It didn’t slide under our radar when the Bears put Breshad Perriman on waivers in time to clear a roster spot.
And while some might have seen the move as a precursor to a possible receiver addition, the obvious reason for the decision appears to be why it was made in the first place:
The #Bears are expected to activate RB David Montgomery off Injured Reserve to play tonight, source said. Not a surprise, as coach Matt Nagy said last week there was a good chance. Montgomery suffered the knee injury in Week 4, and should be good to go vs the #Steelers.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 8, 2021
UPDATE — He’s back:
We have activated David Montgomery from IR.https://t.co/tPru4pf8iV
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 8, 2021
NOTE: The rest of our original post is as follows:
The Bears will reportedly activate running back David Montgomery from IR at some point today. Montgomery was designated to return off IR on Wednesday. That is when the Bears opened their 21-day window for observation when the team’s top rusher returned to practice. Days later, it looks like Monty will jump back into the lineup. And not a moment too soon.
The move will put Montgomery back in the mix as Chicago’s RB1, and just in time to face the Steelers on Monday Night Football. It’s a stout Pittsburgh defense, to be sure. To give it some perspective, this unit allows the sixth fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. There has been just one 100-yard rusher against the Steelers this season. Moreover, the unit has given up just two rushing touchdowns to an opponent’s top back all year. It’ll be a taffy pull to get the ground game going. But good luck naming a better tandem to go to battle with than Montgomery and Khalil Herbert. Remember, Herbert happens to be the only back this year to put up 100 rushing yards against the vaunted Bucs defense.
Montgomery was on pace to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns this season before going down with a knee injury in Week 4. I’d be hesitant to give him a full load in his first game back. But I also don’t want to put artificial limitations on a player who has worked his way to get into a position to play just four weeks after his injury when the timetable was seen as 4-6 weeks. In any case, it’ll be nice to have Montgomery back in the mix in any capacity.