Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai will miss Monday Night Football in Seattle, extending the Bears running back’s absence with turf toe to a fourth consecutive game, the team announced on Saturday morning, ending speculation over the second-year ball-carrier’s status after he missed practice all week.
The Bears must now generate ground production against a Seahawks defense that smothered the league’s leading rusher last week, with no return date for Monangai in sight.
Monangai last played Oct. 4 against the New York Jets, when he ran 30 times for 146 yards and scored twice before leaving late with thumb and toe injuries.
He has not practiced since, roughly four weeks, and sat out Thursday and Friday this week as a nonparticipant.
“I would count him out this week,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said Saturday, as quoted by Sean Hammond of the Chicago Tribune. Johnson originally characterized Monangai as “day-to-day” and the 24-year-old has not been placed on injured reserve.
Chicago Bears’ Kyle Monangai Turf Toe Timeline
Monangai has missed the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots games, and Seattle makes four. He played all 17 games as a 2025 rookie.
“The toe is a bigger deal than we initially anticipated,” Johnson said after Monangai saw a specialist and wore a boot, according to NBC Chicago.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler had reported Oct. 8 that the injury left Monangai’s status in serious doubt for one to two weeks.
“It was believed to be about three or maybe four weeks,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said, as quoted by Bleacher Nation.
Turf toe is a sprain of the ligaments and joint capsule at the base of the big toe. Moderate cases generally take two to six weeks, and recovery has run slower than hoped, which is not unusual for a position built on push-off, acceleration and cutting.
The Bears have kept him off IR, which requires a minimum four-game absence, because they expected a shorter timeline.
“It wasn’t one of those things we felt like we needed to put him on IR for… it’s still week to week and as far as I know, he’s trending in the right direction,” Johnson said Oct. 16, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Chicago Bears Ground Game Without Kyle Monangai
With Monangai in Weeks 1 through 4, Chicago averaged nearly 200 rushing yards per game and led the NFL. D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson combined for 43 carries and 144 yards in the three games since, a 3.3-yard average.
The Bears averaged 6.8 yards per play with Monangai on the field and 4.7 without him, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
Monangai leads the team with 324 rushing yards on 60 carries, a 5.4-yard average, and three touchdowns.
Born June 6, 2002, in Roseland, N.J., the 5-foot-8, 207-pound Monangai played at Don Bosco Prep before a Rutgers career from 2020 to 2024 that produced 3,222 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns, with All-Big Ten honors in 2023 and 2024. He missed one game in 2024 with a head injury and opted out of the bowl game. Chicago drafted him in the seventh round, No. 233 overall, in 2025.
The Seahawks held the NFL’s leading rusher, Kenneth Walker III, to 36 yards on 14 carries in a 20-3 win over Kansas City last week.
Without Monangai, Chicago leans on D’Andre Swift as the lead back, with Roschon Johnson in a complementary role and Zavier Scott elevated as depth. The Bears have won recent games through the air, and Caleb Williams‘ arm and mobility anchor a more balanced approach against Seattle’s front.
Bears Announce Tough Kyle Monangai Decision Before Seahawks MNF Clash