Featured backs often skip the NFL preseason. No sense in taking extra hits when getting knocked around and brought to the ground is part of the job description.
D’Andre Swift had 295 touches in his first year with the Bears, with most all of them including hard contact or being tackled. Adding to that tally in games that don’t count isn’t ideal.
Yet there Swift was in the preseason finale at Kansas City, working with the first team offense. Head coach Ben Johnson maximized his time, giving him the ball seven times in nine snaps.
The results were solid. Swift had 28 yards on seven carries, a sum that included a slashing cutback for 12 yards and a tough interior run on 3rd-and-1 where he got two. There was a 6-yard reception in there, too, where Swift leaped over a would-be tackler who chose to go low.
The cameo was effective and provided the only game action where Swift and the Bears offensive front worked together. It was worth the additional contact.
“That’s real valuable for the offense and for the team in general,” Swift said in a Tuesday press conference. “Especially playing against their No. 1s for a couple series, with that caliber of team. You can’t replace those reps.”
Especially when learning a new scheme, working with three new interior offensive linemen. Good running teams are in great sync, and that small window provided insight on what’s going well and what needs to get fixed before a Week 1 showdown with the Minnesota Vikings.
Swift is motivated to improve upon last season, where he set a career high in total offense but a career low in yards per carry after signing a three-year, $24 million contract with Chicago. Efficiency in everything is key as Swift merges into Johnson’s offense while working with demanding, yet fair, running backs coach Eric Bienemy. He’s not cutting corners in an attempt to maximize the opportunity before him.
“I’m just being real intentional about everything,” Swift said. “I haven’t really changed too much about myself or how I’m approaching anything every single day. I’m excited for the new opportunity with the new staff and the new guys we have on this offense.
“I approach every single day with the ‘prove it’ mentality. Trying to get better at something every single day with the way Coach EB and Coach Ben and everybody else on the offensive staff is implementing everything, the details.”
This isn’t Swift’s first time working with Johnson. They were together for three years in Detroit, the first two with Johnson as a position coach and one ride as offensive play caller.
Swift was banged up most of that season and had just 147 touches while fellow rusher Jamaal Williams had a banner year. He was traded to Philadelphia that offseason, also when the Lions added Jahmyr Gibbs. That shouldn’t be an indictment that Swift can’t operate well in Johnson’s scheme.
If you look a little deeper into that 2022 campaign, 5.5 yards per carry and 6.3 yards per offensive touch. Both are career highs by a massive margin. Swift can operate Johnson’s rushing concepts well. While this Bears offense won’t be identical to what was run in Detroit, similarities will be common. So will a strong offensive line. The Lions employed center Frank Ragnow, left tackle Taylor Decker and guard Jonah Jackson in 2022, with heft up front to create rushing lanes.
Swift now has All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, Jackson and center Drew Dalman blocking for him up front. That’s a plus, especially over last year’s Bears line. Swift worked well behind a top-tier line in Philadelphia, producing 1,049 rushing yards in a Pro Bowl campaign.
“He’s got that ability to be a spark force and I’ve known that for years about the guy,” Johnson said. “Particularly when we’re a little bit stale coming out of the gate, he wants to be that guy to get us back on track and I think that’s what the good running backs do in this league – their teammates will feed off of them.”
The Bears need him running strong this season. There’s unproven talent behind Swift, and backup options Roschon Johnson and Kyle Monangai are also banged up right now. It sure seems like Monangai will be the secondary option when he returns from a soft tissue injury, though rookies offer some unknown in term’s of production.
Swift must therefore handle a heavy workload in the early going, especially, and find ways to keep the ground game going. That’s essential for Johnson’s offense to help sell play action and lighten coverage on the back end.
Swift has earned the confidence of his coaches, which should keep him available for all situations.
“I’m excited for the different ways that we can use him,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “I think he can, he showed it, he can drop his pads and go get a yard when he needs to. We love what he does in the passing game.”
Swift has always worked well in space and has routinely taken check downs – something coaches are demanding quarterback Caleb Williams add to his game – for chunk yards. Looking at Lions backs during Johnson’s time there, Swift’s reception count could be somewhere in the 50s, a solid sum that would rack up yardage.
There’s evidence that Swift could thrive in this system and among the personnel around him. While so much focus has been on Williams and his pass catchers, Swift might well play a massive part in this offense’s success (or struggle). The Bears have lauded Swift’s decisiveness, taking what’s available instead of making home-run swings on each carry.
“I feel like there’s been improvement, which is a lot of credit to (Bienemy),” general manager Ryan Poles said. “You don’t have too much room to do too much other than the right thing with EB, so he’s going to keep working with those guys to get better.”