Bears remain committed to getting DJ Moore involved in the passing game amid all the outside noise regarding his future
The Bears believe in what DJ Moore brings to this team, for now.
Chicago Bears veteran wide receiver DJ Moore was a topic of heavy conversation in and around Halas Hall this week and for good reason coming off the worst receiving game of his eight year NFL career.
And it wasn’t just last Sunday’s -4-yard game against the Green Bay Packers that’s causing all of this chatter. Moore is on his way toward having his worst receiving season since his rookie season with the Carolina Panthers, despite being the team’s highest-paid offensive player.
Although it seems like it watching the games, Moore’s lack of involved in the game plan and the passing game in this new offense is not by design.
“He ran some pretty good routes over the course of the day, and we just couldn’t give him the ball,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said earlier this week. “That was not the intent. Going into the game, we might have had more for him than any other player in the offense. Was a little surprised at the end when I saw the stat sheet for one catch like he had.”
Say what you want, but the stat sheet speaks for itself. In a game in which the team’s leading pass catcher in Rome Odunze was inactive, Moore was non-existent as a receiver and thoroughly out-played by two of the team’s rookie standouts in Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III.
Granted Moore has had some explosive games this season such as his two touchdown game back in Week 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And, the way this offense works, any Sunday a new player can be the focal point of the gameplan. That being said, the team is committed that they can get another breakout performance out of Moore at some point before the end of the season.
“Obviously, you’re looking at it and you would say, ‘Oh, there’s a little less production than maybe we would have anticipated,’” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “But I don’t think that’s any part of what he’s doing. I think he’s doing a great job of just staying the course, and, like a lot of our guys that have had breakthrough games… you just stay on it, and eventually you just keep pounding and pounding away, and it shows up.”
Time is starting to tick with DJ Moore
The Bears have four games remaining, starting with Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, to try and get Moore more involved in the offense to justify the price being paid for his services. As good of a player and person Moore is, this is going to lead to another tough conversation for this team.
“He’s a very explosive player with the ball in his hands,” Doyle added. “I really enjoy the person. I enjoy who he is in the building… Every time we’ve asked him to go do something, he’s doing it.”
With his current contract, moving Moore after the season will be a difficult process when it comes to finding a potential trade partner, if the Bears even decide to go forward in that direction. Moore has the opportunity to change some of those conversations with his play over the final four games, and a potential playoff opportunity, saying he’s the focal point in the game plan.
How the Bears approach getting him involved and how Moore actually performs over the final stretch will be something to monitor closely and speak volumes for his future in Chicago.
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