Bears Camp Report: Moore’s new role, Odunze’s rise, Burden still behind

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 4 hours ago

CHICAGO - While the Chicago Bears may be coming off a season where they had one of the worst offenses in the league, there is a lot of promise going into this year with new head coach Ben Johnson and Chicago’s additions in the draft, including first round selection - tight end Colston Loveland.

During minicamp and OTAs, Loveland was unable to practice as he was recovering from an injury suffered in his final collegiate season. However, he is finally starting to practice during training camp.

His mental preparation in the spring and his high football IQ immediately showed up once he was able to take the field.

“It showed up from the get-go. He had a particular block the other day where the defensive end looked to spin out of it and he was able to anticipate that and stay on top of it,” Johnson said. “So, those are things that really stand out to a coaching staff that maybe if you’re just a regular bystander, you might not see and it’s really encouraging when you look at a young player like that and the growth that he’s going to be able to have the more reps that he gets.”

With all of the drama with whether the second round selections would get guaranteed contracts finally coming to an end, wide receiver Luther Burden III has signed his contract with the Bears. He suffered a soft tissue injury that has limited him in training camp thus far.

Johnson acknowledged this is putting Burden III behind some of the other players, but that should change with increased reps.

“He’ll start getting some team reps slowly but surely and we’ve got a number of guys that kind of started low and now their volume keeps getting bigger everyday,” Johnson said. “We were in the walk-through yesterday afternoon, the misalignments. We have to re-huddle. We have to start it all over again and so, he’s a little bit behind right now.”

Given Burden III is behind the other receivers, it should be interesting to watch if he will get more action in the preseason since wide receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze most likely will not see a lot of preseason action to prevent them from getting injured.

This is particularly true with Moore. He is a player who constantly wants the ball in his hands, and that is something Johnson is looking to exploit. Moore has been taking some reps in the backfield. So, Moore could be someone Chicago uses similarly to how Deebo Samuel was used under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers.

Moore and Samuel are similar in build, as they are almost the same height and weigh almost the same.

“We’re exploring some things. What I’ve seen on tape and what I’ve come to learn about DJ is he’s a physical, he is a run after catch, just get me the ball type of guy and so, whether that’s in the backfield, whether that’s screens, whether that’s, I think he had a nice go-route the other day,” Johnson said. “There’s a number of things that we’re looking to do and explore. How do we get him the ball and get him in space? And so, we’re tinkering with that a little bit (and) he’s really receptive to it.”

In regard to second-year receiver Rome Odunze, Johnson seems to know exactly how he wants him to fit into the offense. Odunze had a solid rookie campaign last year with 734 receiving yards and led the Bears in yards per reception with 13.6 yards.

He was also one of four players with Chicago last season to catch a touchdown.

“To me, (Odunze) fits that prototypical X receiver where you can line him up outside the numbers and, provided he gets a one-on-one with a corner, he’s going to win most of his matchups - slant routes, stop routes, go routes, the whole route tree - outside the numbers and that’s what I’ve seen from him so far. He’s a really detailed route-runner,” Johnson said. “I think he had a route (Monday) in one-on-ones that was really impressive. He’s looking one way, breaks the other way and really snaps it off for a sharp cut and when you have a long guy that can win contested catches and torque down the field and all that, but yet still can drop his weight and get into and out of routes. That’s really a unique skill set that we’re going to look to capitalize on.”