With the Green Bay Packers carrying 17 rookies or first-year players on their opening day roster, the experience advantage would seem to heavily favor Bears special teams in Sunday's game at Lambeau Field. Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub, however, warns against such assumptions.

"Every year you pretty much have the same amount of new players on special teams," he said. "We happen to be a little bit more fortunate than others that we've got a lot of guys back from last year, but it's not always that way.

"I don't think they'll be handicapped by that (inexperience)."

Toub doesn't want anything similar to Antonio Chatman's 85-yard punt return for a touchdown last Christmas against the Bears, a return which kept Green Bay in that game and also kept the Bears from finishing among the punt coverage leaders league-wide.

It would be impossible for Green Bay to duplicate that exactly because Chatman wasn't tendered an offer in restricted free agency. Now Charles Woodson is the Packers' punt returner and Greg Jennings backs him up.

"They had a real nice return on us last year," Toub said. "We showed that film to our guys a bunch of times. You can't have breakdowns, but they have the ability to do that to you."

The Bears feel they have the weapon to break a few punt returns of their own this year in Devin Hester.

The rookie second-round draft pick from Miami finished second in the NFL in preseason with a 22.8-yard average on six returns, and made four fair catches.

"Four preseason games really helped and built my confidence up, so I'm just going to go into this first game being as humble as I can and just trying to do what the coaches tell me to do and come out with a win," Hester said.

Bears coach Lovie Smith is no less optimistic about kick returner Rashied Davis, who led the NFL in preseason return average with a 41.0-yard average. He had a 100-yarder for a touchdown against San Diego in Week 2.

"I'm definitely excited about what we could do with the special teams," Smith said. "Returners Devin Hester and Rashied Davis have both done a great job. We know what our cover teams bring. Brendon Ayanbadejo, just a great special teams player.

"We put a big emphasis on it and hopefully we'll get a lot of production from it."