More From Moore, Scott Makes a Splash, Chase Chills, Fields in Motion, OTA Observations, and Other Bears Bullets

Being able to flip the calendar to another day isn’t taken for around here. And we’re in a new month, too. June is here. More OTAs and mandatory minicamps are around the corner. Soon enough, we’ll be trekking to Bourbonnais Halas Hall for training camp. Fun times ahead!

  • It is a good day to kick back and do some reading. The Athletic (Fishbain), Tribune (Wiederer), Sun-Times (Finley), and NBC Sports Chicago (Schrock) are among those with takeaways from the latest round of OTA practices.
  • The best thing to come from OTAs might be these two tweets:
  • Look at DJ Moore hauling in this pass from Justin Fields. My goodness. To make that throw against that coverage and for it to land in Moore’s hands is delightful to see. If it is off by a fraction, then it probably gets picked. Hey, maybe Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams wasn’t blowing smoke when discussing Fields’ improved accuracy.
  • I’m #NotAScout, but Fields’ throwing motion looks more compact and quicker than the last time I remember seeing it. In fairness, it has been 165 days since I saw Fields throw a ball in a meaningful game (if you’ll recall, I had personal issues to deal with during the Christmas Eve game against the Bills and was on bereavement leave shortly after that, so thanks in advance for cutting me a break on this). I’ll be curious to see Fields in person when training camp rolls around in July and August to see if this throwing motion sticks.
  • As for Moore’s future impact, you don’t have to squint in order to see how he can elevate Fields and the rest of the passing offense. Last year, we saw AJ Brown’s arrival via trade help the Eagles soar to new heights. But we also saw how much the Titans offense was missing Brown after the trade. Gotta keep in mind that it takes two to tango. So even though the Panthers have brought in some reputable receivers after trading Moore, none of them are at the peak of their powers. And none of them bring to the table what Moore did.
  • Good to see Moore isn’t the only wideout making waves at OTAs:
  • On the one hand, I know better than to get my hopes too high when it comes to rookie receivers. There is a real learning curve for newbies in the NFL that I can’t ignore. However, there has been a growing trend of Day 2 and Day 3 picks who are contributors in Year 1. Heck, Bears fans need to look no further than Darnell Mooney’s rookie year. How would you feel if Tyler Scott puts up 61 catches, 631 receiving yards, and 4 touchdowns while playing on 73% of the offense’s as a rookie? I’d be into it. And with Moore, Mooney, and Chase Claypool ahead of him on the depth chart, I can see Scott slide under coverage radars and sneakily pick up a bunch of chunk plays. You know … kinda like Mooney did when the attention was on Allen Robinson.
  • More wideout news? You betcha. Chase Claypool was present for this round of OTAs, but he wasn’t practicing. Chris Emma (670 The Score) reports a soft tissue issue is keeping Claypool on the sidelines for the time being. It is June 1, so I’m not freaking out about Claypool sitting out due to a soft tissue injury. This is the time when you want guys to rest up and not do further damage to their bodies. It was sounding like Claypool was making a slash and developing a rapport with QB1 coming into this week. And I don’t think missing some OTAs will hurt that progress.
  • Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine has the Bears as the third-most-improved offense after their offseason shuffling. Adding Moore is the highlight. And bolstering the right side of the offensive line with free-agent signing Nate Davis and first-round pick Darnell Wright helps things. But I’m digging the depth additions of tight end Robert Tonyan and running back D’Onta Foreman as players who fortify position groups I view to be strengths.
  • We got some clarity regarding Jaylon Johnson’s status and why he wasn’t at OTAs. But just because a player isn’t around, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t working. This nugget via CHGO’s Adam Hoge is worth sharing:
  • Zoom meetings! Ahhh … that takes me back to 2020ish.
  • ICYMI: Johnson said he plans on being at next week’s batch of OTA practices. That makes me feel good. Getting the band back together does that.
  • It is awesome to see the Bears do this:
  • I need to poke my head into this alternate universe to see where some other things stand:
  • This was a bummer for the Cubs (who would go on to lose 4-3), Justin Steele (who’s been an absolute delight to watch pitch), and my fantasy team (which is riddled with pitcher injuries at this time):
  • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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