Alarms went off when Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze said last month he was learning to accept a “new normal” after recovering from a stress fracture in his right foot, and he really wished he hadn’t phrased it that way.
It raised questions about whether a player the Bears believed would be a game-changer when they drafted him No. 9 overall in 2024 would have to recalibrate his potential, and that already was a concern after two seasons in which Odunze has been good, but not great.
He tried to revise his comments— “I just set up a fastball for y’all,” he said with a laugh — after practice Thursday, but that doesn’t necessarily invalidate everything he originally said. With training camp underway, his foot feels “amazing” and he was unwilling to scale back any expectations.
“It’s not even really something that I think about anymore, which I think is the best thing I think you can have after an injury,” Odunze said. “I know ‘new normal’ has a bunch of connotations of chronic and severe [injury] like it’s never going to be the same, [but] it’s not like that at all. I’m completely fine.”
He was fast and dynamic Thursday morning with several catches, including an intermediate pass on the left sideline in which he beat cornerback Tyrique Stevenson in zone coverage.
With injuries like this, though, it always comes down to longevity. Will Odunze hold up once the Bears go to padded practices next week and throughout the grind of the regular season? Nothing he says now will quiet those questions. He has to answer them on the field.
While he might reconsider his terminology, Odunze’s initial “new normal” comments were extensive and detailed. He didn’t merely misspeak.
He talked about how he’d “never really had an injury like that” and how much it prevented him from running the way he wanted. He said the break created “a different type of foot structure with those bones” going forward. And while he insisted even then that it wouldn’t affect his career trajectory, his expectation was that, “It’s never really back to normal.”
That’s more than just a regrettable soundbite.
This season is pivotal for Odunze both in terms of proving he’s past the injury and in the big picture. He needs to be durable and productive to show the Bears he’s a player around whom they can build the future. As a 2024 draft pick, he’s in the same position as Williams when it comes to making his case for a contract extension after this season.
Even with coach Ben Johnson’s vision of a diversified offensive attack loaded with receiving threats like Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, Cole Kmet and D’Andre Swift, Odunze should still stand out as a true No. 1 receiver. Stars like Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Amon-Ra St. Brown don’t fade into the crowd just because they play in stacked offenses.
The Bears drafted Odunze to grow with Williams and form a formidable duo, but so far that has materialized only in spots.
The most recent sign that it was coming together was when Odunze totaled 20 catches for 296 yards and five touchdowns over the first four games last season, but he averaged three catches per game the rest of the way and finished with 44 catches, 661 yards and six touchdowns.
He played hurt, though on a slightly reduced workload, in the playoffs and had just four catches for 88 yards in two games.
One of the refreshing aspects of Odunze’s personality, and perhaps a promising indicator, is that he readily agrees with a strict critique of his first two seasons. He has underperformed by his own standards, telling the Sun-Times in the offseason he was “not satisfied” and made no excuses, because regardless of injuries, the NFL is a place where, “You either do or you don’t.”
In particular, he knows that flashes of success aren’t enough. He’s been hunting big numbers like 1,000 yards, 100 catches and double-digit touchdowns, but it’s impossible to get there in spurts.
“I’ve done specific things well, [but] it’s putting it all together for 17-games plus that I really want to get done,” Odunze said.
The first step is finding a way to move forward, no matter how he classifies his foot.