Viking notes: Taylor gets to 1,000 yards before bruising his ribs

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.

Among the Vikings shaken up during the game were receiver Bethel Johnson, who took a shot to the midsection on the opening kick return of the third quarter; and punter Chris Kluwe, who sprained his right wrist attempting to make a tackle in the second half.

The Bears suffered what could be a significant injury when defensive tackle Tommie Harris went out in the third quarter because of a sprained left knee. He will have an MRI today.

A rough day for the punter

Kluwe was among those most affected by a game-time temperature -- 20 degrees that felt like minus-4 degrees with the windchill, and winds that gusted from the west at 10 miles per hour.

"It was worse than anything I've experienced," Kluwe said. "This was probably the toughest conditions I ever punted in. I've just got to do a better job next time."

Kluwe averaged 31.3 gross yards and 19.9 net on eight punts, marking his worst performance of the season. Asked what the wind was doing, he said: "It was just swirling around all over the place. One minute it would be going down the field, the next minute it would be going diagonal the opposite way. It was just tough to get a bead on."

The low point for the punt coverage came in the second quarter when Bears rookie Devin Hester returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown. Hester picked up the ball off the ground and made several outstanding dekes, including ones on Heath Farwell and Cullen Loeffler that enabled him to cut inside.

It was Hester's third punt return for a touchdown this season and his fourth return for a score overall, making him the 10th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat.

"He's very good returner, obviously," Childress said. "[A] game-changer. We knew that going in. I'll want to go back and look at the tape. I have some questions about how that thing was blocked. ... But Hester is a good player. He has the ability to take it coast to coast if you don't wrap him up."

Clinching again

The Bears clinched their second consecutive NFC North title. At 10-2, they are five games ahead of the Vikings with four games remaining. The last time the Bears won back-to-back titles was when they won the NFC Central from 1984 to '88.

"Right now we're in the playoffs," Chicago coach Lovie Smith said. "It's hard to do. For us to get into the playoffs the first week of December, we're just going to cherish that right now. We know we have things to do. We have to play better on the offensive side of the football, and we will."

Etc.

• Veterans Jason Whittle and Mike Rosenthal started for the second consecutive week at right guard and tackle, respectively, because of injuries to Artis Hicks and Marcus Johnson. Those two were inactive because of sprained left ankles. Rookie Ryan Cook also saw playing time for the second week in a row, replacing Rosenthal for five series. Whittle (three), Cook (two) and Rosenthal (one) combined to commit six false starts as the Vikings tied their season high with 12 infractions. The Vikings lead the NFL with 93 penalties.

• Brad Johnson wore a glove on his throwing (right) hand to try to get a better grip on the ball. However, the Vikings quarterback threw four interceptions and fell to 0-2 with the glove on. He also lost with it on in Week 4 at Buffalo.

• The Vikings are also 0-2 with their new purple road pants, which they also wore in the loss at Buffalo.

• Bears cornerback Ricky Manning returned a third-quarter interception 54 yards for a touchdown and had only one thought as Brad Johnson chased him toward the end zone: "It would have been very embarrassing if he'd tackled me. Even if I would have had to cut back, it would've been embarrassing. I was like, 'This guy is rolling.' He had his head down and everything."

• Vikings linebacker Ben Leber's interception was the first of his career, and cornerback Antoine Winfield tied a career high with his fourth interception.

Bob Hurst contributed to this report.