LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Chicago Bears running back Chester Taylor was on his way back to Halas Hall on Monday afternoon, hours after a conversation with coach Lovie Smith apparently made him believe he was being released.

Taylor's agent Ken Sarnoff tweeted: "Here's a first for me - the Bears just called me and said they have NOT released Chester. He did talk with Lovie though... misunderstanding?"

An NFL source confirmed earlier Monday that what Smith said to Taylor was that he was no longer in the Bears' plans because Marion Barber had been running well. Taylor also was told that teams had inquired about trading for him, but he wasn't told which teams, according to a source. Taylor then left Halas Hall. But the source said that the Bears' front office personnel later expressed interest in Taylor staying and that Taylor needed to be back at practice.

Smith disputed the nature of the conversation.

"I talked to Chester a little bit early on, I guess there was a bit of a misunderstanding on exactly what we talked about," Smith said. "Chester Taylor is still a part of the team.

"I talked to Chester today about the reasons why he didn't get any playing time the last game (against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday), and that was that we wanted to take a look at some other players. Evidently he took that the wrong way. Hopefully we get him back out there tomorrow."