Even with starting running back David Montgomery leaving with an injury midway through the first quarter, Khalil Herbert and the Bears had a spectacular day on the ground in Sunday’s victory over the Texans. 

While the Bears rushing game ranks second in the NFL this season, averaging 186.7 yards/game, the passing game ranks last with 78.3 yards/game. Despite the low passing yards, Herbert remains confident in the offense. 

“We had some things that didn’t go our way on Sunday but, nobody is losing faith in what he [Justin Fields] can do and what the receivers we have outside can do. We’re going to be able to set up a lot of different things now with how we’re running the ball, but I definitely think we’re still confident. They’re still doing a great job in practice and walk-throughs and everything. There’s no faith lost in him or any of the receivers,” Herbert said.

The second-year running back came into the game following Montgomery’s injury. Herbert stayed prepared when his number was called to carry the load the rest of the game. 

“You always visualize it. I just come in every week with the mentality of just being ready for my opportunity and to make the most of it. Really, I feel like that mindset’s helped me out the last two years and it was able to help me out on Sunday,” Herbert said in an interview on Bear Essentials this week.

The Bears ran the ball for 281 yards on Sunday, marking their second highest rushing yards in a game since 1984. Herbert carried the ball 20 times for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns, which he attributed to the contributions from his offensive line and fullback all game long.

“You can feel it in the huddle. We felt like we had a good game plan going into the week and had a bunch of different answers to what they did defensively, so we felt like we were able to run multiple things and it turned out we were able to,” Herbert said. 

Part of the success Herbert has had early in his career is the ability to adapt into various offensive systems from studying the blocking tendencies as well as having vision running the ball. 

“I think it’s a little bit of both. Especially being in a lot of different systems, I think it’s allowed me to learn a lot of different offenses, different systems and different type of styles. I definitely learn where the O-line is going, who they’re blocking on which play and just being able to deep dive into those things since we got here in April and really getting into the detail of those runs and learning where everybody is going to be I think is a big thing to,” Herbert explained. 

Watch the full interview with Khalil Herbert above.