Bears Running Back Roschon Johnson Stepped Up in Win Over Falcons

Roschon Johnson has gradually seen his offensive snaps go up since the Week 4 game against the New York Jets. 

There are plenty of reasons why the Chicago Bears' veteran running back has seen more opportunities in head coach Ben Johnson's offense. After fellow running back D'Andre Swift fumbled in the third quarter in the Jets game, he was benched, leaving Kyle Monangai and Roschon to close out the game. 

Monangai carried the ball 30 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns. He didn't finish the game, leaving early because of a thumb and turf toe injury. He's been sidelined for the last two weeks. 

Johnson played 27 offensive snaps in the Week 5 game against the Green Bay Packers. The Bears' offense couldn't get in any type of rhythm in the 31-7 loss. He finished with five carries for six yards. 

Against the Atlanta Falcons, Roschon played a key role in the team's 31-23 victory. He led all running backs with 13 carries -- more than his college teammate and No. 1 leading rushing going into the Week 6 matchup, Bijan Robinson. 

Roschon finished the game with 51 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes of the third quarter. He also caught two passes on two targets for 34 yards and fumbled with 7:21 left in the game.

Offensive coordinator Press Taylor brought up Roschon when discussing Swift's usage in the second half of the game. Swift played 45 snaps while Roschon played 31, including all the runs on the final drive of the game. 

“I think a little bit is, I think there's a mindfulness to preserve him [Swift] a little bit," Taylor said. "It's a long season. Just being aware of D'Andre and how he's been throughout the course and how invaluable he is for us throughout the course of the season. And there's an opportunity that, obviously Roschon unfortunately had a fumble in the fourth quarter there, we felt like Roschon was really contributing pretty well for us in a number of aspects. He showed up in the pass game quite a bit, had some good carries, some good runs. Obviously, we've got to eliminate the turnover itself, but Roschon was rolling pretty good there too. We felt comfortable rolling with him in there as well. And Swifty was ready to go if we needed it. So no, there was nothing really too much beyond that.”

Johnson told Jeff Joniak on ESPN1000 that the team has "a lot of confidence" in Roschon, citing that he knows exactly what to do in the offense. The head coach also mentioned the fumble is something that must be corrected.

"Beyond that if you took that one play out, you'd be very pleased with how he performed," Johnson said. "I know all of our guys trust him. Coach [Eric] Studesville's doing a phenomenal job making sure he's up to snuff and ready to go the past few weeks here that Monangai's been out, and, you know, we'll see how much longer Kyle is gonna be out for, but we have a lot of confidence in Roschon."

While injuries have tested the Bears' depth, Roschon proved he can effectively execute Johnson's game plan. As Monangai recovers, the former fourth-round pick from Texas has a prime opportunity to demonstrate his ongoing value to this offense.