Ahead of their Black Friday matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles last week, the Chicago Bears waived running back Brittain Brown. It was shocking to see, given that the 28-year-old running back has played well when elevated from the practice squad.
With the Bears waiving him, it exposed Brown to waivers, allowing one of the other 31 teams to sign him. Luckily, that didn’t happen for the Bears’ sake. They re-signed him on Monday to the practice squad.
Brown’s re-signing came at the right time, as Chicago is dealing with an injury in its backfield on Wednesday. Rookie running back Kyle Monangai was listed as a non-participant with an ankle, per CHGO Bears. Chicago didn’t practice on Wednesday, making the first Week 14 injury report an estimation.
Kyle Monanagi Injury News Makes Brittain Brown's Return Important for Week 14
Bears fans hope that Monagai’s injury is nothing serious, especially after the performance he had against the Eagles last week. The rookie running back shredded Philadelphia’s defense to the tune of 130 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
That said, if Monangai is limited or a full participant over the final two days of practice, it should set the stage for him to play on Sunday against Green Bay. However, in case he does suffer a setback, the Bears have a reliable option on the practice squad that they can call up in a pinch in Brown.
In his regular-season debut against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound running back had an impressive showing, rushing for 37 yards and a touchdown on five carries across 14 offensive snaps. Coincidentally, Monangai was the RB1 as he was taking over for an injured D’Andre Swift.
Btown also got a chance to show his skills on special teams with a 23-yard kick return. At this point in the season, you hope that your team can stay injury-free as you try to make a push for the playoffs.
However, it’s a long season, and these types of injuries are likely to occur. That’s why it's so important to have guys like Brown, who was picked up in the preseason and made a good enough impression to get moved to the practice squad.
Before this season, most Bears fans had Roschon Johnson holding down the RB3 job. But with him getting banged up and not even seeing time on offense, it opened up an opportunity for the 28-year-old Brown to make his case to get called up to the 53-man roster.