Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson spoke with the media ahead of Friday’s practice and provided some important updates across the roster, especially three of the burning questions that have been surrounding this team going into Week 4.

Spoiler alert, Johnson did not publicly name who will start at quarterback on Sunday against the New York Jets. But, he did provide a reassuring update on starting running back D’Andre Swift’s status and react to cornerback Kyler Gordon’s return to practice.

Let’s dive into what Johnson had to say going into the weekend.

Bears are optimistic D’Andre Swift will play on Sunday

The Bears had a concerning sight on Thursday’s injury report when it was revealed that D’Andre Swift did not practice with a knee injury. There’s a reason I don’t jump to any rash conclusions when these kind of things happen and wait for more information.

“I think whenever you get in a short week with running backs, that’s what happens,” Johnson said of Swift missing Thursday’s practice. “He’s still feeling the effects of a Monday night football game. We’re going to get him out there today, we’ll work him out and see how he’s doing. But, I’m optimistic for Sunday.”

Swift handled the ball 23 times in the team’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. It was the seventh game in Swift’s entire career in which he ran the ball 20+ times and the first time since November of last year. There’s going to be some lingering effects from that kind of workload on a short week.

Going back to training camp, Johnson said Swift was one of the players the team will have to keep an eye on all season to keep him fresh for 17+ games. Thursday’s practice was one of those days where they wanted to give Swift a proper rest period and it doesn’t sound like something that will be a concern moving forward.

Update (?) on the QB situation

Johnson started off the press conference noting that everyone will find out who’s starting at quarterback on Sunday when we get to Sunday. It’s a little bit of gamesmanship by Johnson to keep the Jets on their toes but after today I’m not convinced there’s a clear answer inside the building.

The one thing we do know for sure is that Caleb Williams will be out for the second consecutive week, and we’ll see if he can practice next week to potentially return in Week 5. Meanwhile, who the Bears turn to on Sunday between Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum is still unknown.

“Honestly, I feel really good about the whole room,” Johnson shared. “I don’t know that there’s a bad choice, or a wrong choice. We’re very very fortunate that we’ve got guys that we believe in, the whole team believes in everybody in that room. It’s one of those things that you can’t go wrong. You just want to make sure that you’re doing right by all the guys on the team and putting yourself in the best position to win.”

Last week, Keenum got the nod as the starter given Williams and Bagent’s injury situation and really impressed. With Bagent healthy this week, it adds another layer to the decision and many believe the team is leaning toward starting Bagent over Keenum.

“There is such thing as playing the hot hand,” Johnson explained. “That is real. We’re certainly taking that into consideration. And yet, there’s a body of work that goes into it as well. There’s a lot of factors at play and we certainly have talked about it as a coaching staff. Honestly, it’s split when you ask each coach one on one what they think. I don’t think there’s necessarily a right answer or wrong answer in terms of how we go about this thing. I know both of them are well prepared to play and win a game for us.”

Kyler Gordon only in Step 1 of returning to action

Johnson finally gave more than a one phrase response in regards to Kyler Gordon, who returned to practice for the first time this season on Wednesday after the team opened his 21-day return window. Johnson previously took a sour stance on Gordon whenever reporters asked about his injury status, but he changed his tune Friday.

“He looked good, it was encouraging,” Johnson said of Gordon. “I called it a stress test right now and we’ll see how well he holds up here over the next few weeks.”

Gordon’s return to practice was a positive step in the right direction after spending time away from the facility to rehab from his calf injury on his own. There was some obvious disconnect with the team about that process, but as long as the end result is one that sees Gordon back on the field with the Bears, all parties will be pleased.

“We got to make sure that he’s healthy,” Johnson added. “We got a three week window, 21 days, to where we can truly evaluate where he’s at physically and make sure there’s no setback. I think that’s step one… Man, he’s a phenomenal football player. We have just been in a struggle, everybody’s been in a struggle, to get him out there. He’s out there now and I am more than happy to talk about anybody that’s on the field. He’s out there right now and we’re excited about what the future could possibly hold.”

Availability is always the best ability, and now it’s whether or not Gordon can continue stacking positive days to earn the right to come back and play. Speaking of which, Gordon can’t play until Week 5 because the league’s PUP rules require him to miss Sunday’s game.