Bear Digest

Last-second injury scratch deprives Chicago Bears of needed weapon

For the second week in a row, a player slated to start went through warmups and was pulled at the last second after aggravating an injury.
Gene Chamberlain|
Rome Odunze was slated as an active player and then aggravated his injury Sunday in warmups.
Rome Odunze was slated as an active player and then aggravated his injury Sunday in warmups. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Another week for the Bears and another late scratch due to injury.

They had wide receiver Rome Odunze active for the game with Cleveland on Sunday and he went through the early warmups with stretching, but then when the full team went through warmups shortly before the game he aggravated his injured foot and was a last-second scratch.

The Bears experienced the same thing with cornerback Kyler Gordon before last week's game with the Packers as a result of an aggravated groin injury. Gordon this week went on IR.

Odunze has what has been reported as a stress fracture in his foot but has been working and was going to try to play on it anyway.

This will mean receivers Luther Burden and Olamide Zaccheaus, and tight end Colston Loveland take on bigger roles during the game.

A late scratch means players who had different roles in the game plan can be asked to do things they weren't expecting to do. Last week this was the case with C.J. Gardner-Johnson on defense after Gordon's late removal, and the defense gave up several big plays.

Either way, an offensive player leaving the lineup right before a game is costly to the fantasy football crowd.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.