Rome Odunze was visibly frustrated as he stood in front of his locker at Halas Hall in January.

Yes, Odunze was sad to clean out his locker a day after the Chicago Bears lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoff. But Odunze was more frustrated with the season he had, or didn’t have.

A broken foot limited Odunze from performing at his best for much of the year. It was a deflating end to what he had hoped would be a breakout season during his second year in the NFL.

“It was tough, it was tough,” Odunze said Wednesday at Halas during the team’s Organized Team Activities. “Obviously, I was gearing up for a great season. I felt like I was on track to have that. And injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately, I feel like it affected me more than injuries have in the past. That wasn’t obviously the goal. I have my goals for this season, and the injury kind of prohibited some of those things. But it’s part of the game. You go through that adversity, and you’re better for it.”

The injury limited Odunze to 12 games plus two more in the postseason.

Odunze led the team in receptions and was quarterback Caleb Williams’ go-to target before he missed the latter portion of the season. He ended the year with 661 receiving yards and six touchdowns, surpassing 100 yards in a game twice. Even with the missed time, Odunze led the Bears with 90 targets.

For much of the season, Odunze felt like the injury or the rehab for it prevented him from playing up to his potential. He didn’t have surgery to repair the foot during the offseason since doctors said it could heal without a procedure.

But it’ll be a “new normal” that Odunze will have to deal with from now on. Odunze said the callouses developed when he broke his foot, which created a new structure, which will force him to adjust.

“I feel like if you break a bone, you’ve always got to make sure you’re on top of it,” Odunze said. “I continue to do rehab on it, making sure I’m keeping it strong. And that’s both feet, whether it comes to different exercises that they give me in the rehab, as well as what I do off the field. But I feel like yeah, you‘ve got to stay on top of it regardless of it’s 100 or not. I feel like it’s hard to say it’s like 100, I feel like when we’re in the Super Bowl and win that I feel like it will be 100.”

Bears head coach Ben Johnson was impressed with how Odunze fought through the injury last season.

The Bears had hoped Odunze would take a major step in Johnson’s offense as Williams did. Odunze showed that potential at times last year, early in the season before things derailed. Even with the setbacks, Odunze continued to fight to stay on the field or worked to get back in time for the playoffs.

“He’s a team player,” Johnson said. “He’s going to lay it out on the line every time he gets on the grass, and so I think his teammates appreciate that. His coaching staff certainly appreciates that, and hopefully we can get him 17-plus games this year and his career will really take off for that.”

In order for that to happen, Odunze will have to improve different parts of his game.

Even when Odunze was healthy or battled injuries, drops were a consistent problem throughout the season. Odunze struggled at times to make 50/50 balls or other catches that a former top-10 draft pick should make.

It’s something the Bears have worked through with Odunze over the offseason. Wide receivers and assistant head coach Antwaan Randle El said the staff showed Odunze film from college and in the NFL, where Odunze proved that he can make plays on tough catches.

Odunze dedicated the offseason to working on different points of the receiving process to set himself up to make those elite catches. With another year in Johnson’s offense and Odunze’s work ethic, Randle-El felt comfortable that Odunze would take a major step this season.

“It’s just about showing him, and that’s what we’ve done, and we fully expect him to go out and make those plays,” Randle El said. “And he does for himself, too. He’s been critical of those plays that he didn’t make, so he’ll, again, I go back to the idea of seeing it, realizing it, and now let’s go out and attack it and be better in that area.”

Odunze should have more of an opportunity to do it, if that wasn’t the case already.

The Bears reshuffled the wide receiver room over the offseason when they traded DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills. Bears general manager Ryan Poles brought in veteran Kalif Raymond in free agency and then drafted Zavion Thomas in the third round.

Odunze will have to fight for Moore’s targets. Wide receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland are both expected to have more success in their second year.

But Odunze wasn’t worried about the target percentages.

“I just want to be the best receiver possible for this team,” Odunze said. “I feel like I provide many assets to do that. And I’m comfortable with a lot of the target share, as well as the other guys getting involved, so we can be the best offense possible.”

To be the best receiver, Odunze is aware that he can’t do some things at an elite level but not others. He called it the “art” of being a wide receiver.

An elite wide receiver can’t be a good route-runner who can’t catch the ball. Or vice versa. For Odunze to fully reach his potential, he’ll need to do a plethora of things at an elite level.

He’s working to overcome the frustrations of last season.

“I’m trying to be excellent in every single category of wide receiver,” Odunze said. “Route running, releases, catching the football. There’s areas of improvement in every single rep out there that it’s hard to pinpoint one thing. I want to do everything excellent. So, I’m trying to improve on all those different packages all at once, because I feel like I’m capable of doing that.”