Kyle Monangai Tuesday Injury Update, Bears' Roster Move Are Bad Signs for RB's Week 8 Status

There were two bad signs for Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai's Week 8 availability on Tuesday.

Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai (25) reacts after a first down carry against the Green Bay Packers during the first half of an NFC Wild Card Round game at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago Bears were back on the practice field on Tuesday ahead of their Week 8 game against the Seattle Seahawks and there was bad news for running back Kyle Monangai.

According to The Chicago Tribune's Sean Hammond, Monangai was not spotted at the portion of practice open to the media, so he's seemingly not ready to take part yet after missing the last three games and not practicing in that span.

We won't be getting an injury report on Tuesday to confirm, though, as the Bears don't have to release one until Thursday because their Week 8 contest is on Monday night.

"The Bears returned to practice Tuesday at Halas Hall, but will not release an injury report until Thursday," Hammond reported. "During the open portion of practice, we did not see RB Kyle Monangai or CBs Malik Muhammad or Tyrique Stevenson."

This is obviously a bad sign for Monangai's chances of suiting up in Week 8, as is the roster move Chicago made before practice.

Bears' roster move another bad sign

Chicago Bears running back Zavier Scott (30) and defensive line Daniel Hardy (92) celebrates during the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Bears announced they have promoted running back Zavier Scott from the practice squad to the 53-man roster while also releasing cornerback Nick McCloud.

As ESPN's Courtney Cronin said, Scott, who has been serving as the team's RB3 behind D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson with Monangai sidelined, was out of practice squad elevations and is viewed as a valuable special teams member, so that might be behind why the Bears made this move.

"The Bears signed running back Zavier Scott to the 53 as he was out of practice squad elevations," Cronin wrote. "Scott played well on special teams and could give the Bears depth in the backfield amid Kyle Monangai’s prolonged absence (missed the last three games with turf toe)."

On Monangai, Cronin noted that "it's an important week regarding his availability," while also saying that if he can return to practice, it "would be a sign of moving in the right direction" for his availability.

Well, as we know, Monangai was not back at practice on Tuesday, so there's that.

The Bears haven't kept four backs on the 53-man roster all season long because of how top-heavy they are with Monangai and Swift.

That roster move, combined with the fact that Monangai still isn't practicing, has us thinking he's is trending in the wrong direction for Week 8.

It would be at least somewhat surprising if Monangai doesn't go this week. After all, the Bears opted not to place him on injured reserve at the outset of his injury, which we assumed meant Monangai wouldn't miss more than three games.

Well, he has now missed three games, hence our previous optimism he would return this week.

Perhaps that optimism was misplaced. We'll have a better idea of where things stand with Monangai when Chicago drops its first injury report of the week on Thursday.