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Chicago Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who was playing at a Pro Bowl level before being injured in a Dec. 3 victory over Minnesota, will undergo surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn left hamstring and will miss the balance of the 2006 season, team officials confirmed Monday night.

Tommie Harris

Defensive Tackle Chicago Bears Profile

2006 SEASON STATISTICS Tot Ast Solo FF Sack Int 28 22 6 0 5 0

"Anytime you lose a player with the unique abilities Tommie Harris has, it's a setback, because there just aren't a lot of guys out there like that," general manager Jerry Angelo said just before the start of Monday night's game against the St. Louis Rams. "All you can do is move forward, because the goals remain the same. We've got some experienced guys at tackle and we're confident they'll do a good job for us. Still, that doesn't mean we won't miss [Harris]."

Tuesday's surgery will take place in Dallas and will be performed by specialist Dr. Dan Cooper and team physician Dr. Mark Bowen.

Harris will require months of rehabilitation and will likely miss some of the club's offseason conditioning program, but the Bears are confident he will be rehabilitated well in advance of the start of training camp in late July. Still, such surgeries often require a full year until a player is back to 100 percent.

In lamenting the possibility that Harris' injury might be a season-ending one last week, Bears coach Lovie Smith claimed that "no one in the league" has a player quite like the third-year defensive tackle.

That apparently includes the Bears, who will rely on as many as four players to replace Harris.

The Bears clearly plan to deploy a committee approach at the "under tackle" vacancy created by the absence of Harris. Who plays when, and how the tackle rotation evolves, will mostly be based on game circumstances.

"We're going to roll a lot of different people into that spot," said starting right defensive end Alex Brown, who figures to move inside to tackle on passing downs. "It's going to be a challenge. But Tommie did so many things, really, that we're all going to have to combine to fill all those roles."

The new starter at the "under tackle" spot -- where a defender is aligned to the outside shoulder of the guard across from him -- is six-year veteran Alfonso Boone. The 318-pounder doesn't have the quickness of Harris, but he has demonstrated some penetration skills. Boone has been a spot starter in the past. He will probably play on the running downs and could be spelled by Ian Scott and Antonio Garay.

Scott started 13 games in 2005 and opened this season as the starting nose tackle before being bumped from the lineup by Tank Johnson after three games. Garay, a second-year veteran, has appeared in just one regular-season game in his career but has impressive physical skills; with Harris out, he could become part of the tackle rotation.

It is Brown, however, who might have to make the most difficult adjustment. The former University of Florida star is accustomed to playing on the outside, where his upfield burst has netted him six sacks this season, but now he will find himself operating in much more traffic on third down. Plus, at only about 260 pounds, he could be giving away 40 or 50 pounds to offensive guards.

"Everything is much faster [at tackle]," Brown said. "People are on you immediately. You've really got to use your hands, get them up quick, to keep [blockers] from locking on you. It's just a completely different game in there, but Tommie was a different guy, and that's why he was so good at it."

Harris suffered a sprained left medial collateral ligament in the Dec. 3 victory over Minnesota; the injury was not as severe as originally feared, as several Vikings players said Harris told them he thought he might have a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Subsequent evaluations, however, revealed the hamstring injury, and the severity of it was then confirmed through an extensive battery of tests. Harris had appeared in 44 straight games before missing Monday night's matchup with the Rams.

The dual injuries occurred early in the third quarter of the Dec. 3 game when Harris tackled Vikings tailback Chester Taylor. He was taken from the field on a cart and was on crutches after the game.

The team's first-round choice in the 2004 draft, Harris has started in all but one of his 44 appearances. The former Oklahoma star has 103 tackles, 11½ sacks, three passes defensed, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. In 12 games this season, Harris had 28 tackles, five sacks and one pass defensed.

A dominating interior force early in the season, Harris posted five sacks in his first four outings but had gone eight games without a sack.

It will be interesting to see if the injury impacts on negotiations that the Bears had initiated with Harris and his representative on a long-term contract extension.

Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.