Except for auditioning to be on the U.S. Olympic track team in the hurdles Sunday, Bears running back D'Onta Foreman came away feeling like it's 2022 or 2021 again.
Foreman emerged from the bench both the last two seasons to replace missing starters with his team and he did it again Sunday for the second straight game, but this time spent a lot of time in the end zone when he wasn't in the air hurdling.
The end result was a 30-12 Bears win and Foreman, the former Panthers and Titans backup, had three touchdowns, one receiving, and received a tip from wide receiver DJ Moore afterward.
"I told him just to stop jumping today," Moore said. "Everything else was normal D'Onta but jumping wasn't him. So I told him to stay on the ground."
For some reason, Foreman was leaping as he approached defensive backs with their heads lowered and pads ready to make contact. A flying 6-foot, 235-pound running back isn't exactly a fun sight for a defensive back, but even more dreaded would be Foreman lowering his shoulder and running past them or through them.
"Honestly, I've been doing that my whole career," he said of hurdling tacklers. "I started that in high school. That was my first time ever doing it. Then I had a couple in college and a couple while I've been in the NFL, too. It's just something I've always done."
Apparently Moore didn't remember that from when the two were teammates at Carolina last year.
"They (teammates) was bothering me a little bit after the first one," Foreman said. "I didn't get over the guy so I had to do it again just to show them I could do it."
He didn't do it on third-and-goal from the 5 in the third quarter after the Bears had marched from their own 12 on the game's most critical drive.
Tyson Bagent spotted Foreman in the flat on the 3, got the short pass to him and he lowered his shoulder then to plow through tacklers into the end zone for the rookie QB's first career touchdown pass.
Taking a field goal there would have left the Bears up just 17-3 but it was a commanding 21-3 lead and they'd eaten 8:16 off the second-half clock. There would be no comeback.
The knock on Foreman was he couldn't contribute in the passing game and he had a drop in the first quarter but had no problem catching that pass for the TD.
"I feel like I could always catch a ball," Foreman said. "My one drop early in the game was terrible. I mean, I've always been confident in my ability to catch a ball. I've just never had really the opportunity to do so.
"Like I said, when I get those opportunities, it's take advantage of it."
When he was running it and not catching passes or flying, Foreman was pretty good, too. He finished with 89 yards on 16 carries and scored on two short runs in the first half, one in each quarter. He gave the Bears a 7-0 lead with a 2-yarder to end a 69-yard drive on the second Bears possession, then came back with a 3-yarder after Tremaine Edmunds' interception at the Raiders 34.
Foreman had been inactive in Week 2-4 but injuries to Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson have thrust him into the starting lineup.
"It felt great," he said. "I wish I could have turned some of those little runs I had today into some big runs.
"I want to go watch the run when I tried to jump over the safety. Maybe I could have just given him a move and kept running. I might want to have that one back but other than that it felt great."
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