The Chicago Bears are adding a little more help to their backfield for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals with veteran D’Andre Swift ruled out.
The Bears elevated running back Brittain Brown on Saturday from the practice squad to the game-day roster in their only roster move ahead of Week 9’s game with the Bengals.
Brown impressed the Bears coaches enough in the preseason (29 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown) for them to make him their only running back on the practice squad, but the 28-year-old has not played in a regular-season game since his 2022 rookie year.
Brown has also never carried the ball before in a regular-season NFL game, which could change Sunday against the Bengals — depending on how the Bears decide to use him.
The Bears needed to add more depth at running back after they ruled out Swift (groin) and backup Roschon Johnson (back) with injuries following Friday’s practice, making rookie Kyle Monangai and Travis Homer the only healthy backs on their 53-man roster.
While Monangai is expected to lead the charge, the Bears could turn to Brown instead of Homer as their change-of-pace back against the Bengals if they feel he fits better in their offensive game plan. After all, Homer is more of a special teams contributor and has recorded just six carries for 23 yards in his 28 career games for the Bears.
The Bears (4-3) will kick off against the Bengals (3-5) at 1 p.m. ET today.
Kyle Monangai Could Spearhead Bears’ Run Game
With Swift out of the rotation, the Bears could lean heavily on Monangai — a seventh-round rookie — as the primary force of their run game against the Bengals on Sunday.
Through seven games, Monangai has averaged 4.4 yards per carry (42 attempts for 186 yards and a touchdown) on the ground and caught six of his nine targets for 61 yards, but the Bears have yet to cut him loose and see what he can do with the lion’s share of the carries. They even held him back for most of the preseason because of an injury.
Whether the Bears will actually turn Monangai loose is the real question, though.
Chances are good that he will step into Swift’s shoes as the primary ball carrier for the Bears on Sunday, but head coach Ben Johnson could strive for more balance out of the backfield and split the carries more evenly than usual. Brown and Homer are options, as is veteran wide receiver DJ Moore, who has 11 carries for 37 yards in seven games.
Even still, Monangai will be the Bears’ best pure running back available on Sunday, and that could present him with a huge opportunity to earn a long-term place in Chicago.
Bears Ruled Out 5 Players Against Bengals in Week 9
The Bears won’t have any injury decisions to make in the pregame before taking on the Bengals on Sunday, but they won’t be at full strength in terms of injuries, either.
In addition to Swift and Johnson, the Bears also ruled out rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III (concussion), defensive end Dominique Robinson (ankle) and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (knee) on their final injury report against the Bengals in Week 9.
Burden is still in the league’s concussion protocol after sustaining his injury in Week 8’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, Robinson is dealing with a high-ankle sprain that Johnson told reporters early in the week will keep him sidelined for “a few weeks.”
As for Ogbongbemiga, the veteran linebacker and core special teams contributor is still on the injured reserve. The Bears have until next week to activate him before his 21-day practice window closes, at which point he must remain on IR for the rest of the year. He has logged two full weeks of practice, though, indicating his activation is likely.
Everyone else on the 53-man roster is healthy for the Bears.
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