LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Before calling his first game as the coach of the Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson peeled back the curtain on his process as a playcaller and how sharing the wealth on offense consumes his thoughts.
"That's what keeps me up at night, is trying to make sure that all of our horses are fed," Johnson said on Sept. 3. "They're super talented players, and we just need to get them a little space and the ball in their hands, and they can make big things happen."
DJ Moore has been making big things happen throughout his eight years in the NFL. But he had just one catch for -4 yards during Sunday's 28-21 loss at the Green Bay Packers, the worst receiving output of his career. Even though Johnson called the plays, even he was surprised. With Rome Odunze sidelined with a foot injury, Johnson expected Moore to be featured more than any other player on offense. After all, Moore was on the field for 56 of Chicago's 68 plays, the most of any non-offensive lineman or quarterback Caleb Williams.
"I thought we had him out there as the primary for a number of instances and we just couldn't find a way to get him the ball, whether that's coverage dictated or other things that go on within a play," Johnson said. "So, do I want to get DJ Moore going? Absolutely. Do I want to get all these guys the ball? Absolutely. They've all earned that right, and I think it makes us a better, more well-rounded offense when we have all these guys contributing at that level."
Moore was the centerpiece of the haul the Bears got back from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the No. 1 pick in 2023, and he provided Chicago with an immediate return on investment with 1,364 receiving yards during the 2023 season. That earned him a four-year, $110 million contract extension ahead of the 2024 season, which made him the highest-paid player on offense.
Since then, his production has dipped. Moore is on pace for the worst statistical season of his career despite being the team's second-leading receiver. Through 13 games, Moore has 39 catches for 498 yards and three touchdowns.
While his 2025 output has sparked conversation about his role and his future within the Bears offense, Moore is focused on accomplishing something he has never done in his career: going to the playoffs and finishing the year on a team with a winning record.
"It doesn't bother me," Moore said of his workload. "I'd rather win than have all these amazing stats, and we've been doing that."
As the Bears (9-4) try to figure out how to get him more involved when they host the Cleveland Browns this Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Fox), it's important to point out the reasons behind Moore's role shift and statistical decline.
Not as many targets
When the Bears added tight end Colston Loveland with the No. 10 pick and came back a day later to draft wide receiver Luther Burden III 39th, it foreshadowed a different workload for Moore.
In 2023, Moore was the clear-cut No. 1 with 645 more receiving yards and 23 more targets than the next player, tight end Cole Kmet. During Williams' rookie season in 2024, Moore led the Bears with 140 targets, which he turned into 98 catches for 966 yards and six touchdowns.
Moore has not logged a 100-yard receiving game this season and saw his most targets (seven) in the Bears' win over the Steelers (five catches, 64 yards, two TDs) and their loss to the Ravens (four catches, 73 yards). Against Green Bay, Moore was targeted three times, which was tied for his fewest in a game in 2025.
At Lambeau Field, Burden was targeted six times, which resulted in four catches for 67 yards. Loveland had five targets and four receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown.
"I can't be mad when the whole group is eating," Moore said. "So it is what it is."
Moore has accounted for 16% of the Bears' total targets this season, which is still the second most on the team behind Odunze. That figure was 27% in 2024, which marked the highest on the team and seventh highest in the NFL.
A role change
As it became clear that Odunze, the ninth pick in 2024, was emerging as the Bears' No. 1 receiver this offseason, Johnson experimented with moving Moore across offensive formations along with playing him in the backfield, where he has been on 29 snaps. That's the most action he has seen back there since his rookie season in 2018 (35 snaps in the backfield).
The biggest change in Johnson's offense is how Moore is being used less in the short-to-intermediate game and is being reserved for deep throws. His average depth of target went from 7.1 yards in 2024 to 10 yards this season.
"There's a lot of weapons in our offense," offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. "We try to move them all around. There's a lot of guys that we're trying to target, and so he gets moved around a little bit.
"He's a smart player, so we feel really comfortable moving him to different spots and so that can be a negative or a strength depending on where we're trying to go with the ball. But I just would say about DJ, he's done a great job of doing exactly what we've asked of him and he continues to do so."
Last season, Moore led the Bears with 116 targets thrown 14 or fewer yards down field, which was 25 more than the next-closest Bears player (Keenan Allen) and seventh most in the NFL. In 2025, that number has plummeted to 41. That's third most on the team behind Odunze (53) and fellow wideout Olamide Zaccheaus (52).
Moore has also seen fewer screens thrown his way with nine after being the target on 29 screen passes in 2024.
"I feel like my role changes week to week," Moore said. "Sometimes I go deep, sometimes I'm intermediate, sometimes I'm short. I mean, it really just depends on who we playing and how we see the game plan."
The connection with Williams
Moore's chemistry with Williams has been under a microscope for two years in large part because his numbers haven't risen to the level he enjoyed in Carolina with three straight 1,100-yard seasons (2019 to 2021).
Through 13 games this season, 25% of Moore's targets have been tracked by ESPN Research as either an overthrow or underthrow, which is the sixth highest among the 70 players who have had at least 60 targets. Odunze has the highest percentage at 30%.
Part of that has to do with Moore getting fewer short throws than last year. The other can be attributed to Williams' accuracy struggles. The 24-year-old quarterback ranks 33rd in the NFL in completion percentage (57.8%) and has been off target on 22% of his passes (worst in the NFL).
Williams has thrown three touchdowns and zero interceptions while targeting Moore. He threw 9 TDs and 4 picks when targeting all other wide receivers.
"I think Caleb's doing a great job of doing what we're asking him to do within the concept," Doyle said. "You know, we're trying to build these plays to feed everybody. And you know it just so happens like Ben has talked about it before, there's plays in every game for all of our guys, and sometimes he's the primary and the coverage doesn't dictate that the ball goes there. And so both those guys are doing a good job of staying the course, and they're going to continue to do so."