BEARS IN BRIEF: Injuries add up, make loss even worse

Rookie strong safety Al Afalava, one of the few bright spots with upside on a foundering defense, will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder today after he was knocked out of Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Afalava, who originally injured the shoulder in preseason, was hurt trying to make an arm tackle on a running play.

''He ran through my arm, and the shoulder went numb,'' Afalava said.

It was just one of a handful of injuries as cornerback Charles Tillman (shoulder) and running back Garrett Wolfe (bruised kidney) also were knocked out of the game. Left tackle Orlando Pace also is believed to have suffered a minor left arm injury with the Bears headed into a short week leading into Thursday's game at San Francisco. A source said Pace is expected to be OK.

The Bears could add a player by placing linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa on injured reserve, but there's no time to get an emergency addition up to speed unless he's coming off the practice squad.

NFL Network kicks off its Thursday night coverage this week with the Bears at San Francisco. Players and coaches will have meetings today; then there will be practice and extended meetings Tuesday, typically an off day for the players, and a walk-through Wednesday morning before the flight. This is the third straight year the Bears have played on Thursday. They lost at Washington in 2007 and beat New Orleans at home last year.

''The recovery from the prior game is the most difficult thing, and then you only get basically a day and a half of preparation,'' tight end Desmond Clark said.

Clark said he studies film in his room on the day of the game, but that you basically lose two full days of preparation all for a prime-time spot for the NFL.

''It's another day when the league can showcase it's product and earn more dollars for us all,'' Clark said. ''So I understand it.''

Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said his final decision to rest wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who was questionable with a sprained right ankle, came down to the Soldier Field playing surface.

''My biggest concern was the condition of the field,'' he said. ''The field was thick and loose, and the footing on it wasn't great. ... I was afraid he could easily turn his ankle on that field coming out of a break.''

The Cardinals took a page out of the Bears' special-teams playbook when Antrel Rolle lined up just in front of the crossbar for Robbie Gould's 48-yard field goal try before halftime. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie tipped the kick, making it fall well short, and Rolle returned it 59 yards with Gould making a potential touchdown-saving tackle.

''I've got to get it off quicker,'' Gould said. ''I've got to do my job.''

The miss dropped Gould below San Diego's Nate Kaeding and made him third all-time in field-goal accuracy. Kaeding and Gould trail Mike Vanderjagt. Gould is at 85.7 percent for his career, one-tenth of a point behind Kaeding.

Jay Cutler could be fined for his unsportsmanlike- conduct penalty. He was flagged for mouthing off to an official. Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher had the same thing happen to him last season at Atlanta, and the NFL fined him $20,000 for verbal abuse of an official.

• The 369 yards passing by Cutler was the second-most in his career and the seventh-most in Bears' franchise history. Cutler has 2,046 yards passing on the season, putting him on pace to become the first 4,000-yard passer in franchise history. Cutler also is the fastest to 2,000 yards in a season in franchise history. Erik Kramer, Jim McMahon and Jim Miller all got to 2,000 yards in 10 games.

•• Greg Olsen became the first Bears tight end since Greg Latta (1975) with three TD passes in a game. The last Bear to do it: Marty Booker at Tampa Bay in 2001.

• Free safety Danieal Manning led the Bears with 12 tackles.

29 Completions

47 Attempts

369 Yards

3 Touchdowns

1 Interceptions