What should Bears do with Langford?

The Bears are in a quandary with Jeremy Langford, and running backs coach Stan Drayton knows it.

Langford is the rookie the Bears went out and grabbed in the fourth round in May in an attempt to find a long-awaited complement to Matt Forte, a perceived necessity in the team's move to a run-based offense. Langford proceeded to have a strong preseason, receiving a consistent workload and showcasing the variety of skills the Bears wouldn't want to lose with the do-it-all Forte out of the game.

And yet as the Bears have certainly moved run-first — they enter the bye week third in the league in rushing attempts one year after finishing 30th under Marc Trestman — Langford has rarely seen the field. His 15 total carries are six fewer than the weekly average of Forte, who ranks second in the NFL in rushes.

“It's hard to take out a guy who makes plays for you and who's in such good shape where you really don't see a lull in his play in the course of the game,” Drayton said. “But we've definitely got to get Jeremy into the fold a lot more. There's no doubt about it. For his development and for the longevity of Matt Forte, it's the healthiest way to go about our business.”

Thus, the conundrum the Bears face with Langford is really an extension of Forte's. How can you take advantage of a player's durability and save it at the same time?

This is the question Drayton will take into the self-scouting period of the bye week, his first with the Bears after joining John Fox's staff from Ohio State, where he ran into a similar situation with a game-changing feature back in Ezekiel Elliott. The difference here, of course, is the career archs he's dealing with — Langford's as well as Forte's, if Chicago chooses to re-sign the eight-year Bear.

But it's also a question for the here and now in a league where feature backs are at a premium and those who do exist are suffering from injury, from Marshawn Lynch to Jamaal Charles to LeSean McCoy.

Whether the focus becomes preventing that from happening to Forte or game planning in case it ever did, Drayton knows both answers lie in Langford.

“He's gotta continue to fill that role when Matt's down. He's gotta pick up that slack. We can't feel a lull in tempo,” Drayton said. “ ... In those heated situations when we need to win the ballgame, which that's always been Matt so far, but when Matt's down, I've gotta make sure he's a guy that's not going to flinch in those situations. “But he's on track. He really is.”

Missing Rodgers:

The onus on Langford has increased in part because of the loss of Jacquizz Rodgers, who was sent to injured reserve after fracturing his elbow on a kickoff against the Chiefs in Week Five.

“He's a very reliable football player. A core special teams player, when you look at the big picture, just one of the best that we had out there,” Drayton said. “Just the toughness that he brought to the group on a daily basis and the way he played on contact was a tempo-setter for us a lot of times. We miss him, no doubt.”

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