Odunze, Burden to miss Bears' rematch against Packers on Sunday with injuries
The Bears will be severely depleted at wide receiver for Saturday's rematch with the Packers, as both Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III will be out with injuries.
It will be the third straight game Odunze has missed with a foot injury that has been nagging him for weeks. The team's leading receiver, Odunze missed the first game against the Packers in Green Bay two weeks ago, and initially was expected to play against the Browns last week, but aggravated the injury in pregame warmups and sat out the win against Cleveland.
Burden injured his ankle against the Browns on Sunday.
Their absences undoubtedly will mean more playing time at wide receiver for return specialist Devin Duvernay and for backup Jahdae Walker, who has played in only seven games this season, mostly on special teams, with only eight snaps on offense. It's unclear if the Bears plan to activate either of the receivers on their practice squad – Maurice Alexander and JP Richardson – to the 53-man roster.
The Bears might need a second straight big game from DJ Moore, who had two touchdowns against the Browns.
"We've still got a job to do," Moore said. "The people coming in will do their job, and do it to the best of their ability, and we just go out there and play football."
Head coach Ben Johnson said he has faith in the team's entire receiving corps.
"I've been really pleased with that room. I think we've got some young guys in there that we were really impressed with throughout training camp that ended up being on the practice squad, and if called upon, I think they've done a great job soaking the offense in over the course of the season so far," he said.
As tight end Cole Kmet pointed out, the Bears' running game has come through for them seemingly anytime the passing game has struggled.
Speaking of that running game, running back D'Andre Swift is officially questionable for Saturday night's game with a groin injury. He practiced in a limited fashion both Wednesday and Thursday. Kmet also is listed as questionable for Saturday.
The team is excited to be playing meaningful football in December, especially a highly hyped matched with the Packers, but also being careful to not make too much of it.
"It's not as heightened as maybe you would think it would be. I think everyone's got a really good demeanor. At least that's how I feel right now," he said. "Going into that last game we played against those guys, I thought there was more juice going into the week; like, almost too much, where I thought maybe there was a little pressing going on early in the game, and so I feel like we've got a good mentality going into this week."
The Bears also will be without linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, and has played mostly on special teams.
Running back D'Andre Swift and tight end Cole Kmet are listed as questionable for Saturday's game. Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds also is listed as questionable, suggesting he could be activated from injured reserve to play on Saturday, after missing the past four games with a groin injury.