Rome Odunze’s injury takes another troubling turn at the worst possible time, and it’s something the Bears could have prevented
The bad news gets worse for Rome Odunze.
The Chicago Bears made some troubling news official on Friday when the team ruled out wide receiver Rome Odunze for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers after missing practice all week with a foot injury.
Odunze has by far been the team’s top wide receiver this season, leading Chicago in targets (90), receptions (44), receiving yards (661), and receiving touchdowns (6). It’s been quite the second season for last year’s first round pick and even more remarkable considering the foot injury has been a plaguing issue throughout the majority of the season.
At the same time, the injury might not just sideline Odunze for Sunday’s game. NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported Odunze is facing a week-to-week stress fracture, although it’s not believed to be a long-term injury. But, it does come at the worst possible time.
Should the Bears have been more cautious with Rome Odunze?
It’s easy to say this in hindsight but considering he’s dealt with a foot injury all season, it’s worth mentioning. Sunday’s game is the first game Odunze has missed in his NFL career but he’s missed a few different practices now this season due to foot injury of some sort.
Odunze first popped up on the injury report back in Week 9 with a heel injury, but head coach Ben Johnson noted Odunze had been experiencing issues long before that.
“I didn’t know it was a big deal until he started popping up on that injury report recently,” Johnson said back before Week 9’s game. “Apparently it’s been bothering him and I haven’t even known about it. It speaks to who he is. He’s tough and he wants to go out there and perform regardless not being 100 percent… He looks like his normal self to me, right now. If it’s a pain management thing, he’s managing it really well.”
Odunze went on to play 75+ percent of the team’s offensive snaps in each game since then, including 100 percent of the snaps in that Week 9 game. Odunze finally came off the injury report going into Week 12 but was on the report for three straight weeks with an ankle/heel injury before that week.
What’s interesting is that running back D’Andre Swift battled through a multi-week injury earlier in the season until the team finally shut him down for a week to properly heal.
“It’s really been a chronic thing for a while now,” Johnson said before Week 9. “I think it probably goes earlier than (Week 6) that he’s been feeling something. We’re just doing our due diligence to make sure that we’re getting the best version of Swift to help this team, for him and his individual success. We just want to make sure that we have him at a good spot for the whole season.”
Perhaps the team should have followed a similar path with Odunze that they took with Swift when it came to his nagging injury. But, kudos for Odunze for battling through it each week and never complaining, or missing a beat. Unfortunately, it’s now gotten to a serious point where Odunze could miss multiple games in the most defining stretch of the season.
It’s bad enough Odunze will miss a pivotal game on Sunday against the Packers, with another date against Green Bay coming up 13-days later. The Bears have no choice now but to deal with it and hopefully get him back sooner than later without risking even more injury.
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He’s going to make the Green Bay Packers pay on Sunday.
