David Montgomery’s playing status for Week 1 has been up-in-the-air since he suffered a groin injury on August 26.
Since then, reports have ranged from hope he could return for Week 1 to being “doubtful” for the opener. His head coach has played things coy, even as his back-mate Tarik Cohen expressed more optimism.
NFL insider Adam Caplan shared his doubts regarding Montgomery’s chances to play in Week 1 on August 28, telling Sirius XM’s Fantsy Football show: “If you have David Montgomery … don’t plan on having him Week 1.”
However, Caplan appears to have changed his tune a bit since then:
#Bears RB David Montgomery (groin strain) was limited in today's practice, but team is actually optimistic that he'll be able to play Sunday vs. #Lions. 2 more days of practice will tell the story. #CHIvsDET
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) September 9, 2020
Caplan tweets the Bears are optimistic the second-year running back will play against the Lions in Week 1. Montgomery was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice, so this is encouraging news. Head Coach Matt Nagy called Montgomery’s workout activities as a ‘stretch” practice. I suppose being “limited” in that regard could mean any number of things. Nevertheless, I’m here for the optimistic appraisal of this situation.
It’s worth noting Caplan didn’t mention what kind of workload Montgomery could see on Sunday. It’s probably too early to project that, but it’s something the Bears should consider if they’re truly optimistic Montgomery will play. Treating RB1 with care is important when the reserves behind him don’t inspire much confidence. Considering it’s been only two weeks since Montgomery suffered his injury, it’s possible the Bears could have him on a so-called “pitch count” against Detroit.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on Montgomery’s injury situation as more information becomes available.