Bears RB Montgomery misses practice with sprained ankle

Top pick David Montgomery was held out of Thursday's practice with an ankle injury and is in jeopardy of missing his first NFL game when the Bears visit the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night.

"The only change as you guys all saw is with David Montgomery," Matt Nagy said Thursday. "He lightly rolled his ankle yesterday in practice, so we wanted to keep him out and we'll just keep an eye on him for here today with how things go. Other than that, there's really no change."

Montgomery was listed as limited Wednesday in his first appearance on an NFL injury report.

The third-round rookie leads the Bears in rushing with 466 yards on 129 carries (3.6 yard per catch), second among all NFL backs to Oakland's Josh Jacobs, whom coincidentally the Raiders drafted 24th overall with the pick they received from Chicago in the Khalil Mack trade.

Montgomery's 5 touchdowns also pace the Bears, who are tied for 25th in the NFL in scoring and rank 28th in rushing.

The Bears cut veteran running back Mike Davis last week, likely a move to help secure a fourth-round compensatory draft pick, and elevated former undrafted free agent Ryan Nall from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Nall, who starred on special teams, but didn't play a snap on offense in Sunday's win over the Lions, would likely share carries with Tarik Cohen and Cordarrelle Patterson if Montgomery is unable to go Sunday night.

Montgomery's potential absence likely would sting the offense-challenged Bears, whose best rushing performance under Matt Nagy came in the Week 14 win vs. the Rams last December. Jordan Howard picked up 101 of the Bears' 194 yards, and powered by four take-aways from the defense, they out-possessed the Rams by nearly 13 minutes en route to the season's signature win.

Fast-forward less than one year and both teams find themselves in must-win situations - with the Bears suddenly facing the prospect of playing without Howard's replacement.