5 things we learned at Chicago Bears practice, including the ‘best friends’ rapport between DJ Moore and Justin Fields

The Chicago Bears are completing organized team activities and will be back at Halas Hall next week for a mandatory three-day minicamp. Coaches and players feel encouraged with the progress they’re making through the offseason program and hope to squeeze a little more out of their remaining practices before separating for a short summer break in advance of training camp.

Here are five things we learned Wednesday from practice and during interviews with coaches and players.

1. The chemistry continues to grow between new receiver DJ Moore and quarterback Justin Fields.

With each practice, it has becoming increasingly apparent that Fields is gaining trust in Moore, who is showing a consistent ability to get open. The most attention-grabbing endorsement Wednesday might have come from Bears safety Jaquan Brisker.

“They look like they’re best friends,” Brisker said. “Justin’s definitely throwing him the ball. … You’re going to see. You will see.”

The praise for Moore has been flowing since he arrived as part of a March trade with the Carolina Panthers that involved the No. 1 pick. The Bears expect Moore to be a major weapon in their offense and have been pleased to see how early things have clicked between the 26-year-old receiver and his quarterback.

Bears quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko said Wednesday that Moore’s understanding of coverages and ability to attack defenses accordingly has quickly made him a friendly target for Fields.

“He’s so smooth getting out of breaks,” Janocko said. “He gets off the line (quickly). He has savvy. He’s really smart. And with a smart player and a smart receiver, the way they can get off, the way they can beat press (man coverage), the way they can beat cloud (coverage), it really helps him get open so as a quarterback you’re not even thinking about, ‘Is he in the window?’ He’s in the window.”

Receivers coach Tyke Tolbert echoed that praise for Moore’s football IQ.

“Justin has that confidence in him to be able to get open,” Tolbert added. “He’ll find him. And DJ has made quite a few plays for us that spring. Hopefully that continues.”

2. The Bears remained without receivers Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool.

Mooney continues working back from the tightrope surgery he had after fracturing his left fibula in a loss to the New York Jets in November. On the plus side, Bears coach Matt Eberflus stressed that Mooney is “right on track” in his recovery and likely to be back on the field for training camp this summer.

“Barring any setbacks, he’ll be ready,” Eberflus said.

Claypool has been out of action for the last two OTA practices that have been open to the media with what Eberflus noted last week was a minor soft tissue injury. The setback is not figured to be serious.

3. Luke Getsy was straightforward with where he has set his bull’s-eye for the development of his offense during OTAs and minicamp.

There’s only so much an offense can accomplish during this phase of the offseason. And Getsy has been realistic about how to set goals accordingly as the Bears prepare for training camp.

“You want to get better fundamentally,” he said. “That’s the most important thing. And then (it’s) getting that chemistry and making sure that your football IQ is where it needs to be so that when we hit this thing in July, we’re not talking about something that takes us a step back.”

Getsy was asked how much command he feels with his personnel and his vision for how he hopes to mold the offense.

“Command sounds like a pretty strong word,” he said. “I feel like we’re getting to know each other. We’re in that process.

“The style and the format of this time of year doesn’t let you necessarily play the brand of football you want to play when it comes time. But we’re progressing. The guys are getting to know each other, (improving) the chemistry.”

Getsy has stressed the need for players to feel the timing and rhythm of the passing game and for any newcomers to understand the cadences and other small details.

As for Fields, Getsy’s biggest box on the checklist is “continued growth.”

“It’s the command of everything we’re doing, the way he’s calling plays, the way he’s commanding guys, the way that we’re throwing routes on air and having communication with his expectation of where they should be and when they’re supposed to be there,” Getsy said. “It’s all that stuff. … He works as hard as anybody who’s out there. So the work ethic leads the example. And since we’ve all been together more than a year now. I think his command and the communication part has continued to get better.”

4. Jaquan Brisker has set a high standard for himself.

In many ways, Brisker had a promising rookie season after the Bears drafted the safety in the second round. He had 104 tackles, five tackles for a loss, four sacks, an interception and two passes defended in 15 games.

But when Brisker looked back, he didn’t find much of anything that pleased him.

“That’s my truthful answer,” he said. “There was nothing I was happy about last year.”

Brisker said injuries — a thumb that required surgery in the preseason and a concussion late in the year — hindered his progress.

“When I came back (from the thumb injury), I was trying to move too fast instead of being under control, being myself, making plays and not giving up certain things or not being consistent,” Brisker said. “Usually I’m a consistent leader. You see it during the OTAs this year, a lot different energy. I’m flying around playing both safeties and things like that. So you’re definitely going to get a different (No.) 9 this year.”

Brisker said he also “lost myself for a little bit” during his concussion.

“Because when you have a concussion, you’ve really just got to sit in the dark the whole day,” he said. “So really wasn’t being around my teammates, wasn’t the same energy guy. I had to get back my mental and had to get back to myself. So that was huge. I had lost my routine and all types of things. Just getting past that and moving on from that, I felt like I’m good now.”

5. Eberflus is focused on educating his players about NFL gambling rules.

The NFL this offseason suspended five players, including four from the Detroit Lions, for violating league gambling rules. And now the NFL is investigating Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers for potentially violating gambling rules, including reportedly betting on Colts games.

Eberflus said the Bears went over league rules about gambling the day after the first incident and will have an NFL group come in to talk about it again next week during minicamp.

“It’s hard to navigate because it’s hard to control other people’s actions,” Eberflus said. “But all you can do is educate and tell them the appropriate actions they can do with certain things.”

Tight end Cole Kmet said there were nuances to the rules that he wasn’t aware of.

“You’ve got to be aware of the rules, and obviously the payoff doesn’t really make much sense,” Kmet said. “If you’re an NFL football player betting on a game, the money you get playing a game versus betting on a game doesn’t really equate well.”

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