Alshon Jeffery held out of practice with a groin injury

Forte also indicated that the turf surface in St. Louis isn’t exactly an ideal stage on which to test the knee.

St. Louis, MO, US; Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (22) is tackled by St. Louis Rams strong safety T.J. McDonald (25) in the first quarter at the Edward Jones Dome. Coach John Fox is famously misleading when it comes to injuries, but after getting in three limited practice sessions this week, it would appear that Forte has a real chance of playing on Sunday.

Jeffery has caught 28 passes for over 400 yards the last three games. Jeffery injured the groin in practice Wednesday, he did not practice on Thursday.

“He’ll be OK. If he can’t go, we’ve had life without him and we’ll figure it out with the guys we’ve got”, he added. Four days after the season opener, he suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the next four games. “Because if you go out there for one game and then ruin the rest of your season and maybe your career, then that’s a big factor”. Forte missed Monday’s game in San Diego with a knee injury.

“We’re in a very physical, combative game”, Fox said.

Eddie Royal (knee), Pernell McPhee (knee) and Mitch Unrein (illness) did not practice.

Offensive coordinator Adam Gase chimed in about the possibility of not having Jeffery available this week, “That’s what the National Football League is all about”.

“It’s a fine line, because if you’re not fully healed and you go out there, you might injure it worse or something else”, Forte said.

“He’s been through it before”, Fox said, via the Sun-Times. “We’ve got a lot of time this week. You look at the past week and right now we’re looking at the Rams, so it’s a week-to-week thing”.