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Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterSep 18, 2024, 04:07 PM ET
- Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — DJ Moore was unaware how his body language was being perceived during the Chicago Bears‘ 19-13 loss in Houston until he saw video clips of himself circulating on social media.
Upon seeing how he was captured by cameras during “Sunday Night Football,” the veteran wide receiver did some “self-evaluation” and noted that his frustrations were not directed at the Bears’ passing game nor anyone in specific.
“I shouldn’t have shown as much,” Moore said. “But it’s a part of the game. Like I said, we were one play away from the game changing. And we just couldn’t connect, nobody on offense could connect with the one play or get the one play started to get us on track and go up. It’s football. Everybody is going to have their ups and downs and frustrations.”
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Down nine points with 3:01 to play in Houston, Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams threw a back-shoulder pass to Moore on third-and-4 from the Texans‘ 36-yard line. After the throw fell incomplete, Moore lay on his back momentarily before taking his helmet off and walking to the Bears’ sideline.
Cameras also showed Moore appearing to look sullen while sitting on the bench, which the wide receiver intimated was a mischaracterization of his body language.
“… every chance the camera got they caught that angle,” Moore said. “I usually sit on the bench like that anyway, so I don’t know what that’s about.”
Moore was targeted a team-high 10 times and caught six passes for 53 yards. While recounting his throw that ended the Bears’ penultimate drive of the game, Williams took responsibility for being off target.
“Tried to give [Moore] the ball, and if I threw it a little less wide and gave him a little bit more time, he would have made the play,” Williams said. “And so, we’ll be hitting on those here soon, and we’re going to be making those plays.”
Moore led the Bears in receiving (1,364 yards) during his first season in Chicago in 2023 and received a four-year, $110 million contract extension in August. While his frustrations over the Bears’ offensive struggles (2.97 yards per play, which is the franchise’s lowest total through two weeks in the Super Bowl era) are shared by others, Moore does not want his frustrations to put pressure on Williams.
“You want to keep things steady because then you don’t want him to get frustrated and just go out there and try to make a play, which he didn’t really try to go out there and make a play [out of frustration], he was just being himself,” Moore said. “That’s all you can ask of him.”
