Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears official
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: Miller Life and Hulu veterand Minted Camp. In the book,
Speaker 1: Spars are off of their summer break for the next
Speaker 1: five weeks before they reassemble in bourbon A and the
Speaker 1: start of the twenty nineteen training camp. A much anticipated
Speaker 1: training camp. It will be highly competitive with expectations storing
Speaker 1: good even everybody. I'm Jeff Joni Ecot on the broadcast
Speaker 1: partner from news Radio seven eighty and one h five
Speaker 1: point nine FFM, WBBM the Super Bowl Bear Tom Fair,
Speaker 1: getting me Tom, How are you? I'm doing great, Big Jeff.
Speaker 1: After coming off of a big weekend and then being
Speaker 1: able to watch mini camp, I think the excitement lies.
Speaker 1: The excitement is reality for the Bears to get underway
Speaker 1: a training camp. I think the crowds are going to
Speaker 1: be enormous and like Matt Maggie said at one hundred
Speaker 1: year event, those crowds at training camp are hugely supportive
Speaker 1: in the preparation that these guys go through in practices
Speaker 1: and former Bears quarterback two thousand and one playoff quarterback
Speaker 1: Jim Miller from Sirius xm NFL Radio and Bears preseason
Speaker 1: television joining us as well. The Bears a topic this
Speaker 1: week after the one hundred on Sirius x SIMS NFL Radio. Yeah,
Speaker 1: quite a bit. Talk to Cody White here today. He
Speaker 1: joined us on the Earth, So that was good to
Speaker 1: check in with him, and just a lot of good things,
Speaker 1: and you know, just reflecting on a hundred years and
Speaker 1: the great players and just some of the things I
Speaker 1: was reflecting on when I was down there talking to
Speaker 1: you guys at the Bears one hundred celebrations. So it
Speaker 1: was nice to be a part of that and catch
Speaker 1: up with some familiar faces and obviously reconnect with older
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears players that came before my time, and certainly
Speaker 1: getting to know the new young players of this team.
Speaker 1: And I really like how they know, I can't say
Speaker 1: it enough, just how they represent them selves, the maturity
Speaker 1: they bring to the table, they seem like a focus group,
Speaker 1: and as Tom said, even though there's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of crowds there, it's time to focus on the
Speaker 1: task at hand. They've got a great opportunity to do
Speaker 1: some great things here in twenty nineteen, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Coming up at Surround six o eight, we're gonna be
Speaker 1: joined by the Pro Bowl the All Pro corner Kyle Fuller,
Speaker 1: who fashioned that brand new Bears jersey for twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: for the games against the Vikings and Cowboys from nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty six. Kyle Fuller looked sharp in that outfit. We'll
Speaker 1: talk to him about all things football and his offseason
Speaker 1: plan here in the next five weeks, along with his
Speaker 1: golf game I'm sure as well. Maybe a little US
Speaker 1: open talk with Kyle Fuller. And then coming up at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the hour, one of our favorite guys,
Speaker 1: Tom and I spent many many an hour on team
Speaker 1: flights over the years with the two time Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: safety and All Pro himself, Mike Brown, will join the
Speaker 1: program as well. Fellas, take me to opening ceremonies and Jim,
Speaker 1: when you were coming out on stage and getting introduced
Speaker 1: with your guys and and who specifically did you want
Speaker 1: to talk to you when you got in that blue
Speaker 1: room with the with the old guys, whether it's people
Speaker 1: you haven't met before or who you reconnected with, they're
Speaker 1: really resonated with you. Well, it's really well here you
Speaker 1: just mentioned Mike Brown. I didn't even see him, you know,
Speaker 1: when they put asked us to go over to our
Speaker 1: groups of the two thousand players, and I didn't even
Speaker 1: see Mike Brown. I hadn't seen him the entire night.
Speaker 1: And he kind of snuck up on me and said, hey, Jim,
Speaker 1: how are we doing. You know, we we start talking
Speaker 1: and you know, reconnecting and you know, sharing some stories
Speaker 1: and just having some laughs and and things like that,
Speaker 1: you know, and just to see him there. And there
Speaker 1: were a ton of guys there. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: really think I got to work the whole room to
Speaker 1: catch up with with everybody of all the generations of
Speaker 1: Bears players that were there through the decades of the Bears.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you get excited, you reconnect, you know, Cassine
Speaker 1: Casino talked to old tight end and reconnect with with
Speaker 1: guys that uh, you know, you just you had a
Speaker 1: lot of laughs with had a lot of fun with practicing,
Speaker 1: shared a lot of fun stories, and then of course
Speaker 1: you get excited when your name's about. As you and Tom,
Speaker 1: we're getting everybody excited, the fans excited when you announced
Speaker 1: the names, and just to watch guys react when they
Speaker 1: came out on the stage. Olwen Crew said, how about
Speaker 1: everybody was baiting the guys. Tommy hears them to walk
Speaker 1: up at the cat walk to do with the big circus.
Speaker 1: So I thought that was pretty funny and I think
Speaker 1: Israel Ladanage had a little bit to do with that. Yeah, Tom,
Speaker 1: what did it mean to you to be a part
Speaker 1: of all that? You know, Jeff having a chance to
Speaker 1: be you know, grow up in the area and understand
Speaker 1: what the bears are all about, what they're built about.
Speaker 1: But then all the generations of players that we had
Speaker 1: to broadcast for. But as you broadcast for them, you
Speaker 1: really don't become friends with them because it's more on
Speaker 1: a professional basis. But when you get to rekindle conversation
Speaker 1: with Charles Tillman or Mike Brown and the whole you know,
Speaker 1: groups of guys that we were able to broadcast for,
Speaker 1: it's always great seeing Big Cat Williams and just what
Speaker 1: a huge man he is. And then you go back
Speaker 1: in the generations and you see how respected Doug Plank
Speaker 1: is still by the fans and how the fans still
Speaker 1: love him, and then have a chance to sit on
Speaker 1: stage with a guy like Dick Buckus. It is amazing
Speaker 1: because there's so many generations of players in there, and
Speaker 1: that's really only talking about a few. However, all the
Speaker 1: years of players that we got to broadcast, it was
Speaker 1: neat finally getting a chance to go and talk to
Speaker 1: them on a social basis more than professional herb Lawrence
Speaker 1: Adam Sezinski helping us out for tonight's show. I hope
Speaker 1: you're going to enjoy the next hour. We'll be with
Speaker 1: you until seven o'clock tonight. It's Bears All Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy. Kyle Fuller, the Bears All
Speaker 1: Pro cornerback coming up next on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. Hey, welcome back to Bears All Access
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gash and whole warranty
Speaker 1: products to over one million customers across the country. Learn
Speaker 1: more about IGS Energy at IGS dot com Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: along with Top Fare and Jim Miller here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy. The score good to really move
Speaker 1: into a next phase now, because these guys really put
Speaker 1: together some good tape during the course of the offseason.
