Rome Odunze needed to keep his hands busy on the sideline. With the seasons changing in Chicago and cold weather arriving, that gave the second-year Chicago Bears wide receiver something to do on game days.
While he was sidelined with a foot injury over the last five weeks, Odunze joined the Bears equipment staff in being the person who held open a heavy winter coat for his teammates as they ran to the sideline.
With the injury keeping him out of games and practice, Odunze just wanted to feel like he was contributing in some small way.
“I want to say it was for all my teammates, but probably it was more selfish,” Odunze said. “I don’t want to be out there doing nothing. That’s the worst feeling for me, just being a body out there not really doing anything. If I can provide a coat when it’s cold or some water, that’s a better scenario for me than just sitting there watching everything go down.”
His days manning the coats on the sideline may be over. The Bears will take on the Green Bay Packers at 7 p.m. Saturday at Soldier Field in a wild-card playoff game, and Odunze said Wednesday he’s “planning on playing.”
He returned to practice Friday for the first time in three weeks, although he sat out Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions.
He has been a limited participant in practice this week, including Wednesday. But Odunze is optimistic he’ll be back on the field with quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense Saturday. The team will hold one more practice Thursday.
“I’m planning on playing, but I’ve been planning on playing for weeks,” Odunze cautioned.
As ever, the Bears remain hesitant to signal their intent to the Packers. But they proceeded with caution with Odunze for just this reason — to get him healthy for the postseason.
Odunze reportedly has been dealing with a stress fracture in his left foot. Asked about the injury a week ago, he declined to elaborate on what has been ailing his foot. He did say rest and rehab helped him get to a place where he was healthy enough to return to practice.
He hasn’t played in a game since the Nov. 28 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Heading into December, Odunze led the Bears with 44 catches for 661 yards and six touchdown receptions.
Since then he has missed five games, including both matchups against the Packers. He was set to return for the Dec. 14 game against the Cleveland Browns before aggravating his foot injury in pregame warmups. At that point the Bears shut him down for about three weeks before he returned to practice last week.
If Odunze does play Saturday, the primary concern might be his conditioning after missing so much time.
“I’m not in my peak shape, I will admit,” he said Wednesday. “I’ve been working hard trying to get my conditioning up any way that I can and I’m good to play a game. I’m excited to do that.”
It’s possible the Bears could have Odunze on a limited snap count if there are concerns about his conditioning level.
Odunze would be happy if he’s the one running off the field looking for a warm coat Saturday night — not the one handing it out.
Additional injury updates
Cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson sat out practice again Wednesday with a concussion, as did defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, who also are dealing with concussions. Veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett took an extra rest day.
The team listed cornerbacks Kyler Gordon (groin) and Jaylon Jones (ankle), wide receivers DJ Moore (knee) and Odunze (foot) and left tackle Ozzy Trapilo (quad) as limited participants.
Offensive tackle Braxton Jones (knee), cornerback Nick McCloud (illness) and wide receiver Jahdae Walker (illness) were full participants.
Braxton Jones and Gordon remain on injured reserve and would have to be added to the active roster before they can play in a game.
The Bears signed Gardner-Johnson midseason to play the nickel spot after Gordon went down with an injury. Gardner-Johnson’s concussion could create more urgency to get Gordon back on the field.
“Our plan is to have him be a part of (the game plan),” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said of Gordon before practice Wednesday. “Today will really be the first day we go out there and go practice, get a chance to see him move around. But I’m excited about getting him back in the fold and seeing what he can do.”