In response to criticism that he was dogging it, Bears wide receiver DJ Moore said he injured his ankle on the play where he left the field while Caleb Williams was still scrambling to find an open receiver against the Cardinals.
“Tweaked the ankle,” Moore said. “I was coming back [toward the quarterback] because I’d seen Caleb was scrambling. My ankle went in and out. I couldn’t stop, so my momentum took me out of bounds and then I just walked off.
Moore was limping noticeably as he left the field on the first-quarter play — Williams eventually threw incomplete to Keenan Allen, who was called for offensive pass interference. But he returned for the next play and ran a downfield route. In fact, he played 73 of the Bears’ 74 offensive plays in the 29-9 loss at State Farm Field.
“The initial roll of the ankle was hurting bad, so that’s why I hobbled off and sat down,” Moore said. “I came back in [the next play] and was kind of like … reindeering? — whatever it’s called — down the middle of the field. But I didn’t stop playing the game. I didn’t not go back in the game.”
Moore was typically mellow regarding the criticism that the bad look on that play elicited.
“The noise — I hear it, seen it. Really don’t care. It is what it is,” Moore said. “They could take it how they want to. They [did] without even knowing what happened mid-play. Can’t stop y’all from doing what y’all want to do.”
Moore’s downturn in production from last season seems like a bigger issue. In eight games, he has 37 receptions for 374 yards (10.1 yards per catch, 46.8 per game) and three touchdowns. Through eight games last year with Justin Fields in Luke Getsy’s offense, Moore had 44 receptions for 691 yards (15.7 yards per catch, 86.4 per game) and five touchdowns.
He acknowledged his connection with Williams needs some work on “the little details.”
“Just knowing who we’re up against, the one-on-one matchups that we might have throughout the game,” Moore said, “and then understanding on the back end, the reads and where we’re at in situations — where he’s going through the read and how fast I’ve got to be or how slo I’ve got to be to stay in his vision.”
Defensive tackle Andrew Billings had surgery to repair a torn pec muscle he suffered against the Cardinals and is out for the season.
That’s a blow to a Bears run defense that has been struggling all season. The Bears, who led the NFL in rushing defense last season (86.4 yards per game), are 14th this season (131.6) after allowing 213 rushing yards and three touchdowns against the Cardinals last week.
“He was a dominant nose tech, and there’s not a lot of dominant nose techs in the league,” defensive tackle Gervon Dexter said. “We’ll be ready to go.”
Second-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens replaced Billings against the Cardinals and is in line to start against the Patriots.
Safety Jaquan Brisker is expected to miss his fourth consecutive game with a concussion he suffered against the Panthers on Oct. 6, Eberflus said.
Left tackle Braxton Jones (knee) and right tackle Darnell Wright (knee) also did not practice Wednesday. Eberflus is hopeful they can play Sunday against the Patriots at Soldier Field.
But defensive end Montez Sweat (shin) and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring), who did not play against the Cardinals, returned to practice on a limited basis. Defensive end Darrell Taylor (knee), cornerback Terell Smith (ankle) and reserve linebacker Noah Sewell (knee) also were limited Wednesday.
Reserve cornerback Jaylon Jones (shoulder) and reserve offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie (calf) did not practice.
