, saying no one should have been surprised by Grossman's three interceptions and 1.3 quarterback rating.
"We knew coming in what type of quarterback he was," Sharper said, "and that if we did our job he wasn't going to do too much. ... Holding him to 34 yards, that's the type of game we should hold a quarterback like that to."
Sharper said last week that Grossman stepped over an unmarked line at the end of the teams' Sept. 24 meeting, hurling invectives after his game-winning touchdown pass to Rashied Davis. Grossman apologized for the incident, but Sharper said Sunday's performance showed why Grossman shouldn't have talked in the first place.
"You can't say anything after you throw for 34 yards and three picks," Sharper said. "You can talk about us having decisions to be made, but [the Bears] have decisions to be made, too. Is he the guy that's going to lead them to a championship? That's for [the media] to answer."
Williamson inactive
Struggling receiver Troy Williamson was among the Vikings' inactives, marking his latest fall down the depth chart. Williamson started the first nine games of the season but has been plagued by dropped passes and was used as the fifth receiver in the past two games.
Things got worse for him when he was punched in the left eye early last Monday after a charity event at the Myth Nightclub in Maplewood. Childress said Williamson, the seventh overall pick in the 2005 draft, would face no disciplinary action as a result of the incident but, on a cold and windy day at Soldier Field, the Vikings needed only four receivers on their active roster.
"We had an extra defensive lineman up," Childress said. "It's got to give somewhere. With five wide receivers, that was probably the spot."
Williamson avoided the Vikings' locker room during the media access periods last week, but Sunday he was sitting at his locker as reporters entered. He clearly had a bruise under his eye. "I'm not going to answer no questions right now," he said. "None."
Wiggins, Williams play
Tight end Jermaine Wiggins and nose tackle Pat Williams played despite knee injuries that slowed them in practice last week. Wiggins, who suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee last Sunday against Arizona, had three catches for 30 yards.
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