Bears get good injury news, as RB Kyle Monangai practices for first time since Jets game

Why Ben Johnson is elite in primetime games; Super Bowl or Bust for Bears? | Chicago Sports Tonight Sam Panayotovich is joined by The Score’s Matt Spiegel. They discuss the Bears ceiling this season; is it Super Bowl or bust? Also, why has Ben Johnson been elite in primetime games as an offensive coordinator and head coach? Plus, is Sunday a must-win game for the Bears? The Brief The Chicago Bears got some good news on the injury front on Friday. They'll have their starting left tackle on Sunday night, and might get an important piece of their offense back in the fold. These statuses will come clearer as the weekend progresses. The Chicago Bears got some good news on the injury front on Friday. They'll have their starting left tackle on Sunday night, and might get an important piece of their offense back in the fold. What they're saying: For the first time since early October, running back Kyle Monangai has participated in practice. He was seen in late October on the exercise bike, but didn't officially return to practice until Friday. The second-year running back has missed the last four games with a toe injury he suffered in an Oct. 4 win over the New York Jets where he ran for 146 yards. In his place, D'Andre Swift has scored seven touchdowns in four games but rushed for just over three yards per carry. Getting Monangai back would help add a different dimension to the Bears' run game. "Each injury is a little bit different," Bears coach Ben Johnson said. "You try to get a timeline, an approximation of what you think it could be, and some guys come back a little bit sooner, some guys take a little bit longer, so those toe injuries, those can be fickle at times, and that's what this one's proved to be." It would also help the Bears give Swift more rest during games, as he's carried the torch in Monangai's absence. Johnson mentioned they wanted to do everything they could to keep Swift fresh. Monangai's status will come clear closer to game time on Sunday, or at some point on Saturday. Along with Monangai, cornerbacks Malik Muhammad and Tyrique Stevenson are also listed as questionable. Muhammad missed Monday's game, and Stevenson played. Dig deeper: The Bears got more good news on the injury front. Left tackle Theo Benedet was limited this week with a shoulder injury he suffered during the Bears' win Monday over the Seahawks. "He ended up going to the training room after the game," Johnson said. "I wasn't even aware during the game that he was feeling something, but a lot of those guys, things will pop up over the course of the game and your adrenaline helps get you through the rest of it, and I don't even know until we get on the plane or something like that that we're dealing with some stuff." If Benedet missed Sunday, the Bears would have needed to decide if Ozzy Trapilo would be ready enough to play a full game. That's not the case. Benedet has been fully cleared. "That's the thing on a short week, it’s hard to get a full grasp of where guys are at, but he's saying all the right things, which we appreciate," Johnson said. "But we need to see it out there, so that's where today will be big for us." The Source: Information is from the Bears' Friday injury report. Bears