The honeymoon of the Bears’ offense with Caleb Williams has been short-lived.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky opined that first-round pick Rome Odunze isn’t getting open, and Odunze’s father fired back with a video of his son open in the end zone but unseen by Williams.
Williams was the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft and then the Bears selected Odunze from Washington ninth overall.
Through two games, Odunze has just three total catches for 44 yards.
“The Bears and Caleb are gonna have to get comfortable giving Rome more ‘covered’ opportunities,” Orlovsky wrote on X earlier this week.
“Rome isn’t getting open at this level right now—Caleb will have to get comfortable throwing him some 50/50 balls.”
Odunze’s father, James, begged to differ.
“A quick (2 GAMES out of 17) reference-guide for those with the initials D.O. and work for the Entertainment & Sports Programming Network W/respect,” the father wrote, sharing the video of his son open in the end zone.
A caveat of the clip, where Williams did not connect with his fellow rookie, is that the Bears’ offensive line collapsed nearly immediately, which has been an issue not just this season but in recent memory for the franchise.
It harkens back memories of the time when Odell Beckham Jr.’s father posted a video of Baker Mayfield not connecting with his open son when the two were teammates on the Browns.
However, James Odunze insists the clip was not directed at anyone other than Orlovsky.
“For clarification, this tweet was just about Dan Orlovsky nonsense statement,” James wrote Thursday. “It’s not about anything or anybody else. FULL STOP.”
Through two games, Williams has thrown for a total of just 267 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions.
DJ Moore, a veteran wideout on the team, expressed regret for showing bad language during the team’s loss to the Texans on Sunday night.
“I shouldn’t have shown as much,” Moore later told reporters. “But it’s a part of the game. Like I said, we were one play away from the game changing. And we just couldn’t connect, nobody on offense could connect with the one play or get the one play started to get us on track and go up. It’s football. Everybody is going to have their ups and downs and frustrations.”
