Bears receiver DJ Moore didn’t practice Wednesday after hurting his ankle against the Lions.
Moore twisted his ankle when he was tackled alongside the Bears sideline after a four-yard run on the team’s first play of the second half. He returned and finished with six catches for 68 yards and a touchdown, all in the second half.
“I’m good,” he said after the game. “I don’t know who tackled me but it kinda twisted my ankle. It was fine. Had to take a little breather and gather myself.”
The Bears need Moore on Sunday in Cleveland. He ranks seventh in the NFL with 1,071 receiving yards and is tied for 15th with 76 catches.
Linebacker Dylan Cole missed practice Wednesday for personal reasons, while receiver Equanimeous St. Brown remains sidelined with a pectoral muscle problem. The Bears put defensive end Yannick Ngakoue on injured reserve earlier in the day with a broken ankle.
The Bears modified their typical practice, doing half of their individual work and a short seven-on-seven session outside before going inside the Walter Payton Center for an extended walk-through.
“We want to get our guys to optimal levels Sunday at this time of the year,” coach Matt Eberflus said.
A flip in strategy
The Bears have wanted the ball the last four times they’ve won the pregame coin flip, including Sunday. It’s a change in strategy from the first two times this season they won, when they deferred.
Eberflus said Wednesday the team met with its analytics guru, Harrison Freid, months ago and decided “what’s best for our football team, based on the strength of the opponent in terms of their offense and defense.”
It’s more about the Bears, though — they’re sharp early in games. They average 6.39 yards per play in the first quarter, the fourth-most in the NFL. They’re third with 8.4 yards per pass and seventh with 5.2 yards per rush. They rank seventh in touchdowns and fourth in first downs.
Eberflus won the toss and chose to take the ball just once last year.
Some coaches prefer to get the ball in the second half to create a “double-dip” situation where teams can score before halftime and then get the ball back.
“There’s really no analytics to that, that suggest that you get a double-dip in that situation, taking the ball or deferring,” Eberflus said. “But you look at it and it’s still about execution.”
Browns hurting
The Browns had a whopping 11 players miss practice Wednesday. Among them: standout defensive end Myles Garrett (rest/shoulder), receiver Amari Cooper (rest/ribs), running back Kareem Hunt (groin), tight end David Njoku (groin) and guard Joel Bitonio (rest/knee).
Jerome Ford, the Browns’ leading rusher, was limited because of a wrist injury. Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward, who hasn’t played since Week 11 because of a shoulder injury, was limited.
The Browns put tackle Dawand Jones on injured reserve Monday.
“They’re still a good team regardless of the people they have down,” defensive tackle Justin Jones said. “They have a lot of good players still . . . Gotta go out there and play our brand of ball.”
This and that
Updated Pro Bowl voting has three Bears in the top 10 at their position, leaguewide: fullback Khari Blasingame (sixth), defensive end Montez Sweat (seventh) and cornerback Jaylon Johnson (ninth).
• Assistant GM Ian Cunningham and senior national scout Francis St. Paul were two of 42 executives who participated in the Front Office Accelerator, which seeks to strengthen the pipeline of diverse candidates before the hiring season, at the league meeting in Dallas.
