Bears receiver Rome Odunze enjoyed the role he played in last Sunday's 23-12 win over the Jets, registering season highs with six receptions and 94 yards.
"It felt great," said the third-year pro. "I love it. I love to be involved in the passing game. Obviously as a pass catcher those plays are fun. Love to do that as often as I can. But I don't think it was anything different [than previous games], just more opportunities came my way and I was able to capitalize on those opportunities."
Odunze got involved early, catching passes of 21 and 2 yards from Tyson Bagent on the game's opening possession. Late in the first half, the two connected on a 37-yard completion down the seam to set up Cairo Santos' 30-yard field goal.
"I think there's a rhythm to it," Odunze said. "It's nice to be looked at early and often. But at the receiver position you never know when the ball's going to come your way so you have to be ready the whole game through."
Like Odunze, tight end Colston Loveland set season highs with six receptions for 57 yards. And receiver Luther Burden III matched a season high with 63 yards.
"I put it on myself as much as anything, just making sure that all these guys are getting the touches that they deserve," said coach Ben Johnson. "Tried to get it in [Odunze's] hands a little bit earlier in the game and you can feel him come alive a little bit. But I felt that from Rome. I felt that from Luther, felt that from Colston to a degree as well. [Odunze] knows he's a big-time playmaker and we've just got to make sure we give him opportunities."
High-level football
One main reason the Bears rank No. 1 in the NFL in total yards, rushing yards and time of possession has been the performance of their offensive line. And no one is excelling more up front than right guard Jonah Jackson, a seventh-year pro who is in his second season in Chicago.
"Jonah's playing high-level football right now," Johnson said. "He's consistently graded as the top or right at the top of our offensive line for these first four weeks. Was really pleased with what he put on tape a year ago and he's off to a hot start right now. [He's a] big part of that room. I know his demeanor, his voice, carries a ton of weight. And I know we wouldn't have the success we've had so far this year without his level of play."
Job opening
The Bears have one spot open on their 53-man roster and could fill it with one of the three players who returned to practice last week but remain on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list: cornerback Kyler Gordon, defensive lineman Shemar Turner and linebacker Noah Sewell.
"We'll let this thing play out," Johnson said. "That's kind of been the thought throughout: let's utilize the time that we have and we're given and we'll made a decision at the end of the week if one of those three are ready to go. We'll see how it works out. We've got a lot of things in flux with the roster and who's going to be active tis week. We'll make those decisions as we go."
After opening their 21-day practice windows last week, the Bears have two more weeks to activate Gordon, Turner and Sewell.
Closer and closer
One player who possibly could be active for the first time Sunday in Green Bay is offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo. The 2025 second-round pick continues to ramp up in practice as he rebounds from a knee injury he suffered in last year's wild card win over the Packers. He was initially expected to miss all or most of this season but returned to practice Aug. 16, much earlier than anticipated.
"He's getting closer and closer each and every week," Johnson said. "That's where these padded practices are so important to us. Part of the reason why we put him on the 53 when we did was so we could capitalize on, early in the season, coming out of camp, getting all this padded work with him to regain that confidence."
The Bears won't rush Trapilo back into game action, especially not with how well Theo Benedet has played at left tackle since Braxton Jones was sidelined with a knee injury in a Week 3 win over the Eagles.
"I feel really good about Theo [Benedet] right now as well, what he brings to the table," Johnson said. "Particularly in the run game, we feel like he played solid last week and is only going to play better the more experience he gets."
Out of left field
Johnson was surprised that defensive lineman Marcus Davernport decided to retire after playing 12 snaps in last Sunday's 23-12 win over the Jets. It was the ninth-year pro's first game action since signing with the Bears in mid-August.
"It was a little bit out of left field," Johnson said. "We really liked how he was attacking getting into football shape. I thought he did a great job those first few weeks of taking advantage of padded practices. We thought he looked good. Our offensive linemen were talking about, 'man, he's got heavy hands and he's strong.' That's kind of been my experience with him in the past and certainly [defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's] as well. We were excited to see where it would go. We dipped our toe in the water there last week.
"If you're not full steam ahead, then you can't cheat your teammates or cheat the game. It's just not worth it. He just felt like it was time to hang it up. Grateful he was honest. We'll be going onto the next guy. We'll be fine."
Something to address
After losing a fumble midway through the third quarter against the Jets, running back D'Andre Swift did not touch the ball again. It was his second fumble of the year, equaling his total in each of his first two seasons with the Bears in 2023-24.
"It's very uncharacteristic," Johnson said. "I give Minnesota a lot of credit. That's what they do. They do it probably better than anybody in the NFL, just conscious of the ball and looking to punch it out. We cannot allow that to happen, and yet that guy, he hit it right on the head and boom, it came right out.
"I think the one last week was egregious, though. It's one that we can't have. There's too many times when the ball's getting away from our body and he knows that. He takes a lot of pride in it, hence why it's never been an issue over the course of his career. We've got to tighten that up and he'll be just fine moving forward."
