The Chicago Bears will be without their top wide receiver but will get another one back Sunday night when they play against the San Francisco 49ers.
Chicago ruled Rome Odunze (foot) out for the national game. Odunze will miss his fourth straight game as he deals with a nagging foot injury. He didn’t practice all week for a second straight week after he re-aggravated the injury before the Bears’ Week 15 game against the Cleveland Browns.
Chicago did have some encouraging news. Luther Burden III (ankle) was a full participant at practice Friday and had no designation for Sunday. Burden had missed practice all of last week after he injured his ankle against the Browns.
Burden was excited to return to the lineup Sunday after being forced to watch from the sidelines.
“Being on the sideline is not fun,” Burden said at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. “It’s good to cheer guys on, but I want to be out there helping them going out there compete and continue to win games.”
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The Bears will also be without cornerback Nick McCloud as the team is dealing with injuries. Cornerback Josh Blackwell was questionable to play with an illness while wide receiver Devin Duvernay and linebacker D’Marco Jackson both returned to practice and had no designation after dealing with illnesses.
“It’s this time of year,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said. “I doubt we’re the only team dealing with it. We’re washing our hands, we’re being very diligent. Guys have masks on. You do what you can. Whoever’s available here on gameday, we’ll look to win with. If a guy can’t go, we’ll be ready.”
Cornerback Nahshon Wright (hamstring/illness) didn’t participate in practice Friday and was ruled questionable. Linebacker T.J Edwards (glute) improved to limited while cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee) improved to full Friday as both were also ruled questionable for Sunday.
Rookie offensive lineman Luke Newman (foot) participated in his first full practice since the team opened his 21-day practice window to come off injured reserve. Newman was questionable to play.
Safety Kevin Byard (ankle), center Drew Dalman (ankle/hand), left guard Joe Thuney (rest), running back Travis Homer (ankle) and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga (hamstring) were all full participants Friday and had no designation.
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