The yellow cart raced across the turf at the Edward Jones Dome, bound for an unwilling passenger who first wore a look of defiance and then, ultimately, disgust.
Bears quarterback Rex Grossman had first refused assistance from lineman Fred Miller after he was chased and twisted down by Rams linebackers Jeremy Loyd and Trev Faulk.
Finally, he begrudgingly accepted Miller’s help, only to rise and take a few gimpy steps on his suddenly uncooperative left ankle, signal for the trainers and then collapse.
Forget the Bears’ 17-13 exhibition loss to St. Louis on Friday night.
In news almost unfathomable to Bears fans and anyone close to the snakebitten quarterback, Grossman broke his left ankle on the play that occurred with 11 minutes 8 seconds left in the second quarter, his 19th of the night.
The Bears said Grossman would undergo surgery this week and be sidelined three to four months.
That means missing at least eight games in a best-case scenario and perhaps 13. Plenty of the hype and hope has been sucked out of this Bears season a full four weeks before the regular-season opener in Washington.
“If we’re contingent on just one player, then obviously we didn’t build this team to win,” general manager Jerry Angelo said. “It’s a tough blow. But we’ll get through it.”
Angelo said he would wait until consulting the team’s medical staff after the surgery to decide if Grossman will be placed on injured reserve, ending his season.
It’s the third straight season that will be defined by an injury to Grossman, who had labored so hard and long to recover from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last Sept. 26.
The ramifications of this injury can’t be underestimated for a franchise desperately needing to right its fortunes. Quarterbacks Chad Hutchinson and rookie Kyle Orton now sit atop the Bears’ depth chart.
Hutchinson finished 2-for-2 for 14 yards. Orton went 7-for-10 for 93 yards and an interception.
Jeff George, Jeff Blake, Vinny Testaverde, Quincy Carter, Tim Couch, Shaun King–drafted by Angelo in Tampa Bay–and Brock Huard are some of the unsigned veteran quarterbacks available.
“We’ll look, but we’ll go with the hand we dealt ourselves,” Angelo said. “We’re comfortable with it. It’s unfortunate. Rex certainly will be missed. The good news is we have almost a month until our opener. [Offensive coordinator] Ron Turner is here. We have confidence in him as well.”
Asked if he regretted not pursuing a veteran backup during free agency, Angelo grew terse.
“No,” he said.
Grossman had completed 6 of 11 passes for 52 yards before exiting, including a 4-yard gain to tight end Darnell Sanders and the Rams’ 38-yard line just before he got dragged down and rolled his left ankle under a pile of players.
“It’s not really going to do me any good to be angry,” Grossman said. “All I can do is be positive and know I have another tough challenge in front of me. I’m going to rehab. I’m hurt and I’m going to get better. That’s all I can do.”
Hutchinson replaced Grossman and promptly finished off the 13-play, 78-yard scoring drive to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. Running back Adrian Peterson scored on a 9-yard burst up the middle.
Befitting the Bears’ night, however, all went downhill from there.
For the second straight game, the Bears’ second-string defense surrendered scoring drives on their first two possessions.
Rams reserve quarterback Jamie Martin found wideout Kevin Curtis on a 7-yard touchdown strike to cap a 12-play, 74-yard drive that tied the score at 7-7 with 1:23 left in the half. Michael Haynes registered one of three Bears sacks on the drive, but the second-string secondary again looked overmatched.
St. Louis then scored on its opening drive of the second half, with Shaun McDonald beating Rashied Davis for a 5-yard touchdown pass from Martin. St. Louis’ drive covered 10 plays and 73 yards.
Remy Hamilton’s 33-yard field goal with 2:44 left in the third gave St. Louis a 17-7 lead.
The Bears added two fourth-quarter field goals by Nick Novak and lost a chance to win the game when rookie Mark Bradley dropped a perfectly thrown pass by third-string quarterback Kurt Kittner in the end zone with 1:55 to play.
Playing with just three days of rest in between exhibition games and against a stronger opponent, the Bears came out tentative offensively. They went three-and-out on their first two possessions and posted just one first down and 25 total yards while not entering Rams territory the entire first quarter.
The first-string defense, which now will be counted on even more in light of Grossman’s injury, looked strong for the second straight exhibition. It allowed 70 yards and four first downs on four possessions by the potent Rams offense and posted several big plays.
Adewale Ogunleye had two sacks and forced a hurried throw by starter Marc Bulger. Charles Tillman came up with a spectacular diving interception and 30-yard return, helping offset his holding penalty that negated a Mike Brown interception on the same possession.
But no matter the action on the field, the one-year anniversary of Lovie Smith’s debut in this same stadium had a pall over it after Grossman exited.
“The emotional state is we feel bad for Rex,” Smith said. “But as a team, we’re not feeling sorry for ourselves. We have a lot of football to play. We’re a good team.
“We’re minus one of our leaders, but we have other players who can step up.”
Afterward, Grossman could not even step up to a podium. After hobbling out on crutches, he tried to climb stairs to the podium but ultimately settled for leaning against a wall.
Befitting his fighting spirit, though, Grossman answered any and all questions at a time he didn’t have to.
“I’m just a positive person,” Grossman said. “This is another bad thing that’s happened. But I know great things are coming for me. I just feel it.
“I feel I’ve been through hell and I’m going to come out of it. Good things are going to happen.”
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kcjohnson@tribune.com
