PHILADELPHIA — Jordan Howard isn’t usually chatty, but he made an exception Sunday. He was facing the team that traded him for a sixth-round draft pick in March.
“I did a little more talking than I usually do,” the Eagles running back said after beating the Bears 22-14. “There was a little back-and-forth with the guys. Everything else was normal. It was definitely a little strange, because I didn’t really go against them in practice. They never really tackled me.”
They didn’t tackle him much Sunday, either. Howard carried 19 times for 82 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run in which he wasn’t touched.
Howard said he was “definitely amped up for this one a little more,” but didn’t need the game to extract any kind of revenge.
“I don’t need validation from anybody,” he said. “I don’t worry about what they do, because I’m here now.”
Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack was impressed.
“J. Howard, man, hell of a ballplayer,” Mack said. “He runs the ball tough. But you can’t give him those lanes. We gave him a lot of different things early, and they were able to capitalize on it.”
The Bears traded Howard because they didn’t believe he fit in Matt Nagy’s offense — and he was set to make $2.03 million in the last year of his rookie contract. He made $630,000 last year.
The Bears have struggled on the ground all season. Howard’s 82 yards is better than all but one rushing performance by a Bears running back this year.
In the first half, the Eagles offensive line was able to move the line of scrimmage against a Bears front that was missing nose tackle Eddie Goldman, who had a thigh injury. The Eagles found their rhythm again for a 16-play, 69-yard drive that chewed up 8:14 of the game’s final 8:39. During that drive, he and rookie Miles Sanders had four carries apiece.
“I definitely feel like we’re getting in a pretty good groove in the running game,” said Howard, who went to the medical tent late in the game and, the X-ray room after it, with an unknown malady. “The offensive line has been doing a great job all season, but they have taken it to another level. They are dominating guys and pushing them out of the way, making it easy for us.”
