Courtney CroninJul 28, 2025, 06:11 AM ETCloseCourtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000.
She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.Follow on X
Courtney CroninJul 28, 2025, 06:11 AM ET
CloseCourtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000.
She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.Follow on X
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LAKE FOREST, Ill. –DJ Moore’s locker is two stalls away from that ofChicago Bearsrunning backD’Andre Swift. Over the past 16 months, since Swift signed his three-year, $24 million free agent contract with Chicago, Moore has had a bird’s-eye view of how his teammate dealt with the ups and downs of a 2024 season that fell short of expectations.
“As long as I’ve known Swift, he’s always been the same,” Moore said.
“I think some of the talk is getting to him, and he wants to be the best that he can be this year and he’s going to go out there and prove it.”
Swift’s 959 rushing yards ranked 18th while his five touchdowns were 24th among all running backs despite his salary being the 11th highest at his position. At the start of training camp, Swift downplayed last year’s frustrations serving as added motivation for his sixth NFL season, but the Bears are going to need a bounce-back year from their RB1, considering they didn’t make many changes to the unit.
To go along with Swift,Roschon JohnsonandTravis Homer, whose biggest contributions come on special teams, Chicago’s sole running back addition was via the seventh-round pick the Bears used to draftKyle Monangai, who has earned early praise from coach Ben Johnson.
“I know the perception out there is that maybe it’s not the most talented room in the world,” Johnson said. “They like to hear that noise.”
The Bears ranked last in total offense (284.6) in 2024, due in large part to a rushing attack that failed to support a struggling passing game quarterbacked by then-rookieCaleb Williams.
What was once a strength in Chicago devolved into a disappointment behind the Bears’ 102 rushing yards per game (25th).
Swift crossed the 100-yard rushing threshold once in 17 games and had the lowest yards per attempt (3.8) of his career. Johnson matched Swift’s touchdown total (6) but only mustered 150 yards over 14 games. There was so much left undone from last season that the 26-year-old running back can’t nail down one area where he feels he needs to improve most.
“Everything,” Swift said.
“Especially when numbers ain’t where they should be statistically, even though scrimmage yards (79.1), that was the best of my career. But we won four or five games (5-12). Can’t sit up here and talk about anything positive.
All of us have something to work on, something to get better at.
“When team success is at a premium, everything else is going to fall in line.”
Source: Espnnfl
