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Bears fans will love what Kyle Monangai said after Week 9 win

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI | By Bryan Perez | Last updated Nov 3, 2025 12:10 PM ET

The Chicago Bears have a running back controversy on their hands. And that's good news for a team that began the year viewed as a club that needed an upgrade at the position.

But after rookie running back Kyle Monangai's monster performance against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9 (26 carries for 176 yards), it's obvious that the Bears have a depth chart at the position that the offense can lean on.

In fact, Monangai looked like the most qualified power back on the roster to build the offense around.

Coach Ben Johnson famously deployed a two-back system during his time with the Detroit Lions. He relied on David Montgomery for the power plays, while Jahmyr Gibbs was the lightning option.

We could soon see a shift to Monangai serving as the Bears' Montgomery, while Swift moves more into a chunk player whose role shrinks quite a bit.

If there's one person who wasn't surprised by how well Monangai played in Week 9, it was Johnson.

"That's kind of who he's been since he's been here — very reliable, he's gonna do what you're coaching," Johnson said after the game. "I think he's hard to bring down and I think that showed up. What he was in Rutgers was the bell cow for that team and he proved today that he can carry that load if called upon."

Carry the load indeed.

Kyle Monangai's off-field passion matches on-field dominance

Kyle Monangai received the game ball in the Bears' locker room after the game, and he was all business. He has the attitude Bears fans will quickly fall for.

“Hey, I appreciate everybody in this room, man,” Monangai said. “It was my first start. Nobody knew what I was gonna do, but I told ya’ll I was gonna step up to the plate. Whatever I gotta do to get the next one. Hey, five wins right there. We gonna go get a sixth one next week. Appreciate ya’ll.”

Monangai met with reporters after the game and expanded on his post-game thoughts.

“I have high expectations for myself,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. I expect the results I get, but it doesn’t mean I’m satisfied or anything like that. This is more of just letting myself know I’m on the right track.”

Right tackle Darnell Wright had what might be the best comp for Monangai so far, and it's of the K9 variety.

"That was a really good game for him," Wright said. "It's nice. Every time I look down, he's [growling noise] like a little pitbull. He's a little pitbull. But he did really good. I'm proud of him."

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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