(670 The Score) The Bears placed their faith in running back D’Andre Swift this season, hoping he could be efficient on the ground as a key part of their offense. That hasn’t been the case in the first four games.
Swift has rushed 56 times for 187 yards, an average of 3.3 yards per carry and 46.8 yards per game. But Bears head coach Ben Johnson believes the team’s struggles in the running game go beyond any one player.
“It's hard to evaluate any of our running backs right now,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday at Halas Hall. “When you turn on the tape and there's some free runners in the hole where the play is designed to go. And so I take it personally, because I actually spend more time on the run game than I do on the passing game. And not only trying to create explosives in the running game but being sound and take a lot of pride in our execution of the fundamentals.
“We're not quite there yet. So, it's been a race since training camp started. We get pads on, that's when the full speed starts happening, and you get linebackers that are coming downhill and pulling you off your double teams, and we're just not reacting fast enough right now. We got to learn from everything that we put on tape so far as an entire unit, so that those combinations can be a lot cleaner.
“We do have some dynamic players, whether it's our running backs or our receivers, that if we can give them a chance to get a little bit of green grass, they take advantage of it. But we just haven't done it consistently enough.”
Swift is playing the second season of a three-year, $24-million contract that he signed in March 2024.
The Bears (2-2) will play the Commanders (3-2) on Monday Night Football at Northwest Stadium in Washington.