CHICAGO -- Bears defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an injury to his Achilles against the Cincinnati Bengals, coach Ben Johnson said Monday.
Odeyingbo was injured with 7:04 to play in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 47-42 road win. The 26-year-old edge rusher's ankle appeared to give out as he was matched up one-on-one with Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims, leading him to fall onto his back.
Odeyingbo exited the game and did not return. He logged 37 snaps against the Bengals and recorded one quarterback hit.
The Bears spent big on their pass rush in free agency and signed Odeyingbo to start opposite defensive end Montez Sweat. After spending the first four years of his career in Indianapolis, the former second rounder signed a three-year, $48 million contract ($32 million guaranteed) with Chicago in March. In eight games, Odeyingbo accounted for 21 tackles, four quarterback hits and one sack.
His injury is the third the Bears have been dealt across the defensive line within the past two weeks. Chicago placed rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner on injured reserve last Tuesday after he tore his ACL against the Baltimore Ravens. Defensive end Dominique Robinson also exited Chicago's Week 8 game with a high ankle sprain.
The Bears activated defensive end Austin Booker off IR last week. He recorded a sack in Cincinnati during his first game of the season.
"It's one of those deals where it feels like we take some strides at particular positions, then we take some steps back," Johnson said. "It's wild. I felt like we had a solution there with Shemar at defensive end a couple weeks ago. Then we lost him. Then we finally get Booker back, and we lose Dayo. So it's a little bit of give and take."
With Tuesday's trade deadline looming, the Bears could look to add an edge rusher to fill the void created by Odeyingbo's injury.
"We've got some depth," Johnson said. "You can never have too many pass rushers. You can never have too many cover players on the back end either. That's how I have always felt since I've been in this league. I know [general manager] Ryan [Poles] and his crew have been doing their due diligence all throughout the fall, all the way up until tomorrow to make sure we're turning over every stone to make sure if there's a way that we can improve this roster, we'll do that.
"But I feel good about the guys we have on the roster currently."
The Bears have routinely been active at the trade deadline since Poles was hired in 2022. During his first season as general manager, Chicago sent defensive end Robert Quinn and linebacker Roquan Smith to Philadelphia and Baltimore, respectively, and traded a second-round pick for wide receiver Chase Claypool ahead of the trade deadline. In 2023, the Bears traded for Sweat on Oct. 31 and gave him a $98 million contract extension days later. Last year, Chicago sent running back Khalil Herbert to Cincinnati for a seventh-round pick at the deadline.
Johnson said he and Poles talk "nonstop" about ways to improve the Bears roster.
"...We look at everyone that could be available and that could help this football team in the here and the now, and also have in the back of our head what the ramifications of that also are, the consequences when you give up capital, whether it's players or draft picks, what that does to your roster in the long-term," Johnson said. "It is a balancing act, but it's one that I think we have a really good process and a lot of communication on."