Bears receiver Rome Odunze has not made it on the field for practice so far this week.
Chicago listed Odunze as a non-participant again on Thursday with a foot injury after he had the same designation on Wednesday. The Bears did not practice on Wednesday, with the injury report being an estimation.
Odunze was on the field for 80.5 percent of Chicago’s offensive snaps in the club’s Black Friday victory over Philadelphia last week, which is in line with his usual playing time. Odunze caught two passes for 8 yards in the contest.
In 12 games this season, Odunze has 44 receptions for 661 yards with six touchdowns.
Linebacker Ruben Hyppolite (shoulder) and defensive back Tyrique Stevenson (hip) also did not practice on Thursday. Guard Joe Thuney received a rest day.
Linebacker T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring) remained limited on the report. Running back Kyle Monangai (ankle) was upgraded from DNP to limited.
Defensive lineman Andrew Billings (concussion), defensive back Jaylon Johnson (groin), defensive lineman Dominique Robinson (concussion), and linebacker Noah Sewell (elbow) were all full participants.
Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright has been recognized as the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November.
Wright had three interceptions and two fumble recoveries in November, both of which tied for the league lead for the month.
When Wright signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Bears in April, it wasn’t even a sure thing that he’d make the regular-season roster. But at a time when the Bears’ secondary has been riddled with injuries, Wright has emerged as a difference maker, starting in Week One when he had a 74-yard pick-six, and through the month of November, when he helped the Bears to a 5-0 record.
The Bears are currently in the lead for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage in the playoffs. If they get there, the decision to sign Wright, which didn’t get a lot of attention at the time, will prove to be a major reason why.
Sometimes, the schedule set in May results in a late-season clunker or two. Sometimes, the NFL nails it.
For Week 14, the schedule couldn’t get much better.
Here’s the key. Each of the five windows for the weekend has a game with very high stakes.
It begins tonight, with the surprisingly surging 6-5-1 Cowboys facing the suddenly slumping 7-5 Lions. Both desperately need a win to remain viable in the chase for their respective division titles, or for one of the three NFC wild-cards. The loser won’t be eliminated, but it will get dicey. For the Lions, 11-6 should be good enough. For the Cowboys, however, a loss would make their best possible record 10-6-1. Anyone with an 11-6 record (obviously) would jump them, without the application of a single tiebreaker.
On Sunday, the 1:00 p.m. ET window has three must-watch games. The 6-6 Steelers visit the 6-6 Ravens for first place in the AFC North. (They play again in Week 18.) The 8-4 Colts, who haven’t won in Jacksonville since 2014, play the 8-4 Jaguars for first place in the AFC South. (The rematch happens in Week 17.) And the 4-8 Bengals, whose slim chances of jumping the Steelers and Ravens are hanging by a thread, visit 8-4 Buffalo, which could still jump for the playoff table — and miss.
At 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, the 9-3 Bears and the 8-3-1 Packers renew the NFL’s oldest rivalry at Lambeau Field, with round two set for a Saturday night only 13 days later. It’s the most significant home-and-home for Chicago and Green Bay since the merger, and the biggest game between them since the 2010 NFC Championship.
Rarely are both teams good this late in the season. From the early 1970s through 1988, the Packers were more often than not non-contenders. From 1990 on, the Bears only had sporadic high-level seasons. This year, the black-and-blue planets have aligned perfectly.
On Sunday night, the Texans return to Arrowhead Stadium, where they lost twice in less than a month last season. On a Saturday night in December, Houston kept it within one score, 27-19. In the divisional round of the playoffs, the 23-14 outcome was uncomfortably close for the three-time AFC Champions.
Now, the Texans have won four in a row to get to 7-5. And the Chiefs, at 6-6, have slipped into “run the table” mode. With the first game coming against arguably the best defense in the league.
It all ends on Monday night, when the 8-4 Eagles visit the 8-4 Chargers. Philly has sputtered for weeks on offense, and the Chargers have shown a propensity to step into a periodic pothole. If the Cowboys start Week 14 with a win, the Eagles will be at risk of seeing their lead in the NFC East slip to a half game, 8-5 vs. 7-5-1.
So, yes, December is coming in like a lion. Hopefully, it will go out like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with four weekends of NFL action setting the stage for one of the craziest final weekends of the regular season we’ve ever seen to start 2026.
When Ben Johnson got the Bears head coaching job earlier this year, he quipped that he “kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year” while running the offense for the Lions.
Johnson will get his first chance to face LaFleur in his new job when the Bears go to Lambeau Field this Sunday. In order to get his first win over the Packers head coach in his new role, Johnson will have to come up with a plan to face what he said “might be the best defense we’ve seen all year.”
Johnson made that comment during his Tuesday press conference and cited Micah Parsons, Rashan Gary, Quay Walker, and Edgerrin Cooper as some of the players who have thrived while playing for defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
“They are matchup issues for your backs and pass pro, you can tell they bring it,” Johnson said. “Fast players sideline to sideline. I think the safeties are probably the two best safeties that we’ve seen all year long. They’re extremely active in the run game. They’re all over the field and, so, we’ve got a tall task here at hand. When you combine it with the scheme, I think Hafley does a great job of making it simple for them. And, yet, to the offense, it can seem fairly complex, and those guys just go out and they play really fast and that’s what shows up all over the tape.”
The Packers lost defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt to a season-ending ankle injury last Thursday and that might be an area the Bears try to exploit after posting 249 rushing yards against the Eagles in last Friday’s win. Green Bay will have a plan to combat such an approach and the winner of that chess match will be in a good spot to win the first round of what could be a long-running rivalry in the NFC North.
The NFL has announced kickoff times for the Saturday, Dec. 20 doubleheader featuring the Week 16 matchups between the Eagles and Commanders, along with the Bears and Packers.
Philadelphia at Washington will kick off at 5 p.m. ET. Green Bay at Chicago will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET.
Both matchups will be televised on FOX.
While the Commanders are not in true contention for a postseason spot, the club could potentially play spoiler if the Eagles’ slide continues over the next couple of weeks.
The Packers and Bears will play one another at Lambeau Field this Sunday for their first matchup of the season before squaring off again just under two weeks later. Both contests will have significant consequences for the NFC North and the rest of the conference’s playoff picture.
