Bears’ Moore dazzles in debut with 62-yard TD

Courtney Cronin, ESPN Staff WriterAug 12, 2023, 07:39 PM ET
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CHICAGO — It took one play for Bears quarterback Justin Fields and his new No. 1 wide receiver, DJ Moore, to show off the chemistry they’ve built throughout training camp during Saturday’s 23-17 preseason win over the Tennessee Titans.

Moore was targeted once — on the third play of the Bears’ first offensive series — and took a screen pass 62 yards down the home team sideline at Soldier Field for a touchdown.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in a first preseason game,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “It’s a credit to the offense. We’ve been working really hard on those screens like I said last week and they’re operating better. Our timing still has to get better on those but it’s really a credit to the athleticism of DJ and [running back Khalil] Herbert as well but it’s also guys blocking, certainly on the first one.”

The Bears ranked last in yards after the catch (1,132) last season. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Moore had 65 YAC on his touchdown reception.

“As a receiver, for your first catch to go 60 yards, you can’t really draw it up any better,” Fields said. “It was awesome. I told him, ‘That might be legendary right there.’ I know he was excited; he came over to the bench and was like, ‘I’m done for the rest of the game.’ It was just cool to see. I’m definitely excited for the weeks to come.”

Fields and the first-team offense recorded back-to-back touchdowns during two drives that totaled seven plays. Chicago’s second score came four plays after Moore’s when Fields dumped off a pass to Herbert, which the running back took 56 yards to the end zone.

“When you increase your skill on your football team the catches and the runs get larger, and the stat line looks better,” Eberflus said. “So we are going to continue to do that, and certainly we are going to take our shots down the field as well, but it’s a good thing to see. And it’s not a real big surprise to anyone that has been around because we have all seen it in practice, so just have to keep working. We have a long way to go.”

Fields’ day was done after he went 3-for-3 for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Chicago did not rack up 50 YAC on a single play all last season. On Saturday, it had two such plays. Both went for touchdowns on throws behind the line of scrimmage, a result of the emphasis the Bears have placed on developing a quick passing game during the first three weeks of training camp.

“It’s amazing,” Moore said. “[A] quarterback always wants to have that in his back pocket. Throw it to your playmakers and just let them go score or make a big play out of it. Just to have that, it probably calms their nerves. For all the quarterbacks, it just calms their nerves.”

Added Fields: “Any time you have those playmakers where you can throw the ball 5 yards, run a slant and he can take it 60 yards, that makes my job easier, that makes the O-line’s job easier and after a period of time where you keep dinking and dunking those short passes, the defensive coordinator gets impatient, starts blitzing more, pressure more, playing more man coverage and that’s when those deep shots naturally happen. I think it’s going to be a good thing for us this year.”

The nerves Moore said he felt pregame dissipated quickly after he scored his first touchdown in a Bears uniform. The addition of the 26-year-old wide receiver has been the focal point of the offseason in Chicago and brought new energy to a franchise that had a league-worst 3-14 record in 2022.

“I just think when you add a playmaker like that to your football team, there’s excitement,” Eberflus said. “Just automatic excitement in the whole building. It doesn’t matter what side you’re playing on because you know this guy is special and he can make a lot of things happen. I would say that his attitude and his personality is very infectious so he kind of lights up the room when he comes into it … that’s kind of a cool vibe to have in the locker room and with the coaches. He brings all that energy to the team.”

No one knows that better than the defensive backs tasked with guarding Moore in practice. Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had a premonition that Moore was headed toward the end zone after weeks of seeing the wide receiver burn defensive backs in camp with his speed.

“Once he made that first cut, I was like, ‘He’s gone,'” Stevenson said. “He has that [big] play ability whenever he touches the ball, anyway. He was saying in practice, ‘They’re not going to tackle me’ and I’m looking at him crazy and he just made me a believer, to be honest.”