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Rome Odunze's Knee Injury Less Severe than Reports Suggested

Rome Odunze's Knee Injury Less Severe than Reports Suggested

Gene Chamberlain

Rome Odunze catches a pass as Bengals linebacker Maema Njongmeta gives pursuit in preseason.
Rome Odunze catches a pass as Bengals linebacker Maema Njongmeta gives pursuit in preseason. / David Banks-Imagn Images

The health situation for the Bears at wide receiver heading into their Sunday night game with the Houston Texans is both depleted but hopeful.

The positive end of it was early reports saying the knee injury Rome Odunze suffered against Tennessee week-to-week were exaggerated. Coach Matt Eberflus called Odunze day to day with the knee sprain and the rookie receiver even went on the field for some conditioning work before Wednesday's practice.

"It's day to day," Eberflus said. "We're in a good spot. It's nothing serious and we're in a good spot for it."

Odunze injured the knee blocking on a pass to Velus Jones Jr., then went off the field a few plays later after blocking on D'Andre Swift's hurdling 20-yard run.

"It happened and then I got up," Odunze said in the locker room before Wednesday's practice. "I felt kind of a pop in there so I knew something wasn't necessarily right but I usually try to walk things off and see how it feels so I played the next play and then was on a block. It just didn't feel right.

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"Like I said, I've never had anything with my knee and so I wanted to make sure I was 100%. I went to the trainers, asked them to look at it. And then yeah, I got the MRI the next morning. Next afternoon the doctor made me a diagnosis of an MCL before that and then the report from the MRI confirmed it."

The negative side of it was the Bears didn't have Odunze practicing Wednesday and they also didn't have Keenan Allen, who is still plagued by a heel injury dating back to just before the final preseason game with the Kansas City Chiefs.

They had only five wide receivers practicing.

Although Eberflus hasn't ruled Odunze out yet, he does think it presents the chance for a receiver like Tyler Scott to be active and make plays. Scott was inactive last week after playing in every game last season.

"You're looking for an opportunity, a crack in the door, because it;s a strong receiving group that we feel that we have this year and, again, we still have to prove it," Eberflus said. "But I would say that opportunity, when that door opens and you take your opportunity and run with it."

Eberflus called the Allen situation day to day with his heel. The injury is an old one but Allen had to go to the medical tent during the game for it.

At least the Bears had DJ Moore at practice, but even he had something happen in the game to his side. He went into the injury tent at Sunday's game but emerged from it and played. He said on Wednesday that he's fine.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.