Bears Final Week 18 Injury Report: Chicago keeps the door open for one of Caleb Williams’ key weapons to knock some rust off before playoffs
The Bears decided not to make an official decision on WR Rome Odunze going into Week 18.
The Chicago Bears are finalizing preparations for the regular season finale against the Detroit Lions before turning the page over to the playoffs.
While there’s truthfully little to play for, the Bears still intend to play all available starters in this game in hopes of locking up the No. 2 seed in the NFC and getting some positive momentum going into the playoffs.
Health-wise, things are looking up for the Bears with only one player ruled out going into the weekend after Friday’s practice. However, the team is dealing with some illnesses for the second week in a row and decided to keep the door open for WR Rome Odunze to potentially make his return. Here’s what the final report looks like:
Bears Final Week 18 Injury Report
| Player | Injury | W/T/F | Status |
| WR Rome Odunze | Foot | DNP/DNP/LP | Questionable |
| DL Joe Tryon-Shoyinka | Concussion | DNP/DNP/DNP | Out |
| RG Jonah Jackson | Illness | -/DNP/Full | Active |
| CB Nick McCloud | Illness | LP/LP/LP | Questionable |
| LT Ozzy Trapilo | Knee/Quad | LP/LP/LP | Questionable |
| S Jaquan Brisker | Illness | -/-/DNP | Questionable |
| CB Josh Blackwell | Shoulder | LP/Full/Full | Active |
| WR Luther Burden III | Quad | LP/Full/Full | Active |
| WR Olamide Zaccheaus | Illness | Full/Full/Full | Active |
Bears need to be smart with WR Rome Odunze going into Week 18 decision
The Bears have been without Odunze for each of the last three games due to a stress fracture in his foot. Head coach Ben Johnson noted the struggle has been trying to protect Odunze from himself and making sure he’s fully back to himself for the playoffs.
“We’ve been working through his rehab process”, Johnson said last week of Odunze. “He’s right on track, he’s going to be in a good spot. He’s going to be able to help us this year.”
The issue has been Odunze wanting to play and pushing himself. In Week 16, Odunze was questionable going into the game and tried to give it a go during pre-game warmups, only to suffer a setback and end up inactive before kickoff. The next week, Odunze missed all three days of practice.
This week, Odunze returned to the practice field on Friday as a limited participant and listing him as questionable is a sign that he’ll be a potential game-day decision once again.
But, the Bears can’t risk one of their top offensive weapons suffering another setback, before or during this game, especially with playoffs right around the corner. Although, it’d also be good for Odunze to knock some rust off if he can actually get cleared to play this time around.
It’s a difficult thing to balance primarily because of Odunze’s stubborn competitive nature. The Bears’ coaching and medical staff need to handle this correctly and make the decision that’s best for Odunze and the team beyond Week 18.
Other Observations
- The sickness continued to go around the locker room this week but the Bears did get bittersweet news in regards to that:
- RG Jonah Jackson was out on Thursday but made it back to practice on Friday.
- S Jaquan Brisker popped up on Friday and is questionable going into the weekend.
- CB Nick McCloud is also questionable and missed the Week 17 game due to illness.
- LT Ozzy Trapilo is one to watch after being limited all week due to two different injuries.
- As for good news, rookie WR Luther Burden III was a full participant on Friday and will not have an injury designation going into the weekend.
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