LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels recently called Bears coach Lovie Smith to apologize for delivering an illegal chop block that ended defensive tackle Antonio Garay’s season.

Garay sustained a broken leg on the play, which occurred early in the second quarter of the Bears’ 24-16 loss to the Redskins Dec. 6 at FedEx Field. While Samuels was not penalized for the block, he was fined $12,500 by the NFL.

Antonio Garay was carted off the field after breaking his leg during the Bears' loss to the Redskins.

“It’s not like he had to [call to apologize],” Smith said. “I know what type of football player he is. He’s not a dirty player or anything like that. But it says a lot about a guy who’s sorry for something that was unfortunate.”

The Bears coach chalked up the incident to something that occasionally occurs in the heat of battle.

“It’s not something he tried to do on purpose,” Smith said. “Things like that happen in the game of football sometime.”

Up to speed: Playing with a few new defensive tackles won't prevent the Bears from utilizing their entire playbook Monday night in Minnesota.

With Garay and Anthony Adams being placed on injured reserve and Darwin Walker nursing an elbow injury, the Bears signed defensive tackles Babatunde Oshinowo, Jimmy Kennedy and Matt Toeaina to their 53-man roster this week.

“They’re catching up quickly,” Smith said. “If there is a position where you can bring guys in and get them up to speed fairly quick, it is that position. They’re making progress and they shouldn’t hold us up a lot.”

Back in business: Kennedy has been out of football since being released by the Denver Broncos Sept. 1. After spending his first four NFL seasons with the St. Louis Rams, the former Penn State star was traded to the Broncos in June and expected to make Denver’s final roster.

“I don’t know what happened there,” Kennedy said. “To be honest, I don’t care. I felt like I was doing everything in my power to help that franchise, and now I am going to do everything in my power to help this team win, whether it’s the last three games or the Super Bowl next year.”

Extra effort: Bears receivers have been impressed that new starting quarterback Kyle Orton has dropped into their meetings to discuss details of the game plan.

“It’s saying our quarterback is doing what he needs to do to get ready to play,” Smith said. “He has to have a relationship with all the guys. He needs to know exactly what they’re doing. They need to see him. But I think all of our skill guys have confidence in each other to do their job.”

Tracking Moose: Bears receiver Muhsin Muhammad needs just 125 receiving yards to become the 29th player in NFL history to reach the 10,000-yard mark in his career. The 12th-year pro ranks ninth among active players with 9,875 yards. 

Since joining the Bears as a free agent in 2005, Muhammad leads the team in all receiving categories with 159 catches for 2,214 yards and 12 TDs, This season he has caught 35 passes for 511 yards and 3 TDs.