Bears Backfield Depth Challenged

With David Montgomery injured and Damien Williams' status uncertain after a thigh injury, the Bears could be looking at rookie Khalil Herbert getting carries against the Raiders.

One of the positions Bears general manager Ryan Pace sought to fortify in the offseason was running back and now it looks like his moves could pay dividends.

David Montgomery's knee injury was a hyperextension, according to an NFL Network report. This isn't necessarily the bad news, as far as knee injuries go but it's possible he'd miss a few games depending on the severity of the hyperextension.

The Bears expect to know more on this when practice begins Wednesday for Sunday's game in Las Vegas against the Raiders.

The free agent depth brought in by Pace was Damien Williams and it doesn't hurt having a backup with experience as a starter for a winning Super Bowl team. Williams suffered what was said by Matt Nagy to be a quad injury during the game and those can take even longer to heal than a knee hyperextension, but in this case the same NFL Network report called Williams' injury merely a bruised thigh.

Beyond Williams, the Bears could turn to rookie Khalil Herbert or activate Ryan Nall from the practice squad.

Coach Matt Nagy said he'd have no problem turning to Herbert, their sixth-round draft pick this year from Virginia Tech.

"I think that Khalil has shown to us from the very first day he got here, he's very mature, he's very focused," Nagy said. "He's learned. I think (running backs) coach (Michael) Pitre’s done a great job of helping him learn the game.

"You know who else has done a great job is those backs in that room. They've insulated him the right way and taught him, whether it's protections, scheme, how to watch tape, and so if it comes to that, we have a lot of confidence in Khalil."

Herbert had the first three runs of his career from scrimmage on Sunday after Williams' injury. He gained 7 yards on those carries.

His main contribution as been on returns and the Bears have no complaints as he's averaged 28.2 yards on nine returns, including a 50-yarder to start his career in the Rams game.

Herbert is fifth in the league in kick return average among kickers with at least five returns. He's actually averaging more than Cordarrelle Patterson (24.3), who wasn't brought back by the Bears this year in free agency.

If the Bears used Herbert in a more extensive role at running back, they'd have concerns about blocking.

"Two things: I think the speed of the game overall and then just the pass protection piece of things for any rookie," Pitre said. "Any time you're making that transition, it's just going to be a different speed and whatnot."

Nagy has seen young or obscure players step up and deliver when called upon in similar situations while he was with Kansas City.

"It's one of those deals where, I can remember in the preseason, several years ago when Spencer Ware tore his ACL against the Seahawks in preseason (game) three or four and a running back by the name of Kareem Hunt stepped up and became pretty good," Nagy said. "You just never know where guys are and how they go. If that's the case, we have confidence in him."

There are players available on the running back discard pile. 

If knowing the offense means more, they could always reclaim Artavis Pierce. He was on the practice squad and was cut. Often the Bears have cut practice squad players, only to bring them back. But Pierce, who was on the active roster last year, wasn't reclaimed. He would know the offense better than a street free agent.

Two unsigned free agents available are Duke Johnson and Todd Gurley if the Bears wanted to take that route with what Spotrac.com says is $3 million they have in cap space. Johnson is more of a third-down back. That would be in the event the injuries are more of a long-term situation, which runs contrary to the NFL.com report.

Normally there would be discussion about Tarik Cohen. 

It's been over a year now since he suffered a torn ACL against Atlanta. However, Cohen wasn't ready when the season started so he was placed on the physically unable to perform list.  As a result, he must miss at least the first six weeks.

"He's not where he needs to be right now," Nagy said after training camp ended. "But he is improving, and the only thing that we can do is keep grinding with that rehab. That's all he can do."

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