Bears hope to ramp up rookie WR Rome Odunze next week

The No. 9 overall pick is still recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered during rookie minicamp.

SHARE Bears hope to ramp up rookie WR Rome Odunze next week
 Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze attends Bears rookie minicamp at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois

Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze attends rookie minicamp at Halas Hall on May 11, 2024.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The Bears hope to get their other first-round pick back in full next week.

Former Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze, the No. 9 overall pick, is still recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered on the first day of rookie minicamp this month. Odunze stretched with the Bears before organized team activities Thursday at Halas Hall but did only limited walkthrough work during practice.

“We’re hopeful that he’ll be starting to ramp back in there next week during the OTAs that we have,” coach Matt Eberflus said after practice.

Odunze’s 1,640 receiving yards last year were the most in the FBS and in Huskies history. Still, practice time spent with quarterback Caleb Williams, his fellow rookie, is invaluable.

Wide receiver DJ Moore sounded excited to see him running at full speed. He’ll team with former Chargers standout Keenan Allen and Odunze this year to form what’s expected to be one of the most dangerous pass-catching trios in the NFL.

Moore first met Odunze during a Los Angeles throwing session with Allen and Williams in the days leading up to the NFL Draft. He joked Thursday that perhaps Odunze knew something Moore didn’t then — that the Bears would draft him.

Seeing Odunze up close made an impact on Moore.

“When I’d first seen him [on film], I was like, ‘He can move,’ ” Moore said. “And I didn’t know he was that fast until I saw him in person and how smooth he was. I’m just looking forward to him being out there.”

The Bears have another week of OTAs before mandatory minicamp begins June 4.

The Latest
Damage was estimated at $50,000 from the bombing, which came as the club at Van Buren Street and Wabash Avenue was being prepared to reopen after being closed a year by federal injunction, according to the report published June 16, 1924.
El pequeño y relativamente pobre país sudamericano ha recibido cuatro veces más venezolanos que Estados Unidos, pero ofrece una vía de integración. Fuimos a verlo.
Stepdaughter’s obsessive child seems to be getting the wrong lessons at home.
Paul DeJong, Andrew Vaughn, Lenyn Sosa and Korey Lee homered and Erick Fedde worked out of trouble to navigate through six innings and provide the Sox with one of their most satisfying victories in an otherwise dismal first half.