LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears on Thursday suspended defensive tackle Tommie Harris for Sunday’s road game against the Detroit Lions for breaking an unspecified team rule.

Tommie Harris

The three-time Pro Bowler will continue rehabbing his knee injury at Halas Hall, but he won’t officially rejoin the team until next Monday. 

“It’s always disappointing when you have to suspend one of your players, but nothing’s bigger than the team,” Smith said.

After registering just two tackles and one tackle-for-loss in the first three games of the season, Harris sat out last Sunday night’s win over the Eagles due to his knee injury. Given the progress he’s been making, Harris was expected to play against the Lions.

“Last week he was close, so I assume he would have been able to,” Smith said.

Last Sunday night, Israel Idonije replaced Harris in the starting lineup and Anthony Adams also joined the rotation after being inactive in the first three games of the season.

“It’s disappointing when you have to [suspend a player],” Smith said. “But as far as disrupting the team, it can’t. Injuries happen. Players don’t play from time to time. You have to move on. We played last week without Tommie, so we’ve been in that situation before.”

Smith met with Harris before practice Thursday.

“I’m disappointed in what happened today and what happened this week, having to deal with this,” said the Bears coach. “But this isn’t a lifetime sentence or anything like that. Tommie will continue to get his rehab getting ready to help the football team later on in the year. Next week, hopefully Monday, he’ll be ready to go and we’ll go from there.”

On the corner: Starting cornerbacks Charles Tillman (shoulder) and Nate Vasher (wrist) both missed practice Thursday for the second straight day.

“They’re both getting better,” Smith said. “We assume and we’re hoping that both guys will be available for the game this week, but you just never know. It’s always a concern when you go through your Thursday practice and guys aren’t at practice.”

With Tillman and Vasher ailing, reserve cornerbacks Corey Graham and Trumaine McBride could see expanded action Sunday against the Lions.

“Trumaine started against them last year and Corey’s done a great job this year,” said defensive coordinator Bob Babich. “You talk about quality depth, we feel like we’ve got that. If they get the opportunity, I’m sure they’ll produce.”

Health beat: Wide receivers Brandon Lloyd (knee) and Marty Booker (knee) also did not practice for the second straight day. Tackle Chris Williams (back) was limited and safety Kevin Payne (neck) practiced without restrictions.

For the Lions, wide receiver Roy Williams (knee), tackle George Foster (knee) and guard Stephen Peterman (hand) did not practice; and cornerback Travis Fisher (groin) was limited.

Spreading the wealth: Kyle Orton’s five touchdown passes this season have been caught by five different receivers: Lloyd and Matt Forte against the Buccaneers and Booker, Devin Hester and Greg Olsen versus the Eagles.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “That’s what we have with this offense and that’s what we talked about from the first day of training camp; that we’re going to rely on a lot of people. We’re going to go to a lot of people. It’s not about one individual’s numbers, it’s about team. 

"We’ve got several guys that can make some plays and we’re going to try to utilize them.”