If there's one consensus in the Bears locker room after Sunday's 23-12 win over the Jets, it's that running back Kyle Monangai is a force to be reckoned with.

It's just not a force any of his teammates want to reckon with.

"He's just a low to the ground, ball of muscle that's just running people over every time," left tackle Theo Benedet said. "I wouldn't want to have to try and take that down."

The Jets, however, were tasked with bringing Monangai down 30 times – his career high for carries in a game. It's safe to say the second-year pro won the majority of those battles, tallying 146 rushing yards. The performance marked his fourth career 100-yard game and second in just four weeks this season.

Monangai certainly put together a stellar stat line Sunday, scoring two touchdowns for the first time in his young career, but it's how the New Jersey native gained the yards and found the end zone that's most impressive.

Whether it's barreling up the middle, making a second or even third effort or throwing a stiff arm while breezing past a defender, Monangai puts 100% effort into every carry. His physicality and toughness certainly show up on tape, but out on the field, it can also be heard.

"I've been telling people, it's more hearing him," Benedet said, "because I just hear him behind me knocking people over. It's great."

The first display of Monangai's effort came at the end of the first quarter after the Bears had reached the Jets' 4-yard line. After carrying the ball for three yards on second down and no gain on third down, Monangai took the handoff again on fourth down, and while he was initially hit hard just short of the goal line, he stayed upright and spun off a tackle to back into the end zone.

"You gotta get the ball across the goal line," Monangai said. "It really shouldn't have taken me that many plays … [but] I'm gonna scrap for every yard I can."

Coach Ben Johnson kept adding to his workload. On the Bears' next possession, Monangai ran the ball six times on the first seven plays, including a 19-yard run to start the drive.

"He ran hard, really hard," Johnson said. "He found some creases, turned on the gas, and threw a really good stiff arm out there. When you see a guy running like that, as a play caller you just want to keep feeding him. It elevates everybody blocking for him and gives the whole unit a spark, which we really needed."

In a grueling game where the Bears ran 89 plays to the Jets' 32 and possessed the ball for nearly 43 minutes, Monangai's energy play after play helped keep the offense rolling.

"He runs hard as hell," right tackle Wright said. "He practices hard. It feels good when you see him hyped up, juiced up, and he just broke off a run. We rally behind that, and then he rallies behind us, and we just feed off each other."

Six of the Bears' nine offensive possessions consisted of 11 or more plays, including an 18-play drive that ran out, literally, the final nine minutes and 16 seconds of the game. While the offense certainly began to feel the fatigue set in after the win, Monangai credited Johnson's physically demanding practices and long drive drills in training camp for the group's ability to stay locked in.

"That's why we go so hard in training camp, for times like that to put the game away," Monangai said. "That's how we want it. The exhaustion will come after the fact. In that moment you're just thinking about putting the game away."

Monangai embodied that perseverance, continuing to grind out yards throughout the second half.

On the Bears' first drive of the third quarter, Monangai ran the ball five times, including back-to-back rushes once the offense got inside the 10-yard line. This time, it took him just two tries to score, bursting right up the middle and into the end zone from five yards out to put the Bears up 20-6.

"No flinch from him," quarterback Tyson Bagent said. "He's been outstanding ever since he got here — does the right thing day in and day out. So for him, he's the kind of guy that he likes that load. I thought he did an outstanding job. He's running hard; you've got big guys just bouncing off of him."

Both Wright and right guard Jonah Jackson helped seal off a hole for Monangai on the 5-yard TD run, which was just one example of the offensive line's crucial role in the Bears' rushing attack, which totaled 232 yards Sunday.

"I can't do it without them," Monangai said. "They played a great game against a great front too. Those guys on the other side of the ball, they did their thing. They're very talented.

"They made it hard for us, and we had to fight for every yard, but my guys up front did a great job too."

Monangai and the running game wore down the Jets defense, leading to the Bears' third win of the season and their second in a row. Even in the fourth quarter, Monangai kept bullying his way down the field.

After kicking off the final period with an 11-yard run, Monangai took off for a 26-yard gain two plays later, stiff-arming a defender and gaining seven extra yards as two other Jets tried to bring him down.

"It's just fantastic — the fact he seems always to be falling forward," Benedet said. "So it gives us a kind of momentum or élan, as we say in French."

Since the beginning of the 2025 season, the Bears have recorded at least 230 rushing yards in four games – the most in the NFL. Monangai and D'Andre Swift also rank sixth and seventh, respectively, in rushing yards through Week 4.

Creating a dynamic rushing attack has been one of Johnson's top priorities since he became the Bears' head coach in 2025, and his commitment to running the football has continued to instill confidence and consistency in the offense. On Sunday, it helped improve his team's record to 3-1.

"We all know that we're gonna run the football," Monangai said. "We know it. The other team knows it. Everyone watching at home and in the stadium knows it. I think that just goes to show the testament that we've put the time in to still stick to what we know we're gonna do.

"And we just say, 'you've gotta come stop us.'"