LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Not even Jordan Howard anticipated the heavy workload he received in Monday night's 20-10 win over Minnesota.

The debate heading into Week 8 centered on how the Chicago Bears would divvy up playing time in the backfield between Howard, Ka'Deem Carey and Jeremy Langford, who returned from a high-ankle sprain after missing a month.

All of the pregame chatter proved meaningless.

Howard played 50 snaps on offense (82 percent), while Carey (six) and Langford (five) combined for just 11 reps.

"I definitely didn't think they were going to lean on me that often," Howard said. "But I guess I started with the hot hand, and they just stuck with me."

Howard rewarded the Bears' faith with 202 all-purpose yards and a touchdown.

"I didn't really know how we were going to go this game, with just having Jeremy back and just having three running backs," Howard said. "Coach told me that I was going to be starting and that this is my type of game and he told me to attack it. I rolled with it."

Bears running backs coach Stan Drayton said Howard earned the extra reps because of his attention to detail, which Drayton observed from the sidelines.

"It was a matter of him showing patience to allow plays to develop," Drayton said. "The conversations we had in between series on the sidelines -- the things he was seeing and the things he was telling me -- told me all that I needed to know that this kid was wired in right and ready for the moment."

At the midway point, Howard leads the Bears with 505 rushing yards on 99 carries (5.1 yards per carry). An added bonus, Howard can catch the ball out of the backfield, and is sixth on the club with 18 receptions for 177 yards.

The Bears will not ignore Carey and Langford in the second half. Both will contribute in the natural flow of a game, but Howard is positioned at the front of the pack. That is not expected to change unless he suffers from an unforeseen dip in production.

"Production overrules everything," Drayton said. "[We're looking for] guys who can create on their own. We want to know who is processing the pass game. Just overall production. That is what you are looking for from a back in a game."