The Chicago Bears got a boost to their banged-up wide receiver corps Wednesday with rookie Luther Burden III returning to practice. He was listed as limited with an ankle injury.
Fellow receiver Rome Odunze (foot), however, was a non-participant.
When asked if he expects to play Sunday night against the San Francisco 49ers, Burden said: “Yeah, I think so.”
The Bears didn’t issue an injury report Tuesday, but neither Burden or Odunze was spotted on the field during the portion that was open to the media. Burden is fourth on the team in receiving yards with 479 on 36 receptions, but he has the highest catch rate at 76.6%, per NFL Pro.
With Burden and Odunze inactive for Saturday night’s 22-16 overtime win against the Green Bay Packers, the Bears relied more heavily on DJ Moore, Olamide Zaccheaus and Jahdae Walker.
“It was really tough, man,” Burden said. “It was my first game missing ever, like college, little league.”
Burden was forced to miss the Nov. 2 game in Cincinnati because he was in concussion protocol.
“It was kind of different, just watching my team from the sideline,” he said.
Walker, an undrafted rookie, had his first two career receptions, one of which went for a game-tying touchdown with 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
“I told him before the play, ‘You’re going to have to come down and make a play,’” Burden said. “Before he even caught the touchdown, I knew where it was going, who’s going to make the play.”
Meanwhile, several new injuries popped up for the Bears on Wednesday.
Linebacker T.J. Edwards (glute) was a non-participant, as were receiver/return specialist Devin Duvernay, linebacker D’Marco Jackson and defensive back Nick McCloud, all listed with illnesses.
With the exception of running back/special teamer Travis Homer (ankle), several limited participants were new additions who didn’t appear on last week’s report. They included safety Kevin Byard III (ankle), cornerbacks Nahshon Wright (hamstring) and C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee), center Drew Dalman (ankle/hand) and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (hamstring).
The Bears opened the 21-day practice window for offensive lineman Luke Newman, who’s designated to return from injured reserve. He was listed as limited with a foot injury. Guard Joe Thuney took a rest day.
Here are three other things we learned Wednesday.
1. Cairo Santos honored.
The Bears kicker was named the NFC Special Teams Players of the Week for Week 16.
During Saturday’s win over the Packers, Santos cut through gusty winds at Soldier Field to boot 46-, 51- and 43-yard field goals, executed the onside kick that set up Walker’s touchdown and drilled the tying extra point — all of which the Bears needed to send the game to overtime.
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower credited the whole field-goal operation, from Scott Daly’s snaps to Tory Taylor’s holds, but held special praise for Santos navigating the wind.
“You guys saw the paper cups and all of the things flying and floating all over the field,” Hightower said. “For him to just have the mental fortitude to stay focused and play the conditions is what we talk about doing.
“Not trying to beat the conditions, not being upset about the conditions, but play the conditions.”
Added special teamer Josh Blackwell: “He makes incredible kicks in the wind and elements, so it’s no surprise to us, to me, that he’s winning an award like that. He deserves all that and all the credit in the world.”
Santos expressed his appreciation for the recognition given some of the bumps he has experienced this season. He missed two games with a right thigh injury, and his accuracy has dipped to 82.8% (ranked 35th among qualifiers) from 93.8% five years ago in his first season in Chicago.
“It definitely helps me kind of stay on path that what I’m doing it’s going turn into great things,” Santos said of the award. “I just want to make kicks to help the team.”
Five Bears have been named Player of the Week this season, the first time they have had at least that many receive the honor since 2006 (six).
2. Another side of the pivotal onside kick.
Onside kicks rarely work, but one did during the rally against the Packers. Hightower said his unit spends “hours and hours and hours” practicing the kicks.
“Some people tend to think that you can just go out there and you just kick the ball and ‘Oh, they got it,’ you know what I mean? Like, that’s crazy,” he said. “(Cairo Santos has) done so much work on the premises here. … I’ve tried to stop him at times from kicking onside kicks so much, like, ‘Hey, it’s time to go in, time to go in.’ …
“It’s not an accident, like he put work in for it, and he hit a really good ball.”
The ball took a hop before Packers receiver Romeo Doubs dropped it, and Blackwell pounced and recovered it.
“The kick that (Santos) hit was perfect,” Blackwell said. “Right spot. Executed it right.”
Hightower said Daniel Hardy and Noah Sewell were the keys to that play, breaking through the Packers receiving line and flashing navy jerseys in front of Doubs’ eyes.
“Hardy got a phenomenal jump on that ball,” Hightower said. “If you go back and look at that play and look at how he timed that up — and he’s worked on that. We’ve had to stop him; he’s been too early, he’s been too late, he’s been right on time. He did a phenomenal job.”
Blackwell could see it from Doubs’ perspective.
“You’ve got a defensive end (Hardy) and a linebacker (Sewell) coming at you at full speed,” he said. “That’d make anybody flinch up.”
Blackwell said they were crucial to the play and allowed him to just keep his eye on the ball the whole time.
“I’m just the back-line player waiting for anything to kick back at me, and sure enough it did,” he said.
3. Wright has his coach’s appreciation.
If not the NFL’s.
The Bears cornerback was snubbed for the Pro Bowl on Tuesday despite leading the league with eight takeaways and two forced fumbles.
One of the latter came in the third quarter Saturday when he stripped Packers running back Josh Jacobs at the Bears 3-yard line. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds recovered the fumble.
Last week, Wright told the Tribune that his favorite takeaway was ripping the ball from Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts during his signature “Tush Push” on Black Friday last month.
“It’s just what he does,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “He’s extremely ball-conscious and he’s looking for the opportunities that present themselves to take the ball away. …
“It’s not the first time he’s done it, but it was a heck of a play by him. He’s had a great year. He’s made a lot of big plays for us and (I’m) looking forward to him continuing that.”