The Bears played without Rome Odunze in Green Bay on Sunday, but missing a key wideout didn’t lead to a busy afternoon for DJ Moore.
Moore ended the day with one catch that lost four yards and was targeted on two other passes despite playing 56-of-68 offensive snaps during Chicago’s 28-21 loss. On Monday, head coach Ben Johnson said that was not the kind of contribution he expected Moore to have in the battle for first place in the NFC North.
“He ran some pretty good routes over the course of the day, and we just couldn’t give him the ball,” Johnson said, via the team’s website. “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.”
Moore was not the target on the Bears’ final offensive play, which saw Caleb Williams get intercepted by Packers corner Keisean Nixon while trying for tight end Cole Kmet in the end zone. In the aftermath of the play, some noted that Moore appeared to be more open than his teammate but Johnson said that wasn’t the way he saw the play unfold.
“I didn’t see him being an answer in that time,” Johnson said. “I think he came open more after the ball was released from Caleb. Nixon was man-to-man with DJ and was trailing him and ended up falling off and making a play on Cole there.”
Moore was the Bears’ leader in catches and targets in each of his first two seasons with the team, but Odunze is in those spots this season and the Bears have given new faces Olamide Zaccheaus, Colston Loveland, and Luther Burden active roles in a more varied offense than they ran in those seasons. That change has sparked thoughts of changes to come in the offseason, but, for now, the Bears will look for more ways to get production from the veteran wideout.
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