LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears' passing game has been a borderline disaster to start the 2022 NFL season. Chicago's offense ranks dead last in completions, completion percentage, passing yards, first downs, and quarterback rating.
Not all of the blame can be hung on quarterback Justin Fields, though. Nor should it. The pass protection has been leaky, and the Bears' receivers have had issues creating consistent separation.
Star receiver Darnell Mooney has also had several instances where he ran either a wrong or imprecise route.
Take the Bears' Week 4 loss to the New York Giants, for example.
On the much-discussed four verticals play where Fields failed to hit a wide-open Mooney down the seam, the receiver was supposed to bend his route to the right hash. Instead, he ran up the left hash because that's how the Bears ran that play last season under then-head coach Matt Nagy. During a critical red zone play, Mooney was supposed to run a corner route but thought he was supposed to stay in the formation and chip before releasing.
Those errors were critical and potentially kept points off the board. They also underscore just how much the Bears have put on Mooney's plate this season.
"It's a couple mental errors," wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said. "The thing about Mooney, probably on offense, he probably has the second-most difficult job of anyone on the offense. Quarterback is the first. With Mooney, at any point, depending on the personnel we call, he could be X, F or Z. All of that in the same drive. So, when we call certain personnel, he's got to put himself in that particular position. He can handle it, but sometimes, like anything, you do so many different things, especially all in the same drive, you might have a mental error here or there. It shouldn't happen but it does."
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Tolbert quickly notes that most receivers don't have to handle such an immense mental load. Most teams get receivers comfortable at one position in the offense before putting more on their plate, if they elect to do so at all.
The Bears are asking Mooney to know every receiver position in offensive coordinator Luke Getsy's offense and be able to transition between them seamlessly play-to-play.
Such an immense mental load will lead to errors. It's only human. Sometimes you hear the play as an X, but you're supposed to be the Z. Sometimes, like on the four verts, you revert to something you've previously had engrained in you for two seasons and run the route the wrong way.
It's on Mooney and Tolbert to clean up the errors and ensure the Bears' star receiver can be the Swiss Army Knife that Fields and the passing game need.
That starts in practice, which is a difficult task since Mooney won't be able to rep every position during practice.
"That's the thing where you've got to lock in and not do that," Tolbert said. "I understand it, but it's not an excuse. You've got to perform your job. He has to be better with that. I can help him be better with that by making sure – repping him in all the different spots because you can't run every play in every practice. It's just too much for your legs. So the plays he does not rep – we have walk-throughs as well – so the plays he does not rep in practice, give him those specific plays in the walk-through.
"Again, he has the second most difficult position on the offense because he plays all the positions on any give play. So, he can lock in and get better. We can help him with that."
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Is it a lot to ask Mooney, still only in his third NFL season, to handle all that and be proficient? Demand he learns all three receiver spots, always hear the play correctly, and be in the right spot?
Yes. But the Bears are confident Mooney is capable of excelling at the gargantuan task they have given him.
"He's a smart guy. He went to Tulane," Tolbert said with a laugh. "He's a smart guy. He can handle everything we are giving him. Just sometimes, you have a brain fart. It's difficult for a lot of people. A lot of people can't do that, so we don't put that on them.
"But Mooney, he can handle it."
This Bears attack needs an interchangeable No. 1 receiver to move seamlessly throughout the offense. There will be growing pains, as we've seen during the first four weeks.
But don't expect the Bears to alter their course. They have no doubt Darnell Mooney can handle everything they've given him. The success of the offense depends on it.