The Chicago Bears had a lot to fix after their 38-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1. One of those things was wide receiver Chase Claypool‘s noticeably lackluster effort during the game.
The issue wasn’t Claypool’s receiving, but his perimeter blocking. He was putting in such little effort that people were openly clowning on him during the game, posting clips to social media of him barely trying. (Claypool is wearing No. 10 in the clips below.)
The most ridiculous clip by far was of Claypool taking a huge soccer-style flop after being pushed at the end of a play. He just falls to the ground like he’s in a cartoon.
That’s not a great look for Claypool or the Bears, who sent a second round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for Claypool in Nov. 2022. (The Steelers drafted CB Joey Porter Jr. with that pick.)
But the issue with Claypool’s distinct lack of effort last week has apparently been taken care of. Bears wide receiver D.J. Moore recently spoke to The Athletic’s Diana Russini and told her that he and others addressed the issue on the sideline right then and there, and it shouldn’t be a problem going forward.
Q: Chase Claypool was seen during the Packers game not giving much effort. When you watched the film as a team, how was it all addressed?
Moore: It really wasn’t a big deal during the week. We actually addressed it with him on the sideline. Chase knew what was happening wasn’t good enough to help us win but at the same time, we didn’t want to beat down a dead horse. When you do that in this league, it can have a lot of bad carryover, and it hurts us. We have to correct it.
Considering that “beating down a dead horse” was the NFL’s primary problem solving method for decades, it’s good to see how that has evolved. Moore treated it like a problem you’d have at a traditional office, with no yelling or histrionics.
As for why Claypool was low effort in Week 1, Moore doesn’t know. He recognized that it could have been any number of things. But Moore checked in with Claypool and is confident that the Bears’ newer wide receiver will be focused on the right things in Week 2.
Q: Why was he giving low effort?
Moore: It could be a lot of factors, I’m not 100 percent sure specifically what it was, but I know he’s focused on this week. He will be ready to go and ready for his assignments.
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