It seems the Chicago Bears may not want Matt Forte carrying the backfield load all by his lonesome next season.
That or they're just trying to surround dour signal-caller Jay Cutler with as much talent as possible in the hopes of taking the pressure off of him and creating a more run-oriented offensive attack in the Windy City.
New Bears head coach John Fox and GM Ryan Pace are reportedly hosting former Atlanta Falcons running back Jacquizz Rodgers on Tuesday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
The 25-year-old Rodgers is a former fifth-round pick of the Falcons in the 2011 NFL Draft.
He's a smaller player - just 5-foot-6, 196-pounds - but he's been surprisingly durable during his four-year NFL career, only ever having missed one game due to injury.
The Falcons were very judicious with his carries during his time in Atlanta - he never broke the 100-carry mark and topped out at 96 carries in 2013.
He's a versatile, talented scat-back type who could potentially provide some nice lightning to Forte's thunder.
He catches the ball well - he finished 2012 with 53 receptions for 402 yards and 2013 with 52 receptions for 341 yards - and also has the ability to return kicks, something he did quite often for the Falcons prior to last season.
While the Bears did spend a fourth-round pick on Ka'Deem Carey out of Arizona last season, that was a Marc Trestman-Phil Emery selection and Fox and Pace may feel no obligation to the young running back.
In limited work last year, the physical, violent Carey gained 158 yards rushing on 36 carries in just 14 games, for a 4.4 yards per carry average. He also added five receptions for 57 yards.
Ultimately, it's likely Fox and Pace are simply kicking the tires on a different type of back as Carey, with his soft hands and rugged running style, is very similar to what they already have in Forte and third-stringer Senorise Perry may not yet be ready to handle an expanded workload.
