What a difference a few days can make.
Bears fans began Week 2 worried about the playing status of Rome Odunze. The rookie wide receiver’s availability for the team’s Sunday Night Football game against the Houston Texans was up in the air when he was diagnosed with a knee injury on Monday. And when Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus didn’t have much to share in terms of concrete information, it was easy to fear the worst. But Odunze went from not practicing to start the week to doing so (albeit on a limited basis) at the end of it. More important than that was the designation of Odunze as a true game-time decision in Week 2.
Well, here we are on the morning of Week 2’s Sunday slate of games with this update from ESPN’s Adam Schefter:
Bears consider WRs Keenan Allen (heel) and Rome Odunze (knee) game-time decisions for Sunday night’s matchup vs. the Texans. Allen will test it pregame and if he plays, could be used more sparingly than usual; Odunze is tracking to play vs. the Texans, per sources.
Keeping tabs on the status of Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen
The only thing keeping me from being in full-on optimism mode regarding the Chicago Bears’ receivers is the Keenan Allen update from Schefty.
Don’t get me wrong. I understand why the 32-year-old Allen will need to test his troublesome heel injury before declaring if he’ll be good to go tonight or not. But it doesn’t make me feel less angsty while thinking about it. That Schefter mentions that Allen “could be used more sparingly than usual” makes me feel as if this heel issue is more serious than previously believed. Could we see Keenan Allen on a pitch count? I suppose that would make sense if this injury is serious enough to limit the wideout (but not bad enough to keep him completely out of the lineup). Having a healthier-than-expected Rome Odunze would ease some of my concerns going into this one.
We’ll continue to track stories surrounding the health status of Rome Odunze and Keenan Allen throughout the day. But as of this morning, the arrow is pointing up. And I’ll take that bit of good news while I can get it.