Moore reacts to Waldron firing: "That was shocking" |
CHICAGO—When it comes down to it, the NFL is a business. The players in Chicago’s locker room were reminded of that Tuesday morning when the Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and promoted Thomas Brown to interim offensive coordinator.
“It’s the business. We (weren’t) putting out the results that we needed to, and that being said, they let go of Shane. That was shocking,” wide receiver DJ Moore said. “I don’t think anybody really asked for him to be gone. We expressed our frustration, but we never want to have somebody’s livelihood taken away, and it’s hard. But, onto Thomas and we got to back Thomas.” Moore has been on many offenses. However, he had his best season in his career last year with quarterback Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Now, that connection is not happening with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Waldron’s play-calling was not helping anything. For a player who is locked in with the Bears for the next six years, it would not be surprising for him to be worried about the franchise's direction. However, that does not appear to be the case. Brown has previous experience as an offensive coordinator. In fact, he interviewed to be the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears when they were looking to replace Getsy. He also brings energy to the team, which gives Moore confidence in his calling the plays for the offense. “Thomas (comes) in everyday with a lot of energy. If he’s covering us, giving us a look. But now, he’s up in the front of the room. It’s a lot of new energy,” Moore said. “He’s excited to be up there. He’s demanding, so we got to go out there and do the best we can.” The connection between Moore and Williams has not been there this season, and there were unconfirmed reports suggesting some veterans wanted second-year quarterback Tyson Bagent to start in Williams’ place. However, Moore shut that down pretty quickly. Despite the fact that they are still developing their chemistry, as Moore has a career-low 44.2 yards per game through the first nine games of the season, Moore is standing by his quarterback. “You (have) to have support for (Williams) now, no matter what. He’s going out there, busting his butt, trying to learn everything at once and the defense is throwing a lot at him,” Moore said. “So, you can’t really be mad at him, just got to still back him. Whatever he’s doing, he’s going to get better at (it) and we (are) with him.” Playing the Green Bay Packers this Sunday (Noon / FOX), the Bears do not have much time to develop a new offensive scheme, for Williams and his receivers to develop some chemistry, and for the run game to get back on track. However, given this historic rivalry, Bears fans would expect their team to show up more energetic and prepared than ever. Moore said it comes down to execution, and the chemistry on the offense will come over time. “We got to go out there and execute what’s on the game plan and that’s what we got to do,” Moore said. “All the connections around the offense (are) going to get better with time and the time is now. So, I think he knows that and everybody else in the room knows that. It’s going to work.”
