LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears obviously don’t want to lose incomparable return specialist Devin Hester for any length of time, but they have total confidence in his would-be replacement.

“Danieal Manning is probably one of the better kickoff returners in the league,” special teams coordinator Dave Toub said of the third-year pro from Abilene Christian.

Danieal Manning had kick returns of 60 and 75 yards in a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Hester was carted to the locker room after suffering a rib injury on a 24-yard kickoff return midway through the third quarter of Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers. He didn’t appear to get hit on the play, but clutched his side as he walked slowly to the sideline.

“As far as how long he’ll be out, I’m not going to get into all that,” said coach Lovie Smith, who also revealed that safety Brandon McGowan hurt his ankle late in the Bears’ loss. “We’re doing everything we can to see exactly where they are, to check them out the best we can.”

If Hester can’t play in Sunday’s home opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bears will turn to Manning, who burst through a seam before being tripped up on a 36-yard kickoff return following the Panthers’ late go-ahead touchdown.

“I was a shoestring tackle away,” Manning said. “It happens like that. It’s a game of inches.”

Manning, who was selected by the Bears 15 spots ahead of Hester in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, displayed his skills in the preseason when he set up a touchdown and a field goal with kickoff returns of 60 and 75 yards against the San Francisco 49ers.

“Devin’s doing quite a bit for us,” Smith said when asked how the Bears would replace Hester. “But we feel like we have some guys that can step in, and that’s what happens. You have injuries throughout. Guys don’t play for certain reasons. Carolina played without their best receiver [Steve Smith] for a couple games. You find another way to win. 

"I don’t think we’re to that point right now with Devin. Right now we just know that he didn’t finish the football game and we’ll see if he’ll be available this week. I’m hoping he will be.”

Flag day: Toub wasn’t happy after the Bears were whistled for four penalties on special teams Sunday. McGowan drew a 15-yard foul unnecessary roughness foul on Brandon Lloyd’s 9-yard return of a blocked punt. The other three penalties were all for illegal blocks in the back against McGowan, Manning and rookie Kellen Davis.

“I’m angry about it,” Toub said. “Three of the penalties were on blocks that weren’t needed. It’s just a matter of the guys trying to do a little bit too much and being a little bit too aggressive.”

Inflicting Payne: After reviewing tape of Sunday’s loss, Bears coaches credited second-year safety Kevin Payne with a team-high 13 tackles, including eight solo stops.

“Kevin played well,” Smith said. “He did some good things and had some good hits. When you have a loss, it’s hard to say this guy really played good enough to win and all those things, but Kevin Payne made a lot of progress from Game 1 to Game 2. We wanted to see that.”

Bombs away: Kyle Orton’s 32-yard completion to Brandon Lloyd was the Bears’ only pass play of more than 15 yards Sunday. Orton threw deep on a few other occasions, but failed to connect with his intended receivers.

“It’s very hard to score in this league if you can’t get some big plays,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “We had a plan coming in to get some [long completions]. We just didn’t get it done. Big plays are going to be part of what we’re going to have to do.”

“There’s stuff we need to work on and get better at,” said receiver Rashied Davis, who had three receptions for just 11 yards. “The best part about it is it’s early in the season. We’re still a good team. We’ve shown I think in both games that we’re a good team. Last game we just let one slip away.”