The Chicago Bears will be without a few key defensive players on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they might just have a key offensive weapon back on the field for that contest.
According to Bears head coach Matt Nagy on Saturday, running back David Montgomery, who resumed practicing this past week as a designated-to-return player, has a very good shot at playing on Monday night against the Steelers.
“I think all week long that he’s looked really good,” Nagy said of Montgomery Saturday. “I would say there’s a really good chance, yes, of him being activated.”
The Bears have until Monday afternoon to officially activate Montgomery off their Reserve/Injured list, but early speculation is that the running back will travel with the team to Pittsburgh on Sunday.
“In the beginning of the week, we wanted to see like, how’s he going to look? You have no idea when he gets out there. I think for all intents and purposes, he’s looked really good,” Nagy said.
Montgomery suffered a knee injury against the Detroit Lions in Week 4 and since then they have leaned on rookie running back Khalil Herbert, a sixth-round draft pick, to carry the load. Herbert ran for 344 yards on 78 carries since Montgomery went down injured.
Nagy indicated earlier in the week that Montgomery would likely receive his normal amount of carries whenever he returned to the field. Do far this season, Montgomery has 309 yards and three touchdowns on 69 total carries. The veteran running back has also caught six passes for another 49 yards so far this season.
If Montgomery is indeed activated on Monday, it will be interesting to see if he ultimately starts ahead of Herbert against the Steelers. At the very least, both running backs would figure to get playing time and touches on Monday night.
The Bears offense will likely attempt to run early and often on Monday night against the Steelers to help out rookie quarterback Justin Fields.
