Here’s a great place to start for any running back: The Bears’ D’Andre Swift got the work he needed in training camp but didn’t play a snap in a preseason game and is fully healthy heading toward the season opener.
‘‘Hell yeah,’’ Swift said last week.
He made that celebratory comment a few days before exiting late in the Bears’ final preseason practice Thursday, but a source said that was merely cramping and that there’s no concern about him going into the regular-season opener Sept. 13 at the Panthers.
Good, because they’re going to need him.
Quarterback Caleb Williams’ pass plays go viral, but the ground game is the foundation of the Bears’ offense. It’s at the heart of coach Ben Johnson’s creativity and precision, and nobody on the roster runs like Swift.
He always has had elite speed and elusiveness, but he reminded everyone last season about how tough he is running between the tackles, even at 5-8 and 204 pounds. The Bears can count on him getting at least a couple of yards, and that can become a breakaway in a blink.
And, somehow, he seems faster than ever. He probably isn’t, not at 27, but it sure looks that way. Maybe he’s just processing plays more rapidly.
‘‘Going into the second year in this system, I have a better understanding of the offense in general and where I need to be,’’ Swift told the Sun-Times. ‘‘I feel really good about it.
‘‘It’s the first time I’ve been in a system for consecutive years in a while, so I paid attention to the self-scout from last year and figured out what I need to do a better job of. I’m honing in on the little details, so that allows me to play faster.’’
That has been evident all summer.
Swift drove the Bengals crazy in their joint practice a couple of weeks ago, leaving them shouting expletives in his wake. New running backs coach Eric Studesville, who replaced Eric Bieniemy, sees a decisive runner. And right guard Jonah Jackson’s most logical assumption, based on what he has seen in practice, is that continuity has helped Swift recognize everything more quickly when he has the ball.
‘‘He’s always been a pretty polished runner,’’ Jackson said. ‘‘But he seems to be finding another gear.’’
Swift was better across the board last season than he was in his first with the Bears. His yards per carry spiked from 3.8 to 4.9, and he finished with 1,087 yards (12th in the NFL) and nine touchdown runs (11th).
He helped the Bears finish third in rushing, which was an incredible turnaround from 25th the season before and invaluable amid the inconsistency in their passing attack.
‘‘There’s no reason we shouldn’t get off to a fast start,’’ Swift said of the ground game this season.
Johnson has said he wants to get Swift more involved as a receiver after he had 34 catches for 299 yards and a touchdown last season. That lone touchdown catch illustrated what makes him a rare weapon for Williams. He caught a pass just past the line of scrimmage against the Commanders and took it 55 yards to the end zone. It’s the type of no-risk, high-reward proposition every quarterback loves.
The Bears ideally would balance the workload between Swift and Kyle Monangai — Swift got 223 carries last season to Monangai’s 169 — but Johnson has said Monangai’s timetable to return from a knee injury he suffered in practice Aug. 16 is ‘‘week-to-week,’’ so it might be all Swift in the opener.
The history between Johnson and Swift dates to 2020, when Johnson was a low-level Lions assistant and the team drafted Swift in the second round. Johnson was the Lions’ offensive coordinator three years later, when they drafted Jahmyr Gibbs and traded Swift to the Eagles.
Neither seems stuck on their split. They’ve done nothing but rave about each other since reuniting. Johnson calls Swift a smart, explosive runner, and Swift describes Johnson as a genius.
At his best, Swift not only is a threat on his own but also a way of unlocking other aspects of Johnson’s offense. The better he runs, the more potent play-action becomes. And when Johnson goes to formations with three tight ends — something he did quite a bit last season and probably will do more this season — Swift’s presence in the backfield adds to the unpredictability.
That said, there’s a good chance this will be their last season together. Swift is coming to the end of his three-year, $24 million contract — now a bargain, given that he ranks 19th at his position in average annual pay — and it’s unlikely the Bears will shell out market value for him in a contract extension rather than look for a younger, more affordable option in the draft or lean on Monangai next season.
General manager Ryan Poles said the Bears ‘‘will look at’’ an extension for Swift and conceded he looks ‘‘amazing,’’ but he also noted it’s ‘‘tough . . . trying to figure out how you want to allocate everything’’ as the Bears look to budget for upcoming extensions for Williams and others.
‘‘But I love Swifty,’’ Poles said. ‘‘I love the way that he’s working.’’
They all do. And if this is his last run with the Bears, he’s poised to make it a big one.