Bears Final Week 17 Injury Report: Caleb Williams will have one key weapon back ahead of a potential Sunday night shootout
Sunday’s game could be a high-scoring affair and the Chicago Bears will have one key weapon back.
The Chicago Bears wrapped up another week of practice and the attention now turns to a “Sunday Night Football” date against the San Francisco 49ers with a lot of playoff seeding implications at stake.
Chicago had a lengthy injury report throughout the week with a few players working their way back on the field and some players dealing with the holiday sickness. By the end of the week, things started to clear up in a mostly positive way.
After Friday’s practice, the Bears only ruled out two players with five others listed as questionable. Here’s the full report going into the weekend.
Bears Week 17 Injury Report
| Player | Injury | W/T/F | Status |
| WR Rome Odunze | Foot | DNP/DNP/DNP | Out |
| CB Nick McCloud | Illness | DNP/DNP/DNP | Out |
| LB D’Marco Jackson | Illness | DNP/DNP/Full | Active |
| WR Devin Duvernay | Illness | DNP/DNP/Full | Active |
| CB Josh Blackwell | Illness | -/DNP/DNP | Questionable |
| LB T.J. Edwards | Glute | DNP/DNP/LP | Questionable |
| WR Luther Burden III | Ankle | LP/LP/Full | Active |
| S Kevin Byard III | Ankle | LP/LP/Full | Active |
| C Drew Dalman | Ankle/Hand | LP/LP/Full | Active |
| S C.J. Gardner-Johnson | Knee | LP/LP/Full | Questionable |
| RB Travis Homer | Ankle | LP/LP/Full | Active |
| OL Luke Newman* | Foot | LP/LP/Full | Questionable |
| LB Amen Ogbongbemiga | Hamstring | LP/LP/Full | Active |
| CB Nahshon Wright | Hamstring | LP/LP/DNP | Questionable |
| LG Joe Thuney | NIR (Rest) | DNP/Full/Full | Active |
Bears passing game gets a key piece back but will be without Rome Odunze for another week
Based on the final report, the Bears will have rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III back in action after missing last week’s win with an ankle injury. In the two games prior, Burden was the team’s leading receiver, so it’ll be great to have him back in the fold.
However, the team is giving second-year wide receiver Rome Odunze another week off as he continues to battle through a stress fracture in his foot. Odunze has missed each of the last three games but head coach Ben Johnson noted he’s progressing well and is expected to be a big part of the offense soon, just not on Sunday night.
Without Odunze and Burden last week, the Bears got to finally show off undrafted rookie wide receiver Jahdae Walker, who made some impressive plays including the game-tying touchdown in the final seconds of the fourth-quarter.
“We see a bright future for this guy, and he’s done nothing but steadily improve over the course of the season,” Johnson said of Walker. “The coaches trust him. Caleb trusts him. I had a lot of confidence that he was going come down and get it, and so does Caleb.”
With a potential shootout game expected, the Bears will need the full arsenal of available weapons to help keep up with one of the most explosive offenses in the league right now. So, expect to see plenty of DJ Moore, Burden, and Walker in this game.
Other observations
- LB T.J. Edwards is the big injury to watch for on Sunday. Edwards missed considerable time earlier in the season with a hamstring injury and is now dealing with a glute issue.
- DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson had a scary looking injury last week with his knee at the end of a touchdown play but it wasn’t a serious concern considering he was back as a full participant on Friday, which is a great sign.
- Pro Bowl snub Nahshon Wright popped up on the report this week as well with a hamstring/illness and was downgraded to DNP on Friday. If he can’t go, Tyrique Stevenson will be the one starting on the outside alongside Jaylon Johnson.
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