The injury news has largely not been suitable for the Chicago Bears heading into Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson has been placed on IR, and a struggling defense will be fragile at cornerback this week.
But otherwise, on Saturday, the Bears did get a bit of good news on the injury front. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, running back D'Andre Swift is expected to play against the Cowboys on Sunday.
Swift popped up on Wednesday's practice report with a quad injury, and after being limited in practice all week, he was officially listed as questionable for Sunday. A Saturday downgrade didn't seem likely, but Fowler's report put that to bed.
As expected, Swift has been Bear's clear-cut No. 1 running back over the first two games. And if not for a blowout loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 2, and more work for Kyle Monangai in that game (28 snaps, eight touches), he would be accounting for an even larger share of the backfield work thus far.
Of course the question is if Swift will be able to maintain the workload he has had. As could have been foretold months ago, based on his entire career to this point, he cannot hold up physically and maintain peak effectiveness with that kind of workload over a long haul.
Then, there is this eye-opening stat through Week 2.
among all RBs (26) with 25+ carries
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) September 16, 2025
D'Andre Swift ranks 4th best with 1.9 yards before contact/att
Bears are still 31st in rushing EPA and 32nd in rushing success rate
D'Andre Swift being able to play in Week 3 slams brakes on transition Bears' fans want
All offseason, Bears head coach Ben Johnson took every opportunity to praise Monangai. A late preseason injury derailed him taking a notable role in Week 1, but Swift (at that point unknowingly) being banged up seems to have paired with the score of the game against the Lions to yield more work for the rookie.
That aforementioned stat from Josh Norris of Underdog Fantasy is backed up by the eye test with Swift, and the elements that play into that inefficiency (vision, etc.) have marked his career. Monangai, on the other hand, showed himself to be a hard-charging physical runner in college at Rutgers. The Bears' ground game has a chance to be noticeably better the more Monangai is involved.
Read more: QB pressure data clearly exposes the weak link in the Bears offensive line
If Swift has his snap count managed on Sunday due to his injury, Monangai would be lined up to take the next step toward a notable weekly workload against a feeble Dallas defense. But a true push toward usurping Swift as the Bears' lead back may have to wait (at least) another week.