Rome Odunze missed five games last season with a left foot injury and was hampered by it in others. So, the Bears wide receiver’s answer to a question about whether his foot felt normal again had to set off alarms in Chicago.
“It’s not from a standpoint that I’m like always in pain, but the way my foot broke, there’s calluses in there that creates a different type of foot structure with those bones — different things that kind of shifts things around,” Odunze said Wednesday, via Jay Cohen of the Associated Press. “So [my new normal](https://apnews.com/article/chicago-bears-rome-odunze-edece1a9ebd209066f9925d58c493981) was kind of what I am going into. And I don’t think that’s anything that’s going to prohibit me or keep me from making plays.”
The Bears traded veteran wide receiver DJ Moore to Buffalo this offseason, creating a bigger need for Odunze to remain healthy and productive. Odunze made 54 catches for 734 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie before 44 receptions for 661 yards and six touchdowns last season.
“For me, I just want to be the best receiver possible for this team,” Odunze said. “I feel like I provide many assets to do that, and I’m comfortable with a lot of the target share, as well as the other guys getting involved so we can be the best offense possible.”
Most of Odunze’s production came in the first four games of last season, before his foot injury, when he had 20 receptions for 296 yards and five touchdowns in the first four games.
“It was tough,” Odunze said of his injury. “Obviously, I was gearing up for a great season. I felt like I was on track to have that, and injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately, I feel like it affected me more than injuries have in the past.”
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