Why D.J. Moore is Already Pressuring the Chicago Bears to Keep Justin Fields
By Peter Jurich
What is the Alternative for D.J. Moore and the Chicago Bears?
The name Marvin Harrison Jr. is recognizable to many football fans, and not just because of who else shares it. Chicago Bears fans, Justin Fields, and D.J. Moore all have their own relationship with the player, but the latter seems to want him as his running mate in Chicago. Moore and Harrison grew up alongside each other in Philadelphia and even participated at one point on the same track team. The Buckeye connection between Fields and Harrison is even more obvious.
Adding a top-end receiver, especially Harrison, to help Fields seems like a better alternative than replacing the quarterback altogether, at least in Moore's eyes. To date, the ability to acquire Moore as a part of the deal for the first overall pick has probably been Poles's best move, and upsetting that player would seem to be a bad idea.
That being said, the general manager may not want to set the precedent that players can impact his decision-making. But Moore's desire to instead add another offensive target at least points to the fact that his comments are not selfish and perhaps just the opposite.
Moore is not the only player in public support of Fields, as several players, even defensive players, have come to the quarterback's side. This week, safety Jaquan Brisker told NBC Chicago "I want Justin. We all want Justin. Let's go! That's our guy. That guy makes plays for sure and he's a leader. We like a guy like that. He's giving it all he's got... He's amazing for sure. You can't let a guy like that slip."
Even the recently acquired Montez Sweat had nothing but praise: "He makes plays like the Lamar Jacksons and the Patrick Mahomes', and guys don't really hype it up like they would other quarterbacks. I'm happy he's on my side."
dark. Next. 7 Chicago Bears likely playing their last game with the team. 7 Chicago Bears likely playing their last game with the team
A lot will go into the thought process of what to do with the first overall pick, and a lot of those factors will change dramatically from now until April, but still, it appears many players would be upset by a change of scenery at the quarterback position. For better or worse, this team has rallied around their quarterback, and removing him from the culture could backfire in unquantifiable terms.