--DT Nick Fairley practiced Wednesday for just the second time since breaking his foot on Aug. 1. But nobody should be holding their breath on his debut. "When he does get back there will be a progression to that," coach Jim Schwartz said. "We are talking about a guy who has played in zero preseason games, and we always have a progression with those." Wednesday's practice was short and without pads. If Fairley practices Thursday, and no assurances were given, it will be his first real contact since the injury. "We won't go from zero-to-100 without taking some steps along the way," Schwartz said. "He's getting better. He's improving every day."

--Calvin Johnson has scored eight touchdowns on just 24 catches this season. The question presented to Schwartz on Wednesday was, what if they targeted him more? "This isn't fantasy football," he said. "The object is to score. If we're scoring on a drive and he's had one catch, that's good. If he's had three catches on a drive and we're punting - not so much. It's a bottom-line business and the bottom line is getting the ball in the end zone."

--Johnson wouldn't talk about whether or not he thought he was in the MVP race - "It's way too early," he said - but he would talk about whether he and quarterback Matthew Stafford were the best tandem in football right now. "I'd like to say so," he said. "We have a lot of chemistry. Matt has been here for a while and we've got guys who have been here for more than a year. With that comes chemistry."

--The Lions have been beaten on reverses in every game this season. Every time, the ball has gone around defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch and outside linebacker DeAndre Levy's side of the field. Let the record show, however, that in the Lions' scheme, Vanden Bosch is not responsible for reverses. "In this scheme, the ends are not responsible for that," Vanden Bosch said. "If they are running fake handoffs away from me, then I have to close on the cutbacks. But on reverses, it's somebody behind me that has to contain. That would be Levy and one of the safeties."

--The Lions, like most teams, have struggled to contain Bears running back Matt Forte. In six games against them, he averages 126.2 total yards - 83 rushing and 43 receiving. In the season opener last year in Chicago, Forte broke an 89-yard screen pass. "He is one of the best screen runners in the NFL," Schwartz said. "He's a big part of what they do. He had a breakout game running the ball last week (205 yards) but he contributes in a lot of other ways. Not just screens, he gets downfield on wheel routes. He presents a matchup issue."

BY THE NUMBERS
3 - Sacks by DE Cliff Avril vs. Bears in the last meeting.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"He's playing basketball on the football field and he's unstoppable." -- NFL Network's Michael Irvin on WR Calvin Johnson.

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