LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears broke from stretching early in Monday’s non-padded practice and position groups went their separate ways for individual drills.

Running backs coach Eric Bienemy waited in his section of the field, with cones and obstacles ready to improve individual technique.

Only two players walked his way. D’Andre Swift and recent signing Brittain Brown were the only running backs healthy enough to participate.

That would be shocking come Tuesday, when the roster drops to 53. It’s at 72 following another round of Bears cuts, with five backs on the roster.

Roschon Johnson, Kyle Monangai and Travis Homer have been unavailable for some time with various ailments and Ian Wheeler was waived earlier in the day.

That left just two backs healthy, with two weeks left before a Week 1 showdown with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Bears will have more available by then, but Monday’s practice illustrated the wounded state of an important skill position.

“We’re depleted a little bit in that area as you can see, and so, we got to find ways to get our guys the ball,” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said before practice. “That doesn’t always have to be the running back; that can be a wideout, that can be a tight end, but we’ll continue to try to get the balls and the ball in the hands of our playmakers.”

DJ Moore is a playmaker the Bears plan to use in the backfield at times, and he saw some reps there in a practice that was solely focused on individual drills and special teams work.

The Bears will need bodies there as the Vikings practice week embarks, meaning Brown could find his way onto the 53-man roster initially if the expected position group of Swift, Johnson, Monangai and Homer aren’t completely ready to go.

He has fared well since joining the Bears on Aug. 11 and could get some regular season carries supporting Swift.

The Bears running game got reps together in Friday’s exhibition vs. Kansas City – save left guard Joe Thuney, who was given some veteran rest – and seemed to be in sync. Swift was used in several ways and fared well in most all of them.  

“I’m excited for the different ways that we can use him,” Doyle said. “I think he can, he showed it, he can drop his pads and go get a yard when he needs to. We love what he does in the passing game. I think that he ran hard the other night. It was good to have him back, but the main thing is we’re going to try to continue to use him to the best of his ability as well as the other guys that we want to touch the ball and try to put them in positions to have success.”

‘Reality check’ in KC

Preseason games don’t generally get reviewed a few days after the fact, especially with the regular season on the immediate horizon. The opening half of the preseason victory over Kansas City was just that bad for Bears starters, especially those on defense.

The first unit – minus four key players – allowed 17 points in three series and had Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completing explosive plays all over the field. The defense won’t just excuse that away because the score didn’t count. They took the sloppy performance to heart, vowing to learn from it and avoid similar pains down the line.

“The game on Friday was a moment where we all came together,” safety Kevin Byard III said. “I would say it was eye-opening a little bit. We all have been seeing media and seeing stuff saying, ‘Oh, the defense looks so good,’ and all that, and then we go get whooped. It was a reality check a little bit. (The lesson is never lost), and guys got the message for sure.”

Another round of cuts

The Bears made 12 transactions on Monday afternoon to decrease their roster size far closer to the 53-man mandate that becomes law on Tuesday afternoon.

Read more about those moves, and a break down of fifth-round pick Zah Frazier heading to the non-football injury list in our Bears roster cuts tracker.

Roll call

The Bears held several players out of Monday’s practice, which didn’t impact much considering the special-teams emphasis.

I didn’t see 10 players out there. Here’s the list, by my count: DE Austin Booker (knee), RB Travis Homer (shoulder), RB Roschon Johnson (foot), WR JP Richardson, RB Kyle Monangai, DB Josh Blackwell, WR Devin Duvernay, OG Bill Murray (ankle), G/C Doug Kramer Jr. (foot)and LB Amen Ogbongbemiga. If a player’s injury wasn’t listed, that means it’s undisclosed.

Also, QB Case Keenum (leg) returned to practice after a few days away. LB Tremaine Edmunds and DB Kyler Gordon (hamstring) were back at practice but didn’t do much outside stretching and limited individual drills.

Practice notes

Monday’s work focused on technical aspects of special teams, including kick coverage, how returners should handle errant punts or kicks and things like that. The linemen were locked into long individual periods, without 11-on-11 special teams sessions. QBs primarily worked with WRs like DJ Moore and Rome Odunze and tight end Cole Kmet, who don’t work in the kicking game. … The Bears will continue to focus on themselves during this light three-day practice stretch, before taking some time off heading into the first regular-season game week.