RADIO
When is Kyle Monangai coming back? Will Kyle Monangai play again this season? Read about Kyle Monangai's return date and injury updates for 2026.
Chicago Bears running back Kyle Monangai was part of the Bears' dynamic backfield duo earlier this season and was emerging as an every-week fantasy football starter under head coach Ben Johnson. Monangai showed a very high ceiling and was very involved through the first four weeks of the season.
However, toward the end of a monster Week 4 performance, Monangai suffered a thumb injury. The following week, Johnson also revealed that Monangai was dealing with turf toe, and he has been unable to return for the three games since then.
When is Monangai coming back? Will he miss most of the season? Let's dive in!
Editor's Note: The FFPC Baby Gorilla Tournament is now open, featuring a $100,000 grand prize and a $675,450 total prize pool! This 12-team, Tight End Premium contest uses a 20-round draft format, with the overall winners determined by total points scored during Weeks 15–17. Get $25 to use toward your first entry by signing up through our link. Grab your team now! Sign Up Now!
Kyle Monangai Injury Update for Fantasy Football
While Monangai's status has not been specifically spelled out for Week 8, the fact that the Bears did not place him on IR after his Week 4 injury is a positive sign. If he had been placed on IR, he would have had to miss a minimum of four games, being ineligible to return until Week 9 at the earliest. The team didn't put him on IR, indicating it thought a Week 8 return was possible.
In Week 7, the Bears played on Thursday Night Football against the Patriots, which created a short week of preparation. But after that contest, they have extra time before their Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup against the Seahawks. While it isn't quite a bye week, the 11-day gap is one of the longest possible between games in consecutive weeks on the NFL schedule.
The extra time of preparation could help Monangai return for Week 8's road game in Seattle. He has been listed as missing practice with a thumb issue and a toe issue, although Johnson said that the thumb injury was "not an issue" even in the buildup to Week 5.
It seems to be the turf toe that is keeping Monangai on the shelf at this point, and it was expected to be a 1-2 week injury, according to reports by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.
Before Thursday's game against New England, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that although Monangai was out for Week 7, he was "potentially nearing a return." All signs were pointing to Monangai having a real chance to be back on the field in Week 8.
While it may be unrelated to Monangai's status, the team signed RB Zavier Scott to the active roster this week since he was out of elevations from the practice squad. He could just be there as an insurance option for the rest of the season, or Monangai could need another week. It will all depend on how his recovery is and his practices for the rest of this week.
In another unsettling development for managers counting on Monangai's return, he was not spotted at practice on Tuesday.
Kyle Monangai Not Spotted at Tuesday's Practice https://t.co/wWwf6Rgsho
— RotoBaller (@RotoBaller) October 27, 2026
Kyle Monangai Fantasy Football Outlook
Before his injury, Monangai was very involved in the backfield this season, working alongside D'Andre Swift. Monangai had exactly 10 carries in each of his first three games this season. He started the year with 100 yards and a touchdown against the Panthers, while also adding a pair of catches for 24 yards.
He ran for 47 yards in Week 2 and 13 yards in Week 3 before he had his breakout game of the season against the Jets. He took 30 carries in that game, partly due to Swift's fumbling issues, and he racked up 146 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns.
Not many are running it better than Kyle Monangai today 😤
NYJvsCHI on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/aOzQXt1CM5— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026
Right after that game was when he started battling his toe issue, though, so the team may be hesitant to give him so heavy a workload again. When he does return, he and Swift will likely return to a backfield split, which keeps them both as RB2 plays with very high ceilings.
Johnson's offense is productive enough to keep them both fantasy relevant, but Monangai has to get healthy first.
Who Should I Start Tool
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Kyle Monangai, D'Andre Swift, Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 8.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 8 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 8 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 8 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 8 for Kyle Monangai, D'Andre Swift, Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
