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Caleb Williams tries to solve the case of the missing recipients

Posted on by Bobb
Caleb Williams tries to solve the case of the missing recipients

The great mystery of DJ Moore suddenly disappearing from the field during Sunday’s passing game has been solved.

Now if only the Bears could figure out why Moore, as well as tight end Cole Kmet, figuratively disappeared from the offense.

Moore was absent from Sunday’s passing game and left the field with an ankle injury. He said he “tweaked” his ankle, but returned and played later.

“I was coming back because I saw Caleb climbing,” Moore said. “My ankle was going in and out. I couldn’t stop anymore, so my momentum took me out of bounds and then I just walked away.”

Replays of the event on social media led many to conclude that Moore had withdrawn from the play.

“The noise, I heard it, I saw it,” Moore said. “It doesn’t really matter. It is what it is.

“They (fans, media) can take it however they want. They (did) without even knowing what happened in the middle of the game. I can’t stop you from doing what you want.”

The replay did not necessarily show that Moore was limping badly, but he limped to the bench during the game.

“The initial rolling of the ankle was very painful, so I hobbled over and sat down,” Moore said. “I came back and was like… what do you say – reindeer herding? I don’t know what it’s called, no matter how you do it – right in the middle of the field. I didn’t stop playing the game, I didn’t go back to the game. That’s what happened.”

Incidents like these are becoming an issue as the team struggles to deal with the fallout from Tyreke Stevenson’s penalty for his error on Washington’s Hail Mary pass. In fact, they are more like a blow to a living nerve.

Since Moore doesn’t get the ball much, or when he does without being able to do anything with it, the passing game becomes difficult.

Moore has 33 or fewer receiving yards in four of his last five games following the 2023 season when he had 1,364 receiving yards.

“It’s frustrating because you have such a special guy and not being able to connect and make certain passes is frustrating for me and I know it’s frustrating for him because, especially as a wide receiver, you have very few chances.” , a lot of times the ball gets to you in plays and things like that,” Williams said. “I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating, but we have to understand it.

“The whole point of football is to figure out why things are a certain way and find ways to overcome them or get better.”

The situation with Kmet is also puzzling. He wasn’t targeted in the last game and only had one catch in the previous game for 14 yards.

“Obviously I want to be involved in the offense and make plays where I can, but sometimes the game just flows here and there,” Kmet said. “I know this is not a conscious attempt to keep me from playing football. Sometimes things just work out that way.”

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“From this point of view, all 11 are needed. It is what it is. I try not to get upset about it because I know that a lot depends on it. Just be prepared for it. It’s always important to keep your head in the game for a while. The moment you upset something, the ball is thrown your way, and if you take your attention away from it, something bad will happen. That’s why it’s important to stay locked up. “

Moore has been targeted 60 times by the team, but has 37 catches and only 10 catches in his last three games.

Kmet has 27 catches on 30 targets for a career-high 90% completion/target rate.

While Kmet’s contribution hasn’t dropped radically year over year from the 70 catches he made last season, Moore’s contribution has.

Obviously, one huge obvious difference was the change at quarterback. Moore speculated that the quarterback’s rookie status had something to do with it because when he arrived in Chicago, he had veteran Justin Fields throwing the ball to him in his second-year offense.

“I mean just reps? You could say Justin had more reps when I got here than me and Caleb, he was just a freshman quarterback and Justin wasn’t a freshman quarterback last year,” Moore said.

Whatever happened before and whatever the situation is now, the Bears offense has reached a point of desperation.

“We just need to get back to scoring points,” Moore said. “We just had a game where (kicker) Cairo (Santos) scored all the points and it left a sour taste in our mouths.

“We want to go out and score touchdowns for the team, for the fans, for the organization, and that’s what we need to do at any cost, whether it’s throwing the ball, running the ball or scoring touchdowns on defense. Somebody’s got to score some touchdowns.”

Twitter: BearsOnSI