A Bears team that has learned to cope with injuries has another doozy to deal with in their most important game of the season — neither Rome Odunze nor Luther Burden will play against the Packers on Saturday night.
The receivers were ruled out Thursday after not practicing all week. Odunze has been dealing with chronic foot issues since midseason. He did not play the Packers two weeks ago and was set to rejoin the team against the Browns, only to feel pain during pregame warmups and be ruled out.
Burden hurt his ankle after catching a screen pass in the third quarter Sunday. He was in the midst of a career day, catching a team-high six balls for 84 yards.
Tight end Cole Kmet said he can sense confidence from the coaching staff when they have to use bench players.
“We just seem to figure it out, man. … “ he said. “They’re always on to the next when a guy goes down.”
The Bears will lean on DJ Moore, Olamide Zaccheaus and Devin Duvernay at receiver. Jahdae Walker, who’s on the 53-man roster, figures to play. J.P. Richardson and Maurice Alexander are on the practice squad and could earn a promotion Friday.
“If called upon, I think they’ve done a great job soaking in the offense in over the course of the season so far,” coach Ben Johnson said.
Running back D’Andre Swift, who was added to the injury report Wednesday with a groin injury that has bothered him for most of the season, was limited in practice again Thursday and ruled questionable. He declined to talk to reporters after practice.
Swift had 13 carries for 63 yards and three catches for 19 yards two weeks ago against the Packers. Kyle Monangai, who would get the bulk of the carries were to sit out, had 14 carries for 57 yards.
Kmet was also ruled questionable with ankle and knee problems, but said he’ll play. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is questionable after missing two practices for a personal reason — his fiancee was expecting a baby. Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga was ruled out with a hamstring problem.
The Packers ruled out running back MarShawn Lloyd, tight end Josh Whyte and guard John Williams out, but have some of their most notable players — including running back Josh Jacobs (knee/ankle), tackle Zach Tom (back/knee) and receiver Christian Watson (chest/shoulder) — among the nine questionable players for Saturday.
The Bears might get better injury news Friday. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who was limited in practice all week and ruled questionable Thursday, needs to be activated off injured reserve Friday in order to play. He hurt his groin last month and has missed four games.
“If we can get Tremaine back, it’s a huge bonus,” Johnson said. “He was playing tremendous football before the injury. He’s a huge asset in coverage, just because of how long he is, it’s hard to get the ball around him when we’re playing zones, and I think he’s really good in our match and man [coverages] where he can match up on tight ends and running backs out of the backfield — and do a really good job there.”
Earlier this week, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen compared developing a good game plan despite so many injuries to cooking a meal with whatever’s left in the refrigerator.
The Bears have been better than any team in the NFL in doing just that this year. They’re 10-4 despite missing 284 player games to injury, which Sports Info Solutions calls the most in the NFL.
“We still got a job to do,” receiver DJ Moore said. “The people coming in will do their job, and do it to the best of their ability.”