When Chicago Bears running back D’Andre Swift went to practice toward the end of training camp last week, he knew not to look for help.

That was quickly reinforced near the start of practice. Swift took a snap from quarterback Caleb Williams as they practiced their handoffs. Backup quarterbacks Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum instead gave their handoffs to members of the coaching staff.

“Just got my work in today,” Swift told reporters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest at the time. “It was a good conditioning day, put it like that.”

It was the smallest running back room Swift had been a part of in his six-year career. Running backs Roschon Johnson, rookie Kyle Monangai and Travis Homer were all recovering from various injuries while Brittain Brown had not been re-signed to the practice squad at that point.

The room might not get much bigger for the Bears’ season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday. Johnson has not practiced the past few weeks with a foot injury, while Monangai has been limited at practices this week with a hamstring injury. The Bears placed Homer on injured reserve to start the season, and he’ll miss the first four games.

Running the ball has been an essential part of head coach Ben Johnson’s offense during his time with the Detroit Lions. The Bears feel comfortable with what they have in the room to be that key cog.

“I’m very comfortable because this is who we got,” Bears running back coach Eric Bieniemy told Shaw Local News Network. “These are my guys. My job is to make sure that I can get the very most out of them, and maximizing their skills and ability. So we’re going to keep chopping wood and we’re going to make sure they find a way to drag their ass across the finish line too.”

The Lions were one of the top rushing teams in the league over the past three seasons which Johnson was their offensive coordinator. Detroit finished 11th with 2,179 rushing yards, which included Swift, before jumping up to fifth (2,311) and sixth (2,488) in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Johnson took advantage of the talent he had on his roster. He utilized the dynamic running back duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery over the past two seasons, as well as one of the top offensive lines in the league. Once defenses focused on the run, Johnson schemed different ways to open the pass game for Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

The Bears are trying to follow the same protocol.

General manager Ryan Poles revamped his offensive line over the offseason when he traded for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and signed center Drew Dalman in free agency. Chicago was rumored to add a running back during free agency and early in the draft. Instead, they drafted Monangai in the seventh round.

Johnson has also tried to change the mindset of the running back room. He emphasized the importance of staying on the “tracks” during the spring, which Swift described as focusing on the details. Sometimes the simplest play is the most efficient play.

“I discussed with them all the time, and not that we want him to go run into a wall, but the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and sometimes that straight line is the quickest way to get to the goal line,” Bieniemy said. “We just got to make sure when those opportunities present themselves, we got to go punch a hole through it, find four and a half [yards]. Anything after that is a bonus.”

Anything will be a bonus going against the Vikings’ rush defense.

Minnesota finished as one of the best run-stopping defenses in the NFL last year, allowing the second-least rushing yards with 1,588. The Vikings also boosted their pass rush over the offseason by adding former Pro Bowler defensive end Jonathan Allen and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave in free agency.

Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle told reporters Friday that the running attack will have to have a strong first step off of Williams’ cadence to be effective. He wants the Bears to come off the ball with low pads and to get after it.

How much the Bears will run the ball is still to be determined. Ben Johnson didn’t tip his hand on how he’ll approach the Vikings’ defense.

“I mean, as always, we’re going to do whatever we need to do to move the football,” Ben Johnson said. “So if that means we can run the ball 50 times a game, great. If that means we need to throw it 50 times a game, that’s great as well. We’re going to find a way to move the ball ahead, and each week’s kind of its own puzzle that we’re looking to solve.”

Who exactly will be there to execute that mentality on Monday remains to be seen. Roschon Johnson isn’t likely to play on Monday. It’s also hard to tell how effective Monangai and Brown would be in their first professional games, especially after Monangai missed the past few weeks.

That puts a majority of the load on Swift.

Swift is looking for a bounce-back season after not reaching his goals last year. He averaged the lowest yards per carry in his career after a career-high number of rushes last season.

“I’m very comfortable because this is who we got. These are my guys. My job is to make sure that I can get the very most out of them and maximizing their skills and ability. So we’re going to keep chopping wood and we’re going to make sure they find a way to drag their ass across the finish line too.”

—  Eric Bieniemy, Bears running back coach

Swift was part of Johnson’s culture in Detroit and has embraced staying on the “tracks” during the offseason and training camp by focusing on the details in everything that he does. Now he’s is ready to show that he can help the Bears execute Johnson’s plan in Chicago.

“I approach every single day with the ‘prove it’ mentality,” Swift said. “Just try to improve on something every single day, with the weight coach, [Biemeny], and coach [Johnson] and everybody else on the offensive staff, that’s kinda, I mean everything. The details. I just try to be real intentional.”