LAKE FOREST — The music was blasting inside the Walter Payton Center as the Bears’ first-team offense broke the huddle in team drills on Wednesday.
The DJ stationed near the back right corner by one of the end zones started to play “Go DJ” by Lil Wayne. DJ Moore lined up to the right side of the formation on the outside. Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson lined up opposite him.
As Justin Fields waited to make sure everyone was lined up correctly before calling for the ball, the lyrics “Go DJ, that’s my DJ” played on the speaker system. At the snap, Moore accelerated off the line of scrimmage and got behind Stevenson on a vertical route. Fields placed the ball only where his receiver could get it, and Moore scored with “That’s my DJ” playing in the background.
The Fields and Moore connection is picking up right where it left off in minicamp. On the first play of the Wednesday practice, Fields connected with Moore on a slant route for a touchdown with Jaylon Johnson in coverage.
“Saw some real nice throws out there from Justin,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “Connected with DJ, connected with EQ, Clay, tight ends, Bobby, he connected with pretty much everyone. So, real good there in terms of the rhythm and timing of that looked good for the first day.”
It was an eventful day at Halas Hall.
Here are some notable plays from the first training camp practice.
Practice Notes
- Tyrique Stevenson got himself a PBU while he was in coverage on Chase Claypool during 1 on 1s. Justin Fields attempted to fit the ball towards the left portion of the field, but Stevenson made a good play on the ball.
- Kyler Gordon locked up Nsimba Webster during a rep in 1 on 1s. Gordon moved his feet, stayed in position and didn’t give quarterback Tyson Bagent any room or an opportunity to complete a pass.
- Daurice Fountain had a highlight-level play over Josh Blackwell. Fields threw Fountain a high ball towards the left corner of the end zone. Fountain elevated over Blackwell and came down with the catch.
- Darnell Mooney started off the practice by participating in individual drills and by doing some stretching with a Bears staff member. He saw his first action during 7 on 7s. On his first rep, he ran a beautiful slant route that had Stevenson completely off balance. Fields looked Mooney’s way and completed the pass to the wide open receiver.
- Khari Blasingame got a few targets in 7 on 7s. On the first rep, TJ Edwards had good coverage and knocked the ball lose. However, on the second attempt, Blasingame made a contested catch against Tremaine Edmunds. Blasingame had to really fight to prevent that ball from falling incomplete.
- During the team portion of practice, Noah Sewell got some reps with the first-team defense. On one play, Sewell blitzed up the middle and Khalil Herbert was supposed to block him. Sewell went by Herbert, impacting Fields’ throw, which fell incomplete.
- Fields connected with Claypool for a touchdown. Claypool lined up in the slot and beat Kyler Gordon on a post route. As soon as Claypool created separation, Fields put the ball directly on his receiver. Really good rep between the two.
- The second-team offense led by PJ Walker had a rough sequence of plays. Walker was forced to throw one pass away due to good coverage by the defense. Then on the next play, Walker attempted to hit a receiver in the middle of the field, but the ball was late and fell incomplete.
- Walker did bounce back with a touchdown throw to Tyler Scott. Jaylon Jones was the corner opposite of Scott, but it appeared Jones wanted to pass the receiver off to the safety, but nobody ended up covering Scott on the play.
- Terrell Lewis beat Darnell Wright during a rep in team drills. Fields was forced to step up in the pocket, and likely would’ve been sacked, but he completed a pass to Moore.
- After Cole Kmet had a false start with DeMarcus Walker lined up opposite of him, Kmet got some separation on Gordon, and Fields found his tight end on a drag route going to the right for a nice completion.
- Gervon Dexter Sr. timed a Walker pass perfectly and batted down the ball at the line of scrimmage.
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