LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Operating the Bears' scout team in practice the past two years, Kyle Orton has impersonated great NFL quarterbacks such as Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. But this week the third-year pro finally gets a chance to mimic the passer he knows best: himself.

Coach Lovie Smith announced Monday that Orton will start next Monday night’s road game against the Minnesota Vikings. The former Purdue star replaces Rex Grossman, who is sidelined with a sprained left MCL sustained in Thursday night’s 24-16 loss in Washington. Orton has not appeared in a regular-season game since the 2005 finale, coincidentally, in Minnesota.

In the preseason this year, Kyle Orton completed 31 of 51 passes for 298 yards with 1 TD, 1 interception and a 75.4 rating.

“Most of the guys on our football team right now have had an opportunity to prove what they could do, except for Kyle,” said Smith, who delivered the news to Orton Monday morning at Halas Hall. “So I’m excited about what he could possibly do for us this coming week.

“He’s shown us that he’s a team player. Everybody has a role to fill at different times of the season. His role has been in a backup role until now. What he’s done is gone out each day and run the ‘look’ squad. He’s been the opposing quarterback just about every week. 

"At the same time, he’s stayed into football quite a bit. He’s a smart football player. He has a strong arm.”

As a rookie in 2005, Orton compiled a 10-5 record as a starter in helping the Bears win the NFC North title. The fourth-round pick from Purdue completed 51.6 percent of his passes for 1,869 yards with 9 TDs, 13 interceptions and a 59.7 passer rating. 

Orton became the surprise starter after Grossman broke his ankle in the preseason and Chad Hutchinson was released.

Orton has served as the Bears’ third quarterback for the past two years. He last played in a regular-season game on Jan. 1, 2006, completing 6 of 14 passes for 59 yards in a 34-10 loss at Minnesota.

“I talked to Lovie and he said it’s my job and I’m very excited,” Orton said Monday. “I told him I was going to work as hard as I could to prepare and play as well as I can to help the team win.

“I think everybody knows that I’ve been frustrated and haven’t liked my role. But it’s what it was and I tried to make the best of it, and now my job’s just to focus on the future and try to play well and let everything work itself out.”

Smith declined to commit to Orton beyond next Monday night’s game in Minnesota, though the coach chose to start Orton ahead of veteran Brian Griese, who replaced Grossman in Washington and will serve as the No. 2 quarterback in Minnesota.

“We have the Vikings up this week and I really can’t look any further than that,” Smith said. “Again, I do like what [Orton] could possibly bring. We had the chance to work him with the look squad all along. He’s been going against our defense all year. I’m excited about that. But we’re not looking any further than this game.”

After spending two years holding a clipboard, Orton intends to keep the starting position.

“I’m going to let my play speak for itself and I figure if I play well and win football games, it’ll be my job,” he said. “If I play well against Minnesota, then I’ll be able to play the next game and the next game and the next game, so [it's] one game at a time.”

Asked if anointing Orton the starter was a sign that the Bears were evaluating for the future, Smith said: “Oh, no. We’re into trying to win this week, period. Kyle gives us our best chance to win this week, no more than that. We’ll take that approach with all of our players. We’re trying to win this weekend, period.”

Supported by a strong defense that led the NFL in points allowed and ranked second in total yards in 2005, Orton operated a conservative offensive attack as a rookie. He passed for more than 150 yards in just two of 15 starts and won games in which he threw for only 68 and 67 yards.

Two years later, the 6-4, 217-pounder feels that he’s a much-improved quarterback.

“I’ve changed as a player and as a person,” Orton said. “I’ve matured. I’ve been in the system now for three years. I feel very comfortable with it. Everybody around me has been in the system for three years and feels more comfortable with it. We’re a better team now than we were when I was a rookie and I’m a better player now than I was when I was a rookie.”