LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Led by D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, the Chicago Bears like their depth at running back. Health is an issue at the moment.
Monangai is week to week with a leg injury after he got hurt during practice on Aug. 16. Swift departed Thursday’s padded practice with a trainer.
Coming off their first NFC North title since 2018, the Bears visit the Carolina Panthers for their season opener on Sept. 13.
Swift was holding his left side when he left the field after a nice run in hot and muggy conditions. There was no word from the team on his departure.
In Ben Johnson’s first year as coach, Chicago finished third in the NFL with 2,456 yards rushing, averaging 4.9 yards per attempt. Swift rushed for a career-high 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns. Monangai finished with 783 yards and five TDs in a surprising first season after he was a seventh-round pick in the draft.
Beyond Swift and Monangai, the Bears also have Roschon Johnson, Salvon Ahmed and Zavier Scott at running back. Johnson is on the 53-man roster, and Ahmed and Scott are part of the practice squad.
The 25-year-old Johnson hasn’t been able to establish himself with Chicago since he was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 draft out of Texas. He rushed for 352 yards and two TDs as a rookie and scored six times during the 2024 season, but he had 17 yards on two carries while appearing in seven games last year.
“I think Roschon is a guy that really had a great finish to camp here, somebody that earned a lot of trust through the last couple weeks,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said.
“As Kyle goes down and Roschon’s numbers increase and he got more opportunities, he proved to us that he’s trustworthy.”
Johnson had 15 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown during a 24-15 preseason victory at Tennessee on Saturday night.
Ahmed, 27, also had some positive moments in preseason action, including a 49-yard touchdown reception in the exhibition opener against Cleveland. Scott, 27, signed with Chicago on Tuesday after he was waived by Minnesota.
“We’ll continue to see as Sav gets healthier and Zavier gets here and starts to learn schemes,” Taylor said. “Really he’s a little bit behind obviously — we just picked him up — he’s going to be more learning game plans, then you hope by the middle of the year he starts to understand exactly what the offense is all about, things like that.”
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Jay Cohen, The Associated Press
