Rome Odunze injury update: Bears WR to undergo MRI on knee

Chicago Bears rookie WR Rome Odunze will undergo an MRI on his knee, according to head coach Matt Eberflus.

A first round pick paired with rookie QB Caleb Williams, Odunze was expected to contribute greatly right away. Now, it remains to be seen what the extent of his injury is following Week 1.

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The Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 24-17 to start 1-0, despite a less than stellar day from the offense. Odunze just had one catch for 11 yards in the win.

Odunze signed a four-year deal worth $22.7 million, which is all fully guaranteed. His deal also includes a $13.3 million signing bonus and has a $4.1 million cap hit this season. Since he’s a first-round pick, Odunze will get a fifth-year option that could keep him in Chicago through the 2028 season. He was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The Chicago Bears’ brass was in love with Odunze throughout the process.

“Yea, Rome was at the top of our list,” GM Ryan Poles said on The Pat McAfee Show. “We have our draft board kind of separated by different colors, and there’s certain guys you don’t pass up on, and Rome was one of them.”

It’s easy to see why the Bears love Odunze. The Biletnikoff Award finalist set a Washington school record with 1,640 receiving yards last season. He was named an All-American after helping the Huskies to the national title game.

Odunze is 6-foot-3, 212 pounds and runs a 4.45 40-yard dash.

“It’s hard to find a guy that is that big and that talented at the receiver spot,” Poles said. “And on top of that, being an unbelievable human being, as well. So there was no movement off of Rome, at all.”

Not long after being drafted, Odunze shared his excitement about playing in Chicago. It’s a place he was always interested in ending up.

“I definitely had the mindset to be happy wherever I went, but in the back of my mind [I knew] the Bears visit went tremendously well,” Odunze said, per the Bears’ official website. “I came into this facility and the attitude and the effort that they put into my visit and into the conversations that we had was incredible. Knew when that phone call came in, it was from Illinois and that it was going to be the Bears, and I was super excited.”