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Odunze

“It was rough, man. It was rough,” Odunze said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I can barely — you know, it is what it is. We play through injuries. It’s part of the game. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses about the foot, but something I was dealing with.” Odunze managed identical 2/44 lines in both Bears playoff games while playing through the foot injury. It’s great news that the injury won’t be a long-term concern for Odunze, who should be high in the Bears passing game pecking order again in 2026.

Despite making some obvious strides in his development in his second season, Odunze still has a way to go if he hopes to look like a player worthy of the No. 9 overall pick the Bears used to draft him in 2024. Were it not for five games missed due to injury, Odunze would likely have been looking at a career-year in 2025. Instead, his 44 receptions and 661 receiving yards both fell below his rookie line of 54-734-3 from last season. Depending on what happens with DJ Moore this offseason, Odunze could have a chance to see an increased role in 2026. Of course, he’ll also be battling with second-year players Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, who made notable strides of their own late in the season. Odunze will likely settle in somewhere as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 in fantasy drafts next season, but could turn into a nice value if he’s able to take another step in his third season.

Despite the questionable listing, we expect Odunze to play on Sunday. This is the exact same pattern (limited, limited, full) that he had ahead of the Wild Card round — the only difference is that Odunze was cleared off the injury report altogether for that one. Odunze had a 2/44 game in his return against the Packers after missing Weeks 14-18 with the foot injury.

He practiced in full the Thursday ahead of Chicago’s Wild Card game against the Packers and we’re expecting this to be a similar situation. Odunze hasn’t exactly been as huge a part of the offense as he was earlier in the season since returning, but he should still be a key figure in Chicago’s passing game against the Rams.

Odunze was a bit rusty last week, but he appears to have made it through the game without suffering a setback. The Bears face the Rams’ explosive offense in the Divisional Round on Sunday, which should result in a fantasy-friendly game script.

Odunze was unable to get the ball into the hands for most of the game despite a solid number of targets, but he came down with a massive 27-yard catch on 4th-and-8 to help the Bears complete the three-score comeback. This was Odunze’s first game since November 28, and it did appear there was some rust to shake off. The ultra-talented 2024 first-round pick will likely be a factor in the passing game next week against either the Eagles or Rams.

Odunze got in his first full practice on Friday and was removed from the injury report — his return figures to be key as the Bears try to take two of three games against the Packers. Chicago’s star receiver finished his season with a 44/661/6 line in 12 games and has not played since November 28. Lowered expectations make sense in a DFS setting, but the full practice gives us a little optimism.

Odunze has now logged three straight limited practices dating back to last week. Rest was prescribed as the fix for his stress fracture, but an aggravation occurred during pre-game warmups in Week 15, when he hurried back after taking just one week off. Odunze sat out of practices and games until he resumed practicing late last week. After practice today, Odunze told reporters he plans on “playing” against the Packers on Saturday.

Odunze practiced on Friday of last week, and while this is not a sure sign he’ll be ready for Saturday’s game against the Packers, it’s certainly a promising start of the week. This is an estimation, so we’ll probably get better confirmation later. It is worth noting that Caleb Williams addressed a question about Odunze’s return as if it was going to happen — he’d know better than we would, of course.

Odunze will be sidelined for the fifth consecutive game after aggravating a foot injury during the rehab process. The team will take the conservative approach in Week 18 as they prepare for the postseason next week. Rookie Luther Burden could be in line for another game of featured usage after putting up 138 yards and a score against the 49ers a week ago.