Bears DE Dayo Odeyingbo out for season after tearing Achilles vs. Bengals

The Bears had been waiting for their $48  million investment in defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo to pay off.

Now he’s out for the season.

Odeyingbo tore his right Achilles tendon Sunday during the 47-42 win over the Bengals and will go on injured reserve, coach Ben Johnson said Monday. He had played 75% of the defensive snaps and was making an impact as a run stopper, according to Johnson, although he had one sack in the season opener and none since.

Regardless, it’s a brutal hit at an already thin position. The Bears are tied for 20th in the NFL with 17 sacks and just lost rookie defensive end Shemar Turner to a torn anterior cruciate ligament a week earlier. Backup Dominique Robinson also has been out with an ankle injury.

“We make some strides at particular positions. Then we take some steps back — it’s wild,” Johnson said. “We had a solution there with Shemar at defensive end a couple weeks ago. Then we lost him. Then we finally get [Austin] Booker back and we lose Dayo.”

Booker had a sack Sunday in his first game back from a knee injury. Starter Montez Sweat had a sack in his third straight game.

The Bears likely would give Booker, who has 2½ sacks in 18 career games, a chance to start if they don’t acquire a starter by the trade deadline at 3 p.m. Tuesday. They also have Daniel Hardy, who has played predominantly on special teams, on the active roster and Jamree Kromah and Jonathan Garvin on the practice squad.

“We’ll have guys step up,” Johnson said. “Book played a nice game . . . so I do have a lot of confidence there.

“We’re turning over every stone to make sure if there’s a way that we can improve this roster . . . but I feel good about the guys we have on the roster currently.”