(670 The Score) At the end of his rookie season, Bears running back David Montgomery measured himself against his own high standards.
"Not good enough," Montgomery said in the locker room following the Bears' regular-season finale on Dec. 29.
Montgomery averaged 3.7 yards per carry and scored six touchdowns as a rookie after the Bears drafted him in the third round in 2019. As the Bears' running game struggled to move last season, so did Montgomery.
There were many factors involved that led to the Bears ranking 30th in rushing average last season, when they posted the same 3.7 yards per carry as Montgomery, who refused to point fingers despite believing he'd produce at a higher level.
Entering his second NFL season, Montgomery believes his experience as a rookie will offer benefit moving forward.
"A year," Montgomery said. "An entire year of me being in an offense, me not being solely a complete rookie and me going in with the unknown that I don't know any of the offense or me going in with the unknown that I don't know if I'll play or not, me going with the unknown of not knowing if I will get carries or not or worrying about all the small stuff that doesn't even matter anymore. Now I can really get to playing football now because I'm a year in, and I'm a lot more confident. I'm ready to go have fun now."
Montgomery is seeking improvement by fostering greater chemistry with his teammates. On Tuesday, he accepted the Bears' prestigious Brian Piccolo Award from inside his car, which was parked outside a Chicago-area park. He was set to join quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and other Bears teammates for a private workout.
After the Bears' anticipated trade of Jordan Howard, Montgomery was drafted to be Chicago's every-down back and carry the workload in the running game. Bears coach Matt Nagy never wavered in his confidence in Montgomery, believing the issues in the running game could be traced elsewhere.
The main change the Bears made to the running game this offseason was firing offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and replacing him with Juan Castillo. The Bears didn't seek competition at running back or even consider moving Montgomery out his starting role. He's now ready to prove a point in 2020.
"I'm just going into this second year more clear-minded," Montgomery said. "More focused than ever and ready to help this organization win a Super Bowl.
"We need to be better this year. It's going to be better this year. I'm going to be better this year for this team and this organization.
"I'm ready to go, ready to get to business and show the city of Chicago what I actually can do for them."
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.




