Bears coach Matt Nagy revealed Monday that running back David Montgomery is in the NFL's concussion protocol after sustaining a concussion late in Sunday's 24-17 loss to the Titans in Tennessee.
The second-year pro from Iowa State has started the first nine games this season, rushing for 472 yards and one touchdown on 131 carries and catching 25 passes for 185 yards and one TD.
The Bears traded up in the third round of last year's draft to select Montgomery. As a rookie, he played in all 16 games with eight starts, rushing for 889 yards and six touchdowns on 242 carries and catching 25 passes for 185 yards and one TD.
In other injury news, special-teams standout Sherrick McManis broke his index finger in Sunday's loss.
Roster Moves: There was good news Monday as the Bears removed veteran right tackle Jason Spriggs from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Spriggs was placed on the list last Tuesday. The new designation was created this year for players who either test positive for the coronavirus or who have been quarantined after having been in close contact with an infected person.
Spriggs signed with the Bears during the offseason after appearing in 36 games with nine starts over three seasons with the Packers from 2016-18 before missing the 2019 campaign with an injury. He saw his first action of the season on the offensive line Nov. 1 in an overtime loss to the Saints, entering the contest at right tackle after Bobby Massie exited with a knee injury on the Bears' first possession.
The Bears on Monday also removed cornerback Michael Joseph from the reserve/COVID-19 list and returned him to injured reserve. Joseph was placed on the COVID-19 list Oct. 24.
Joseph has not been around the team or at Halas Hall since the start of the regular season. He was placed on injured reserve Aug. 31.
Joseph joined the Bears in 2018 as an undrafted free agent from Dubuque. After spending most of the past two seasons on the practice squad, he was added to the 53-man roster for the final two weeks of last season, but did not see any game action.
Group effort: Nagy has frequently expressed the belief that quarterbacks receive too much credit in good times and too much blame when things go wrong.
That was clearly how the coach felt after quarterback Nick Foles was part of a struggling offense Sunday that failed to score or even reach the red zone in the first three quarters of a loss to the Titans.
"We all need to raise our play with where we're at right now with some of the injury bugs we've had and different things," Nagy said. "So that's our job, not only Nick to raise his game, but our job as coaches and our job as players to do the same thing. We've got to become multipliers."
Nagy is confident that Foles will draw on his vast NFL experience—which includes a Super Bowl championship and the game's MVP award—to help the offense break out of its slump.
"The beauty of having him on this team is the experience that he has and the highs and lows he's been through," Nagy said. "I think one of his greatest strengths is handling adversity, I really do. So we're in that part right now. We're in that adverse situation as an offense where we're going to look to our leaders to step up and make big plays at big times.
"And continue to just trust as much as we can in all facets of the game, whether that's trust in yourself, trust in your teammates, trust your coaches. And then vice versa, right? The coaches trust the players, etc. But one of his strengths is dealing with adversity, and that's what I look forward to him doing here as we move forward."
