Bears News: Ben Johnson praises Monangai, Brown, and Wright’s toughness

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 1 hour ago

CHICAGO - By this time of year, everyone is dealing with injuries. The Chicago Bears are no exception. When they faced the Cincinnati Bengals last week, they were down two of their top three running backs - D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson.

However, rookie Kyle Monangai stepped up in a big way along with Brittain Brown.

“He took full advantage of the opportunity at hand, him and really Brittain as well. Brittain did a nice job running the ball also,” Johnson said. “So, I’ve got a lot of confidence in all the runners. I got a lot of confidence in our pass catchers. I think we have the ability to move the ball a number of different ways on offense. Each week’s going to have a different story, but, hopefully they feel a little bit of competition amongst themselves to make it clear to the coaching staff that you need to get the ball in my hands and that’s a good thing.”

Monangai’s performance was one to remember with 26 attempts for 176 yards, the second-most by a Bears rookie running back all-time. Brittain Brown also had a moment he will never forget with a 22-yard rushing touchdown. Despite being drafted back in 2022, that was Brown’s first touchdown since entering the NFL.

But, as everyone knows, a good run game starts with a good offensive line. The only returning member from Chicago’s offensive line last year is right tackle Darnell Wright who has been doing quite well.

He was on the field for rookie tight end Colston Loveland’s game-winning touchdown against the Bengals and was so excited he did a cartwheel right on the field

“He’s playing really good football right now. It’s good to see excitement like that. I thought the whole crew, they were super fired up,” Johnson said. “Not only to win the game, but to do it in that type of fashion. Like I said, we hadn’t done that as an offense yet and we were just kind of waiting for a moment to get some yards and some points when we needed to and so, I thought it was a really good boost there for our offense.”

The impressiveness of that cartwheel should not be understated. Besides being a 6-foot-5, 325-pound offensive lineman, Wright also did that cartwheel while dealing with a lingering elbow issue that he suffered against the Las Vegas Raiders.

However, Wright is a prideful player, and he wants to be on the field for his team.

“Really prideful in how he goes about his business. The fact that he’s out there. He didn’t want to come out when it happened even though it was pretty obvious when you watch the tape that it was a factor a few games ago on him. So, he’s a tough guy,” Johnson said. “I think the biggest thing to me is he’s been a very consistent player since the season started. You knew what the talent was going to be. I saw it coming out of Tennessee. I loved the player coming out of Tennessee myself. You just wondered, ‘Hey, is he going to be able to put it all together?’ and I feel like (offensive line coach) Coach (Dan) Roushar and (assistant offensive line coach) Kyle Devan and those guys have done a really good job of helping him out. I think (right guard) Jonah Jackson being next to him, (left guard) Joe Thuney being in that room. I think that’s gone a long way for him … He comes to work every single day and he knows when to crack a joke and smile and yet, he can snap it back in and be serious in a hurry too, which I think it’s the balance that we want all of our guys to have. So, I’m just really proud of how consistent he’s been from the start of the season up until this point.”