Bears receiver DJ Moore says he left the field midgame because he was hurt, not upset.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore insisted he left the field during last weekend’s game because he was hurt, not upset.

Moore said Wednesday he went to the sideline because he twisted his ankle while backpedaling from scrambling quarterback Caleb Williams in the opening minutes of the game. Lost 29-9 at Arizona..

“I was coming back because I saw Caleb climbing,” he said. “My ankle was going in and out. I was already… I couldn’t stop, so the momentum took me out of the field, and then I just left. The noise, I hear it, I saw it. It doesn’t really matter. It is what it is.”

The Bears had the ball at midfield when Williams dropped back and rolled to his left while being chased. Moore retreated to his defender on the sideline. He jumped out of bounds, went to the bench and sat down. But the play did not end.

As Moore walked off the field, Williams dodged a defender just as it looked like he might be sacked. He rolled to the other side of the field before throwing an incomplete pass to Keenan Allen.

Moore stayed in the game, although he said his ankle bothered him the rest of the way. He caught four passes for 33 yards.

“The initial rolling of my ankle was very painful, so I had a hard time hobbling out and sitting up,” Moore said. “I came back and thought: how can I say this – deer? I don’t know what it’s called, but what do you do – right in the middle of a field. But I mean, I didn’t stop playing the game. I didn’t return to the game. That’s what it was.”

It was a strange moment at a time when the Bears (4-4) are reeling. They enter Sunday’s game against New England trying to bounce back from two stunning losses.

They were flat in Arizona after crashing in Washington during the Hail Mary landing after the farewell. Before that, they won three matches in a row.

In recent weeks, players have openly questioned the coaching staff’s decisions. Moore’s departure from the field midway through the game seemed like another chapter in the unfolding drama, at least to outsiders.

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

The bigger problem is that Moore and Williams haven’t developed the connection the Bears were hoping to see between the veteran and rookie.

Moore has 374 receiving yards and three touchdowns after setting career highs with 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns last year after being traded to Carolina. He just didn’t have the same chemistry with Williams as he did with Justin Fields.

Moore’s only 100-yard performance came in the win over Carolina. In the three games since then, he has had just 80 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,” Williams said. “And I know it’s frustrating for him because, especially as a receiver, you only get so many chances, there’s only so many times the ball gets to you in a game.”

NOTES: DT Andrew Billings will have surgery this week to repair a torn pectoral muscle. He left in the second half of last weekend’s game. … Guard Jaquan Brisker (concussion) will likely miss his fourth straight game, coach Matt Eberflus said. … LT Braxton Jones (knee) and RT Darnell Wright (knee) did not practice Wednesday. CB Kyler Gordon (hamstring) and DE Montez Sweat (calf) were limited.

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