The Chicago Bears are leaving the door open for starting running back D’Andre Swift to sit against the Green Bay Packers in Week 16 amid his latest injury.
The Bears added Swift to the injury report with a groin injury following December 17’s first of two practices for the Packers, limiting him in both sessions during the short week. He had carried no injury designation for December 16’s initial walkthrough.
After December 18’s final practice, the Bears also officially listed Swift as questionable to play against the Packers in Week 16’s high-stakes division matchup at Soldier Field.
Swift spent time on the injury report with a groin injury for a stretch of weeks earlier in the 2025 season, sitting out Week 9’s game with the Cincinnati Bengals due to the issue. It is unclear whether Swift’s latest groin injury is a re-aggravation of the first, though.
The Bears have also limited Swift with both quad (Week 3) and hip (Weeks 4, 11 and 12) injuries throughout the 2025 campaign, though he played through those injuries.
If Swift does not play, the Bears would expectedly lean more heavily on standout rookie Kyle Monangai out of the backfield against the Packers. The last time he filled in as the lead tailback, he rushed for 176 yards on 26 carries as the Bears edged out the Bengals.
The Bears (10-4) will host the Packers (9-4-1) at 8:20 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 20, for their divisional rematch in a special Saturday Night Football prime-time slot.
D’Andre Swift Injury Could Rob Bears of Another Star
A lower-body injury to Swift is already concerning enough for the Bears offense.
The 26-year-old has rushed for 935 yards and seven touchdowns on 191 carries, good for about 4.9 yards per carry. He is also just 114 rushing yards and one rushing score away from touching career-high marks in each category — with three games left to play.
What makes Swift’s uncertainty more problematic for the Bears, though, is that they have already determined they won’t have two of their offense’s top playmakers against the Packers on Saturday.
The Bears officially ruled out wide receivers Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle) on the final injury report after neither participated in practice during the week. While the Bears have a variety of passing targets to help them overcome the losses, one such option is Swift, who has 29 receptions for 254 yards and a touchdown this year.
If Swift is also out of the mix, it will further limit the options available to quarterback Caleb Williams in the passing game while weakening the run game behind him.
Bears Could Elevate Brittain Brown for a 3rd Time
While the Bears might not end up ruling out Swift against the Packers, they may feel the pressure to add another running back to the roster, just in case it worsens in the game.
And in that case, welcome back to the game-day roster, Brittain Brown.
Brown has played in three games for the Bears this season, including in Week 9 as the No. 2 option to Monangai. He made the most of that opportunity, scoring a 22-yard touchdown and finishing with five carries for 37 yards in the victory.
Fortunately for the Bears, one of his three performances also came as a member of the active roster, meaning that he still has one more game-day elevation opportunity after burning his second of three options in Week 14’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
The Bears would need to elevate Brown by 4 p.m. ET on game day, but don’t be surprised if they promote him and still wind up keeping Swift active.
The Bears also have veteran running back and special-teamer Travis Homer available, as the team cleared him of his ankle injury and left him designation-free for Week 16.
Bears Give Concerning D’Andre Swift Update for Packers Game