The Chicago Bears have become victims of a serious locker room problem. It appears a case of the flu has struck Halas Hall, and guys are falling to it left and right. Four players showed up on the injury report with the “illness” designation during the week. That number has grown in the past 24 hours. It started with right tackle Darnell Wright, who was added to the report and didn’t travel with the team on Saturday. The following morning, wide receivers D.J. Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus joined the report with the same issue. All three are questionable. While that isn’t great news for the Bears offense, one person should be thrilled. That is Jahdae Walker.
It has been a wild past week for the undrafted rookie from Texas A&M. He hadn’t seen the field all season. However, injuries to Rome Odunze and Luther Burden opened the door for him to get some action against Green Bay. Sure enough, on the pivotal play of the game, he caught the tying touchdown in the 4th quarter on 4th down to force overtime. Nobody saw it coming. It was validation for the excellent training camp and preseason Walker had. Now, another health setback for the Bears could get him even more opportunities.
Jahdae Walker is prepared for this moment.
He was an afterthought for many coming into this season. The skinny 6’4 kid wasn’t even the best receiver on his own college team. He wasn’t even the second-best last year for the Aggies. It wasn’t a surprise that he went undrafted. Still, he demonstrated during the pre-draft process that he was a capable athlete with a large frame, strong hands, and competent route-running skills. Perhaps he could develop into something more under the right coaching. That is why the Bears and head coach Ben Johnson took a chance on him.
Given the recent signs, he is ready for more playing time. The moment wasn’t too big for him against Green Bay. He clearly has the trust of quarterback Caleb Williams, who has been working with him privately for weeks. San Francisco has the 24th-ranked pass defense in the NFL. There is no reason to think Jahdae Walker can’t make a big contribution in this game. It’s not like he has anything to lose. The Bears have a chance to further one of the cooler stories of the year.
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