Bears TE Matt Spaeth has excelled so well that OC Mike Tice calls him "Mike Tice Jr." (US Presswire)

The BearsMatt Spaeth's contribution.

Spaeth earned his way onto highlight replays across the league last week with a reaching, diving catch of a low Jay Cutler laser for a 13-yard TD, and seemed rather embarrassed this week by all the attention on his receiving ability.

Spaeth usually doesn't do the pass catching as the designated blocking tight end, but their other tight end, Kellen Davis, hasn't exactly been pulling his weight in the passing game with more drops (5) per catch (14) than any player in the league.

"Tight ends kind of play in the middle of the field mostly," Spaeth said. "We don't get a lot of opportunities like that.

"The whole dragging the feet thing isn't like second nature to us. I just happened to kind of get my feet in. I knew I made a catch clean and I happened to get my feet in."

Offensive coordinator Mike Tice likes to compare Spaeth to his own playing days, and has referred to Spaeth on more than one occasion as "Mike Tice Jr."

Tice was a 6-foot-7 blocking tight end, too, but Spaeth actually is averaging about half a catch more per season (8) than Tice did for his career.

"I really think he’s quietly had a very solid season," Tice said of Spaeth. "He’s had a couple plays I know he wants back. But I’ve said it before, I thought he’s playing some good football and played some good football the other day, had some great blocks too.”

Spaeth saw the TD catch a few times on television in the Bears players' lunch room at Halas Hall. "But I try not to watch it," he said. "I'm not one of those guys that's going to get really full of myself because you've got to take it week by week."

With Davis struggling to make catches and rookie Evan Rodriguez only making one catch so far this year, Spaeth doesn't see himself suddenly becoming a big option in the passing game. He's the guy Lovie Smith says does "the dirty work."

"I still have my role on this team and I understand my role," he said. "Hopefully, it inspired a little confidence in (me), (with) the coaches and Jay, so that if an opportunity came like that, then he'd come my way again. But I don't know."

Little big man: Seattle QB Russell Wilson's lack of height at a generously listed 5-foot-11 is something the Bears hope they can use against him. Wilson is best running bootlegs and getting outside on rollouts, much like another shorter QB they faced this season, Houston's Matt Schaub. What defensive players were really impressed by was Wilson's ability to roll left and throw, even though he is right-handed. His ability on film to square up and throw while rolling the opposite way is uncommon.

"You have to keep him in the pocket," defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. "You’ve got to make him throw from a well. That’s what you’d like to be able to do. But that’s where the problems come because he’s tough to keep in there.

"He gets out of there. He works. He goes left, right, play-action, all those things. That’s our challenge this week.”

Big little man: At 5-8, 182 pounds, Bears special teams player Eric Weems is turning heads with his ability to be phyiscal. In fact Weems and bigger teammate, LB Blake Costanzo, are constantly waging a battle to see who can make the tackles on special teams.

"They will go back and forth and they are always competing, who made the tackle, who didn’t make the tackle? Who is getting doubled? Who isn’t? And it’s a lot of fun as far as the coverage goes," special teams coordinator Dave Toub said.

Weems has a way of getting under other players' skin.

"He's tough," Toub said. "He's real quiet at practice and he's kind of different. When it's game time, he's a lot more vocal and when he blocks you he lets you know about it (by talking). 

"He kind of ticks some people off sometimes -- and sometimes they push him back and they can't believe this (little) guy is beating them."

Weems will get to display his return ability this week with Devin Hester out due to a concussion. Toub calls Weems a different kind of player than Hester in that he is more straight-line and less likely to dance or cut away from defenders.

Weems made the Pro Bowl after the 2010 season as a return man when he returned a 102-yard kickoff and 55-yard punt return for TDs. He also had a 102-yard kickoff return for a TD in the playoffs that year against the Packers. It was his second season returning kicks in the league.

Fast man: Punter Adam Podlesh didn't see his two-point run on a fake PAT last Sunday as a fluke of any kind, and even took issue when it was brought to his attention that he could have made it easier on himself by cutting left.

"When you're a running back, they tell you that you have to anticipate where the whole is opening," the punter-turned-running back said.

What would Podlesh know about it? He rushed for 638 yards in high school and was so fast he won the state titles for 200 and 400 meters.

He also is quick to point out, "I ran a 4.4 in the 40 in college."

That 4.4 time helped earn him the Iron Terp Award at Maryland in 2006 spring football.

Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.