The Chicago Bears have made a few changes to their running back room heading into Week 12’s home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bears announced they placed running back Roschon Johnson on injured reserve and signed Brittain Brown from the practice squad to take his place on the 53-man roster on November 22 in a series of roster moves before Sunday’s kickoff at home.
Johnson had already been ruled out against the Steelers after missing the entire week of practice with a thumb injury, but his placement on IR means he will miss a minimum of four games. He is not eligible to return to the active roster until Week 16 at the earliest.
Fortunately, the Bears have another capable back ready to take his place in Brown, who has already shown more in his limited action as a practice-squad elevation in 2025. He rushed five times for 37 yards and scored a 22-yard touchdown — the first of his career — while serving as the No. 2 behind Kyle Monangai in Week 9’s win over Cincinnati.
The Bears won’t likely need much out of Brown on offense against the Steelers with veteran D’Andre Swift and Monangai both healthy, but he could see a healthy number of snaps on special teams with running back Travis Homer also ruled out of the game.
The Bears (7-3) kick off against the Steelers (6-4) at 1 p.m. ET.
Roschon Johnson Has Become Another Draft Bust
Johnson, a 2023 fourth-round pick, showed promise early in his career with the Bears. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry and caught 34 passes as a rookie, then added a career-high six touchdowns in his second season as the short-yardage complement to Swift.
After his vanishing act in 2025, though, Johnson is more squarely in bust territory.
Johnson brought almost nothing to the table in his first seven games for the Bears this season before landing on injured reserve. He had not only lost his change-of-pace role to the seventh-round rookie Monangai but also seen his snaps reduced to just four total on offense; though, to his credit, he did log two carries for 17 yards on those four snaps.
Injuries have been part of the problem for Johnson. He dealt with concussion issues in his first two seasons, but he will now have missed at least six games in 2025 due to a combination of foot, back and thumb injuries. That isn’t easy to trust moving forward.
Johnson has one more season remaining on his rookie contract. At this rate, though, he will be lucky to have a place on the 2026 roster still when he reaches training camp.
Bears’ Other Roster Moves Suggest Bad News for OL
The Bears made four other roster moves in preparation for Week 12’s game against the Steelers, including placing star linebacker Tremaine Edmunds on injured reserve and signing Carl Jones Jr. from the practice squad — a mirror of their backfield changes.
One move, however, may foretell bad news for the Bears’ offensive line on Sunday.
The Bears also elevated offensive lineman Jordan McFadden from the practice squad, a potential sign that starting left tackle Theo Benedet — who is listed as questionable — may not play this week because of the quad injury that popped up midweek in practice. McFadden has predominantly played guard in the NFL, but he was a tackle in college.
Another explanation for McFadden’s call-up could be Drew Dalman’s presence on the injury report. Dalman did not have an injury designation in the final report, but he did spend the first two practices of the week as a limited participant due to a knee issue.
The Bears must decide on Benedet’s status roughly an hour before kickoff when they declare their inactives for the game.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Bears Announce Multiple RB Moves on Eve of Steelers Game appeared first on Heavy Sports.