The Chicago Bears won’t have starting running back D’Andre Swift available for their backfield when they face the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 9.
The Bears officially ruled out Swift in their final injury report for Sunday’s game against the Bengals after he missed his third straight practice on Friday with a groin injury. It will mark the first game Swift has not suited up for the Bears since his signing in 2024.
The Bears also won’t have backup running back Roschon Johnson, ruling him out for a second straight game with a back injury after he missed another full week of practice.
With Swift and Johnson out, the Bears could lean heavily on seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai in the run game against the Bengals. He has worked as the change-of-pace back to Swit for most of the 2025 season and is averaging 4.4 yards on 42 total carries.
The only other running back on Chicago’s active roster is veteran Travis Homer, who has played 33 special teams snaps since his return from injured reserve on October 18.
The Bears (4-3) will kick off against the Bengals (3-5) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
D’Andre Swift Dealing With ‘Chronic’ Groin Injury
Not having Swift available is new for the Bears, but his groin injury is not.
Swift first popped up on the injury report early in Week 7, when the Bears started to limit him in practice with a groin injury. The presumption had been that Swift had injured his groin in his big game against the Washington Commanders, against whom he rushed 14 times for 108 yards and caught two passes for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Before Friday’s practice, though, Bears head coach Ben Johnson revealed that Swift has been “feeling something” wrong with his groin area since before the Washington game.
“It’s really been a chronic thing for a while now,” Johnson said Friday before the team officially ruled out Swift. “I think it goes earlier than D.C. that he’s been feeling something, so we’re just doing our due diligence to make sure that we’re getting our best version of Swift to help this team, for him and his individual success, and we just want to make sure we have him in a good spot for the whole season.”
The Bears might be hoping that another week off will help ensure that Swift can play for the rest of the season. Even still, his absence feels like a step in the wrong direction.
Bears Likely to Elevate More RB Help Against Bengals
The Bears have expressed a growing sense of confidence in Monangai as the season has gone on, with Johnson lauding the rookie rusher for his progress earlier this week.
“He’s playing really good football right now,” Johnson said of Monangai. “I do think you can see an uptick in his usage. Zero fear whatsoever. He’ll put his face in there and he’s very stout. I know he’s not the biggest running back out there, but he plays bigger than his size. He plays faster than his speed. You can’t say enough about his play speed in general and his ability out there on the field.”
Even with confidence in Monangai, though, the Bears will likely want to add at least one more running back to the mix before taking on the Bengals. That could mean elevating Brittain Brown, their lone practice-squad running back, to the game-day roster.
The Bears could also revisit another familiar option in Ian Wheeler. They waived him with an injury settlement in early September, but he worked out for the New Orleans Saints earlier this week, implying that he is healthy enough to return to the field. If that’s the case, then perhaps a reunion could help them fortify their thin backfield.
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