After recovering from one of the scariest injuries of his career, Bears running back David Montgomery was full go for practice Wednesday and will play against the Packers.
Montgomery missed one game after suffering a concussion Nov. 8. It was not his first, but it was his worst.
“I’ve never had one this severe,” he said. “It was definitely different, but I’m fine now.
“I understood that [sitting out] had to happen. If I would have forced myself to play... it could affect me long term in my life for when I have my children, when I have my family. That’s one thing that I don’t ever want to do. I don’t want to ever regret [having] an injury and not communicating [truthfully to the doctors] because I want to be like a tough guy. I know how tough I am.”
Montgomery’s return probably won’t solve the Bears’ ground-game woes, but he’ll help at least a little. They’re coming off a 19-13 loss to the Vikings in which they managed 41 yards on 17 carries, led by Cordarrelle Patterson’s 30 on 12.
Montgomery has 472 yards and one touchdown this season. Patterson is next with 118 yards, and no other Bear has broken 100. The team averages the fewest yards per game (78.2) and per carry (3.6) in the NFL.
“It will turn, whether anybody wants to believe it or not, but it will,” Montgomery said. “We’ll be here for it.”
The Bears drafted Montgomery with their top pick last year, No. 73 overall, and haven’t given him an opportunity to shine considering how bad their offensive line and quarterback play has been during his brief time with the team. He has averaged 54.5 yards per game and 3.6 per carry over 25 games. He has topped 100 just twice and had 12 games under 50.
