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At 5-8 and sitting in last place in the division, the Bears' season is effectively over. In addition to entering "playing for pride" territory the next four weeks, during last night's Redskins game, the club also lost starting quarterback Rex Grossman to a nasty-looking knee injury, putting his future in Chicago in doubt.

Today, though, there's some good news on the Grossman front. What almost certainly looked like one of those injuries that would require surgery and a grueling eight-month rehab will apparently require neither:

It looked much worse as he walked off the field Thursday night but Rex Grossman will not face surgery after the nasty knee injury suffered against the Washington Redskins, sources told the Tribune Friday.

An MRI revealed that the medial collateral ligament wasn't torn but merely sprained. The difference could keep Grossman in Chicago if the Bears determine that the month-long recovery time is worth a risk.

Grossman still won't play again this season, but the soon-to-be free agent could be in the teams' plans now that the injury isn't as bad as originally feared. This is sure to bring mixed reactions from Bears' fans, many of whom have suffered through plenty of EVIL REX moments the past few seasons.

After a brief benching earlier this year, Grossman returned to the lineup and showed more consistency. I don't know if that's enough to earn him a new contract, especially if he struggles early in '08 and the Bears haven't made any contingency plans at quarterback. And no, Kyle Orton doesn't count.