Chicago Bears starting wide receiver Rome Odunze said this week that he has been managing a “progressive” heel injury throughout the early parts of the 2025 season, but he doesn’t seem to have let on about it to his coaches.
Odunze is off the injury report and cleared to play against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, but the week began with concern for his Week 9 availability after the Bears held him out of Wednesday’s practice and listed him with a heel injury on the report.
Odunze also raised a few eyebrows Thursday when he told reporters that his heel issue is a “progressive thing” he has been managing for weeks, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
For his role in evaluating it, though, Bears head coach Ben Johnson said he had no idea that Odunze’s heel injury “was a big deal” until he landed on the injury report this week.
“I didn’t know it was a big deal until he started popping up on that injury report recently,” Johnson said Friday of Odunze’s heel injury. “Apparently, it has been bothering him and [I] haven’t even known about it, which speaks to who he is. He’s tough and he wants to go out there and perform regardless of not being 100%.”
Rome Odunze is ‘Managing’ Heel Pain ‘Really Well’
Odunze’s injury might have caught Johnson by surprise this week, but it also seems to have impressed him more than concerned him, given how Odunze has managed it.
The Bears aren’t looking to force anyone to play through an injury. If anything, they hold back players longer than perhaps necessary at times. Last week, they declined to activate pass rusher Austin Booker off injured reserve before Week 8’s game despite his three full weeks of practice and then lost two defensive ends to injuries midgame.
Johnson, however, said Friday that he has seen nothing from Odunze that indicates he should not play on Sunday and turned it over to the “ultimate judge” for the final call.
“When I turn on the tape, that’s really the ultimate judge of whether a guy is ready or not, and he looks like his normal self to me right now,” Johnson said. “If it is a pain management thing, then he’s managing it really well.”
DJ Moore Cleared to Play; Luther Burden Ruled Out
The Bears began the week with all four of their top wide receivers — including Odunze — on the sideline at practice, but the final injury report saw good news for most of them.
The Bears cleared both veterans DJ Moore (hip/groin) and Olamide Zaccheaus (knee) to play in Sunday’s game against the Bengals after limiting them throughout the week. Both receivers followed the same practice trajectory as Odunze, sitting out Wednesday before ramping up to a limited participant on Thursday and a full return on Friday.
Unfortunately, Bears rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III remains in concussion protocol after missing the week of practice and has been ruled out for Week 9’s game. Without him, the Bears may call upon Devin Duvernay or Jahdae Walker in his place.
The Bears will also have veteran tight end Cole Kmet back in the lineup after clearing him of his back injury on Friday’s report. He missed his first career NFL game last week against Baltimore, but he returned as a full participant in practice to close out the week.
The Bears (4-3) will square off against the Bengals (3-5) at 1 p.m. ET this Sunday.
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