The Chicago Bears need an improved running game in 2025 to take a step forward.
In Week 1, they won't have a lot of options to choose from.
Chicago knows it'll be without backup Roschon Johnson. And seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Enter lots and lots of work for the veteran D'Andre Swift.
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Monangai may be active, but Bears head coach Ben Johnson told reporters how highly he thinks of Swift and feels just fine giving him almost all the work.
"I think I've been, I think, pretty open since I got here about Swifty and how highly I think of him," Ben Johnson told reporters Saturday. "Monangai has really hit his stride there over the course of the spring and camp. I trust that guy at this point, which is a big thing to say for a player like that. He just he tends to do everything so right.
"I'm hopeful Roschon will come back here soon. We have Brittain Brown, who came on late in camp but we were really impressed with what he did in practice and what he put on tape. And so we'd have no problem giving him the ball in games also. So we feel like we have a pretty good corps of guys there."
The Bears will wrap up Week 1 as the Monday Night Football game.
It'll be the start of year two for Caleb Williams, and the Bears debut for Johnson at the helm.
They're taking on the Minnesota Vikings and J.J. McCarthy. It'll be the first NFL start for the former Michigan star QB, who missed his rookie season with a knee injury.
The Bears' running game may not be the headliner, but it'll be crucial to the outcome of Week 1 and beyond.
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