Rome Odunze was on track to have the best season a Chicago Bears wide receiver has ever produced through the first month of the 2025 season. At his pace through the first four games, he would’ve finished with 1,258 yards and 21 touchdowns. The guy was eating. Then things just seemed to die down. Something seemed off. Odunze wasn’t running routes with the same urgency. His explosiveness wasn’t there. It didn’t take long to find out what happened because he soon went on Injured Reserve with a foot injury.
The wide receiver had apparently suffered a stress fracture in one of the bones. This meant every time he ran caused immense pain. It was hoped the month off would give it time to settle down, but full recovery couldn’t happen until the offseason. Odunze did return and had some good games, but he was never the same. Thankfully, he’s had time to rest the injury. Has he made a full recovery? Well, his recent comments didn’t exactly ease fears. Not just about the 2026 season, but his future in general.
“This is my new normal. And it’s not from a standpoint that I’m always in pain but the way my foot broke there’s callouses in there that create a different type of foot structure with those bones — different types of things that kind of shift things around. So my new normal is kind of what I am going into.”
What does this mean? Sports medicine expert Mason West broke it down. By the sound of things, Odunze likely may never be the player he was.
What this means for Rome Odunze is complicated.
Former Bears wide receiver Allen Robinson has extensive experience with this type of injury. He suffered it on two different occasions. The first time came during his rookie year with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Recovery from that wasn’t an issue, and he went on to produce at a very high level for multiple seasons. However, he suffered a similar injury to the opposite foot during his ninth season in 2022 while playing for the Los Angeles Rams. That one basically ended his career.
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Odunze still being young may end up helping him. The good news is it sounds like pain isn’t the issue. It is whether he can get comfortable with the new structure of his foot. Early signs are promising based on the bomb he caught from Caleb Williams in OTAs. Still, this revelation actually explains a lot about some recent events during the Bears’ offseason. Most notably, it better clarifies the decision to draft Zavion Thomas in the 3rd round and why head coach Ben Johnson strongly hinted that Luther Burden could be the #1 guy in the passing game.
The Bears are maneuvering away from Odunze as WR1.
Drafting him 9th overall in 2024 was a clear indication that general manager Ryan Poles had the highest hopes for him. Nobody balked at the idea then. Many saw Rome Odunze as one of the best receivers in college football. Unfortunately, it seems that the entire draft class is snakebit. Marvin Harrison Jr. has underachieved in Arizona. Malik Nabers suffered a catastrophic knee injury. Brian Thomas Jr. is on the outs in Jacksonville. Xavier Worthy? Ricky Pearsall? Xavier Leggette? None has become a true go-to target.
The Bears won’t sit around waiting for Rome Odunze to figure things out. They’re already building the new passing game around tight end Colston Loveland. It sounds like Burden is positioning himself to be the second option. Thomas, who many thought was a project, is already turning heads in practice. If he’s not careful, Odunze could find himself phased out of the offense completely. This is easily the most important season of his career. Whatever the issue is with that foot, he must find a way to deal with it.
