The season-ending ankle injury to backup running back Kevin Jones leaves the Bears lacking some depth, but it doesn't create an emergency situation.

Featured ball carrier Matt Forte was a workhorse last season, rushing for 1,238 yards on 316 carries and catching a team-best 63 passes. While the Bears planned to expand Jones' role this year after he carried just 34 times and caught two passes last year, there has never been any doubt about who the alpha male is in their backfield. And they still have two complementary backups in reliable, versatile eight-year veteran Adrian Peterson and third-year scat back Garrett Wolfe. They may add another runner to the mix, probably one effective in short-yardage situations, but they don't have to panic.

Peterson has averaged better than 4.0 yards per carry in three of the past four seasons, and he caught 51 passes in 2007. There were already plans to utilize Wolfe more. He averaged 13.0 yards per catch as a rookie in '07 but had just nine receptions, and last year he averaged 4.6 yards per rush but got just 13 attempts.

Jones, who is scheduled to undergo surgery this week, was hurt when he hurdled a tackler and went out of bounds last Thursday night. He landed awkwardly on his left foot and then was hit late by linebacker Marcus Benard, who drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.

"We were anxious to give him a lot of carries and see where he was, so that's tough," Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "You hate to see it, but we've got three guys that we feel really good about."

Jones carried the ball just 34 times last season for a 3.2-yard average, but he was re-signed in the offseason to a two-year contract for $3.5 million as the top backup to Forte. He looked quicker and faster in training camp than he did last season when he was still slowed from late-2007 knee surgery. He was hoping for a return to the form that allowed him to rush for 1,133 yards and average 4.7 yards per carry as a Lions rookie in 2004.

But his preseason results were disappointing. On 24 rushing attempts, he managed 77 yards for a 3.2-yard average with a long gain of 9 yards.