The biggest mystery of Week 9 has finally been solved. During Chicago’s 29-9 loss to Arizona on Sunday, there was a bizarre moment in the first quarter of the game that involved Bears receiver DJ Moore.
With just over 11 minutes left to play in the opening quarter, the Bears were on offense and sitting at Arizona’s 48-yard line. On a second-and-6 play, things started to break down for Caleb Williams, who immediately started to scramble around and look for an open receiver, but Moore wasn’t an option, because he wasn’t on the field.
In what was definitely a bizarre scene at the time, Moore stepped out of bounds at Arizona’s 38-yard line and then LEFT THE FIELD while the play was still happening.
Moore has been frustrated this season, so some fans thought he was quitting on the team, but that’s not the case. The Bears receiver finally explained what happened and it turns out that he suffered a minor injury, so he headed to the bench.
“Tweaked the ankle,” Moore told the media on Wednesday. “I was coming back [toward the QB], because I’d seen Caleb was scrambling. My ankle went in and out. I already couldn’t stop, so my momentum took me out of bounds and then I just walked off.”
And yes, Moore is aware that people weren’t happy about him leaving he field.
“The noise? I hear it, seen it, but don’t care. It is what it is,” the receiver said.
He was then asked if he understood why fans might have been frustrated with him.
“I mean, they can take it how they want to, which they did without even knowing what happened mid-play,” Moore said.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus also mentioned the ankle when he was asked about why Moore left the field.
“That’s what I saw and that’s what it was,” Eberflus said, via ESPN.com.
Based on how the rest of the game went, it seems pretty clear that Moore didn’t quit on his team. The Bears receiver only missed one offensive snap in a game where he ended up catching four passes for 33 yards.