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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Caleb Williams became the first rookie quarterback to throw a 2024 touchdown pass three weeks into the NFL season.
Trailing by two scores midway through the fourth quarter of the Chicago Bears‘ 21-16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Williams found fellow first-round rookie Rome Odunze in the corner of the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown.
Williams ran over to celebrate with Odunze, who said the two had previously talked about their first joint touchdown celebration. Odunze playfully held the ball out toward Williams as the quarterback chased the receiver down the Bears’ sideline while pretending to try to steal the ball away.
Caleb or Rome? Who gets to keep the ball? 😂 pic.twitter.com/CAKdprZ2Hj
— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
The celebration was all for show. Postgame, there was no debate about who would get to keep the memento.
“We’re going to cut it in half; he’ll get the right, I’ll get the left like the Twix factory,” Odunze joked. “But nah, I think he’s going to give me this one. He’s going to have plenty in his career, a lot more than me, so he blessed me with this first one.”
Odunze finished with a team-high 112 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches. After Odunze totaled three catches for 44 yards in Chicago’s first two games while playing through a sprained MCL, Williams made a concerted effort to get the receiver more involved in the offense, which led to a team-high 11 targets.
“I’ve told Rome that I’m going to get him the ball some more,” Williams said. “Some of the after-practice reps that Rome and I have been getting these past couple weeks, I think it pays off. And we’re going to keep doing it because we obviously want to build that connection and have that trust and belief in each other.”
Chicago’s loss at Indianapolis shed light on a handful of issues the offense is working through as it searches for an identity.
On Sunday, the rookie-to-rookie connection the Bears had hoped would soon show up in a game provided a silver lining to the painful loss.
“It’s always good to be able to build that individual chemistry with [Williams] so I can be an asset to this offense,” Odunze said. “But when it’s not enough to get the W, it doesn’t feel right. But making those plays together and continuing to build on that will be good for us going through the season.”
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