Bears WR Rome Odunze gets ball on first play vs. Giants, 10 targets overall: ‘Thanks, Dad’

On the Bears’ first play against the Giants on Sunday, coach Ben Johnson called for the ball to go to wide receiver Rome Odunze. That was pretty much the plan the rest of the day, too.

Odunze was key in the Bears’ 24-20 victory with a team-high six catches on 10 targets for 86 yards and a touchdown after a week in which his father, James, pulled him into a mini-controversy by venting frustration on social media and saying Johnson needed to get his son the ball more.

Apparently, it worked.

“Thanks, Dad,” Odunze said with a laugh about catching a nine-yard pass to open the game.

That joke should guide everyone on how seriously to take this. There’s no problem. Quite the opposite. Odunze is the Bears’ No. 1 option in the passing game, and they couldn’t be happier with how he’s playing in his second season.

Odunze has more targets (69) than anyone on the team by far and leads the Bears across the board with 37 catches, 559 yards and six touchdowns. He is on pace to break 1,000 yards.

His father’s criticism — reposting one message saying the Bears should trade him to “a team that will actually throw to him” and another saying Johnson needs to “get his boy more layups” — came after Odunze had three targets and no catches in the win over the Bengals.

Odunze extinguished the story last week by making clear that he’s happy with the Bears and that his dad’s views don’t represent his.

“I just do my job and try to maximize the plays that come my way,” Odunze said. “I said the same thing last week when I had zero catches. That’s my mindset. I feel I can be a contributor in the passing game — so does my dad — and in the run game and everything else.”