Bears RB David Montgomery’s status for Week 11 in jeopardy

The Bears might be without starting RB David Montgomery against the Rams, as Montgomery nurses a rolled ankle injury.

As the Chicago Bears, who are clinging to their playoff lives, prepare for a do-or-die primetime matchup against the Los Angeles Rams, they might have to play without their starting running back.

Rookie David Montgomery was held out of Thursday’s practice after “lightly” rolling his ankle Wednesday.

Bears coach Matt Nagy remained mum on Montgomery’s status other than they’re going to take it day-by-day and make sure he’s good to go, should he play Sunday.

“I can’t say either way,” Nagy said, via the Sun-Times. “We’ll just kind of keep an eye on it as it goes here and see how it is [Thursday]. We’re working through [Thursday], and see how he goes.”

If Montgomery can’t go, Ryan Nall, who made his first career start last week against the Detroit Lions, would likely take over Montgomery’s role and get a bulk of the offensive load, along with Tarik Cohen. Nall played on special teams against the Lions, but he didn’t play a single offensive snap.

Chicago could also employ receiver Cordarrelle Patterson in the run game, as he’s been used as a power back at times this season.

Mike Davis would’ve been next in-line to replace Montgomery, but the Bears released Davis last week in order to better their odds at securing a fourth-round compensatory pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

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WATCH: Who keeps pranking Tarik Cohen in the Bears’ locker room?

The Bears shared a hilarious behind-the-scenes exchange, where someone is pranking RB Tarik Cohen.

Tarik Cohen knows he’s short. In fact, he’s one of the shorter players in the NFL.

So even when opposing teams mock his 5-foot-6 stature, as the New Orleans Saints did in Week 7, it’s not a big deal to him.

But a hilarious behind-the-scenes exchange showed the challenges that come for a smaller player like Cohen in a league of tall men. In a simple video interview with Nick Williams, Cohen could be heard in the background yelling:

“WHO KEEPS PUTTING THE TOWELS ON THE TOP SHELF?”

Despite his height, Cohen has proven to be one of the league’s dynamic playmakers, where he excels in the run and pass game, as well as a speedster on punt returns.

The Bears will be looking for his star to shine come Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams.

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Bears have highest drop rate in NFL through Week 10

Nothing has been working for the Bears’ offense this season. So it’s no wonder why they lead the NFL in the highest drop rate.

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When you have a struggling offense, there’s little room for error. Unfortunately for the Chicago Bears, there have been plenty of errors over the first 10 weeks of the 2019 season.

And it doesn’t just fall on third-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who deserves a fair share of the blame for the offense’s struggles.

When your young quarterback is struggling, you need to do everything you can to help him. Establish the run game (which has been inconsistent and suspect this season), give him a clean pocket (which hasn’t always been the case this season) and have your playmakers come down with the ball.

Given that most of these factors — including the quarterback’s play — haven’t been working, it’s no wonder the Bears boast the NFL’s 29th-ranked offense.

In fact, the Bears have the highest drop rate in the NFL at 7.36 percent. Of 299 attempts, Bears receivers have 22 drops, which also ranks highest in the league. They’re the only team that has a drop rate greater than 7 percent.

The Bears have two players that rank in the top 35 in the NFL in drops: running back Tarik Cohen (6) and receiver Allen Robinson (3).

This certainly doesn’t let Trubisky off the hook, who needs to do a better job of giving his receivers a chance to catch the ball, for the offense’s struggles.

But Trubisky would certainly benefit from better pass protection from his offensive line, which ranks 22nd in the league with 27 sacks allowed through the first 10 weeks.

Which isn’t to say that Trubisky hasn’t had a hand in several of those sacks. You could argue that most of his five sacks last Sunday against the Detroit Lions were on him.

Simply put, the entire offense needs to do better. It’s not just one guy. It would be easier if it were.