Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore explained that he left the field during a play last weekend because of an injury, not out of frustration.
Moore said on Wednesday that he went to the sideline after rolling his ankle while cutting back toward scrambling quarterback Caleb Williams in the early minutes of a 29-9 loss at Arizona.
“I was coming back because I’d seen Caleb was scrambling,” Moore said. “My ankle went in and out. I was already – couldn’t stop, so my momentum took me out of bounds, and then I just walked off. The noise, I hear it, seen it. Really didn’t care. It is what it is.”
The Bears had the ball at midfield when Williams dropped back to pass, rolling to his left while being chased by defenders. Moore cut back toward his quarterback near the sideline. He stepped out of bounds, hopping as he did, then walked toward the bench and sat down. But the play wasn’t over.
As Moore walked off the field, Williams managed to avoid a sack, spinning away from a defender. He rolled to the other side of the field and threw an incomplete pass to Keenan Allen.
Moore stayed in the game but said his ankle continued to bother him for the rest of the match. He finished with four catches for 33 yards.
“The initial roll of the ankle was hurting bad, so that’s why I like hobbled off and sat down,” Moore explained. “I came back in and was kind of like, how do you say it — reindeering?
I don’t know, whatever it’s called, however you do it — just down the middle of the field. But, I mean, I didn’t stop playing the game. I didn’t not go back in the game. That’s what it was.”
It was a strange moment for the Bears, who are struggling. They head into Sunday’s game against New England looking to recover from two tough losses.
The Bears were flat against Arizona after losing to Washington on a Hail Mary touchdown pass following their bye week. Before that, they had won three games in a row.
In recent weeks, players have openly questioned some of the coaching staff’s decisions. Moore walking off the field during a play seemed like another chapter in the ongoing drama, at least from the outside looking in.
“They could take it how they want to,” Moore said. “They (did) without even knowing what happened midplay. Can’t stop y’all from doing what y’all want to do.”
A bigger issue for the Bears is that Moore and quarterback Caleb Williams haven’t developed the strong connection they were hoping for between the veteran receiver and the rookie quarterback.
Moore has 374 receiving yards and three touchdowns this season, after setting career highs with 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns last year following his trade from Carolina. However, he hasn’t built the same kind of chemistry with Williams that he had with Justin Fields.
Moore’s only 100-yard game this season came in a win over Carolina. In the three games since then, he has only 80 yards total.
“It’s frustrating because you’ve got a guy that’s so special and not being able to connect and hit on certain passes is frustrating for myself,” Williams said.
“And I know it’s frustrating for him because as a wide receiver, especially, you only get but so many chances, so many times the ball comes your way, in a game.”
