D’Onta Foreman’s identical twin brother couldn’t understand why he was so calm after the Bears’ last game. Armanti Foreman, who played alongside the Bears running back at Texas, couldn’t understand why his brother wasn’t more frustrated with the fact he wasn’t playing.
D’Onta Foreman told him he felt something good was about to happen. He gets those feelings a lot.
“I feel like if I look back through my life, something’s gonna shake for me,” he said. “And something shaked.”
After being a healthy scratch the last four weeks, Foreman figures to be the Bears’ lead running back Sunday against the Vikings. Running backs Khalil Herbert (ankle), Roschon Johnson (concussion protocol) and Travis Homer (hamstring) remain out — none have practiced all week.
Foreman has been here before.
“I’m comfortable in that space,” he said.
When Titans star Derrick Henry broke his foot in November 2021, the Titans signed Foreman, who had played for the team the year before but spent the last eight weeks sitting at home. On “Sunday Night Football” against the Rams days later, he led the Titans in carries.
When the Panthers traded star Christian McCaffrey last year, Foreman had 15 carries for 118 yards and a career-long 60-yard run days later against the Buccaneers.
“I was prepared for that moment, I’m prepared for this moment ... ” he said. “This is what I do. I’m calm. I’m confident. And I’ve just got to go show it.
“I feel like a lot of people are counting me out. I’ve been seeing a lot of stuff about myself. So I’ve got to go prove something.”
Foreman keeps receipts. He’s made note of what others have said about him on social media.
“I’ve got a lot of people on Twitter that I’ve seen — I’ve got things bookmarked, for sure,” he said. “When things go well — as I expect them too and hope for them to — certainly, people, they can’t ‘congrats’ me or none of that. You got to keep that same energy you have.”
It was fair, however, to wonder why Foreman was a healthy scratch the last four games. The last 11 weeks of last season, Foreman was the third-leading rusher in the NFL. The Bears were so confident in him they gave him a one-year, $2 million deal in March.
When the Bears made the veteran running back a healthy scratch for the first time in Week 2, he went to his bosses and asked why.
“I definitely wanted an explanation,” he said. “I talked to the people I needed to talk to about it, and it was a decision that they made. I wouldn’t say I was OK, but I did understand their logic and where they came from.”
The reason: Johnson pushed past him on the depth chart at running back and Foreman wasn’t playing enough on special teams — since 2017, he’s only taken 18 snaps on kicks — to justify a gameday roster spot.
He was frustrated, but not down.
“I feel like if they didn’t believe in me, if they didn’t want me here, if they didn’t’ see something in me,” he said, “then they woulda got rid of me.”
The Bears didn’t. Now he becomes the ultimate luxury item — a fourth-string running back who had almost 1,000 yards last year.
“It’s comforting for all of us that we got some guys injured and banged up,” running backs coach David Walker said. “But the guy that’s gonna play for us is a proven runner in this league.”
Walker said he’s more excited for this game than most. He’s eager to see what Foreman can do.
“A lot of people said what I can’t do, what I couldn’t do, and why I’m in the position I’m in,” Foreman said. “But I think I got my opportunity to go show it.”
