Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears’ passing game could be running a bit thin when the Packers come to town on Saturday night.
Wednesday’s injury report unfortunately features two key Bears receivers who are trending toward being out this weekend: Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle). Neither player practiced on either Tuesday or Wednesday ahead of the short-week game on Saturday.
Odunze has missed Chicago’s last two games with a stress fracture in his foot. The second-year pro tried to give it a go to play this past weekend against the Cleveland Browns, but he reaggravated the injury and was held out. Though he has not been placed on injured reserve, his injury now appears more of a week-to-week situation than a day-to-day one, with the Bears reportedly weighing shutting him down for the regular season to give him time to heal for the playoffs, if he’s able to play.
Burden, meanwhile, had to leave Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns early with an ankle injury after leading the Bears with 84 receiving yards on six catches. Johnson has referred to Burden’s injury as more day-to-day and made it seem as if he had a chance to suit up this week.
But with Burden not having practiced for two straight days, it feels like a “limited” practice on Friday might not be enough to help Burden see the field against Green Bay. It would be a shame, too, as the second-round rookie has clearly worked himself into Caleb Williams’ confidence with multiple solid weeks in his expanded role with Odunze out.
If neither Odunze nor Burden can go this weekend, it will put even more onus on DJ Moore to build on his momentum from last week, in which he posted a multi-touchdown game with 69 receiving yards in total. Plus, you might be looking at the likes of Olamide Zaccheaus and Jahdae Walker having to step in and play extended snaps at receiver.
How the Bears will adjust to not being able to play as much 11 personnel would be interesting. Obviously, they can still rely on the likes of Moore and Colston Loveland for most of their pass-catching volume, and Cole Kmet might actually have a chance to play Saturday after practicing in a limited fashion the last few days.
But one could see the Bears simply doing what they did in the second half of the last Packers game: running down the Packers’ throats. That approach could prove especially effective with no Micah Parsons to blow things up on the edge. However, running back D’Andre Swift popped up on today’s injury report as limited with a groin issue, so we may get a heavy dose of rookie Kyle Monangai.
Here’s hoping Burden at least doesn’t have to sit out on Saturday, which would make the injury blow easier to bear. If not, though, hopefully the Bears have enough to beat Green Bay without him.
Here’s the full report for the Bears and Packers.
