Bears WR Rome Odunze says his 'foot feels great' -- clarifying his 'new normal' comment

Sean Hammond, Chicago Tribune on Jul 30, 2026

Published in Football

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CHICAGO — Rome Odunze’s foot is not an issue.

The third-year Chicago Bears wide receiver wanted to make that clear after practice Thursday at Halas Hall. Odunze, 24, had said in the spring he was adjusting to his “new normal” after a foot injury kept him out for five games last year.

Upon reflection, Odunze said Thursday he didn’t articulate his thoughts well with that previous comment.

“I just kind of meant that I had an injury (last season),” Odunze said. “That’s it. That’s football. My foot feels great. My foot feels amazing.”

Odunze elected not to have surgery on the stress fracture in his left foot. He was a full participant during the spring practice period as well as the first two practices of training camp.

Odunze, the No. 9 pick in the 2024 draft, first appeared on the injury report in late October last season. He continued to play through the injury for a while. During that time, he was the clear No. 1 target in the offense with 44 catches for 661 yards and six touchdowns through the first 12 games — on pace for just shy of 1,000 yards.

The Bears shut him down for the final five regular-season games in order to get his foot right for the playoffs. Despite the extended absence, Odunze led the team with 90 targets for the season. He returned for the postseason, recording two catches for 44 yards in both games.

In June, Odunze said his foot was back to 100% healthy, but he indicated it didn’t necessarily feel the same as before.

“This is my new normal,” Odunze said June 3 during organized team activities. “And it’s not from a standpoint that I’m always in pain, but the way my foot broke, there’s calluses in there that creates a different type of foot structure with those bones — different types of things that kind of shift things around. So my new normal was kind of what I am going into.”

He said Thursday that those comments came off wrong and that he’s at a point where he doesn’t even think about his foot anymore when he’s on the field.

“I know ‘new normal’ — that has a bunch of connotations of chronic and severe, like it’s never going to be the same,” Odunze said. “It’s not like that at all. I’m completely fine. I went through my process of recovery and rehab and it’s been great. I do my due diligence and all those things.”

With DJ Moore gone, Odunze and Luther Burden III are the top two wide receivers in coach Ben Johnson’s offense. Offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Thursday that Odunze looks great on the field.

“He looks like he’s moving around really well,” Taylor said. “If he hadn’t said anything, I don’t know that you necessarily would have noticed through the spring the way he was moving because he looks like he’s moving really well. And we’re excited to see what Rome does through this training camp.”