Well, the hope was that the Chicago Bears would not have a big problem with running back Kyle Monangai with the new knee injury. That's not going to be the case.
Monangai got hurt in Sunday's practice after getting tangled up with Bears defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. The good was that Monangai was able to walk off the practice field, but the team wanted to wait for the MRI.
ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler reported that Monangai suffered a hyperextended knee injury. He is expected to miss multiple weeks, but the Bears considered the MRI to be a positive. This is the second injury that Monangai suffered after the soft-tissue injury at the beginning of training camp.
Bears won't have Kyle Monangai for a bit after new knee injury
While the good news is that he won't miss too much time, Monangai will still miss enough that it does threaten his ability to be ready for the Bears' Week 1 match against the Carolina Panthers. Monangai's injury makes it just the latest in a wave of injuries that training camp has caused, including Coby Bryant and Luther Burden III.
Last year, Monangai rushed for 783 yards and five touchdowns in his rookie season. He was just a seventh-round pick that made waves early in the year and won the backup job over Roschon Johnson.
Now the Bears are in a situation where the backup job is wide open. Johnson and Salvon Ahmed were battling for the third string job. They both might be in a position where they end up on the roster and getting playing time.
Johnson was the leading rusher in the Bears' 34-10 preseason win over the Cleveland Browns. Ahmed caught a 49-yard touchdown pass to give the Bears the extra juice needed in the preseason game.
The Bears still have D'Andre Swift, which is the good news. They should still have enough firepower that if Monangai misses the beginning of the season, they will be fine.
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It's crushing that Monangai is going to miss time, as he has been a great addition to the offense since last year. He has been an awesome power back to Swift's speed traits. Now the Bears are once again back to the drawing board on figuring what to do about the running backs over the next two weeks.
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