Three-Headed Bears Receiver Monster

If anyone can provide perspective on where the Bears passing game has come under quarterback Justin Fields, it's his good friend and target Darnell Mooney.

First, though, Mooney provided a revelation on something Fields can get better at doing.

That would be speaking.

"He definitely talks fast, so within the play call you definitely have to get used to that," Mooney said.

Mooney didn't want to call this an obstacle, though. He was merely pointing out how players who have been off the field for a while or newcomers like rookies might have difficulty upon returning to the huddle.

"I think that's the only thing difference-wise but other than that, if you know the play and if you know what your job is, you won't get rattled and stuff," Mooney said.

Mooney enters his contract year with total confidence in Fields and in what coaches and GM Ryan Poles have done with the offense.

"I feel very good about it, very good about it, the balance overall," he said. "I feel very strong about the game plan."

In Mooney's view, no one has seen what this passing attack is capable of because they haven't really shown it in preseason with the exception of two short passes that went for TDs.

Mooney himself had a very quiet preseason without a single target in games.

The starters barely played in preseason but Mooney has maintained all along they are getting better work in practices than in preseason games because Matt Eberflus' practices are difficult.

"Our practices are like games, so you have an understanding of how things will feel within the intensity of that play, the intensity of the down and distance and all of that," Mooney said. "They do a good job of preparing us, for sure, with all the situations and all that. It feels just like games."

Mooney had a long return from the ankle surgery he had last year but says he's 100% now and ready to resume what he had been doing. It included lining up at all three receiver positions.

"I'm going to be doing the same thing that I do, moving around the field and all those things," Mooney said. "I feel comfortable when I'm moving around. I don't like sitting in one spot. So I think that helps out with everybody."

It's a three-receiver group with Mooney, DJ Moore and Chase Claypool as good as what most Bears fans can remember in the city dating back to the Marc Trestman coaching era.

So many potential targets can make it easier for Fields' targets to be open.

"For sure, I feel like a lot of people make me do an easier job," Mooney said. "They definitely have proven they can do it on multiple occasions and I'm excited to see that and be with those guys on the same field, for sure."

However, Mooney isn't going to elevate the current receiver staff over some others he played on with the Bears.

"I don't know, I had some pretty good guys," Mooney said. "A-Rob (Allen Robinson), A-Mill (Anthony Miller). So I've had a bunch of good guys that are very athletic.

"Like, Anthony Miller, in my top tier, he's one of the best route runners I've ever seen. He's extremely explosive. So there are a lot of guys I've played with that, they're up there. So it's hard to answer that."

It seems a bit of an exaggeration considering Miller caught only six passes after the Bears cut him in 2021 with 134 career receptions, but mainly because Mooney has had over 80 catches himself and Claypool had been a big-play receiver in Pittsburgh as a rookie.

Mooney expects big things from Claypool.

"He understands what he can do as a player," Mooney said. "He's a different type of breed. He's huge, he's super fast. That's something you don't see every day."

The injury and missed time shouldn't be a problem for Claypool, Mooney said.

"The first couple of weeks when he was doing his thing in camp before he got hurt, he looks the same as then," Mooney said. "I'm excited to see him back on the field. We've got some monsters on our team. It's going to be a nice season."

That is, it could be if only Fields talks a little slower.

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