Bears News: Odunze praises Williams’ leadership, prepares for Lions

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - Wide receiver Rome Odunze has come a long way since his rookie season. He has become a reliable receiver and led Chicago in receptions in their season opener with six.

Odunze also had the only receiving touchdown of the game for the Bears. However, he was rather critical of his performance against the Vikings.

“I definitely felt a little bit more comfortable out there and I think the film proved that as well. I had a couple flashes of playmaking ability. I had that one on the sideline that I wasn’t able to grab that I can come down with at the end of the day as well,” Odunze said. “So, it was kind of a teetering of (putting a lot of that) on display and some things I could be better at. So, definitely feel from my first game last year to my first game this year, definitely a big improvement. But, this is really the baseline. We’re looking to continue to do bigger and better things.”

This is the first year under head coach Ben Johnson’s offense, so there are some responsibilities the wide receivers have this year that they did not have last year. One such responsibility is blocking more in the run game.

Although the run game was not working too well against Minnesota, except for quarterback Caleb Williams’ rushing yards, Odunze thought the receivers did well in their blocking.

“I thought we did a pretty good job in the receiver room, honestly, with our physicality in the run game. I thought we had covered our guys up and made an impact in that fashion for sure. But, obviously, there’s things to improve on (as) well in the run game (and) we play a part in that,” Odunze said. “So, I thought we did a good job, but it’s going to be another test here with the Detroit Lions with that physicality and getting the run game going, especially on the perimeter. So, excited for it.”

Williams had a rough night overall. While he did well in the rushing game, passing was a bit of a different story. He started great, but sputtered later in the game and threw numerous off-target passes. In fact, according to Pro Football Reference, Williams threw nine bad throws, which is tied for the third-most he has had in one game.

Despite his poor performance to start the season, Odunze has seen Williams’ leadership on and off the field, as well as his ability to make the difficult throws.

“I see a sense of leadership and a confidence in him, honestly, that exudes into all of us and I think that’s his best quality when it comes to that sense or in a head coaching sense is just that confidence and that demand of excellence from everybody in the building and from himself. So, he holds everybody to that standard and holds himself to that standard on a consistent basis. So, I think he’s been doing a great job at it,” Odunze said. “He’s super talented with it, not too many arm angles he can’t throw from, body positions, whether he’s rolling left, rolling right, whether he’s going backwards, going forwards. He always generates the power to (get) the ball where it needs to be. So, you always have to be ready in those scenarios, but I don’t see anybody doing it like him.”

Now, Williams and the Bears must try to rebound against the reigning division champs, the Detroit Lions, on Sun, Sept. 14 (Noon / FOX).

While the Lions also had a rough outing to start the season, this will still be a difficult matchup for Chicago.

“They play a hard brand of football. They are always running to the ball, are very physical. So, we’ll have to bring that same energy towards them and that’s throughout their offense as well. So, the more physical team, more often than not in this game, is going to come out a winner,” Odunze said. “So, we’re going to be on the right side of that. But, lots of talented players. Excited to go against (cornerback Terrion) Arnold, in my same class, seeing his improvement from last year and looking back (at) the film. So, excited for the matchups, but it should be a good one.”