Bears’ David Montgomery will start 3-week window for return from IR

Bears RB David Montgomery is returning to practice on Thursday.

There’s good news on the injury front for the Chicago Bears as running back David Montgomery will return to practice on Thursday and begin his three-week window for return from injured reserve.

Montgomery suffered a knee sprain against the Lions in Week 4, which has sidelined him for four games. There’s certainly a chance he could make his return on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But with the bye week coming up, the Bears could also choose to give Montgomery an extra couple of weeks to heal.

“He’s worked really hard to get to this point,” head coach Matt Nagy told reporters Thursday. “Now, we’ll see where it goes. It’s good timing. He’s grown into such a tremendous leader for the offense.”

While it’s certainly not a surprise, when Montgomery makes his return to the lineup, he’ll be the Bears’ starting running back, despite Khalil Herbert’s success in his absence.

But Herbert has earned the No. 2 role at this point with an impressive four games in Montgomery’s absence, where he’s rushed for more than 70 yards in each of those games, including a 100-yard performance against the NFL’s top rushing defense against the Bucs.

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