CHICAGO – With whispers and rumors swirling about his health, Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher told FOX Sports Sunday that he has been dealing with a painful back injury all season.

“It’s a problem that started all the way back in [training] camp,” Urlacher told Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. “We’ve done x-rays, bone scans, MRIs, cat scans and this week I flew to Pittsburgh and met with a specialist. He confirmed what the team told me, that they think it’s an arthritis type of thing. The thing that’s so frustrating is there is no clear-cut solution to give me relief. I just have to deal with the pain.”

Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher tackles Lions running back Kevin Jones during Sunday's game at Soldier Field.

Urlacher, who was credited with four tackles in Sunday’s 16-7 loss to the Detroit Lions, revealed that the pain is severe.

“The pain is actually worse than when I tore my hamstring a couple of years ago,” he said. “That injury was worse because I missed games, but this causes more pain. It prevents me from bending and if I can’t bend, I’m not able to be as athletic. I also can’t backpedal like I need to. Right now we’re trying to find pain solutions. I’ve got it shot a bunch to try to find some relief and actually it felt better last week.

“The frustrating thing is they can’t pinpoint it exactly so I have no idea when it will hurt or hold me back, but the pain is pretty much always there.”

Urlacher sat out several training camp practices and then was held out of Friday workouts in advance of regular season games from Week 2 through Week 6. That, coupled with a decline in production, led to speculation that the six-time Pro Bowler was hurt more than he was admitting.

Urlacher had delivered one- and two-word answers in recent press conferences before his in-depth interview with FOX Sports.

“I haven’t wanted to talk about it because I don’t want it to be an excuse,” Urlacher said. “Look, I’m out there, and if I'm out there playing I didn't want it out because I didn't want it used as an excuse by me or anybody else. I'm playing hurt, I'm not playing as well as I want to and they want me to explain everything.

"But I decided to open up about this because the media didn't like my answers and started saying I was doing a disservice to the fans. But the fans aren't the ones getting ticked about my answers. The fans aren't the ones who I'm trying to avoid. I just don't want to talk about an injury where there are no answers. But when the media throws the fan angle in, I'm talking. That's what I'm doing now. Don't use the fan excuse with me."

Urlacher isn’t worried that the injury will end his career.

"As long as I can deal with the pain I'll be out there," he said. "I don't need surgery and the team is trying to explore every possible thing for me to do to find me some relief. But it's just part of the territory of playing in the NFL. Even in practice Lovie (Smith) had convinced me to take off Fridays but I got embarrassed so I started working again. It's just how I am. If I'm not practicing, it's just how I've always been, it's embarrassing to me. If everyone else is out there and I can walk, I should be out there too.

"I just wanted to set the record straight with what's going on because all the speculating about me and the team has been very frustrating. We've been very inconsistent on both sides of the ball and we've lost games we shouldn't have. I'm part of that too and hopefully, I can get through this thing."