Bears Dealt Nasty Blow as Kyle Monangai's Injury Timeline Looms Over Season
Newsweek · C · trust 48/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai was expected to build off a strong rookie season in Ben Johnson's system and push for an even bigger role in 2026. Now, it's looking like he could miss the start of the regular season.
Monangai left Bears practice early on Sunday with what was described as an " apparent right knee injury ." After an MRI, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported it was a hyperextended knee and that Monangai is now expected to miss "multiple weeks."
While he may have avoided the worst-case outcome, that timeline could still see him sit out the rest of the preseason — and potentially Week 1. The Bears open the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 13, against the Carolina Panthers.
Johnson's new system worked immediately in Chicago last season, particularly in the ground game. The Bears posted the third-most rushing yards in the NFL (144.5 per game), trailing only the Buffalo Bills (159.6) and Baltimore Ravens (156.6), powered by a two-headed backfield of D'Andre Swift and Monangai.
Swift was the lead back, finishing with a career-high 1,087 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns on 223 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per carry. But Monangai was one of the better stories of the 2025 season, finishing with 783 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on 169 carries, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. As a seventh-round pick (No. 233 overall) out of Rutgers, that was a breakout nobody saw coming, and no other team in the league had two backs with 780-plus rushing yards last season.
Expectations entering this year were that the duo would pick up right where they left off. But now the Bears may have to prepare for a stretch without Monangai, at least for the remainder of the preseason.
A hyperextended knee typically takes anywhere from two to four weeks to heal, though more severe cases can take months. Fowler's "multiple weeks" timeline suggests Monangai's injury is trending toward the milder end of that range, but any setback could turn this into a much bigger blow for the Bears offense.
Fourth-year back Roschon Johnson will step in for more carries in the meantime. Chicago's next matchup is against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, followed by the Tennessee Titans the following Saturday, Aug. 29.
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