There wasn’t a moment this season when Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze thought he had built enough chemistry with his quarterback, fellow rookie Caleb Williams.
That might not happen at any point in their careers.
‘‘You’ve gotta go out there and prove it on the field,’’ Odunze said this week. ‘‘We have to continue to do that. . . . Kind of like Davante Adams and Aaron Rodgers, they have to go out and prove that every single Sunday, too. And they continue to do so.
‘‘Even though we’re at the inception of our duo, you still have to prove it.’’
The Bears envisioned Williams and Odunze becoming one of the best young quarterback/receiver pairings in the NFL when they drafted the former No. 1 overall and the latter No. 9 in April.
The two have shown flashes of that this season — Odunze caught a 50-50 ball for 30 yards on fourth-and-one Sunday against the Lions — but not often enough for the Bears to avoid a nine-game losing streak.
Odunze also fumbled twice in the first quarter of the 34-17 loss to the Lions, first on a fly-sweep handoff from Williams, then after a 19-yard catch. Perhaps that’s why he gave a stilted answer when he was asked how he evaluated his rookie season.
‘‘I couldn’t tell you,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve still got games to go. I can’t really encapsulate it yet.’’
Odunze’s performance has fallen just shy of that of Marvin Harrison Jr., who was picked No. 4 overall by the Cardinals. After 15 games, Harrison has 51 catches on 100 targets for 726 yards; Odunze has 51 catches on 95 targets for 701 yards. Harrison has seven touchdown receptions to Odunze’s three, though. Harrison is fourth in receiving yards among rookies, Odunze fifth. The Jaguars’ Brian Thomas leads all rookies with 1,088 receiving yards.
But neither Harrison nor Thomas has had to help break in a rookie quarterback the way Odunze has. The good news is that he and Williams can grow together. The bad news has been self-evident this season, as the Bears’ offense has struggled to find consistency on and off the field. Williams is on his third offensive coordinator and second play-caller.
‘‘I think Rome has been consistent from day one,’’ interim head coach Thomas Brown said. ‘‘The ball hasn’t always found him throughout the year, as far as his role in kind of how it plays out from a progression standpoint. But when he’s had an opportunity to make plays, the guy constantly shows up.’’
Williams has seen that, too. Odunze ranks third on the Bears in catches and targets and second in receiving yards.
‘‘Being able to have him here and grow with him and our relationship over the years is going to be vital, I think, for the team,’’ Williams said. ‘‘So I’ve been able to continue that and continue to grow that. [It] is going to be really fun and really vital.’’
NOTE: The Bears held a walkthrough Tuesday and estimated their players’ participation for a full practice. Guard Teven Jenkins (calf), safety Elijah Hicks (ankle/foot), running back Travis Homer (hamstring) and tight end Marcedes Lewis (rest) were among the players who would have sat out.