The Chicago Bears have very quietly become one of the NFL’s hottest teams. Their three-game winning streak ranks as the second-longest active streak in the league behind only the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, who each stand at four.
The Bears can get to four in a row by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football this week, and it now looks like there is at least a chance they could get their leading running back to return for the game.
Bears running back Kyle Monangai practiced Friday for the first time since a toe injury sidelined him in the Oct. 4 win over the New York Jets. The Bears injury report then showed Monangai as upgraded to “questionable” for Sunday.
Coach Ben Johnson speaking to the media Friday afternoon, stopped short of ruling Monangai out for Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers, but a return date remains uncertain.
Chicago Tribune reporter Brad Biggs called the workout “a positive sign for a potential return” on the other side of the bye week, which would put Monangai’s comeback in Week 11 when the Bears take on the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field.
Monangai is “getting better. Those toe injuries prove to be fickle at times, and that’s what this one’s proven to be,” Johnson said, as quoted by CHGO Bears.
Asked if he hopes to have Monangai back after the bye, Johnson answered, “I’m hoping every week. I’m hoping every day and every week he’ll be back out there for us.”
| CHICAGO BEARS — INJURY REPORT | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 9 • Buccaneers vs. Bears | ||||||
| Pos | Name | Injury | Wed* | Thurs | Fri | Game |
| RB | Kyle Monangai | Thumb / Toe | DNP | DNP | Limited | Questionable |
| DB | Malik Muhammad | Toe | Limited | Limited | Limited | Questionable |
| DB | Tyrique Stevenson | Thumb | — | — | Limited | Questionable |
| OL | Theo Benedet | Shoulder | DNP | Limited | Full | — |
| LB | D’Marco Jackson | Ankle | — | DNP | Full | — |
| DL | Grady Jarrett | Groin | DNP | Limited | Full | — |
| LB | T.J. Edwards | NIR (Personal) | DNP | Full | Full | — |
| OL | Joe Thuney | NIR (Rest) | — | DNP | Full | — |
| *The Chicago Bears conducted a walk-thru on Wednesday; participation was an estimation. | ||||||
Bears’ Kyle Monangai Injury Timeline
Monangai carried 30 times for 146 yards in that game against the Jets, a career high. A thumb problem showed up late, but the toe turned out to be the bigger issue. Johnson called it a “bigger deal than we initially anticipated,” according to NBC Chicago.
So why hasn’t Monangai gone on injured reserve? Because of the calendar. A player placed there must miss at least four games, and the Bears labeled him week-to-week, a tag that signaled an absence of four games or fewer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. On Oct. 16, Johnson said Monangai was “trending in the right direction,” the same cautious optimism he has offered ever since.
That window has closed. Monangai sat out against the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, and a move to injured reserve now would add at least four more missed games.
Friday’s session ended a stretch with no practice at all since the injury. Monangai sat out practice again Thursday, following a Wednesday walk-through he also skipped. The first game after the Week 10 bye is the next opening on the schedule beyond Sunday.
| CHICAGO BEARS — 2026 SCHEDULE | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WK | Date | Opponent | H/A | Time / Result | TV / W-L |
| 1 | Sun, Sep 13 | @ Carolina Panthers | Away | W 59-37 | 1-0 |
| 2 | Sun, Sep 20 | Minnesota Vikings | Home | L 9-3 | 1-1 |
| 3 | Mon, Sep 28 | Philadelphia Eagles | Home | W 27-7 | 2-1 |
| 4 | Sun, Oct 4 | New York Jets | Home | W 23-12 | 3-1 |
| 5 | Sun, Oct 11 | @ Green Bay Packers | Away | L 31-7 | 3-2 |
| 6 | Sun, Oct 18 | @ Atlanta Falcons | Away | W 31-23 | 4-2 |
| 7 | Thu, Oct 22 | New England Patriots | Home | W 30-24 | 5-2 |
| 8 | Mon, Nov 2 | @ Seattle Seahawks | Away | W 34-17 | 6-2 |
| 9 | Sun, Nov 8 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Home | 8:20 PM | NBC |
| WK 10 — BYE WEEK | |||||
| 11 | Sun, Nov 22 | New Orleans Saints | Home | 10:00 AM | FOX |
| 12 | Thu, Nov 26 | @ Detroit Lions | Away | 10:00 AM | CBS |
| 13 | Sun, Dec 6 | Jacksonville Jaguars | Home | 10:00 AM | FOX |
| 14 | Sun, Dec 13 | @ Miami Dolphins | Away | 10:00 AM | CBS |
| 15 | Sat, Dec 19 | @ Buffalo Bills | Away | 5:20 PM | CBS |
| 16 | Fri, Dec 25 | Green Bay Packers | Home | 10:00 AM | Netflix |
| 17 | Sun, Jan 3 | Detroit Lions | Home | 1:25 PM | FOX |
| 18 | TBD — Flex Game | @ Minnesota Vikings | Away | TBD | TBD |
| All times Eastern. Home games at Soldier Field, Chicago, IL. Bye in Week 10. Week 18 is a flex game — date and broadcast TBD. | |||||
Bears Rushing Offense Without Kyle Monangai
The ground game sputtered the moment Monangai went down. With Monangai in the lineup, Chicago piled up 785 yards in four games, or 196 per game at 4.9 yards a carry. Monangai himself supplied 60 carries for 324 yards, a 5.4 average.
The drop showed up in efficiency, too. Through Week 7, Chicago averaged 6.8 yards per play with Monangai on the field and 4.7 without him, according to ESPN.
Without him, the Bears managed 81 yards at Green Bay and 98 at Atlanta. Across the four games he has missed, the team has averaged about 105 yards per game, a falloff of 91 yards. With Monangai sidelined, Chicago turned to Roschon Johnson behind D’Andre Swift as the next man up.
Monangai, 24, was born June 6, 2002, in Roseland, New Jersey, to Cameroonian parents. At 5-foot-8 and 207 pounds, he played at Don Bosco Prep, then spent 2020 through 2024 at Rutgers, where he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2024.
Chicago drafted him in the seventh round, 233rd overall, in 2025. As a rookie, he ran 169 times for 783 yards and scored five touchdowns. Through Week 8 of this season, his career line stands at 21 games, 229 carries, 1,107 yards and eight touchdowns, plus 23 receptions for 203 yards.
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