The Chicago Bears have spent the last three weeks without running back Kyle Monangai, and while they’ve missed his hard-rushing style and significant in-game production to this point, they are almost certain to miss him even more against the Seattle Seahawks on “Monday Night Football.”
Chicago announced its inactive list approximately one hour before the game on Monday, November 2 via an X post.
Monangai will miss action for the fourth consecutive week as he battles through a lingering turf toe injury. Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad was also a late scratch due to a toe issue of his own that limited him in practice all week.
Also inactive are rookie defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg, his teammate on the D-line Jayden Loving, offensive lineman Jordan McFadden and third-string quarterback Case Keenum who will serve as the team’s emergency QB in Seattle.
Kyle Monangai Missing 4th Straight Game With Turf Toe Injury
Monangai suffered the toe injury during the best game of both his 2026 season and his entire career, which came against the New York Jets in Week 4.
The second-year RB and seventh-round steal out of Rutgers amassed 146 yards on 30 carries against a porous Jets defense, hammering that unit all afternoon long. He also punched in a couple of touchdowns that day, though he suffered injuries to both his toe and thumb.
Monangai’s thumb is not the lingering issue, however. Instead the problem is his turf toe, an ailment known for sticking around and/or recurring. Through four weeks, Monangai had amassed 324 rushing yards and three TDs on 60 carries (5.4 yards per attempt) and was among the top 10 rushers in the league at that point. He also had five catches for 39 yards.
Seahawks’ Defense Ranked 1st in NFL Heading Into MNF Matchup Against Bears
Chicago is 2-1 in the three contests since the RB’s exit, though the team has struggled to run the football in the same overwhelmingly dominant fashion that it was when Monangai paired alongside starting running back D’Andre Swift.
Chicago is averaging less than 100 ground yards per game as a team (98.33 yards) in the three games since Monangai’s injury while recording 29 rush attempts per contest. The Bears have punched in five rushing TDs over that three-game stretch that included a loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, a win against the Falcons in Atlanta and a victory over the New England Patriots at Solider Field 11 days ago on “Thursday Night Football.”
The extra rest of the mini-bye week between a Thursday evening contest and a MNF showdown the following week should be an advantage for the Bears as they had to Lumen Field in Seattle, long held as among the toughest venues in the league.
Chicago still enters the contest as the league’s No. 2 rush offense (154.3 yards per game), but the Bears haven’t truly been that team since Monangai went down almost a full month ago. The presence of a healthy Caleb Williams under center should mitigate that to some degree, but Seattle’s defense really is that good, meaning this game could prove an outlier.
The Seahawks boast the No. 1-ranked defense with a bullet (233.9 yards per contest). They are also sixth against the run specifically, affording opposing rushing attacks just 89.4 yards per outing.
Kyle Monangai Injury: What Happened to Bears RB? Is He Playing Against Seahawks?