The Chicago Bears made a handful of significant roster moves one day ahead of their Week 6 showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, including adding running back Zavier Scott to the active roster to fill in for the absent Kyle Monangai.
Courtney Cronin of ESPN reported all of the Bears’ roster moves on Saturday, October 17 via an X post.
“The Bears made room on the 53 for Kyler Gordon by putting Dayo Odeyingbo on IR, a move that Ben Johnson felt they would be able to avoid earlier in the week. Safety Xavier Woods was also released,” she wrote. “DB Nick McCloud was signed to the 53 from the PS. LB Buddy Johnson and RB Zavier Scott were elevated from the PS to game day roster.”
Bears Struggled Mightily to Run Football Against Packers After Injuries to Kyle Monangai, D’Andre Swift
Chicago’s run game struggled without Monangai against the Green Bay Packers last weekend like it has not all season, amassing just 81 yards and one score on 24 carries.
Monangai suffered a turf toe injury during a career-game against the New York Jets in Week 4 that has now sidelined him for a second consecutive contest. D’Andre Swift also exited early in the second half last weekend against the Packers due to hip and knee issues, though he is a full-go in Atlanta on Sunday.
The Bears elevated Scott to the active roster for Week 5, though he did not log any carries. However, he did play nine snaps on the special teams unit.
Third-string RB Roschon Johnson logged five carries for just six yards against Green Bay, second only to Swift’s nine hauls. Wide receiver Luther Burden III ran the football four times, though to just two total yards of success.
Zavier Scott May Get First Carries as Bears RB Against Falcons
Scott is an explosive runner and chose the Bears during the offseason after the Minnesota Vikings cut him in late August with the intention of bringing the 27 year old back to the practice squad in early September.
He presumably made that choice because he believed he would have a stronger chance at earning the RB3 spot behind Swift and Monangai this year than achieving the same positional security in Minnesota after the Vikings drafted RB Demond Claiborne in the sixth-round back in April.
Scott got 32 carries last year in Minnesota, tallying 114 rushing yards. He also caught 14 passes for 98 yards and one score.
Chicago schemed up six run plays for wide receivers in Green Bay, including the aforementioned four for Burden as well as one each for rookie Zavion Thomas and Kalif Raymond.
Part of that strategy may have involved the team’s inability to rush the football effectively in a traditional manner due to injury concerns and because the Bears fell so far behind and kept making things worse by turning the ball over five times on the afternoon.
If Chicago can get things back on track against the Falcons with a healthy Swift in the RB1 role, the absence of Monangai and the ineffectiveness of Johnson and the WR group rushing the football against the Packers should open up a few opportunities for Scott to show what he can offer the Bears’ offense.
Bears Add RB as Kyle Monangai Replacement Ahead of Falcons Game