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Former Chicago Bears All-Pro linebacker Lance Briggs doesn’t some of what he’s been seeing from DJ Moore and Rome Odunze.
After the Bears’ disappointing 38-13 Week 14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Briggs, who currently serves as an analyst for CHGO Sports, called out the dropped pass he saw from Moore. During the first quarter, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had passes by Moore and Keenan Allen dropped before getting sacked, effectively ending the drive before it started.
“A lot of people want to point the finger at Caleb, and there is blame to be had from him. But you’ve got to be reliable when he throws the doggone ball. … Catch the ball,” Briggs said on CHGO Sports’ After Dark Postgame podcast on December 8.
Briggs also detailed the mindset he believes WRs must have, and he was disappointed he didn’t see the following from Moore specifically.
“You know: ‘I’m going to catch this football. If he can’t get it to me, it’s on him. But if he gets it to me (and I drop it), it’s on me.’ So help (Caleb) out, because after those drops, it’s followed by sacks. We catch those drops, we extend the drive — we don’t get the sacks,” Briggs reasoned.
Lance Briggs Wants DJ Moore to Be More Self-Critical
“I don’t know what’s not clicking, but we need to get it going,” Moore said after the loss to the 49ers, via Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic.
Briggs believes there’s a lack of accountability there.
“In a loss you talk about yourself. In a win, you talk about the team,” Briggs added, also noting the type of things he’d like to hear Moore say instead: “What can you do better? I need to catch the ball better. I need to be more consistent. I’m too good of a player to drop these balls that these footballs that that Caleb is throwing to me.”
Briggs has a point. Acquired from the Carolina Panthers in a 2023 trade that also involved multiple draft picks, Moore quickly established himself as a key player in the Bears’ offense. He started all 17 games last year, finishing with career-highs in receptions (96) and receiving yards (1,364) to go with eight touchdowns.
After the 2023 season, the Bears secured Moore’s talents with a four-year, $110 million contract extension, including $82.6 million guaranteed, making it the largest extension in team history.
So far this season, with Williams under center, Moore has seen his production drop a bit. He has played in 13 games, leading the team with 68 receptions for 712 yards and five touchdowns.
Per PFF, he’s ranked 8th in the NFL in targets (101) and 9th in catches, but he does have three drops. Considering he dropped two passes on 132 targets all of last season, it’s fair to wonder if something’s off somewhere.
In addition to questioning Moore’s play against San Francisco, Briggs also took umbrage with something he saw from Odunze.
Lance Briggs on Rome Odunze: Don’t Celebrate When You’re Getting Beat
Odunze had the first multi-TD game of his young career, finishing with four catches for 412 yards and two scores against the 49ers. Odunze celebrated after one, which Briggs didn’t like.
“I know you’re a rookie, you’re young, but when it’s 31 to 6 and you score a touchdown, I just don’t feel like that’s the time to celebrate,” Briggs said. “You know, you’re bringing attention to yourself, and the attention needs to be on the team. You’re not playing well enough for us to be putting out the dance that you’ve been working on all week.”
“That dance you were working on all week was supposed to be performed when you score a touchdown, and we’re competitively in this game,” Briggs continued. “We’re not even competitively in the game. So that lets me know that your mind’s not where it’s supposed to be.”
Things won’t get any easier for the Bears to close the season, as they have four games against four likely playoff teams remaining (Vikings, Packers, Lions and Seahawks). Briggs is right — the focus hasn’t been there. We’ll see if the team can find some positives in the month it has left.
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Bears Great Lance Briggs Calls Out DJ Moore & Rome Odunze