The Chicago Bears listed wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze as questionable heading into their Week 2 Sunday Night Football road matchup vs. the Houston Texans, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Allen (heel) and Odunze (knee) did not practice this week; both will be game-time decisions, via head coach Matt Eberflus per ESPN's Courtney Cronin.
“We'll take it all the way up to the game, potentially work them out before the game and then see where they are prior to the game,” Eberflus said. “That's where those guys are.”
The 32-year-old Allen hurt his heel during the preseason, and it has been lingering since then. He was able to play in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans. In that game, he caught four of his team-high 11 targets for 29 yards.
Odunze had an MRI on his knee earlier in the week, and it came back clean. The Bears are taking a cautious approach with the rookie
When asked if Allen could still play, considering he already played through this injury, Eberflus seemed optimistic.
“I believe that's true,” Eberflus said. “I also believe that with an experienced player that he's able to, and he's played so many games, that you're able to input him into the game plan a lot easier than, say, a rookie.”
The Bears will need their full complement of weapons at Caleb Williams' disposal.
Projecting Williams, Allen, Odunze for the rest of the season
Williams had one of the worst rookie QB debuts for a No. 1 overall pick. He only passed for 93 yards for an anemic 3.2 yards per attempt. Eberflus tried to put a positive spin on it when speaking on The Rich Eisen Show.
“I thought his flow and his operation was good. I thought his disposition and body language, all the way through it,” Eberflus said. “So he didn’t have the day that he wanted, but all those things were good. The communications was good on the field, on the sideline, during half time, making adjustments.
“And I thought he did some really good things in the 4-minute drive at the end, made some really cool completions during the course of the game. Again, I know he wants to play better, and he’s going to do that this week, but it’s a learning process for these young quarterbacks.”
The Texans only allowed four first downs against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, but they were susceptible to big plays, as Anthony Richardson connected on a 60-yard bomb to Alec Pierce. Houston also held the Colts to 104 rushing yards, so the Bears will have to strike a pass-run balance to keep the Texans off balance.
Chicago travels to Houston for a Sunday Night Football matchup on September 15 at 8:20 p.m. EST.
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