Bears RB Howard ready to shoulder heavy load

When Jordan Howard was drafted in the fifth round (150th overall) back in April, he never considered he might be the Bears' featured running back by Week 4.

But starter Jeremy Langford is expected out approximately four weeks with a sprained ankle, and backup Ka'Deem Carey remains sidelined with a hamstring injury from Week 2. So Howard will do most of the heavy lifting in the ground game Sunday against the Lions at Soldier Field, where the Bears have lost 11 of their last 12.

The only healthy backups behind Howard are Raheem Mostert and Joique Bell. Mostert was signed to the practice squad on Sept. 14 and promoted to the 53-man roster last week. Bell, a six-year veteran, was signed on Tuesday.

"Coming into the league you always want to be the featured guy, but I definitely wasn't expecting this or expecting it to come this fast," the 21-year-old Howard said. "I'm definitely grateful for the opportunity. I'm not going to let it slip through my hands either. I'm going to make the most out of my opportunity."

Everyone, including the Lions, knows the Bears have to make a bigger commitment to the run game. They've run just 53 times while calling 115 pass plays. That includes 12 runs by Howard for 67 yards (5.6-yard average).

Going back to the preseason, Howard has shown he's worthy of more and more touches. The question now is:

How prepared is he to be the every-down back?

"He's getting there," offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. "He's getting closer. (It requires) a lot of work in protections. In the NFL, it's a little bit different than college football with all the different fronts and with all the different personnel packages. He's working really hard to get caught up to speed with that, but he's doing a nice job as a runner."

A heavy workload won't bother Howard, who carried 306 times (for a school-record 1,587 yards) at Alabama-Birmingham in 2014 before that program folded. Last year after transferring to Indiana, Howard rushed for 1,213 yards on 196 carries, averaging 6.2 yards per attempt.

The 6-foot, 222-pound Howard has a reputation for being a punishing runner, but he's also got some quickness and ability to make tacklers miss, as he showed on a 36-yard run last week.

"He's bigger than he looks," coach John Fox said. "He's a big body and has good feet and good vision. Those are pretty good qualities."

Right guard Kyle Long describes Howard as the strong silent type and has been impressed with the rookie's maturity and his physical running style.

"You wouldn't really know he's in (the same) room because he doesn't say much," Long said. "But he's wise beyond his years. You can tell that he's been through some things in life that have forced him to mature at an accelerated pace."

Howard lost his father to pulmonary fibrosis and two grandparents in a six-month period when he was 12 years old.

So it's not surprising that he's not cowed by a windless September.

"I don't feel we have any pressure from an 0-3 start," he said. "We still have 13 games left, so we don't have a defeated attitude. We're still staying positive and optimistic about it."

That team attitude will be helped if Howard can help get the Bears' 30th-ranked run game rolling. Long has faith in Howard.

"He does a great job of picking stuff up in the pass when it comes to blitzes," Long said. "He knows his assignments, and he's going to run the ball hard. He's always going to finish with his legs churning. That's what we love to see."

And the Bears need to see more of it, starting Sunday.

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