Actor, comedian and Chicago native Dyon Brooks, better known as Mojo Brookzz, has been friends with Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III since meeting him in Los Angeles during Burden’s rookie year.
Brooks was waiting outside the Bears locker room Thursday night after Burden’s prime-time performance — four catches for 130 yards and a touchdown — during a 30-24 Bears win that aired nationally on Prime.
“I feel like that’s who he is, and I feel like on ‘Thursday Night Football,’ he had the opportunity to show the rest of the league that he’s really him,” Brooks told the Tribune. “So I’m glad that he was able to show it.
“I already knew it. Before the game, he told me what he was going to do. … He said ‘It’s mine tonight.’ I went up to him and I said, ‘I need 150 yards out of you tonight.’ He said, ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s mine.’”
Burden may have had to “settle” for 130 yards — eight shy of his career high — but who’s complaining? Not Burden, not his teammates and certainly not his coaches.
“Coach brought me in the other day, he said, ‘You’ve got to be the engine,’” Burden said, refusing to name which coach gave him that directive. “So I’ve got to get everybody going with my play, you know what I’m saying? Because everybody feed off me.”
And they fed off Burden from the outset.
On the Bears’ first play from scrimmage, Caleb Williams threw a strike to Burden, and he shook off a tackle attempt by Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones to pick up 26 yards.
“Luther (Burden III) started us off with a big spark there early,” coach Ben Johnson said.
On Burden’s second target, second-and-9 from the Bears 38-yard line, he scampered 58 yards to the Patriots 4. It was Burden’s second-longest reception of his career and tied for Williams’ second-longest pass.
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Burden let out an “Ahhh!” when asked about not taking it to the house.
“That’s why I had to get it back,” Burden said. “I told my teammates, ‘That’s on me.’ So I’ve got to get y’all back. I gotcha.”
It didn’t matter. D’Andre Swift rushed for a 4-yard touchdown to stake the Bears to a 10-0 first-quarter lead.
Burden’s third catch went for 22 yards, but referees tacked on another 15 for a roughing-the-passer penalty against Gabe Jacas.
The fourth catch was the charm.
On third-and-17 in the second quarter, Burden took a receiver screen, followed blocks by Colston Loveland, Darnell Wright and Kalif Raymond and scooted 24 yards into the end zone for a 20-7 advantage.
“He did a great job catching it and then finding some green grass,” Johnson said. “I think really what caught my eye was the blocking down the field. I think we had Colston and it might have been Kalif with the wideouts. Then the whole calvary came, the whole o-line showed up, and it was like a wave carrying him through there. He saw a little crease and hit the jets. It was good.”
Said Burden when asked how he saw the play develop: “I saw money. “Saw a whole lot of money. It was great blocks by my teammates, and we needed that.”
After the score, Burden hit Johnson’s version of (the world’s stiffest) “stanky leg” dance that he has performed in past postgames.
“I was on my phone with my cousin,” Burden said. “I was like, ‘What should I do?’ He told me, ‘Just do the Ben Johnson stanky leg.’ I’m like, ‘Aight, bet.’ That’s for Cuzzo.”
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Burden’s 130 receiving yards all came in the first half.
Williams, like other Bears, calls Burden the “Problem Child” because he’s a problem for defensive backs.
“Somebody asked about Colston and his nickname and all that, I don’t know yet, but Luther’s a problem child,” Williams said. “And we want to keep getting the ball in his hands. I heard that he’s 17-for-17 when the ball’s thrown to him so far this season.
“We’ve got other guys that make plays. Obviously, Rome (Odunze) and Colston get in the end zone. Luther gets in the end zone. So we’ve got a tandem over here on this side and so we’re going to keep using him. We’re going to keep getting explosive. We’re going to keep having fun.”
Burden said the nickname’s “not bad,” and all the better that teammates gave it to him.
“When I get the ball, it’s going to be a problem,” he said. “Especially with too much space — might go the distance.”