In each of running back D’Andre Swift’s first two years with the Chicago Bears, he only had two fumbles all season. However, he has already matched that total in just four games after losing a fumble on the goal line against the Minnesota Vikings and another fumble against the New York Jets in Week 4’s win.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson broke down each of the fumbles. Looking at the fumble against Minnesota, Johnson gave a lot of credit to the Vikings’ textbook defense in that situation to get the ball out.
“It’s very uncharacteristic,” Johnson said. “I give Minnesota a lot of credit. That’s what they do. They do it probably better than anybody in the NFL, just conscious of the ball and looking to punch it out. We cannot allow that to happen, and yet
that guy, he hit it right on the head and boom, it came right out.”
However, Johnson viewed the fumble against the Jets much differently. No one punched the ball out on that play. New York was simply trying to tackle him by the ankles and Swift coughed up the ball. It led to a field goal for the Jets.
“I think the one last week was egregious, though. It’s one that we can’t have,” Johnson said. “There’s too many times when the ball’s getting away from our body and he knows that. He takes a lot of pride in it, hence why it’s never been an issue over the course of his career. We’ve got to tighten that up and he’ll be just fine moving forward.”
After his fumble against the Jets, Swift did not return to that game and backup running backs, Kyle Monangai and Roschon Johnson took over. With Monangai dealing with turf toe, Chicago is going to need Swift even more this week against the Green Bay Packers, who have significantly struggled against the run.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ben Johnson calls Bears RB D'Andre Swift's fumble vs Jets 'egregious'
