Last Dance for David Montgomery?
David Montgomery had been through an emotional week, and Sunday capped it off.
The Bears running back may have played his final game for Chicago in a 29-13 loss to Minnesota. He gained just 21 yards on seven rushing attempts and if he did bow out he did it with the grace and giving the same effort he always gave, whether the Bears were making the playoffs in 2020 or losing a record 10 straight to finish this season.
"It's always emotional toward the end of the year but this one is just a little bit more emotional just because of the uncertainty that's next," Montgomery said.
Montgomery's contract expires in March. Will the Bears choose to find, perhaps, a faster threat in the backfield to pair with Justin Fields and Khalil Herbert? It would be hard to find one who gives more effort or breaks more tackles.
Montgomery finished with career lows of 201 carries for 801 yards and five touchdowns, while averaging 4.0 a carry.
"You know, I love being here," Montgomery said. "Like I said, I feel like I've done everything that I can, or that I could and we're just going to see what's next.
"I appreciate all the Bears fans and everybody that supported me. Hopefully I'm still here but it's definitely emotional."
The first emotion of the week, of course, came when the entire league went through the Damar Hamlin situation.
Bears safety Jaquan Brisker needed a day off from practice to cope with that situation mentally and coach Matt Eberflus gave it to all players who wanted it. The way Eberflus handled it didn't surprise anyone, especially Montgomery.
"Like I said, this is a place, an organization, a loving organization," Montgomery said. "I don't know if you'll find any other places like this.
"I talked to a couple of my buddies around the league. The amount of love that this organization shows, the way the staff is, and you know, the way these players are, we were always close this season. Like I said, it (3-14) was unfortunate. But I'm just grateful to be here."
Whether he's here or not, Montgomery likes this coaching staff's chances of turning it around.
"Just ... you've got a good group of guys, Justin (Fields), Cody (Whitehair), Cole (Kmet), those guys, and the way our coaching staff they put a lot on us," Montgomery said. "There were big expectations this year. We didn't meet them this year by any means but we know the expectation is the standard now so it's about us getting pointed to the offseason and getting better so we can get this thing changed around."
So does it mean he's coming back.
"Who knows?" Montgomery said, then perhaps thinking back to the poverty he went through as a youth in a tough area of Cincinnati, Montgomery said, "My entire life has been uncertain."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
