LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears receiver DJ Moore insisted he left the field during a play last weekend because he was hurt — not frustrated. Moore said Wednesday he went to the sideline because he rolled his ankle when he cut back toward scrambling quarterback Caleb Williams in the opening minutes of a 29-9 loss at Arizona .
“I was coming back because I’d seen Caleb was scrambling,” he said. "My ankle went in and out. I was already – couldn’t stop, so my momentum took me out of bounds, and then I just walked off.
The noise, I hear it, seen it. Really didn’t care. It is what it is.
” The Bears had the ball at midfield when Williams dropped back and rolled to his left as he was being chased. Moore cut back toward his quarterback near the sideline. He hopped as he stepped out of bounds, walked toward the bench and took a seat.
But the play wasn't over. As Moore headed off the field, Williams spun away from a defender just when it looked like he might be sacked. He rolled toward the other side of the field before firing an incomplete pass to Keenan Allen.
Moore remained in the game, though he said the ankle bothered him the rest of the way. He caught four passes for 33 yards. “The initial roll of the ankle was hurting bad, so that’s why I like hobbled off and sat down," Moore said.
"I came back in and was kind of like, how do you say it — reindeering? I don’t know, whatever it’s called, however you do it — just down the middle of the field. Bu.