Bears' David Montgomery Reportedly out 2-4 Weeks with Groin Injury

Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery suffered a groin injury in practice Wednesday and reportedly will miss two-to-four weeks.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Montgomery has "a chance" of being back for Chicago's Week 1 matchup with the Detroit Lions.

Montgomery suffered the injury when he went to the ground in "serious pain" after slipping on the field, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Head coach Matt Nagy told reporters that Montgomery was not carted off the field, despite Schefter previously reporting otherwise. 

Now in his second season in the NFL, the top tailback on the Bears' depth chart was expected to play a big role in the offense and help revitalize a rushing game that finished as the sixth-worst in the league last year.

Montgomery played all 16 games in 2019 and finished with 889 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 242 attempts, good for 3.7 yards per carry. He added 25 receptions for 185 yards and another score.

Heading into this year's training camp, Chicago's staff felt a breakout campaign was coming for the former Iowa State star.

"He's a very highly motivated individual," running backs coach Charles London told Larry Mayer of the team's website in June. "He's a self-starter. He's probably his own worst critic. I think he learned a lot of lessons his rookie year and I think he feels like he has so much more he can do, so much more that he can be in this offense, and I know he's ready to do it."

Drafted No. 73 overall in 2019, Montgomery was the fourth running back selected in his class after putting up back-to-back seasons of more than 1,100 yards for the Cyclones.

Tarik Cohen and Ryan Nall are likely to see increased action if the 23-year-old is sidelined for the season opener.

Cohen, in particular, has proved productive in short bursts in the past, tallying 1,027 rushing yards (4.1 yards per carry) and five touchdowns on 250 attempts over his first three NFL seasons while adding 1,534 yards and nine touchdowns as a receiver.

Nall, an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State in 2018, attempted two carries in 2019 for eight yards total.