Chicago Bears fans must have felt a sinking feeling in their guts when head coach Matt Eberflus revealed wide receiver Rome Odunze was getting an MRI on his knee. After enduring Kevin White’s injury-plagued years, was this a curse returning to haunt them? Scans revealed an MCL sprain, which was relatively good news compared to alternatives. Based on typical procedures, Odunze would miss 1-3 weeks of action. It would come down to swelling and pain management.
Over the next few days, things unfolded as expected. The rookie did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday. Everybody assumed he would sit this week and see about maybe returning against Indianapolis in week three. Then, the surprising news dropped. Odunze practiced on Friday. Though it was on a limited basis, it was enough to declare him questionable for Sunday night in Houston. Some sort of big change must’ve occurred. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN shared the details.
“Bears rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze (questionable, right knee) wants to play Sunday, so it’s a matter of whether Chicago makes the decision to protect him. He’s considered a game-time decision.”
Rome Odunze is putting heat on the coaches.
In hindsight, this shouldn’t be a surprise. Playing through injuries is something the wide receiver has done before. Last year, he broke a rib and punctured a lung against Arizona. In Washington’s next game, he went for 128 yards and two touchdowns in a huge rivalry win over Oregon. The kid is wired differently. Where most modern athletes will play it safe and take a week off to recover, Odunze has to get dragged off the field. That should tell you what kind of competitor he is.
The picture is clear at this point. If Rome Odunze has it his way, he will play in Houston tomorrow night. That decision depends on Eberflus. Typically, the Bears head coach is cautious with his players on health matters. He doesn’t like rushing them back and risking aggravating injuries. That said, if Odunze looks good during warmups, he may have no choice but to let the kid play.
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It comes down to how solid they think Collin Johnson can be in the offense. Scott can take the top off the defense to fill in for Rome. If Johnson can be a big body who can handle 3rd down to compliment Keenan and DJ in short yardage, then I say give Rome the week off to make sure we don’t stumble against Indy. We can’t allow ourselves to think of this as a one-week show in prime time. A two-game losing streak would be far worse than losing to Houston and then losing Rome for next week due to… Read more »
Whether Odunze wants to play or not isn’t the question. The issue is what’s best for the Bears season and future. The Bears will need ‘Dunze much more the second half of this year when the games get crucial. Let Odunze dress to appease his competitiveness but hold him out. The Bears should be playing 2 TE/ 12 Personnel packages this week anyway. Perfect time to let Rome slow his roll. Keenan Allen is the player that should step up and play through his issue.
Erik, a little redundancy is okay. I’ll do it here. Let the man play against the Texans. Make a Bears victory a team effort.
You wrote this same article almost every day since last weekend. Zzzzz
Ok Erik this was some shitty clickbait here. ESPN has WILD news, Odunze said he wants to play. Um, he said so himself the other day during his interview🤦♂️🤦♂️