For the second week in a row, the Chicago Bears had a game clip go viral for all the wrong reasons. In the wake of the Bears’ 29-9 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 9, a clip of DJ Moore walking off the field in the middle of a first-quarter play circulated widely online, catching the attention of multiple national analysts on social media. But Moore had a simple explanation for why he stepped out on the play Wednesday as the Bears resumed practice at Halas Hall.
He was injured. “Tweaked the ankle,” Moore said. “I was coming back because I’d seen Caleb (Williams) was scrambling.
My ankle went in and out. I 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 play started less than four minutes into the game.
Moore ran 15 yards outside the left hash and then cut toward the left sideline. When he saw quarterback Caleb Williams starting to scramble, he cut back toward Williams. Then he stepped out bounds, took a couple of hops into the Bears sideline and headed for the bench, where he sat down.
Meanwhile, Williams extended the play for another five seconds before throwing a pass attempt as wide receiver Keenan Allen was called for offensive interference. Moore returned on the next play and ran a route 20 yards upfield. But he said the injury lingered, and he did work on the sideline throughout the game to make sure he was ready to play.
“The initial roll of.