DJ Moore is as dependable as the sunrise.
The veteran receiver has played in 77 straight games dating back to 2020 when he was a member of the Panthers. He started all 17 contests with Carolina in 2021 and 2022 and with the Bears in 2023 and 2024 and hasn't missed a game this season.
Moore's ironman streak is especially impressive given that he played in last Sunday's win over the Saints just six days after he had been hospitalized in the Washington area after sustaining a groin injury in a victory over the Commanders.
Asked how he was able to persevere and suit up, Moore said: "Me being me. Just going out there and playing the game I love and just forced my way through it."
In his first season with the Bears in 2023, Moore sustained an ankle injury in a Week 11 win over the Lions but didn't miss a game. Last year he was listed as questionable for a Week 14 contest versus the 49ers due to a quadriceps injury but was active and caught six passes for 49 yards.
On Thursday, Moore was limited in practice due to a hip injury.
"DJ has done a great job of playing through things," said offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. "He just keeps coming back. A lot of times you can have a receiver on your team or a player that may be higher paid that maybe has a different attitude towards things. He does not. He is one of us and I love the way he competes. I love the way he battles through those things. It's appreciated by all of us, his effort to be out there and fighting with his guys."
Injury update
Four Bears players did not practice Thursday due to injuries: tight end Cole Kmet (back), running back Roschon Johnson (back), offensive tackle Braxton Jones (knee) and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (shoulder).
In addition to Moore, running back D'Andre Swift (groin), linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (ankle) and defensive back Kyler Gordon (groin/calf) were limited.
Stepping up
Edmunds' availability for Sunday's game against the Ravens in Baltimore will be closely monitored. The eighth-year pro has excelled this season, registering 61 tackles, one sack, three interceptions, two tackles-for-loss and four pass breakups.
After playing mostly middle linebacker last year, Edmunds was moved to the weakside position this year by new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
"His athleticism allows him to play that position a little bit more," Allen said. "That player plays a little bit more in space, and so you're generally looking for a little bit better athlete to play that position. That was something that [linebackers coach] Richard Smith and I talked about in the springtime and yet that wasn't where he was real comfortable at the time. We kind of force-fed it a little bit throughout training camp knowing that in the back of our mind that was a potential opportunity.
"I think as he's played it more and as he's gotten more comfortable with the position, he's starting to understand where his plays are going to be and where he's going to have an opportunity to make plays."
On the ground
Doyle believes that the recent emergence of the running game is the result of improved fundamentals.
After rushing for an average of 102.3 yards in their four games before the bye, the Bears ran for 145 and 222 yards versus the Commanders and Saints, respectively.
The Bears are doing all the things that Doyle listed when he was asked a few weeks ago what an efficient running game would look like.
"We're physical on the perimeter, the tight ends are blocking well, and our O-line is in concert," he said. "They're communicating well, and that's showing up in the backs. [Against the Saints] the backs ran very hard, and they've done a good job of bringing to life the things that we've been really preaching ad nauseum since the beginning of the season and since we got here."
In last Sunday's win over New Orleans, Swift rushed for 124 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries and rookie Kyle Monangai ran for 81 yards and one TD on 13 attempts.
Asked if that's how the Bears would like to ideally split the workload between the two backs, Doyle said: "I don't think there's a carbon copy where you say, 'Hey, this is how we're going to do it.' Every single week is different. It was great last week and sometimes one of those guys is going to have to carry a heavier load depending on what kind of game we think it's going to be. However, we're really comfortable with either of those guys in the game. We feel really good about them running between the tackles as well as on the perimeter. I was happy with the way they played."
Big hits are contagious
Josh Blackwell, Travis Homer and Daniel Hardy all delivered big hits on special teams against the Saints that fired up the crowd and their teammates.
"It just drives home my point of our identity that we want to show up and what we want our room to look like," said special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. "You could hear some of those hits and [they were] all legal, all good clean hits, guys using good form tackling.
"The way the coverage unit got after it last week is what we want to see. That is what we have seen in the past and that is what we want to continue to see: extremely violent, legal football at the point of attack on kickoff coverage."
Hightower has seen the big hits have a residual effect.
"I think it's contagious, for sure," he said. "I feel like any time somebody wants to make a play, I feel like others want to feed off it. And it's our responsibility on special teams to create momentum for the defense when they charge out on the field.
"I know Jaquan Brisker and [Kevin] Byard and all those guys, Tremaine, they love it when those hits happen. You can just see how they run out onto the field, so I tell those guys that's our responsibility. You have a huge return and how do they go out onto the field? They go out on the field not as fired up as they would be if you tackle them at the 20-yard line."
