The Chicago Bears‘ offensive backfield developed into a top-three rushing attack in 2025 over the course of Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach, but this offseason has not been kind to the health of either D’Andre Swift or Kyle Monangai.
Swift, the RB1 playing in a contract year during the third season of his $24 million contract in 2026, left the field in the middle of Thursday’s practice favoring his midsection. ESPN’s Adam Schefter allowed fans to breathe a sigh of relief with a follow-up report on Swift’s condition later that evening.
“Bears RB D’Andre Swift, who left Thursday’s practice and was said to be in significant discomfort, was said to be experiencing ‘a cramp,’ per sources,” Schefter wrote on X.
Speaking with reporters last week, Swift also offered good news on Monangai — the RB2 who has wrestled with a hyperextended knee since the middle of August and remains sidelined.
“He’s out there working. I watched him work, run today. He looked good to me,” Swift told reporters, per Alyssa Barbieri of USA Today’s Bears Wire. “He’s in good spirits, but (I’m) just telling him to take it one day at a time. Nobody’s rushing him. He’ll come back when he’s ready.”
Bears Stocked RB Room by Stealing Zavier Scott From Vikings Following Late-August Roster Cuts
Chicago has been proactive in filling out the position group in recent days, adding two running backs to the practice squad (PS), including a former member of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Bears cut Salvon Ahmed in an effort to trim the roster to an initial 53-man group. However, Chicago brought him back to the PS in short order.
Soon after, the Bears offered former Vikings running back Zavier Scott a spot on the PS, which he jumped at given the competing situations in Chicago and Minnesota.
Zavier Scott Has Chance to Earn Longterm Active Roster Spot With Bears
Scott is entering his fourth NFL season and read the writing on the wall after the Vikings drafted Demond Clairborne in Round 6 of the draft, then kept Clairborne on the initial 53-man roster out of fear of losing him on the waiver wire.
Meanwhile, in the Windy City, Swift might out-price the Bears if he makes it to free agency next spring. Monangai is hurt, but even when he comes back healthy, he will make most sense as a complementary back in a two-pronged system.
Roschon Johnson, like Swift, is also entering a contract year in 2026 and earned just two carries last season.
If Scott — known for his explosive skill set, which is what Chicago favors in its rushing attack over almost all else — can beat out Ahmed, he has a chance to begin the regular season as Chicago’s RB3. Scott could elevate as high as even RB2 in short order, assuming Monangai misses some time, if Scott can convince the coaching staff he’s also a better option than Johnson.
Besting Ahmed and Johnson would get Scott on the roster every week, even with Swift and Monangai at full health.
“Longterm play, they just see more of an opportunity in Chicago,” Darren Wolfson of KSTP said of Scott and his team on Wednesday. “And I think his camp just looks at it and says, ‘OK, the Vikings believe wholeheartedly in Claiborne.’ So at best, [Scott] is going to be after Weeks 1 and 2 … he’s going to be RB4, [and] that there’s more chance to be an RB3 in Chicago.”
Bears’ D’Andre Swift Shares Big Update on Kyle Monangai After RB1 Suffers His Own Injury Scare