Ben Johnson spoke highly of two Bears rookie play-makers suggesting their usage uptick isn’t just due to other injuries on offense

The integration of the rookie class has been a slow building process for the Chicago Bears, and while it's frustrating for the fans wanting to see the rookies in action more often, the process makes sense.

The Bears had a lot of returning pieces on both sides of the ball and made other veteran additions ahead of the draft to address some of the major needs on the roster so that the rookies could be more complementary pieces to develop over time.

Over the last two weeks, two rookies on offense have been getting more and more involved, partially due to injury, but head coach Ben Johnson's comments this week speak more on the trust and development those two players are showing and why that usage increase could remain consistent.

Ben Johnson had high praise for Colston Loveland and Kyle Monangai after Week 8

On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, first-round tight end Colston Loveland played a season-high 51 offensive snaps and seven-round running back Kyle Monangai played 29 offensive snaps, his second-highest mark of the season. Over the past two weeks, both rookies have been highly involved offensively, but there's a small caveat.

Veteran tight end Cole Kmet left the game in Week 7 with a back injury that also forced him to miss the game last Sunday. In the backfield, D'Andre Swift has been dealing with a groin injury that he's played through the last two weeks.

After hearing Johnson's praise for both rookies, it's clear the usage uptick the last two weeks was more of a perfect storm of injury situation but also a growth in the trust he has for both players.

"He's earned it," Johnson said of Loveland, via Chicago Bears on YouTube. "He's a smart player. He takes a lot of pride in making sure he knows the plan and having that down pat. He did a great job handling all that... wish we could have gotten him the ball a couple more times there."

"He's playing well in all three areas: running the ball, in pass protection, and catching the ball," Johnson added of Monangai. "He's playing really good football right now. I do think you can see an uptick in his usage. Zero fear whatsoever. He'll put his face in there and he's very stout, I know he's not the biggest running back out there, but he plays bigger than his size. He plays faster than his speed. You can't say enough about his play speed in general and his ability out there on the field."