D’Andre Swift and the Bears’ soft-spoken running backs are suddenly making noise

Posted October 25, 2025 10:00 am

By Dan Wiederer

This, folks, is what you’d call a springboard. A Chicago Bears rushing attack that walked into its bye week at the end of September ranked 24th in rushing yards per game (102.3) and 25th in yards per attempt (3.8) is suddenly on a fast-moving escalator.

Eighth in rushing (129.3 ypg), 14th in yards per carry (4.4). Now the Bears prepare to face a Baltimore Ravens defense that has allowed 134.3 rushing yards per game, including a season-worst 224 in last month’s loss to the Lions.

If it seems like the Bears’ ground game has gotten here quietly, perhaps that’s fitting. Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, known for his fiery coaching style and high-volume enthusiasm, has been taken aback since the spring at how reserved his room has been.

“This is the quietest group I’ve ever had,” Bieniemy said.

That’s not a criticism. Just an observation.

Top back D’Andre Swift has an undeniable competitive fire but is low-key by nature. Rookie Kyle Monangai is a head-down grinder, still working to get accustomed to the NFL. Roschon Johnson? He’s a third-year back, contributing predominantly on special teams and has never been overly boisterous.

During organized team activities and into training camp, Bieniemy figured some of the hush inside his room was just a byproduct of a new group learning the demands of its new coaching staff.

“I think they’re probably still in their process of trying to see exactly how crazy Coach E.B. is,” Bieniemy said. “Because they’ve probably heard a lot.”

However, the quiet has remained consistent, so much so that Bieniemy jokes about his occasional paranoia.

“I don’t know how to react sometimes. Because it’s too damn quiet. I’m thinking to myself, ‘Are these guys plotting against me? Are they going to sit outside and do something to me?’ But they’re a great group of guys who understand what we’re all about.”

Since emerging from the bye, the Bears’ backs have been carrying a big stick. Swift has topped 100 rushing yards in consecutive games, averaging 7.0 yards per carry with 10 runs of at least 10 yards. His production has been a fulfilling reward for his day-in and day-out work ethic, with the 26-year-old back modeling the approach Ben Johnson wants all his players to have.

During the slow start, Swift never flinched. “You just keep going back to work,” Johnson said. “When things go your way, you go back to work. And when things are hard, you go back to work. That’s really the answer for everything.”

Monangai is coming off a bit of a breakthrough performance Sunday — 81 rushing yards and his first career touchdown. He, too, is thrilled that the Bears went into their bye week intent on finding solutions for their sputtering running game, then emerged with workable solutions.

No drastic schematic overhaul was necessary. The Bears simply identified a bunch of small details they knew could make a big difference.

Bieniemy was convinced this kind of emergence could happen. Johnson harped on his offensive line to become more cohesive overall and more purposeful with their combination blocks. He pleaded with perimeter blockers to do their share. He reminded quarterback Caleb Williams of his responsibility in carrying out fakes.

Bieniemy, meanwhile, knew the quiet players inside his room would respond to their own challenges. That meant fully understanding their proper pre-snap alignment and polishing their footwork. It meant sharpening their vision, better understanding the landmarks on specific plays and always, always, always working to find a profit.

“When we’re given an opportunity to execute a play,” Bieniemy said, “the bottom line is to go find 4½ yards.”

That number seems arbitrary. But Bieniemy has repeated it so often that his backs go to sleep hearing that directive echoing.

“You’ll hear E.B. say it all the time, ‘Find 4½,’” Monangai said. “He’s not too concerned with everything numbers-wise or in the big picture. He just says that whatever play we’re on is the most important. And if the ball is in your hands, you’ve got to find 4½.”

Swift found 11 on his second-quarter touchdown run Sunday, a big play in a big moment as the Bears cashed in on in the second of four takeaways from their defense. Behind a lead block from tight end Durham Smythe and with a decisive cutback into open space, Swift knifed between safety Justin Reid and defensive end Chase Young before he accelerated into the end zone.

“I pressed the line of scrimmage, saw space, cut it back,” he said. “Someone tried to get my ankles. It was close. But I made it happen.”

Before the Bears headed to play Washington in Week 6, Bieniemy said he wasn’t discouraged by the first month’s statistical slump.

“Our guys up front are fighting their asses off. Guys are playing hard. And we’re running hard,” he said. “We’ll continue cleaning the rest of the issues up. … It requires no God-given ability to play with second effort. If we continue playing hard, the rest will take care of itself.”

Over the last two games, the Bears have seemingly found their groove and are ever so quietly working to cement themselves as one of the league’s top rushing attacks.