DâAndre Swift popped up on the Chicago Bears injury report on October 16 with a groin issue.
He did practice and was limited after not appearing on Wednesdayâs estimated report at all. Chicago is 3â2 and will host the New Orleans Saints this weekend, but without a healthy Swift, the team’s offense would take a serious hit.
Through six games, Swift leads the Bears in rushing — he has 70 carries for 295 yards and two rushing scores — to go with 15 catches for 152 yards and a receiving TD.
Fresh off the best performance of his season thus far in Chicago’s 25â24 win at Washington Week 6, Swift stacked 175 yards from scrimmage on 16 touchesâ14 rushes for 108 yards and two receptions for 67âincluding a 55-yard TD catch that broke the game open. Losing him at all would be a huge blow for the Bears, particularly after they just had their best game of the year running the ball.
D’Andre Swift’s Groin Injury Will Be Something to Monitor Heading Into Week 7 When Bears Play Saints
GettyRB D’Andre Swift popped up on the Chicago Bears injury report ahead of their Week 7 matchup vs. the Saints.Â
Swiftâs value can be seen in a number of ways, but the way he’s able to widen throwing windows for second-year quarterback Caleb Williams has been huge. Swift’s presence in the passing game also helps keep wide receivers Rome Odunze and DJ Moore from seeing constant bracket coverage. The Bears Rb has proven to be dangerous in open space, so opposing defenses have to account for him.
“Obviously, anytime good things happen to people that you’ve seen work at it behind the scenes,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said about Swift’s performance against the Commanders.
“He certainly received a little bit of scrutiny just from the outside. For him to stick with it and just continue to battle — awesome to see him go do what he did and making a number of huge plays that were really important for us to get the win.”
The contingency plan without Swift is scary to think about, because there doesn’t seem to be much of a plan at all. Rookie seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai could handle early-down volume, and Roschon Johnson is there to handle short-yardage duties, but neither has Swiftâs burst.
Travis Homer is getting healthy after missing time early this season, but heâs a role player, not an every-down kind of guy– and he’s technically still on injured reserve. Beyond that, the Bears have running back Brittain Brown on the practice squad.
The Bears Can’t Afford to Take Their Foot Off the Gas Right Now
Considering who else was on the injury report Thursday, the Bears really need Swift to be ready in Sunday when the Saints march in.
Moore, who left Washington after an overnight stay in the hospital, returned Thursday in a limited capacity with hip/groin designations. The Bears have been giving the veteran wideout more snaps in the run game than ever before, so if he misses, the Bears may be down yet another contributor in the run game.
The Bears don’t need Swift to carry the ball 25 times — but his health does help keep the offense multi-dimensional. His presence alone makes the possibility of check-downs dangerous. Seeing that he’s limited in practice this week isnât a crisis, as he appeared on last week’s injury report, as well — but thinking about what the run game would look like without him is sobering.
Hopefully for the Bears and their fans, Swift can rest up and get well by Sunday.
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