DJ Moore was on Cloud Nine coming into the 2024 season. He’d just signed a lucrative contract extension with the Chicago Bears, securing his long-term future. He just had the best season of his career in 2023, posting over 1300 yards. Expectations were he’d do more of the same this year. Halfway through the season, the receiver has struggled to find any chemistry with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Things reached a crisis point in Arizona when Moore appeared to walk off the field during a play still in progress while his QB was scrambling to find someone open.
It wasn’t a great look. It was later revealed Moore had rolled his ankle. He is seen limping towards the end of the video. He also may have stepped out of bounds, making him ineligible to catch any passes. However, one person isn’t buying that story for a second. Safety Xavier McKinney has had a personal vendetta against Moore ever since the Bears receiver shrugged off the news that the Green Bay Packers signed him in March. He watched that game against Arizona and made it clear to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic that Moore is a quitter.
“I hope so, but I don’t give a damn about what he knows,” McKinney said. “This dude walked out on … I’ve been playing (NFL) football for five years now and I’ve been watching football for longer than that and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a … You’re supposed to be the guy and you’re just walking off the field. You’re walking off the field on a rookie quarterback that you’ve been praising, so it’s like, that’s a whole other story.”
McKinney isn’t buying Moore’s ankle injury justification, either.
“Cap,” McKinney said. “That’s what I say. Cap.”
McKinney sounds like he’s out to prove something on Sunday, which, according to history, is rarely a good sign for the Bears. The big question is how Moore will respond to this provocation. There is no subtlety to that statement by the Packers safety. He outright believes the receiver abandoned his quarterback. Both Moore and Williams have denied any such issues between them. Most of their frustrations were directed at the coaching staff and how the entire operation was being run.
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has since been fired. Thomas Brown is taking over the job. The hope is that he will install a more sensical passing scheme that will get the ball out of Williams’ hands faster. That should help establish a rhythm, leading to better accuracy. DJ Moore would become the beneficiary of such a development. Whether the Bears can pull it off against a Green Bay team coming off their bye week with a defense ranked 12th overall in the league. We’re about to see how competitive Moore truly is.