Speaker 1: They developed more of a bond on both sides of
Speaker 1: the ball. There's a lot of respect guys from the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball about where the offense has
Speaker 1: elevated itself here over the offseason. I think they're really
Speaker 1: intrigued about what's going to be unveiled during training camp
Speaker 1: and been I think they should be, Jeff, because it's
Speaker 1: going to be interesting as much as they're trying to
Speaker 1: learn a lot about their new defensive coordinator and some
Speaker 1: new coaches over there. Talking about Chuck Pagano and how
Speaker 1: he wants his system run and what he expects out
Speaker 1: of them every day in terms of the effort that
Speaker 1: he expects out of him in practice, I think Matt
Speaker 1: has already set the base for that. However, when you
Speaker 1: see an offense that gets a year smarter, they play faster,
Speaker 1: they do things more intelligently, and then they're able to
Speaker 1: expand the playbook. And even Matt talked about the other
Speaker 1: day at the hundred year celebration when they got to
Speaker 1: finally do a final year review. He was impressed by
Speaker 1: how much information they were about they were able to install.
Speaker 1: And so now we always talk about where referred to
Speaker 1: it all off season level one o one is coming
Speaker 1: to two o one, and I think two oh one
Speaker 1: is going at a steeper angle than they were introduced
Speaker 1: to one on one level. For that springing the Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl Cornerback All Pro Kyle Footer a kind of enough
Speaker 1: to join the program, Kyle, because evening Welcome to bear
Speaker 1: Zall Access, you got Jeff Joni Act, Tom Fair, and
Speaker 1: Jim Miller. Tom was just talking about where the offense
Speaker 1: is going. I think Kim Hicks even mentioned it today
Speaker 1: that he was pretty impressed by what he's seeing. You
Speaker 1: guys are in different phases obviously in terms of where
Speaker 1: you guys are in the scheme, But what has been
Speaker 1: your impression of Mitch and the offense in general and
Speaker 1: during this offseason program. Um, I think it's going well
Speaker 1: for those guys going in to their second year. You know,
Speaker 1: we definitely have the guys over there to do it,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think as not only would the
Speaker 1: guys they already have, but the new guys, you know,
Speaker 1: just going on to a year or two, I think it. Well, Kyle,
Speaker 1: you got five weeks off before you really good under way?
Speaker 1: Is this the time that you set aside to improve
Speaker 1: your golf game? And how much time? And you really
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, obviously have to dedicate time to staying
Speaker 1: in shape, being in shape, but if you do play golf,
Speaker 1: who's the best golfer out of all the Fuller brothers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll do a little a little bit of both, um,
Speaker 1: but I'm definitely a little bit further along and the
Speaker 1: rest of the guys. I think I get a chance
Speaker 1: to play a little bit more or choose too, so,
Speaker 1: you know, but I enjoy it a lot. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: how can you use well, you know, I certainly is
Speaker 1: relaxing and you enjoy playing, but at the same point,
Speaker 1: it's competitive, you know, there's no doubt, you know, golf
Speaker 1: can challenge you in certain things, especially from the mental
Speaker 1: aspect and how you attack a course. You know, how
Speaker 1: do you view it? Is it more leisure for you
Speaker 1: or is it pretty a competitive atmosphere when you go
Speaker 1: out and hit for sure? Yeah, for sure, I definitely
Speaker 1: love the competitiveness that comes with it, but also the challenge,
Speaker 1: the challenge you get mentally. Um, you know, I think
Speaker 1: that's what really gets me. You know one too, you know,
Speaker 1: wake up and go golfing every day, you know, especially
Speaker 1: when I can, like during off season, you know, after
Speaker 1: I get my work work got in. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: like you said, mentally, to challenge and then just even
Speaker 1: physically and just how hard it is that that game
Speaker 1: of golf is. Uh, you know, it keeps you coming back. Kyle,
Speaker 1: Are you a driving range guy? Because to me, I
Speaker 1: like to play golf. I like to get to the course,
Speaker 1: warm up, stretch out, and go to the first team.
Speaker 1: Are you the type of guy that will be willing
Speaker 1: to go, you know, on the golf I'm on the
Speaker 1: driving range and sit there and concentrate on your different
Speaker 1: clubs and your swing for a while. So the part
Speaker 1: of me that wants to the part of me that
Speaker 1: wants to be as good as I can be, will
Speaker 1: go to the range. But you know, if it's my choice,
Speaker 1: I'd rather go play, you know, give my practice plan,
Speaker 1: you know, get my revs plan, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: enjoy it that way. Kyle Fuller guest here on bear
Speaker 1: Zaw Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score
Speaker 1: the great Mike Brown coming up later out of the program. Uh,
Speaker 1: we'll stick in that golf tame for a minute because hey,
Speaker 1: Taylor Gabriel says he's picked up the game now, So
Speaker 1: it was that, h did you have anything to do
Speaker 1: with that? And do you ever play with Taylor? And second,
Speaker 1: are you watching the majors? Are you watching the US Opening?
Speaker 1: Guys like Brooks up gunning Tiger today? Yeah, so it
Speaker 1: is good to see the good to see Taylor, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of starting to love the game of golf. You
Speaker 1: know I can say, because he definitely has the book.
Speaker 1: But um, you know I have got a chance to
Speaker 1: play with him. Um, you know it's kind of cool,
Speaker 1: you know, him just just starting, you know, I remember,
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, when I was in his positions.
Speaker 1: But um, and I have been watching the US Open. Uh.
Speaker 1: I actually got a chance to watch it today. I
Speaker 1: didn't play, which which is surprising. I get a chance
Speaker 1: to play a lot this weekend. So um, so I
Speaker 1: did get a chance to watch it, and uh, you
Speaker 1: know I enjoy I enjoy watching it a lot. Everything
Speaker 1: about golf. I love Kyle being being a compact guy.
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, hand eye coordination, you're a
Speaker 1: little bit closer to the golf ball. But excuse me,
Speaker 1: when I got I had a chance to see Bradley
Speaker 1: saw play golf. He's a big guy. He's making the
Speaker 1: transition from tackle to tight end, but he's got really
Speaker 1: very good hand eye coordination and he's got a good
Speaker 1: golf swing. Does it surprise you sometimes when you see
Speaker 1: these big guys that are are so coordinating in such
Speaker 1: a difficult game. I think I've been a little lucky,
Speaker 1: you know, having been around Bradley and you know, seeing
Speaker 1: type of athlete years in golf, so it kind of
Speaker 1: you know, when I see other people, doesn't surprise me
Speaker 1: because he just sets stand the standards so high for
Speaker 1: those guys, you know, to where I believe that it's
Speaker 1: possible for him. But um, you know, yeah, like Brody
Speaker 1: has a great swing, he's very athletic. Um you know
Speaker 1: you mentioned the position changed the tight end. You know,
Speaker 1: just knowing that, you know, that's that's that's that's what
Speaker 1: makes you you know, I think that he'll actually, you know,
Speaker 1: do pretty well at that. And you know, I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to it. Well, Kyle, just from the competitive aspect
Speaker 1: of football, and Tom's talked about it. In the eighty
Speaker 1: five Bears, they would go against the number one defense,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's OTAs and things like that or
Speaker 1: through the training camp. And I brought it up too.
