(Audacy) Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s willingness to be open-minded has been a boon for his unit.
Despite the Bears loading up on weapons in the offseason, their offense sputtered out of the gate. After failing to score an offensive touchdown in a win in its season opener and then following that with a combined 29 points in the next two games amid a 1-2 start, Chicago has won each of its last three games, putting up 35- and 36-point showings over the last two weeks.
It was interesting then on Friday when NFL Network reporter Stacey Dales relayed a story on the Mully & Haugh Show from Bears tight end Mercedes Lewis. Dales indicated that Lewis told her that offensive coordinator Shane Waldron wasn't scripting the first 15 plays of games – a major departure from the norm in the NFL. After the Bears' 1-2 start, leaders on the offense asked Waldron to reconsider, and now Chicago is scripting plays at the beginning of games.
Bears top receiver DJ Moore confirmed Dales’ reporting during his appearance with Mully & Haugh on Monday, and he's pleased with the change.
“You can go into the game knowing the set plays that we have to go in and just be on the details," Moore said. "(You don’t have to worry about) being shocked by a play call that we may have not run as much in the week, so having that first 15 is a big deal.
“Probably six out of the seven years I’ve been playing, I’ve had openers with 15 (scripted plays),” Moore later added. “So when we didn’t do it, everybody was a little thrown off – but we were going to make it work.”
Seeing as Waldron is the one calling the shots on offense, he technically would've been within his rights to stick with his vision of not scripting plays. But his flexibility seems to have allowed the Bears to get the offense humming earlier in games.
“You’ve got to give him credit, because he could have chosen not to listen,” Moore said. “But he heard us out and incorporated it, so you’ve got to give him credit there. And I think that something we’ll stick with, even if we probably go more in depth with maybe first five third downs and so forth.”