If you follow Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore on social media, you might notice a shooting star emoji in nearly everything he posts. It's in his X/Twitter bio, Instagram captions, and almost everywhere else he posts. With it being tied to him so closely, surely there is a deep connection or story behind the meaning.
"It's the little star that you get on Mario Kart," he said.
That works, too, and it makes sense considering when Moore has the ball in his hands, it feels like he has the Mario star power up that makes him move faster than everyone else on the field. It's just one of the many different things we learned about Moore, who sat down with Bears Wire for an exclusive interview to talk about the 2024 season, the wide receiver room, quarterback Caleb Williams, and much more.
Back to work after the bye week
Moore and the Bears returned to Halas Hall this week following the bye week as they prepare to take on the Washington Commanders. The team needed the rest after their big win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, but Moore wanted to get back out on the field.
"It wasn't tough to recover, but I wish we were playing this past weekend and had the bye week a little bit later in the season," Moore said, "because that's where the real test begins."
The Bears will undoubtedly be tested later in the season when they begin their divisional games. With no game on the schedule, Moore was doing some early scouting over the weekend, too.
"I watched the Lions and Vikings game and the Green Bay game because they had a division, so just see them play, and then I was relaxing the rest of the time," he said when asked about his bye week plans. There are still a few weeks to go before those games pop up on the schedule, but it's never bad to check in on the division.
Partnership with C4 Energy
Part of the reason Moore might be flying up and down the field and feeling recovered is because of his choice of energy drink. This season, Moore partnered with C4 Energy, helping fans out by giving away cans of the energy drink and even hooking up the locker room.
"The drinks have been a hit in the locker room," he said. "They love drinking the C4. I mean, you get that boost. And it's fun with all the different flavors they have available."
There are indeed many flavors to choose from, but Moore didn't hesitate when asked which one he preferred. "I go with the Starburst; that's been the best so far."
You can purchase C4® Energy in The Vitamin Shoppe stores nationwide with HEB, Dicks Sporting Goods, Academy Sports, GNC, and Target. You can also find it online at Cellucor.com and Amazon.
Chemistry with Caleb Williams and his teammates
For only being in the NFL for seven years, Moore has caught passes from quite a few quarterbacks throughout his career. Cam Newton, Kyle Allen, PJ Walker, Will Grier, Sam Darnold, and Baker Mayfield were all under center at one point when he was with the Panthers, and he had Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent last year in Chicago.
Now, he's with Caleb Williams, and it's been an adjustment for him, but one that keeps looking better and better each week. Still, Moore knew it would take some time given his age and experience.
"Shoot, he's the youngest QB I played with. Everybody else was either the same year or older than me," he said when asked about the differences between Williams and all the other quarterbacks he's had. "But he's been coming along, getting better week by week. You know, he's been challenged by us, the coaching staff, and even himself to be better going in. I know he wants to be better each week, and, I mean, he's doing it, so just hope we keep it."
Much was made about Moore calling Williams "bossy" while referring to him as his "little bro" prior to the London game, but the receiver is happy to see his young quarterback take charge of the offense more and more.
"He's got the keys to everything to make it go," Moore said. "So you want him to really just own it and let us do us, and he tells what he sees, and we tell him what we see, like the back and forth communication of everything."
It's not just the quarterback that's different; the receiver room was overhauled as well with the additions of Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze during the offseason. Moore has shown a lot of love to those two, though, and knows being selfish about targets isn't going to get him to the end goal of winning a championship.
"We all want the same thing, and that's a win," he said when asked how tough it might be when they're all competing for targets. "I mean, if we don't figure out a way to win between the three of us, or one of us goes off for a game, then it's like, what are we doing? That's the big thing."
Between Moore and Allen each having a multi-touchdown game, while Odunze went off earlier in the year, it seems like they're handling the target share as well as they can be.
Favorite Bears memory
It's hard to believe Moore has only been a member of the Bears for a year and a half. It seems like he's already produced dozens of highlights and special moments in a Bears uniform, from his historic 230-yard day against the Washington Commanders to big catches in the fourth quarter against division rivals. He's stood out in a number of ways on the field, but when asked about his favorite memory as a Bear, the dynamic receiver mentioned a game that didn't count in the standings.
"My first preseason touchdown, when I first touched the ball," Moore said. "That was probably the most electric thing that has happened, because it was the first time I got here, and then it was the first preseason game, and I went for a touchdown."
The play was a screen pass to Moore against the Tennessee Titans, who caught the ball and raced up field for the score. It was a precursor for what was to come, and it clearly stood out in his mind.
The short passing game is where Moore has been able to do a good deal of damage to defenses, especially last season with many screen plays in place. This offseason, though, he wanted to get more well-rounded with his routes and where he's lined up on the field.
"Just working on moving around a lot, playing inside, outside, wherever they need me, has been the most thing," Moore said when asked about which part of his game he worked on improving. "So working on things like quickness and short intermediate routes has been what I was doing."
Expectations for the rest of the season
The Bears are 4-2 going into what should be a difficult final 11 games. This isn't unfamiliar territory for Moore, though, who has seen his Panthers teams start out hot before going ice cold late in the year. Why will this season be different?
"Because we are battle tested," he said. "Coming off of last year, most of the people are back, and I know that feeling of just being on the losing end—that's the one thing motivating us, and then playing complimentary football is also the big factor. We got the offense going, and the defense has been especially playing well. So now that we're playing complimentary football, it's been lovely to see."
Part of the reason for those wins stacking up has been head coach Matt Eberflus' style of leaning on his players. The leadership group that has been put in place has been effective, and Moore says it's only getting better.
"The leadership group meets with him weekly, so he takes what we say and tries to implement it, and that's how he was last year," Moore said. "And this year, you can see he's really honing in on leaning on the leadership group."
There is belief in the locker room in what general manager Ryan Poles has put together, and Moore wants to keep the foot on the gas after seeing what this team has done through six games.
"We can go as far as we want to," he said when asked about how far the Bears can go this year. "If we don't relax, and everybody just stays on the same page and hones in on the details when we get later on in the season. So with that being said, probably just staying together, no matter the highs or lows, never taking anything for granted."
Who knows, maybe the Bears catch their own Mario star and find a way to roll through the competition like they have done the last few weeks. With the way Moore and this team have looked before the bye week, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: DJ Moore talks expectations, favorite Bears memory, C4, and more
