The Bears have reached an agreement with Phil Emery today to become the team’s fifth GM in franchise history. Emery joins the Bears after spending 14 seasons in the NFL including the last three as the Chiefs Director of College Scouting. This will be Emery’s second stint with the Bears after working as an area scout for the franchise from 1998-2004. During that time the Bears drafted Pro Bowler’s WR Marty Booker (third round of 1999), KR Jerry Azumah (fifth round of 1999), LB Brian Urlacher (first round of 2000), S Mike Brown (second round of 2000), CB Charles Tillman (second round of 2003), LB Lance Briggs (third round of 2003), DT Tommie Harris (first round of 2004) and CB Nathan Vasher (fourth round of 2004).

Patriots director of pro personnel Jason Licht, one of two finalists for the vacant Bears GM position, will have his second interview with the club on Thursday, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Brian Urlacher gets pain-killing injections and often will not admit to feeling like he has a concussion in order to stay on the field. Urlacher appeared on HBO's "Real Sports" and said that he has been shot up with Toradol, an anti-inflammatory that can decrease pain by reducing inflammation. "It's normal," Urlacher said. "You drop your pants, you get the alcohol, they give you a shot, put the Band-Aid on and you go out and play." Andrea Kremer pointed out in the segment that regularly using the drug can lead to kidney failure and gastrointestinal bleeding. Urlacher professed to not knowing the side effects but says it didn't really matter. "First of all, we love football," Urlacher said. "We want to be on the field as much as we can be. If we can be out there, it may be stupid, it may be dumb, call me dumb and stupid then, because I want to be on the football field."

While the Bears are not yet ready to hire a new general manager and are setting up second interviews with more than one candidate, sources expect Phil Emery to ultimately be hired. Emery is currently the director of college scouting for the Chiefs. Jason Licht, director of pro scouting for the Patriots, is believed to be the other final candidate. The Bears are searching for a replacement for Jerry Angelo.

Mike Tice will not interview with the Raiders for their head coaching position. Tice was recently promoted by the Bears to become their offensive coordinator.

Donovan McNabb said Friday that he was expecting to receive a call from the Bears after Jay Cutler went down with a fractured thumb Nov. 20. Chicago never called and they lost five of their last six games and missed the playoffs. The Bears did put in a claim on Kyle Orton after he was released by the Broncos, but the Chiefs claimed Orton before he was available to the Bears. "I thought the Bears would call," McNabb said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "So many people continuously talked about the Mike Martz offense and things of that nature. I personally didn't care about that. If you want to win and win now, you go out and get a better quarterback and you cater your offense to his strengths, and obviously the strengths of your team. "Obviously it didn't work out well for them. It's unfortunate. I wish things would have worked out, but it didn't. We will see what happens from now on."

Bears running back Matt Forte has hinted that he might hold out if the team uses their franchise tag on him. "I wouldn't say 'hold out,' but people probably wouldn't know where I was," Forte told WMVP-AM in Chicago on Wednesday regarding what he might do if he receives the tag. Forte, whose rookie contract is up, wants an extension from the Bears, but he said he expects the team to use the franchise tag.

Bears director of player personnel Tim Ruskell has interviewed for the team’s GM job. The interview took place on Thursday. The Bears are looking to replace Jerry Angelo, who was fired after the Bears finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.

Bears running back Matt Forte has been cleared to participate in the upcoming Pro Bowl after his injured knee checked out OK during a team administered physical, the club announced on Thursday.

Bears running back Matt Forte joked Wednesday that he may be hard to find if the franchise tag is put on him before training camp next season, although he wouldn't call it an official holdout. Forte has been seeking an extension since the preseason, and he said the two sides were far apart, according to an ESPN.com report.