Chicago Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze was a late scratch before kickoff on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns after aggravating a foot injury in warmups.
Oduzne had been dealing with a stress fracture and was limited during practice this week and initially listed as questionable for Sunday's game. The Bears listed him as active prior to the game, but ruled him out in the minutes before kickoff after he aggravated the injury. The nature of the aggravated injury and how long it will sideline Odunze were not initially clear.
Odunze initially missed last week's game against the Green Bay Packers with the injury. He'd previously played in every game of his career since the Bears selected him with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft.
The injury arrives as the Bears find themselves in a fight to make the playoffs. Previously in position for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, last week's 28-21 loss to the Packers dropped Chicago to 9-4 and behind 9-3-1 Green Bay in the NFC North. In a tight NFC playoff race, Chicago entered Sunday in position for the seventh and final spot in the NFC playoffs, just ahead of the 8-5 Detroit Lions.
Odunze is Chicago's leading receiver with 44 catches for 661 yards and 6 touchdowns in 12 games. DJ Moore projects as the top target for quarterback Caleb Williams in Odunze's absence, but rookie Luther Burden has also been seeing more time in the second half of the season.
The late injury designation is a blow to fantasy football managers as well. Odunze was started in 18% of Yahoo Fantasy Football leagues prior to kickoff as the fantasy playoffs begin in most standard leagues.
