After Sunday's season-ending 31-24 loss to the Texans, offensive coordinator Ron Turner said Orton will head into training camp next July as the unchallenged starting quarterback for the first time in his career.

"No question about it," Turner said. "He played really well [in 2008]. It took him a while to get back in the groove because of his ankle [injury Nov. 2]. I still don't think he's 100 percent."

For the first time, Orton acknowledged Sunday how big a weekly challenge it was to play through the discomfort of his sprained right ankle. You didn't need a statistical analysis before and after the injury to conclude Orton hasn't been the same quarterback.

"It was a battle every game, a battle throughout the week to get it feeling halfway decent," Orton said. "Something would always happen in the game to re-tweak it. I don't think it affected my game a whole lot."

Against the Texans, in a nice bounce-back performance he needed to regain some recently lost confidence, Orton completed 22 of 37 passes for 244 yards and two TDs for a passer rating of 97.1.

He still needs to spend the off-season improving his accuracy on the deep ball - -- evident when he underthrew Devin Hester on a 37-yard completion -- but he directed the offense well enough for the Bears to win.

He didn't turn the ball over, and the most scrutinized decision Orton made had more to do with his legs than his arm. A patch of green grass was in front of Orton as he scrambled on third-and-8 at the Houston 39 with 9 minutes 51 seconds left. Instead of running nearer the first down and giving the Bears a chance to go for it on fourth down, Orton tried to force the ball to Brandon Lloyd. The pass fell incomplete.

The Bears punted, and the Texans staged a dagger of a scoring drive.

"I was trying to throw it outside," Orton said. "Looking at the pictures, I probably wish I would have tucked it and run."

Turner's endorsement carries significance, but head coach Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo will have the final say.

They will study tape and final stats that show Orton completed 272 of 465 passes for 2,972 yards, 18 TDs, 12 interceptions and a passer rating of 79.6. Turner pointed out that the Bears' lack of a big-play receiver will factor into the evaluation of Orton.

Does Orton think the sum total merits returning as the incumbent without competition from a free agent?

"Coach Smith comes up here next," Orton deferred. "He can answer that."

He did, in his inimitable way.

"All players will have competition ... everybody is in that same group," Smith said. "But Kyle Orton is our quarterback."