Jordan Howard was limited in practice last week with a shoulder injury and only gained seven yards on nine carries Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, representing the least productive game of his NFL career.
Howard said he didn’t speak to the media after the Bears’ first two games because he was getting treatment and X-Rays, but doesn’t believe being banged up has held him back.
“My shoulder, I’m good,” Howard said. “I’m good.”
Added Howard about the entire offense: “I don’t have any doubts about us putting it all together.”
The Bears’ offense needs Howard to be more productive than he’s been (21 carries, 59 yards), though tight end Zach Miller pointed out it was a collective team effort that led to Howard’s paltry numbers in Tampa.
“I just don’t think really any of us really played well. We didn’t give him much of an opportunity to put up numbers that you guys are used to seeing him do that. And that was across the league. There were a couple of other teams who had Pro Bowl players who had the same amount of carries and yards (Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott only gained eight yards on nine carries against Denver). So it’s not just us. But we’re all we care about. We’ve got to be better up front. That’s collectively so that we can start to get this thing rolling.”