Bears coach Ben Johnson isn’t about to cast running back D’Andre Swift aside, even after two very costly fumbles this season, and he shouldn’t.
At his best, Swift has the potential to be the most dangerous player in this offense, and the Bears recognized his blend of hardnosed running between the tackles and big-play capability by giving him a hefty contract extension less than a month ago.
But there could be some short-term consequences.
Johnson has been supportive of Swift this week, saying that “nothing needs to be said” to a player like that about those mistakes, but far from forcefully confident. He didn’t answer whether his third-quarter fumble against the Jets, which got him benched the rest of the game, would count against him in game planning for the Packers game Sunday.
Johnson already has shown no aversion to making an example of someone, and that’s easier to do when there’s a strong contingency like Kyle Monangai.
Monangai is coming off an overwhelming performance against the Jets with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries, and Johnson might send a message by starting him or leaning more heavily on him than Swift against the Packers.
Swift has proven over seven seasons he doesn’t have a fumbling problem — just 13 on 1,233 carries, including playoffs, coming into this season — but both fumbles this season were hard to stomach. He got stripped at the goal line by Vikings defensive lineman Jalen Redmond in Week 2, then coughed up the ball without much upper-body contact against the Jets.
Johnson split them into two categories Wednesday. He credited Redmond for making a heady play and punching the ball perfectly, but called Swift’s fumble against the Jets “egregious” and pointed loose fundamentals.
“There’s too many times when the ball’s getting away from our body, and he knows that,” Johnson said. “He takes a lot of pride in it, hence why it’s never been an issue over the course of his career. We’ve got to tighten that up, and he’ll be just fine moving forward.”
The Bears would ideally have Swift and Monangai working non-stop Sunday.
Not only are they trying to create margin for backup quarterback Tyson Bagent making his second start of the season, but the Packers have one of the NFL’s worst run defenses. They’ve allowed the fifth-most yards rushing at 139.3 per game and have yet to force a fumble, and the Bears go into the game as the No. 1 rushing team.