Speaker 1: We used to do that in Pittsburgh when the Blitzburgh defense,
Speaker 1: we you know, in order just to challenge ourselves to
Speaker 1: get better. And here you're talking about the Bears offense
Speaker 1: going on on year to it and did not that
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's anything adversarial, but it's intense. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's healthy competition when ones go against ones in practice,
Speaker 1: and I'd like to get a feel for you for
Speaker 1: how competitive it was this year this offseason when would
Speaker 1: go at once, it's very competitive. And you know, surprisingly,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it starts with coach Nag
Speaker 1: He's just as competitive. I know, it's the guy. I know,
Speaker 1: it's the players aren't there competing against each other, but
Speaker 1: ultimately it's those it's the coordinators, you know, calling plays
Speaker 1: against each other. And uh, you know, I feel like
Speaker 1: you know the way I look at it, you know,
Speaker 1: our our defense is it is really you know, competing
Speaker 1: against a competing with coach Nagy as well, and um,
Speaker 1: you know he enjoys it. He gets into it. You know,
Speaker 1: he wants he wants his guys to do well, so
Speaker 1: he doesn't really he doesn't really like when when Womenking
Speaker 1: plays on him, but he understands, you know, it's all
Speaker 1: fun and uh like like you said, a good a
Speaker 1: good competition, Kyle. Full of our guests here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy eight score. This is Bears All
Speaker 1: Access with the indil seven o'clock tonight. How is it
Speaker 1: they're gone in terms of the transition into a veteran
Speaker 1: like haha, Clinton Dix and also Buster Screen, not to
Speaker 1: mention some of your rookie defensive backs back they're like
Speaker 1: Duke Shelley. Yeah, it's all good. It's it's good to
Speaker 1: get those those you know, a couple of veteran guys
Speaker 1: you know, just add to the puzzle. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: with the knowledge that they had, um you know, from
Speaker 1: from playing for so long. Um. And I feel like
Speaker 1: those guys fit in well with our group. You know,
Speaker 1: not only know the guys, but also the young guys,
Speaker 1: you know, getting to teach us you know, everybody can
Speaker 1: learn something from someone, so, um, you know, I think
Speaker 1: it's definitely been to two good editions and uh, we're
Speaker 1: looking forward to, you know, moving on the training camp.
Speaker 1: And then, Kyle, did you learn anything new about Chuck
Speaker 1: Pagano throughout this whole process of the OTAs in the
Speaker 1: mini camp and as us as Bears fans, we really
Speaker 1: haven't been you know, haven't been introduced to him in
Speaker 1: a regular season podium yet. So what what type of
Speaker 1: guy do we as fans expect out of coach Bagano? Um,
Speaker 1: I will say, I'm sure that'll be it'll be perfect
Speaker 1: comment for when you all really do get introduced to him. Um,
Speaker 1: but I think I think, uh, you know, we have,
Speaker 1: we have learned a lot, you know, just which as
Speaker 1: you would expect working with a working with him every day. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I prefer you know, you all
Speaker 1: to get you alls, you all the introduction to him.
Speaker 1: But I would just say, you know, he's a great guy. Uh,
Speaker 1: And you know, I think I think that's that's that's
Speaker 1: really that's really a that covers everything about him. And
Speaker 1: then I think you all realize that way, Yeah, you
Speaker 1: all get a chance to meet him, Well, you know,
Speaker 1: not to give anything away, cow, but you know, just
Speaker 1: to get a feel for how how you know. I'm
Speaker 1: sure he's explained you guys, Hey, this is what I
Speaker 1: believe in, maybe principle wise or scheme wise and in
Speaker 1: certain situations. Do you think you've gotten a good feel
Speaker 1: in terms of the line of communication and how how
Speaker 1: you expect him to call a game without giving anything
Speaker 1: away with I think we have a I think we
Speaker 1: do have a good understanding. Like I said, I don't
Speaker 1: think I don't think too much has changed from last year,
Speaker 1: you know, which I think is good for our team.
Speaker 1: Like I said, we've we've had a couple of new additions,
Speaker 1: both on off inside any side, um you know. So
Speaker 1: you know, I think we'll still have that same identity.
Speaker 1: Um you know, I think that's what everybody on everybody,
Speaker 1: from everybody on the team once, from from top to bottom.
Speaker 1: All right, Kyle, we're gonna let you go. We really
Speaker 1: appreciate taking a few minutes to wrap up what has
Speaker 1: been a heck of an offseason. A real good feel
Speaker 1: about this team and where it's headed, and we're looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing you in Burbenaks. Right. Thank you have
Speaker 1: a great great five weeks. Kyle Fuller, the Bears All
Speaker 1: Pro cornerback with us here on Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Hey, Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: Network presents Inside the Bears, brought to you by Verizon.
Speaker 1: Anthony Adams and Lauren Screeden cover the world of Bears football,
Speaker 1: on and off the field every Sun tonight at ten
Speaker 1: thirty five pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch
Speaker 1: anytime at Chicago Bears dot Com. Around the Bears official
Speaker 1: app as we get you that for Bears Football twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: take some phone calls if you like. Threety four sixty
Speaker 1: seven sixty seven coming up in just a few minutes.
Speaker 1: Veteran Mike Brown would join the program. Let's start with
Speaker 1: Mark and Michigan City, Indiana Welcome and it Bears All Access. Mark, Hey,
Speaker 1: how are you doing? Jeff and Jim and Tom Good
Speaker 1: to chime in with you again. I am totally baffled
Speaker 1: by the Bears kicking situation. They have three guys that
Speaker 1: can't constantly kick a forty two yard or in practice.
Speaker 1: It seems to me every Division one college kicker could
Speaker 1: walk on as a free agent. And boom nine out
Speaker 1: of ten from forty two yards. That's an average chip shot.
