Trestman: Melton's Knee Injury To Be Evaluated Today
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Bears coach Marc Trestman said he's "really not sure" how serious Pro Bowl defensive tackle Henry Melton's knee injury is, but he said Melton would be evaluated when he gets back to Chicago on Monday.
"He obviously left the game; we all saw it, and he'll be evaluated this morning when we get back to Halas Hall," Trestman said in an interview with WBBM Newsradio's Josh Liss.
Melton was carted off the field with a knee injury early in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's 40-23 win against the Steelers.
The Bears third win of the year was closer than the score would indicate, and certainly closer than Trestman and the rest of the team would like after building a 24-3 lead in the first half.
Trestman: Win Over Steelers 'Wasn't The Prettiest'
With Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger picking apart the Bears' secondary for 406 yards -- 196 of them to receiver Antonio Brown -- Pittsburgh was able to close the gap to four points early in the fourth quarter before the Bears pulled away for a 40-23 victory.
"The lesson is we've got to keep playing, because if you've got Ben Roethlisberger on the other side, and you're playing the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, I mean that's a very prideful group," Trestman said. "It wasn't the prettiest of victories, but it was one that we're proud of, and appreciate, and we'll learn from it, and get better during the course of the week, and try to go into Detroit and do the same thing."
Bears QB Jay Cutler was clutch in the fourth quarter again, capping a 74-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Earl Bennett in the corner of the end zone -- a diving catch that was originally ruled incomplete, until Trestman challenged the call, and replay showed Bennett got both feet down inbounds, with control of the ball.
"It was just a good play all around by … all the guys," Trestman said. "We had very good protection, we had a route designed to beat zone coverage with one-man answer, and that man answer was Earl on a corner route. Jay got very, very good protection, Earl beat his man at the line of scrimmage right off the snap, and was able to get to the corner. Jay put it down right in the corner."
Trestman praised his players for coming up with five takeaways -- including two defensive touchdowns -- while not turning the ball over for the first time this season. The Bears also had their third straight game with no pre-snap penalties on offense, and kept Cutler clean, for the most part, giving up only two sacks, despite facing lots of complicated blitzes from the Steelers.
"It was an awesome job by our football team. The guys went in there in a very, very tough environment to win on the road in Pittsburgh, and it was a very, very good team win," Trestman said.
The Bears face the Lions in Detroit next week, with a chance to build a two game cushion in the NFC North.
