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Bears GM Ryan Poles and Coach Ben Johnson Taking Risk at Key Position

A roster situation has developed requiring attention but the Bears' lack of personnel movement could be suggesting something.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears running back Brittain Brown celebrates a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns Saturday with tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.
Bears running back Brittain Brown celebrates a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns Saturday with tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

It's easy to see where GM Ryan Poles' next move for the Bears' roster needs to come.

It should have occurred before now, anyway.

There are 14 teams with six running backs in camp, nine with five, seven with seven backs and one with eight.

Then there are the Bears, who have four but one of those hasn't been available because of injury and likely will not be until the start of the regular season. They were light on backs for their roster, anyway.

If you consider they don't really want to use starter D'Andre Swift in a preseason game, they're down to Roschon Johnson, Brittain Brown and Salvon Ahmed for this second preseason game Saturday after they cut Coleman Bennett.

With quarterback Tyson Bagent out due to a hamstring injury and Caleb Williams not likely to play, then that 38-year-old arm of Case Keenum better be ready to crank it up Saturday. It should be Miller Moss time for at least a half.

The Bears are short on running backs but they haven't made a move to even bring one in, and it was a curious time to release Bennett considering the health status of Monangai.

With no backs coming in at the moment and still with another preseason game and two weeks after that until the regular season, the Bears are wasting time they could have used to have a back in learning the offense and then contributing in at least one preseason game.

It all points to Poles and Ben Johnson having their eyes on someone with another team.

A trade? Speculation has had the Steelers wanting to deal away former Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson. Trey Benson of the Cardinals is right at the top of the list, as well. There is even the belief Carolina's Chuba Hubbard is available but it would be difficult to see the Panthers wanting to rush into trading away Hubbard to the team they face in Week 1.

It doesn't seem to point at a running back trade because the Bears could have made trades for other positions where they actually knew they needed more talent, like defensive line or the secondary. Yet, they didn't do it.

So they would trade now for a back when they have a sufficient number for the regular season once Monangai is available?

Rather, what this all suggests is Poles has his eye on someone likely to be cut and it probably wouldn't happen until the end of preseason. So they're gambling they can get by with only four backs to practice and three to play in games until that point. There's no reason to gamble. They could easily cut someone at another position and at least bring in a back to learn the offense now in case something more does happen.

Either way, they're playing an awfully risky game at running back by taking three healthy backs into preseason game No. 2.

They'll need to throw an awful lot of passes to finish out the preseason. Backs can always get hurt in practice, too. Look at what happened to Monangai.

Johnson's offense is one relying on the ground game and the play threat. They need five backs until roster cutdowns and then someone on a practice squad besides three or fourth healthy backs on the roster.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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