Speaker 1: I know, you know it's NFL football length. You know,
Speaker 1: you're not talking length to you get past fifty two
Speaker 1: yards and you're just and when talking about just practicing,
Speaker 1: it seems totally mind boggling to me why they don't
Speaker 1: got guys who can knock nineteen out of twenty from
Speaker 1: forty two on a constant basis, even a walk on
Speaker 1: free agent. Don't be too baffled, because there's a lot
Speaker 1: harder when you get to this level. The pressure and
Speaker 1: the mindset and all that, and the way they are
Speaker 1: positioning this, they're they're making it quite challenging for now.
Speaker 1: Just the two guys left and Elliott Fry and Eddie Pineto.
Speaker 1: So I would love to see that happen that way,
Speaker 1: but it does not happen that way throughout the league.
Speaker 1: And these guys take time. These young kickers take time.
Speaker 1: That's why they bounce around, right, boys. Yeah, but you
Speaker 1: know that you've got to think about the conditions that
Speaker 1: you're kicking. In Chicago. You can take some of these
Speaker 1: excuse me, these college guys, these college free agents, whether
Speaker 1: you draft them later or they are free agents, and
Speaker 1: they can come out of the sec or they can
Speaker 1: come out of these perfect kicking conditions of indoor stadiums
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, you throw them out
Speaker 1: there in Chicago in October, rainy night when they're retiring
Speaker 1: the jerseys of Buckis and Gale says, and it's a
Speaker 1: trerenial downpour in the field. Conditions are awful, or if
Speaker 1: you're fortunate enough to make it them, the playoffs and
Speaker 1: the conditions are on addictable. So it's it's a lot
Speaker 1: easier to judge these guys when you're you're taking them
Speaker 1: on the combine situation because you're kicking indoors in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: But now put their team behind them. And this has
Speaker 1: probably been the most difficult kicking outdoor spring that the
Speaker 1: Bears kickers have gone through in a long long time
Speaker 1: because the wind and the conditions have been so horrific
Speaker 1: out there. Yeah, it's a lot of rain, and you
Speaker 1: know we've seen, yeah, you've seen a lot of kickers.
Speaker 1: It's not just the young rookies you know here. You know,
Speaker 1: look at Minnesota a couple of years ago they drafted
Speaker 1: Blair Walsh. He misses that key playoff kick against Seattle,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden he shipped out of town.
Speaker 1: Because it just sometimes it's just one thing that Jeff
Speaker 1: talked about that they can mentally take a turn. Remember
Speaker 1: when Chris Boonio was with us with the Bears and
Speaker 1: we could we could even kick field goals at practice.
Speaker 1: It was so demoralizing. It was almost like what happened
Speaker 1: with a Roberto Aguayo with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I mean,
Speaker 1: it was hurting in our practice. Dick Urn literally he
Speaker 1: missed everyone. We had to call practice, just send it
Speaker 1: in and not even do special teams anymore. And let
Speaker 1: me ask you about that real quick though, because you
Speaker 1: know Matteggie, he alluded to such a thing that, yeah,
Speaker 1: you could feel the air come out. Because if if
Speaker 1: it's not working with the three guys you get out there,
Speaker 1: you know what's next. It starts to play in the
Speaker 1: psyche of the other other guys on the team. So
Speaker 1: it clearly did with you guys. Yeah, well, I just
Speaker 1: remember we were I remember remember, I remember talking to
Speaker 1: you guys on the plane ride home from San Diego.
Speaker 1: We played the Chargers. He missed an extra point. Extra
Speaker 1: points back then were not even thirteen yards. I remember um,
Speaker 1: and I felt bad for because he was my locker partner.
Speaker 1: He come in the next day, gim sorry, but he
Speaker 1: literally it really changed the tide of six games that year,
Speaker 1: and that was I figured where you was ninety nine,
Speaker 1: I think is what that was, and it changed the
Speaker 1: tide of six games that think about I say it
Speaker 1: all the time, who has a bigger impact on a
Speaker 1: game than a kicker who has the least amount of reps.
Speaker 1: They may be on the field six times and they're
Speaker 1: deciding wins and losses. You know a lot of times
Speaker 1: you too, you're making a transition after the kicker's been
Speaker 1: here a while. You think of Carlos Squerta after the
Speaker 1: transition from Kevin Butler, and they ended up losing that
Speaker 1: game in coach Wanstead's early coaching career because they were
Speaker 1: out there searching for that next kicker, and that search
Speaker 1: is not as easy as just finding a guy that
Speaker 1: is kicking in great conditions. Yeah. Well, the good news
Speaker 1: is it all ended on a positive note. Today A
Speaker 1: couple to forty yards by Pineto and Elliott Fry, and
Speaker 1: you could see it on the faces and the reaction
Speaker 1: from the other guys. They were relieved. It's a good
Speaker 1: way to end the offseason program and head into training
Speaker 1: camp where the competition will escalate even more. All right,
Speaker 1: Coming up next, the great Mike Brown, which join the program.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access in Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy the Score. Join us for the PNC Chicago Bearts
Speaker 1: five K Saturday, July thirteenth, Finish on a storage soldier
Speaker 1: field registered now at Chicago Bears dot com slash five
Speaker 1: k before prices increase. Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller
Speaker 1: with Yougo sports Radio six seventy the Score. About a
Speaker 1: half hour ago in tonight's program, awaiting Mike Brown, the
Speaker 1: Bears All Pro Safety and Mike ready to join us
Speaker 1: on the program. I'm certain safely tucked away out in
Speaker 1: southern California after a great trip to Chicago, Big Mike,
Speaker 1: how much fun was that this weekend? Yes, it was
Speaker 1: a great weekend. Actually, we got a little of June
Speaker 1: gloom they call us, so it's been cloudy pretty much
Speaker 1: most of the day, but it's like seventies, so it's nice.
Speaker 1: You can live with that. You can live with that. Mike,
Speaker 1: one of the biggest thrills I had of the weekend
Speaker 1: was was seeing you out there with that big grin,
Speaker 1: that smile, talking to your buddies, seeing your beautiful wife,
Speaker 1: and you're introduced to your two beautiful kids. You got
Speaker 1: a great family, got great and it was just great
Speaker 1: hearing you talk about your kids, much like Peter Tilman
Speaker 1: talks about his or other guys do as well. Now
Speaker 1: that you removed from the game and so forth, it
Speaker 1: means everything you tell you, doesn't it. Oh yeah, it
Speaker 1: definitely gives you like, Yeah, I guess that's to me,
Speaker 1: that's what life is all about. Like, I guess I
Speaker 1: never understood how much my parents really cared about me.
