Bears running back David Montgomery returns to practice, opens 21-day window to return

LAKE FOREST - Bears running back David Montgomery returned to practice Thursday, head coach Matt Nagy said.

Montgomery has been out since injuring his knee Oct. 3 against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field. Returning to practice gives the Bears a 21-day window during which they can activate Montgomery off injured reserve.

There's no guarantees Montgomery will play Monday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears have a bye week following the Steelers game, and it could make sense for the team to give Montgomery two more weeks of rest if he sits out Monday.

"David is very focused, so when he's back out there he's at the walk-through [Thursday morning] and he's focused," Nagy said. "I think for us [it's important], physically, to see where he's at and get him out there and get a feel for this week. I know he's worked very hard to get to this point."

With Montgomery on injured reserve, rookie running back Khalil Herbert stepped up and has played extremely well the past four weeks. Herbert ran for 70 yards or more in each of the last four games. Nagy confirmed that when Montgomery is ready to return to game action, he will be the No. 1 running back, despite Herbert's emergence.

"David's an offensive leader," quarterback Justin Fields said. "He's a vocal leader. He's a hard-worker. So, of course, we're glad to have him back this week and I'm assuming that he's not going to skip a beat, just based on how hard he works. I know he was working hard to get back out there on the field."