Bears wide receiver DJ Moore: Lining up at RB ‘daunting,’ but I want to ‘attack it’
Wide receiver DJ Moore isn’t ready to call himself a running back — he has been in one meeting, a solo session with position coach Eric Bieniemy — but he doesn’t mind lining up in the backfield, either.
That’s something the Bears have been toying with in practice, all in the name of finding creative ways to get Moore the ball.
That means learning pass concepts for receiver and running back.
‘‘It’s daunting,’’ Moore said Monday, ‘‘but I get paid the big bucks to do it, so why not?’’
Moore signed a four-year, $110 million extension before last season, then averaged 24 fewer receiving yards per game with Caleb Williams at quarterback than he did the season before with Justin Fields.
Head coach Ben Johnson and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle have been working on ways to get Moore alone in space.
‘‘DJ is one of those guys that you really love when the ball is in his hands,’’ Doyle said. ‘‘Just trying to find ways to be creative about how we do that. Trying to get him touches in every way we can. . . . He’s very natural back there. He has good vision. It’s one of those things that we’ll test it and mess with it a little bit and see where it goes.’’
Moore isn’t switching positions, but he said he even would be up for taking handoffs, if needed.
‘‘Just be an athlete at this point,’’ he said. ‘‘Just do it all and just attack it.’’
Notes
Thirty-four Bears — mostly those who played a few or no snaps Sunday — practiced for about 70 minutes. The rest received treatment.
Doyle said head coach Sean Payton, for whom he worked with the Saints and Broncos, liked to practice the day after preseason games. Payton got the idea from his mentor, Bill Parcells.
† The Bears signed running back Brittain Brown and cut injured cornerback Ameer Speed. Brown was drafted in the seventh round by the Raiders in 2022 and spent last season on the Seahawks’ practice squad.
† The Dolphins put running back Alexander Mattison on injured reserve after he hurt his neck Sunday. He had surgery in Chicago.
† With cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Terell Smith hurt, the Bears worked out eight defensive backs: Kalon Barnes, Millard Bradford, Mekhi Gardner, Kaleb Hayes, Keni-H Lovely, Mark Perry, Benny Sapp and Jason Taylor.