For the two-and-a-half years they’ve been together, receiver Darnell Mooney has considered himself to be of Justin Fields’ most vocal supporters. So it was no surprise Friday when he stuck up for the Bears quarterback, who, two days earlier, cited coaching as a reason he felt he was playing robotically — and later chided the media for reporting his words.
“I think he was more frustrated with [how] everything turned out, with the coaching in quotation marks,” Mooney said. “Other than that, no. I think he’s good, I think we’re good. And we’ll be fine. . . . It’s Week 2. Chill out.”
Yet, those around Halas Hall have little reason to relax after one of the most tumultuous weeks for the Bears in years. The team is 0-2 and riding a 12-game losing streak, with the Super Bowl champion Chiefs up next Sunday. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams quit Wednesday amid murky circumstances. And Fields, who has a 70.7 passer rating and fewer rushing yards than six other NFL quarterbacks, including the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, lashed out against the way he was being coached.
Mooney had no issue with Fields’ criticism of his own play. When Fields said he wanted to play more freely, “that was just him just being open and honest about how he felt about himself,” Mooney said.
“He wants to stay within the means of the play and what his technique is, but he also wants to play his best game as himself,” Mooney said. “That’s what he did to get here, and that’s what he’s gonna continue to do. He also wants to take a step forward. . . . It’s all a work in progress.”
Mooney seemed to have no beef with his own coaches. In practice, “everything is good, whether it’s schematically, team-wise, player-wise,” he said.
He repeated the claim that general manager Ryan Poles made Thursday.
“Nobody in this building ever thinks [Fields is] a point-fingers guy,” Mooney said. “He’s never like that. I’ve been knowing him for what, three years or whatever? Never been that type of guy. Never ever. So. We’ll see, man. We’ll see how this thing goes on Sunday. [If] we win Sunday, everybody’s going to be on us and we’re the best team in the world.”
The Bears are 12½-point underdogs. Losing would be a fitting end to a week that has been melodramatic even by their standards.
“Since I’ve been here, it’s been a lot of roller-coasters,” Mooney said. “So I’ve been kind of used to dealing with all the things outside, but we do a good job inside here of just squashing it out, flushing it all out and just understanding that we have a game to play.”
Flushing can be easier said than done.
“You can’t worry about it,” Mooney said. “You’ve just got to handle what you can do today. There’s nothing we can do but go try to win this game.”