Speaker 1: I knew that they loved me, but just to see, like, um,
Speaker 1: you know how I feel about my kids and the
Speaker 1: joy they bring me and and and how difficult it
Speaker 1: is so m yeah. So it's just the culmination of
Speaker 1: a lot of things. So just being able to bring
Speaker 1: them to that event was amazing. I'm telling you, it's
Speaker 1: going to be life changing for them. And so this
Speaker 1: is cool, you know, Brownie. One of the greatest compliments
Speaker 1: I think of anything that you hear throughout this weekend,
Speaker 1: because when you're talking about the organization. Beginning in the
Speaker 1: twenties and up until that day, I heard about a
Speaker 1: few players that hey, this guy can play in any era,
Speaker 1: And you're one of the guys. They keep saying that
Speaker 1: this guy can play in any era. How complimentary is
Speaker 1: that to you? To understand how meaningful not only the
Speaker 1: impact you had on the Bears, but the ability to
Speaker 1: play in any era of football, that's just uh, that's
Speaker 1: it just confirms what I think I've always always known
Speaker 1: is that, Um, you know I can play football. I
Speaker 1: know that that's something I can do. Of always confidence
Speaker 1: with that. Um, I think it's just something I was
Speaker 1: born to do. Um. But you know, when you're when
Speaker 1: you're doing it, um, you're just thinking about playing the
Speaker 1: game and uh just being hardcore and all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. For me, that's the way I played the game.
Speaker 1: But now when you get back to the to the
Speaker 1: people part of it, and I think you have to
Speaker 1: step back from the game to really understand it. But now, um,
Speaker 1: just being around the guys and knowing the type of
Speaker 1: impact that I had on those guys, I mean, had
Speaker 1: a lot of guys come up to me and say
Speaker 1: some really personal things to me and to me. That's uh,
Speaker 1: that means the world to me. I'm a really emotional guy.
Speaker 1: So there was a lot of emotions going on this weekend, guys. Um,
Speaker 1: and so it was good to get back and uh,
Speaker 1: just to be a part of and just recognize what
Speaker 1: the Bears mean. Man. It's just really cool to be
Speaker 1: a part of. And it was just a special weekend man.
Speaker 1: Well like special weekend. Mike Jim here, good to catch
Speaker 1: up with you and and I went to step firsthand.
Speaker 1: I remember, you know when the Bears drafted you in
Speaker 1: two thousand, you were you were the only rookie that
Speaker 1: started opening day. Wasn't Brian Urlacher, it was Mike Mike
Speaker 1: Brown out there that that opening day. Yeah, that's that's
Speaker 1: that's a factive mind. Um. Yeah, so yeah, um, I
Speaker 1: think I was ready to play. Man. I had a
Speaker 1: well that's what I mean, what was what was going
Speaker 1: through your mind? Here? You go through training camp, but
Speaker 1: I you know, there was a buzz with I just remember,
Speaker 1: you know, going against you saying, man, this guy's gonna
Speaker 1: be really good. This guy can play. Urlacher can play too,
Speaker 1: but the safety there's something about him. And then lo
Speaker 1: and behold you're out there. What was going through your mind?
Speaker 1: Were you just going what? What was you know? What
Speaker 1: was I to you? Um? Like, at first it was
Speaker 1: it was overwhelming. I knew I could play. I knew
Speaker 1: I could play. I'd like I just I knew I
Speaker 1: could play football. Just knew that, And it was overwhelming
Speaker 1: at first. Just the speed of the game was intense
Speaker 1: for me, especially the bigger people, the offensive lineman, the
Speaker 1: way that they moved. I mean I had to It
Speaker 1: took me, you know, the mini camps and the training
Speaker 1: camps to really get use to that. But once like
Speaker 1: that clicked in, just knew like where my eyes had
Speaker 1: to be, and like the movements that I had to
Speaker 1: make just had to be a little bit quicker. Once
Speaker 1: I got that down, I knew that. I mean, I
Speaker 1: could play ball and it was just about just playing.
Speaker 1: But m yeah, But like I said, I think Nebraska
Speaker 1: I was trained, like I was around a lot of
Speaker 1: pros when I was playing in college, Like, our practices
Speaker 1: were really intense. We had like one hundred and fifty players.
Speaker 1: So we're on defense. Uh you know, there would be
Speaker 1: three scout teams. So right after we're done with one player,
Speaker 1: another player was coming and you know, and uh, the
Speaker 1: defense we ran was complicated. It was had a lot
Speaker 1: of pro principles, a lot of checks with movement, a
Speaker 1: lot of checks when uh, you know, formations brought. So
Speaker 1: I understood how to communicate. I could recognize formations and
Speaker 1: recognize with you know, the breaks and if movement happened,
Speaker 1: where to put people. So with that part, I was
Speaker 1: I was prepared for that. Mike Brown, our guest here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score after a great experience at the one hundred weekend,
Speaker 1: and it filtered into the did you did you go
Speaker 1: into the golf tournament? I don't know if you went
Speaker 1: to the golf tournament, but oh no, you know, golfer's
Speaker 1: just a long walk ruined. That's not my file. I'll like,
Speaker 1: I like going to the golf course and just watching,
Speaker 1: but like NA like playing that. Damn. I'm just I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't do it. My mind won't let me do
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff like that. You know, you know,
Speaker 1: I played baseball, and that's the one thing about baseball
Speaker 1: that bothered me is just so much failure and I
Speaker 1: just I just couldn't stand that. Oh my goodness. Well,
Speaker 1: we've all experienced to failure part on the golf course,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. All It might beg to differ with
Speaker 1: you though, because he's the act of a golfer. I've
Speaker 1: seen him. I've seen him sling that stick. Now, he's
Speaker 1: a pretty golfer. I mean, but that's that's just not
Speaker 1: something that's ever interesting, guys. It's it's kind of weird,
Speaker 1: but it's just nothing that doesn't even I don't even
Speaker 1: want to play, so it doesn't have to bother me.
Speaker 1: So then on Tuesday or Monday rather, you know Tuesday Tuesday,
Speaker 1: uh coach Nagie and all the alumni were able to
Speaker 1: watch practice. What were your takeaways from watching a Matt
Speaker 1: Naggie run. Granted it was uh min can't practice, no pads,
Speaker 1: But any takeaway because I know you're watching, Yes, definitely,
Speaker 1: I'm watching. The first thing that I'm always gonna watch
Speaker 1: is this, uh the vibe of the team and just
Speaker 1: like what kind of energy did they bring? Um, you know,
Speaker 1: the camaraderie, like what are they talking about on the sideline?
Speaker 1: Is a football or something else? And you know, we
Speaker 1: have a whole bunch of guys out there, you know,
Speaker 1: the young guys are out there too, but just are
Speaker 1: they interacting with the young guys. Are they're trying to
Speaker 1: teach them because maybe some of these guys can help them.
