Darnell Mooney Is Super Pissed About Bears Passing Game

Darnell Mooney has the highest expectations of himself. He’s put in so much work to prepare for the 2022 season. Everything pointed to a possible breakout year. He cracked 1,000 yards last season and now didn’t have Allen Robinson around to eat up his targets. Nobody could’ve predicted his first three games would go as they have. Only four catches on 11 targets for 23 yards and no touchdowns. Things reached a bottoming out point when he dropped a catchable pass against Houston last Sunday.

He was so frustrated by his overall performance that he was spotted literally minutes after the game working on a JUGS machine. That painted a clear picture of where his mind is right now. Mooney spoke to the media on Wednesday and didn’t hold back his comments. He outright admitted disgust at how poorly he’s played thus far and frustration with the passing game in general. This team would be winless if not for the running game and the defense. He hates feeling so helpless.

“Just not happy about my performance at all. I had the opportunities, you know. Had the chances to make some type of play, and I just didn’t be me.

It was that, overall, and just not me being a big playmaker for the team. Offensively, I didn’t think I helped out as much as I planned to and without Eddie and defense and Roquan on the last one, what did we really do? Beside running it. Running it was amazing. Just passing game-wise I was just frustrated, not being a playmaker I plan to be.”

The game ended about an hour ago and #Bears Darnell Mooney is putting work on the jugs. Still in uniform and everything. pic.twitter.com/zgGi3Zlzp3

— Will DeWitt (@Wi11DeWitt) September 25, 2022

Darnell Mooney is at the mercy of his quarterback.

Justin Fields‘ struggles are obvious by now. He’s having a hard time stringing completions together, never mind drives. Teams have also noticed he is looking for Mooney a lot and have adjusted their coverages to keep him blanketed. That is part of what they can’t get going. The truth is their chemistry is off. They haven’t found a groove that messes with the entire execution of the passing game. Not dropping the few passes that find him would be an essential part of fixing that.

The only thing Darnell Mooney can do is keep grinding. There are 14 games left to play. The Bears are 2-1. It is a great position to be in. There is no reason to panic. It doesn’t take much for everybody to get on the same page. A few more games should bring familiarity in the new offense. That might help smooth out the rough edges. It feels like Mooney is one good performance away from breaking out of his slump.