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Courtney Cronin
LAKE FOREST, Ill.– Caleb Williams The latter stressed the importance of being on the same page with your wide receivers. dj moore Faced criticism for route-running attempt on play that resulted in game-changing interception Chicago Bears‘ 20-17 overtime loss Los Angeles Rams.
After the game, Williams chalked up the interception to a “miscommunication” between himself and Moore. Williams said he had not spoken to Moore about the play as of Monday morning, but he thinks there should be conversations with Moore and all of Chicago’s receivers.
“Little things like that show up in moments that you might not have talked about to be on the same page, maybe you talked about it in Week 1 or Week 6 and it shows up [Week 20],” Williams said. “You know, it’s something for me to learn, a learning experience, it’s something for us to learn as an offense and a team. “We’ll do that at some point.”
Moore was not present in the locker room after the game nor during Monday’s locker cleanout.
The Bears faced second-and-8 from the Rams’ 48-yard line on their lone possession in overtime after Los Angeles went three-and-out to start the extra period. With time to throw from a clean pocket, Williams took a downfield shot on a pass that would have put the Bears in field goal range. But instead of connecting with Moore, Williams’ throw was blocked by the Rams’ defense. work curls Cut in front of the wide receiver.
Los Angeles won the game and advanced to the NFC Championship Game by kicking a 42-yard field goal on their ensuing possession.
Against the Rams, Moore had a team-high five catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. The 28-year-old receiver was criticized for appearing to jog his routes and drifting up the field instead of running quickly after starting the play in the opposite direction from where Williams had targeted him.
“Like I said, it was just a miscommunication,” Williams said. “Just trying to get him level at the safety. Since the second safety was down, I thought we had enough space there so I tried to get him leveled. It was just a miscommunication. His route is to go deep and attack the angle, which he did. We thought we were going to go under the safety at that point. It didn’t work out that way.”
As the Bears began their offseason on Monday, fellow wide receiver Rome Odunze It was confirmed that he would not require surgery to repair a foot injury that had limited him in his second season. Odunze was limited to 12 games due to the injury, which he said would resolve with rest.
“It was tough, man,” Odunze said of playing despite the injury. “It was tough… We play through injuries. It’s part of the game. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses about the foot, but it’s something I was dealing with.”
The 2024 No. 9 pick expressed disappointment with how his sophomore season went after coming out of training camp as Williams’ top target. Odunze finished third on the Bears in receiving yards (661) and fourth in receptions (44) and tied for the team lead with six receiving touchdowns.