Speaker 1: And it's obvious. It's obvious that the team is a
Speaker 1: team that care about winning football games. Doesn't matter who's
Speaker 1: doing it, doesn't matter you know, who's in. There's expectations,
Speaker 1: and they have a lot of fun. To me, that's
Speaker 1: the one thing that stands out is they have a
Speaker 1: lot of fun doing it. And I think when when
Speaker 1: you have that, especially uh, you know, in the upper
Speaker 1: level of football, professional football, it's a professional, but if
Speaker 1: you can have fun doing it, it makes the professional
Speaker 1: part a little bit easier to try to attack, you know, handle.
Speaker 1: So I think, well, I'm excited about the team. Now,
Speaker 1: those expectations. You never know what happens when you have
Speaker 1: a lot, you know, high expectations. Some teams can't handle
Speaker 1: their expectations. But it seems like this group of players,
Speaker 1: uh can handle it um. And I'm excited because I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna be a special season. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a tough one, but I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: be ready for it and ready to shine. So it's
Speaker 1: gonna be fun to watch, especially for Chicago. I know
Speaker 1: Chicago has been waiting for it. You know, Mike Matt
Speaker 1: Naggie always says, hey, you just be you, whatever type
Speaker 1: of person you are. How for you in your career,
Speaker 1: how long did it take for you to have that
Speaker 1: outspoken confidence in the locker room because you know, it's
Speaker 1: kind of a unique territory for a lot of people.
Speaker 1: But when they close those doors and it's just a player,
Speaker 1: you never hit your emotion, you never hit your passion,
Speaker 1: and you had a way of talking to that entire
Speaker 1: group that Did that start from game one or did
Speaker 1: it take time throughout early portions of your career. I
Speaker 1: think on the field I always had that. I definitely
Speaker 1: didn't say much when I was a rookie when as
Speaker 1: far as the locker room came around. I think when
Speaker 1: you're a rookie you have to find out where you
Speaker 1: sit in like who the leaders are. It was obvious
Speaker 1: who some of those leaders are, and I think I
Speaker 1: really do believe Dick Gerron had a lot to do
Speaker 1: with that because in my second year and me and
Speaker 1: Brian were named captain's and I doubt if we both
Speaker 1: were voted in as captains by the whole team. I
Speaker 1: think maybe that's something Dick Geron did, but uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I relished that role. Um. I've been a captain on
Speaker 1: most of the teams I've ever been a part of.
Speaker 1: UM It's something that I like doing. Um. It's not
Speaker 1: easy for me, but I'm very Uh when I play
Speaker 1: the game, I have high expectations. Rather when that's on
Speaker 1: the field, I think that's the only way you can win,
Speaker 1: and so I make sure that, Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: try to do it by you know, doing it on
Speaker 1: the field and working hard and doing all that, but
Speaker 1: also saying a few things to help motivate people, I guess,
Speaker 1: and just just accountability. I think when the whole team
Speaker 1: is accountable to each other, just lift everybody out, well,
Speaker 1: Mike every performance wise, well Mike as you just as
Speaker 1: you just enjoy the game as a fan now and
Speaker 1: you watch it. It's hard to watch a game when
Speaker 1: you've played it because you kind of still I find
Speaker 1: myself going into the excess knows what gellet's an underfront.
Speaker 1: Oh they brought too drunk, you know, Yeah, yeah, definitely,
Speaker 1: But now how you watch when you see the safety
Speaker 1: position and how it's Yeah, it's it's changed today. There's
Speaker 1: more responsibilities on safeties today and why they're probably coveted
Speaker 1: around the NFL then probably ever and that this game
Speaker 1: has ever seen and what what do you see of
Speaker 1: the evolution of the safety position when you watch the
Speaker 1: game currently today and what safeties are asked to do
Speaker 1: because they're on the field. Um, it's just the athleticism
Speaker 1: of the safeties now are it's not really Um, it's
Speaker 1: just because there's there's not there's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of open space now. And if you look at the
Speaker 1: size of the athletes that the receivers, right, they are
Speaker 1: humongous human beings and they're super athletic and so without
Speaker 1: you know, you can't really be physical through the middle
Speaker 1: of the field, so you have freedom of movement, and
Speaker 1: so you need to have their guys that can move
Speaker 1: very well. So I don't think I would be able
Speaker 1: to play safety right now, just because of the athleticism
Speaker 1: of the receivers um, and especially how the rules are married.
Speaker 1: So it's like my like I got out right when
Speaker 1: all the rules are trying to kick in and like
Speaker 1: how you play and like with the physicality, So right,
Speaker 1: now it's definitely you have to have really really athletic,
Speaker 1: super athletic um safeties to match up, and the corners
Speaker 1: have to match up as well. So I just see
Speaker 1: the athlete that's coming in. It's just a bigger, better
Speaker 1: version of the athletes that I've seen, you know. So,
Speaker 1: I mean it started, you know, like Randy Moss and
Speaker 1: then it was Megatron, you know what I'm meaning. So
Speaker 1: it was like, you know, it's kind of the same player,
Speaker 1: but just a bigger version. That's what I see happening.
Speaker 1: So that being said, what would a young Mike Brown
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen draft class? What position would you play?
Speaker 1: I'll probably be a special teamer kickoff, it would just
Speaker 1: increase the personal protector. Yeah, I'll probably be a special
Speaker 1: teamer trying. I mean, might give a lot of effort
Speaker 1: and all that. You know. Just yeah, it's just I
Speaker 1: just I just see them. The athleticism definitely is something
Speaker 1: that jumped out to me. I think, uh, just being
Speaker 1: around you know, the team that you know that's out
Speaker 1: there now, I'm just like, man, he's some spectacular athletes
Speaker 1: and just exceparate Turbo. Turbo is a little small, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I just I just see the athleticism of
Speaker 1: the game. Offensive lineman, defensive lineman, and just and then
Speaker 1: super incredible athletes. So that's what I've definitely noticed as
Speaker 1: far as the game. How how has changed? Go tell
Speaker 1: that offensive lineman from Cincinnati. Yeah, you jacked up when
Speaker 1: he was coming around the corner and he was like,
Speaker 1: now they're big and fast and agile, like he couldn't
Speaker 1: move in the box. I never forget that, Mike, if
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, that was the game they started calling
Speaker 1: you Big Mike. Big Mike, Yeah, I think what my favorite?
Speaker 1: You know, Olden gave me my favorite nickname, which was
Speaker 1: Little Evil. Like I like that one, like Little Evil.
Speaker 1: With a hundred games with the Bears in this the
Speaker 1: one hundredth anniversary season. Always a pleasure, Mike, great di
Speaker 1: visit way over the weekend. Nice talking to the death.
Speaker 1: Hey come on again some time, all right, buddy, All right,
Speaker 1: Mike Brown, our guests. We'll continue on Bears All Access,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Igus Energy after this on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy to score. Just about ten or
Speaker 1: eleven minutes ago before we turn things over here on
Speaker 1: the score. This is Bears All Access, Jeff Joni, Act,
Speaker 1: Tom Fair, Jim our guests here on our host I
Speaker 1: should Sarah guests, Mike Brown Special Teams. Really fellas that
Speaker 1: that man, as you said, could play in any era.
