LAKE FOREST, Ill., — It's no secret that the Chicago Bears wanted to add to their running back room in the 2025 offseason. The Bears did draft Kyle Monangai in the seventh round but they had their eyes on TreVeyon Henderson before he went one pick before them to New England.
Although the Bears have D'Andre Swift and a few other backs on the roster as of now, there are some questions thanks to a few injuries. During Monday's practice at Halas Hall, Swift and Brittain Brown were the only running backs out there for the team. Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer and Monangai are all dealing with injuries and the team waived Ian Wheeler and released Royce Freeman.
It's something that the Bears are having to work through and the depth is now being tested.
"I just mean like we're depleted a little bit in that area as you can see, and so, we got to find ways to get our guys the ball," offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said on Monday. "That doesn't always have to be the running back; that can be a wideout, that can be a tight end, but we'll continue to try to get the balls and the ball in the hands of our playmakers."
That includes DJ Moore, the veteran wide receiver who went through some running back drills during practice. Monday wasn't the first time Moore took reps out of the backfield for the Bears. He did it a few times during training camp.
But even then, the Bears don't expect Moore to have a big role at running back and instead they just trying to get a player like him the ball any way they can.
"Yeah, I think that that same answer, we're trying to get the ball in the hands of playmakers and so, whoever those people are and where they may be aligned pre-snap can change but, yeah I'll leave it at that," Doyle said.
It's clear that Swift is going to be the Bears primary back going into this season and he looked good in the limited reps he got in the preseason finale against Kansas City. However, the Bears do need an answer as to who will be the primary backup and even a short-yardage back in the offense.
Doyle believes Swift's versatility will still play a big factor this season.
"Yeah, I think that he can do a lot of different things," Doyle said. "Sometimes in preseason games you're not necessarily like tagging personnel or changing quite as much as you would be during the season. I'm excited for the different ways that we can use him. I think he can, he showed it, he can drop his pads and go get a yard when he needs to. We love what he does in the passing game."
With the cut deadline approaching on Tuesday afternoon, the Bears could be active in the post-roster cut market in terms of waivers and free agents at the position. Then hopefully there will be some clarity with the position.
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