Bears wide receiver Devin Hester returned to practice Friday and said he would be ready to play Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

Hester had missed practice Wednesday and Thursday because of a sore ankle. He practiced with his teammates Friday in shorts and shoulder pads at Halas Hall, and Bears coach Lovie Smith said the wide receiver officially would be listed as questionable.

"I'm 100 percent," said Hester, who leads the Bears with 39 receptions for 454 yards. "I'm ready."

Hester stepped around a question about whether he would be healthy enough to return punts.

"I heard on the radio, you all said Earl [Bennett] was going to do it," Hester said with a smile.

We'll see Sunday.

So far this season, Hester is fifth in the NFL with an average punt return of 12.5 yards. A list of the top five punt returners is below.

1. Patrick Crayton, Cowboys, 16.6 yards per punt return
2. Joshua Cribbs, Browns, 16.4 yards
3. DeSean Jackson, Eagles, 15.6 yards
4. Quan Cosby, Bengals, 13.1 yards
5. Devin Hester, Bears, 12.5 yards

Bennett also has proved to be a capable punt returner. He has averaged 15.8 yards per punt return, but his four returns are not enough to qualify for the NFL leaderboard.

-Tom Musick

Football teams almost always prefer to play home games instead of road games, but the Arizona Cardinals are challenging that concept.

The Cardinals are 3-0 on the road and 1-3 at home this season, and they believe that they can extend their road record to 4-0 after Sunday's game against the Bears at Soldier Field. The Cardinals have not won four consecutive road games in the regular season since 1982.

Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said he could not explain the disparity between the team's record at home and on the road.

"I wish I could," said Whisenhunt, who has a 24-19 career record as the Cardinals coach. "I don't know what it is. We're obviously pleased that we have played better on the road, but we'd kind of like to be like Chicago and be playing well at home. That's what we've done before, and hopefully that's the way that we'll finish it."

The Bears are 3-0 at home and 1-3 on the road.

-Tom Musick

The Bears will try to extend their home winning streak to seven games this weekend when they welcome the Arizona Cardinals.

Since 2003, the Bears have won two-thirds of their games at the renovated Soldier Field. The Bears are 3-0 at home this season, including a 30-6 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday that later prompted the Browns to fire their general manager.

Here is a look at the Bears' record at Soldier Field since its renovations were completed in 2003.

2003: 6-2
2004: 2-6
2005: 7-1
2006: 6-2
2007: 4-4
2008: 6-2
2009: 3-0
Total: 34-17 (.667 winning percentage)

Besides the Arizona Cardinals, remaining opponents who will visit Soldier Field this season include the Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.

-Tom Musick

Were you amazed by Cleveland Browns playmaker Joshua Cribbs on Sunday?

Probably not.

Let's rewind to Wednesday, when Cribbs spoke during a conference call with reporters at Halas Hall. The Browns wide receiver was asked about his thoughts on playing in the "Wildcat" formation, in which the center snapped the ball directly to him.

"Love the wildcat," Cribbs said. "Any opportunity for me to get the ball directly in my hands. I'm amazed at the things that I do, the things that I'm capable of. I'm amazed at myself – I'm like, 'Wow, how did I do that?' or 'How did I get out of that?' "

Fast forward to Sunday, when the amazing Cribbs gained an amazing 28 yards on six carries out of the "Wildcat" for an amazing 4.7 yards per carry. He averaged an amazing 22.8 yards per kickoff return, with no return longer than 25 yards, which was well off of his season mark.

Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said he enjoyed bottling up Cribbs in the "Wildcat."

"It’s something different," Briggs said. "To me, it’s kind of fun."

Briggs said that he expected to see more of the wildcat as the season continued.

"People are getting creative," he said. "They’re seeing different things. They’re trying different things and seeing what works. That’s what the great thing about football is. You can do almost anything – or you can try almost anything."

-Tom Musick

Josh Beekman will replace Frank Omiyale at starting left guard today as the Bears host the Cleveland Browns.

Beekman, 25, started all 16 games at guard for the Bears in 2008. The 6-foot-2, 310 pound lineman was a fourth round pick in the 2007 draft out of Boston College.

Omiyale drew heavy criticism after several ugly games to start the season. The Bears signed him to a multimillion dollar contract this spring, and it will be interesting to see whether he is able to rejoin the starting lineup before the season is complete.

The Bears made one other change to their starting lineup. Marcus Harrison will start at nose tackle in place of Anthony Adams, while Tommie Harris will return to the three technique in the middle of the defensive line.

Meanwhile, Bears coach Lovie Smith swapped linebacker positions for Hunter Hillenmeyer and Nick Roach. Hillenmeyer will start at middle linebacker against the Browns, while Roach will move to the strong-side linebacker after struggling in the middle against Cincinnati.

Running back Adrian Peterson also will return to play for the Bears today after missing two consecutive games because of a sprained knee.

Here is a look at the Bears inactives for Sunday's game: Juaquin Iglesias, Devin Aromashodu, D.J. Moore, Josh Bullocks, Pisa Tinoisamoa, Lance Louis, Matt Toeaina, Jarron Gilbert.

-Tom Musick