Speaker 1: He'd find a way. He'd find a way big, Tim
Speaker 1: and Jim, you know what he talks about, the big
Speaker 1: in the size of the receivers and everything. Like I said,
Speaker 1: we've seen him hit three hundred and thirty pound offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and take him off his feed. The only thing
Speaker 1: that had a bigger, bigger receiver would present for him
Speaker 1: would be a bigger tackling target. And I think that's
Speaker 1: the main way Mike would transfer his talent from one
Speaker 1: era of the next. Yeah, I think, if anything, he'd
Speaker 1: probably played more in today's game because you look at
Speaker 1: um who is at La LA Chargers. When they went
Speaker 1: in and played Baltimore in the in the playoff game,
Speaker 1: you know they ran the RPO offense, right Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: was on the field. What did the Chargers deploy They
Speaker 1: went penny personnel, penny personnel. They went with seven dbs. So,
Speaker 1: if anything, you're Mike would probably be playing even more
Speaker 1: even if he was in the box, says as a
Speaker 1: nickel linebacker because you know, at that point the Chargers
Speaker 1: had a couple injuries to their linebackers and why but
Speaker 1: Gus Bradley, their defensive coordinate, went with that time's dime
Speaker 1: personnel which is six dbs and sometimes he went penny
Speaker 1: and they went into Baltimore and basically shut down Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson in the R RPO offense. So, if anything, I
Speaker 1: think Mike Brown would probably played more. You know. The
Speaker 1: funny thing is that that Chargers team, they do list
Speaker 1: three starting safety, so they do play a lot of that,
Speaker 1: you know, and then that's you know, they got that
Speaker 1: Derwin James, an outstanding player himself back there. But uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I just remember the very first mini camp practice,
Speaker 1: veteran mini camp practice, and Mike b is yelling on
Speaker 1: the sidelines telling guys where to line up and to basically,
Speaker 1: you know, get moving a little bit. You know, he
Speaker 1: was a leader from the moment he stepped down the field.
Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. Well, I think we you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you kind of reintroduced to this through the
Speaker 1: through the Bears the weekend, and you know, he says
Speaker 1: he's an emotional guy, but he's very passionate about having
Speaker 1: the opportunity to play for the Bears and to play
Speaker 1: professional football. And then when you ask him a question
Speaker 1: that's fifteen twenty years removed and it still brings him
Speaker 1: to tears. That right there is evidence of how much
Speaker 1: it meant for him to be on the field with
Speaker 1: his teammates and how badly he wanted to be there
Speaker 1: for every game he had the opportunity to play. Tom
Speaker 1: remember if some of those conversations on the flights, I
Speaker 1: remember the same. You know, when he injured himself in
Speaker 1: San Diego a bird apparently hit the wing of the plane,
Speaker 1: and so we were stalled there after that opening week loss,
Speaker 1: and we're on that plane forever, just sitting on the tarmac,
Speaker 1: and he sat with you and I going over the
Speaker 1: emotions of the injury, going over football in general, what
Speaker 1: it meant to him. It was one of the most
Speaker 1: impactful conversations I'll ever remember on all these years of
Speaker 1: traveling with the team. Yeah, it was crushing. It was
Speaker 1: crushing to us because it was crushing to him, and
Speaker 1: it was crushing to the team. But you know, you
Speaker 1: see the guys throughout our our time with the Bears
Speaker 1: that have these you know, injuries, situations that haunt them
Speaker 1: throughout their career. But you know, Mike is kind of
Speaker 1: unique in the way that he wasn't afraid to show
Speaker 1: that the passionate side in such a manly atmosphere. And
Speaker 1: it's it's nothing, no slight to anybody else. But Mike
Speaker 1: was not a high he was not as afraid to
Speaker 1: hide his feelings. No, it's well, I just remember him
Speaker 1: as a teammate when he came in his two thus
Speaker 1: you just you knew, like you said, he was an
Speaker 1: emotional player, played with a lot of intensity, came to
Speaker 1: work with a lot of intensity because he cared it's
Speaker 1: important to him. And you can you find that out
Speaker 1: about your teammates and Tom Jeff, you guys have been
Speaker 1: around it where you know certain guys are just wired
Speaker 1: a certain way. And he showed it. And he's going
Speaker 1: to bring his intensity every single day because he cared
Speaker 1: about football. It was important to him. But he played
Speaker 1: it with the to me, just the right temperament, the
Speaker 1: intensity that you need. And you know, I know he
Speaker 1: gained respect from from our locker room very quickly with
Speaker 1: what he was able to accomplish so early in his career.
Speaker 1: Starting really that opening game, you know, you know Jim
Speaker 1: and Jeff. I think maybe in kind of a more
Speaker 1: introverted way, Khalil Mac maybe the same type of personality,
Speaker 1: because from the second he got here, from the very
Speaker 1: first nine on seven, I saw him have at practice,
Speaker 1: the way he hit the ball carrier and the way
Speaker 1: his expression, his preparation, his practice habits. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of similarities between the two. And I'm sure Khalil,
Speaker 1: the more he's around his teammates, the more comfortable he
Speaker 1: feels in the locker room. Hopefully he'll be able to
Speaker 1: express himself behind those closed doors in a way that
Speaker 1: maybe we're not We may not be privy too, but
Speaker 1: the way his teammates should see him. There's a bunch
Speaker 1: of other guys in this team I feel that also
Speaker 1: carry that same kind of emotion in them, and they
Speaker 1: may not be it may not be verbalized, it may
Speaker 1: be just you know, Cody white Hair's one of them.
Speaker 1: He works harder than anybody. He's here NonStop. He's worked
Speaker 1: himself into a position where he can play two positions
Speaker 1: at a high level. You look at I think Roquant
Speaker 1: Smith's going to be that guy. He loves the game,
Speaker 1: and that's the first part of it. You got to
Speaker 1: get the guys who love the game. It doesn't ever
Speaker 1: feel monotonous, it doesn't ever feel like work, and it's
Speaker 1: an escape in many regards. That's what it was for
Speaker 1: Brian or Lacker. I asked Cody that today, you know,
Speaker 1: because Tom and we've had this discussion before, I said,
Speaker 1: I said, Cody, if if it was a pinch and
Speaker 1: the Bears needed a left tackle, could you line up
Speaker 1: at left tackle and play? And he said it without hesitation.
