Kyle Monangai Injury Update: Official Return for Bears RB Revealed

It's taken longer than we thought, but we finally know when to expect Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai to be back from injury. 

Monangai has missed the four games with a thumb and toe injury and was out for the Sunday Night Football clash with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well. The thumb injury isn't what's been holding him out. Monangai has been dealing with a turf toe injury that's taken longer to heal than expected. 

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport shared an update a couple weeks ago and said that it wouldn't be too much longer before Monangai is back.  The Bears have played two games since then. 

On Sunday, Rapoport announced an official return window for Monangai. Rapoport shared on X that Monangai is expected to be back in Week 11 after the Bears have a bye in Week 10. 

"Bears RB Kyle Monangai (thumb/toe) won't play today, but he's expected back in Week 11," Rapoport shared. "Fresh legs for Chicago. Meanwhile, DB Malik Muhammad II (toe) and CB Tyrique Stevenson Sr. (thumb) should be good to go. Stevenson will play with a splint." 

D'Andre Swift has done a good job in Monangai's absence. He's scored at least one touchdown in the last four games. Swift is fresh off a three-touchdown performance on Monday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks. 

It's great that Swift hasn't missed a beat, but you can tell that the Bears have been struggling to find a No. 2 running back since Monangai's injury. Roschon Johnson has been filling in for Monangai lately, but the two aren't comparable in terms of production. 

Before his injury, Monangai had 146 rushing yards and two touchdowns for the Bears in that 23-12 win over the New York Jets earlier this season. 

The Bears are desperate to get him back in the lineup, but it sounds like they are going to have to wait one more week. 

Monangai was close to returning this weekend. He was ruled questionable, but it's apparent that he wasn't healthy enough for the Bears to feel comfortable putting him back out there. 

This means that Monangai will make his return against the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 22. After being out for this long, the Bears may decide to put Monangai on a snap count just to make sure that he doesn't aggravate the injury. 

They definitely don't want to put too much on his plate in his first time back in five games. 

The Bears and Saints met last season at Soldier Field. Caleb Williams didn't play his best game, but luckily Swift and Monangai were able to pick up the slack. 

Both had touchdowns in the game and helped keep the chains moving. We'll see if the backfield duo can repeat that performance next Sunday, with Monangai set to be back in the lineup for the first time since Week 4.