Speaker 1: He goes, Yeah, I'm not the longest guy and all
Speaker 1: the measurables that you need for the position. He goes,
Speaker 1: but yeah, Jim, I feel confident I could line up
Speaker 1: there and if if the Bears needed me to play
Speaker 1: two or three game stretch, I'm confident I could fill
Speaker 1: that position nicely. How about that? What does that say
Speaker 1: about that young man that at Case State he was
Speaker 1: a left tackle, comes to the Bears, he's guard, he's center,
Speaker 1: moving back and forth now back to guard, hasn't missed
Speaker 1: a game, just lines up and plays, does his job.
Speaker 1: And you want to what that guy knows every assignment,
Speaker 1: And you want to what I would guarantee if the
Speaker 1: Bears had to put him there, everybody on that team
Speaker 1: would feel confident that Cody White here could come through
Speaker 1: and play that position. I agree, he'd be like a
Speaker 1: Matt Light, who I played with at New England. Matt
Speaker 1: Light wasn't the longest left tackle, didn't have the longest
Speaker 1: arms all the bs you here, but yet Matt Light
Speaker 1: went against White Freeney every time and shut him down,
Speaker 1: shut him down every single time, and he was a
Speaker 1: great tackle for the New England Patriot. If you want
Speaker 1: to sneak in a couple of phone calls before we
Speaker 1: get out of here, please feel free. Three four sixty seven,
Speaker 1: sixty seven. This is Bears on Access in Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy to score after today's minicamp practice. It
Speaker 1: was light one today, a lot of red zone work,
Speaker 1: and then the kickers finished up by making a couple
Speaker 1: of forty yard field goals and everybody walked off happy
Speaker 1: into the offseason. But overall, here's how Matt Naggie felt
Speaker 1: about the whole three day thing and the off season
Speaker 1: in general. The balance of working hard, getting better and
Speaker 1: improving from from last year, which I thought we definitely did.
Speaker 1: You could check that off, but then also keeping it
Speaker 1: fun and making sure that we as players, as coaches,
Speaker 1: we build that bond. And so so for me as
Speaker 1: I continue to grow is I'm not I don't like monotony.
Speaker 1: I don't like being able to have you know, it's
Speaker 1: the same person coaching all the time, same it's the
Speaker 1: same words that are coming out of my mouth. I
Speaker 1: like to change things up. So with these guys, it's
Speaker 1: easy the first year, getting into the second year, Let's
Speaker 1: do some different things and we'll do that, and we'll
Speaker 1: continue to do that in training camp too. That's a
Speaker 1: head coach who knows how to take the temperature of
Speaker 1: his team at a young you know, he's a young
Speaker 1: he's still a young coach. He's got a lot of experience,
Speaker 1: but a young head coach had just always seems to
Speaker 1: know how to take the temperature of a team. Fellas
Speaker 1: engage the right thing to do. It's been that way
Speaker 1: since he got here. And I think everything that focuses
Speaker 1: how you're going to make the team better. It's never
Speaker 1: about the offense. It's never about Trubisky. It's about the
Speaker 1: entirety of every guy that's going to hand and making
Speaker 1: sure that they win games, and like he conclude the
Speaker 1: mini camp with those kickers, you know, not only did
Speaker 1: it make the kickers feel more like part of the team,
Speaker 1: but I bet you they ended their mini camp with
Speaker 1: a little bit more confidence coming into training camp. And
Speaker 1: so I think the importance of the overall project that
Speaker 1: Matt has undertaken with Ryan Pace and the entire staff
Speaker 1: up there, he always understands it's about the betterment. I
Speaker 1: don't think that, you know, he's got to really gauge
Speaker 1: the room anymore. I think he's kind of earned it
Speaker 1: at this point when you look at coach Naggy because again,
Speaker 1: as much as he's evaluating players as a first year
Speaker 1: head coach, last year, players were evaluating him. And now
Speaker 1: they trust him. They trust him because they see the results,
Speaker 1: They see what he says comes true, they see what
Speaker 1: his vision is and they want to be a part
Speaker 1: of it because they trust him and they know it
Speaker 1: and they believe it now. So he's got him. To me,
Speaker 1: he's got him. He doesn't got to gauge the room.
Speaker 1: They will follow this coach now from here on out
Speaker 1: because they believe what he says, and he backs up
Speaker 1: what he says with how he performs, and this coach
Speaker 1: loves his twenty nineteen draft class, Fellas. I think probably
Speaker 1: the biggest thing when I think about the biggest thing
Speaker 1: would be that they're just all extremely mature, you know,
Speaker 1: That's probably what comes to mind. And then so they
Speaker 1: take being mature out onto the practice field and they
Speaker 1: always they look to improve. And again I'll go to
Speaker 1: our first pick this year with David Montgomery, and just
Speaker 1: for him, he's quiet, but yet he's so motivated in
Speaker 1: a good way. Riley. Ridley has come out here and
Speaker 1: with Anthony Miller being out, he's gotten a lot more
Speaker 1: work at the zebra position and so he's getting more reps.
Speaker 1: And that kid is just so laser focused Montgomery, you know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I think that's kind of the obligation of these players
Speaker 1: because they look at what they're surrounded by. There's no
Speaker 1: other players that are superstars that are jacking around. There's
Speaker 1: nobody out there that's unfocused. From the time that they
Speaker 1: come out of the weight room and come out of
Speaker 1: the locker room, go into the cafeteria, it's a it's
Speaker 1: not that type of atmosphere. It's about being focused and
Speaker 1: being prepared. And I think a guy like Montgomery puts
Speaker 1: the pressure of a first rounder on his shoulders. I
Speaker 1: don't care where he was drafted. He has expectations of
Speaker 1: himself to be able to provide this team with the
Speaker 1: talent that they went and reached up and drafted him for.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what all I can say is is
Speaker 1: uh college coach. So he was the best route runnerund
Speaker 1: the team, and I believe King Butler was the Cyclo's
Speaker 1: top receiver. Got drafted by Arizona. He'd take Montgomery over Butler.
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you another thing. I tell you another thing.
Speaker 1: You Jim would love throwing to Riley. Ridley, he can
Speaker 1: run a out as well as any veteran. Well, they
Speaker 1: got a I'd say this all the time. Pat's always like,
Speaker 1: you know, they're comparing Minnesota because they got feeling and digs.
Speaker 1: I said, the Bears got eight of them, eight receivers
Speaker 1: that could all play and they can all go. Baby
Speaker 1: here to talk to you guys. We'll talk to you
Speaker 1: on Monday. We got another version of All Access coming
Speaker 1: at you. That's gonna wrap us up for tonight. Thanks
Speaker 1: to Kyle Fudder and Mike Brown, Herb Lawrence Adam Stezinski
Speaker 1: for Tom Fair, Jimmer, I'm Jeff Jonny Ac. Have a
Speaker 1: great night, everybody. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: the Score. Goodnight, Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears
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