Speaker 1: Cut over that Dj Moore nisode Touchdown, Touchdown, Paars, I
Speaker 1: am Jeff Joniac, whitz is on Dottie go up. What
Speaker 1: was like playing for coache Good gun. I don't want
Speaker 1: to answer any questions like that pressure coming is a
Speaker 1: big trouble, Donnie Go Mottest sweat.
Speaker 2: Yea Bears et Cetera brought to you by Miller Light
Speaker 2: with the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Well Catle Williams, and the Bears offense getting high marks
Speaker 1: for spreading it around in a balanced attack called by
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and the end result a thirty
Speaker 1: three to six win in Buffalo over the Bills to
Speaker 1: start the second week of the preseason for the Bears.
Speaker 1: Welcome in, everybody. I'm the voice of the Bears Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniac with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. This
Speaker 1: episode of the Bears et Cetera Podcast is brought to
Speaker 1: you by Miller Light. This is episode number eighty four,
Speaker 1: Big Tom, and we have lots to discuss about that game.
Speaker 1: First and foremost, I want to get your overall reaction
Speaker 1: in the three phases. We'll start you off with the
Speaker 1: offense give us some highlights than to the defense and
Speaker 1: special teams.
Speaker 3: The Ron Morris episode number eighty four.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ron Morris, Yes.
Speaker 2: So you know you started out the podcast talking about
Speaker 2: the performance of the players and Caleb specifically, But over
Speaker 2: the last two weeks, I have a real congratulations to
Speaker 2: the coaches because they've done a really nice job of
Speaker 2: getting these guys prepared. No matter what level you're considered first, second,
Speaker 2: or third level player at this point in the season,
Speaker 2: they played a real nice quality game of understanding the
Speaker 2: offense and they really mistake free and so that goes
Speaker 2: to the credit of the coaches for getting these guys prepared.
Speaker 2: Now you talk about their performance from the first week
Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame game to now into Buffalo.
Speaker 2: Thing I liked about the game in Buffalo that Buffalo
Speaker 2: brought a really supportive, loud crowd, Because as much as
Speaker 2: you want to try to replicate that in practice, it's
Speaker 2: almost impossible until you actually have a crowd that has
Speaker 2: the ebb and flow of the game, the highs and
Speaker 2: the lows. They know when to cheer loud and they
Speaker 2: know when to hold back when the offense is on
Speaker 2: the field. So some of the elements in this game
Speaker 2: that you cannot really replicate in practices. I think the
Speaker 2: Bears coaches had all of these guys prepared. And then
Speaker 2: you talk about the performance of Caleb super encouraging, super exciting.
Speaker 2: I think when you listen to radio and TV since
Speaker 2: the game he's given, he's been given a lot of
Speaker 2: high marks, and I think he deserves them. But now
Speaker 2: that evaluation chart is started, and then where does it
Speaker 2: go from here?
Speaker 1: All Right? I like the thirty runs of the twenty
Speaker 1: one attempts you're on the football, Caleb, though four of
Speaker 1: seven ninety five, A couple of those could have been caught.
Speaker 1: The long forty two on the bailout, almost hook shot throw,
Speaker 1: but a perfect spiral. At the same time that when
Speaker 1: you break that play down to DeAndre Swift, the forty
Speaker 1: two yard catch and run that kept the poison the
Speaker 1: tight pocket wasn't jumpy, perfectly thrown spiral. I think that's
Speaker 1: probably pretty difficult pass to throw with that kind of
Speaker 1: spin on the ball in that environment. It's not like
Speaker 1: you just knuckled it or just got rid of it.
Speaker 1: That was a beautiful pass.
Speaker 2: Listen, why do not a lot of NBA players shoot
Speaker 2: a hook shot like Kareem Abdul Jabbar, because it's not easy.
Speaker 2: And when you look at that throw by Caleb, it
Speaker 2: seems second nature to him. But it's also trusting your teammate,
Speaker 2: knowing exactly where they are going to be. It's not
Speaker 2: something you get to site, identify and then throw. It's pressure,
Speaker 2: trust and completion forty two yards later. And like you
Speaker 2: brought up as we are watching tape, maybe if DeAndre
Speaker 2: cuts that out a little bit towards the sideline, we're
Speaker 2: talking about a touchdown. But when you talk about a
Speaker 2: forty two yard gain under those circumstances, equally as impressive.
Speaker 1: Equally impressive, and maybe even more so the play on
Speaker 1: the run, moving to his right, a little hitch to
Speaker 1: try to get the defender off his feet, which he
Speaker 1: did which probably saved him a sack, and then found
Speaker 1: a way in mid air, feet off the ground to
Speaker 1: fire a twenty six yard strike to Cole Comet. An
Speaker 1: incredible throw, terrific catch, patience on what we now know
Speaker 1: is a guy who can really eat up a lot
Speaker 1: of real estate to the very boundary and still complete
Speaker 1: a pass. We've seen it in training camp every day.
Speaker 2: All right, let me look at the opposite side of that,
Speaker 2: because what that play does it puts all the paranoia
Speaker 2: in the world and defensive coordinators and defensive ends now
Speaker 2: if they think they can get over aggressive and try
Speaker 2: to get a media pressure to Caleb and all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, he's doing nothing more than faking you out
Speaker 2: of position. And you look at the reaction to that
Speaker 2: defensive lineman after Caleb started to roll out and he
Speaker 2: faked him out, he had no chance of contributing to
Speaker 2: pressure on that play. You know, it was a perfectly
Speaker 2: delivered throw to Cole Comet, great catch. And when you
Speaker 2: talk about the stats of Caleb, and listen, even DJ
Speaker 2: Moore brought it up on his sideline report with Jason
Speaker 2: McKee that, yeah, we had a couple of drops. You
Speaker 2: think four for seven if we are sitting here, talk
Speaker 2: about a six for seven performance, and then the amount
Speaker 2: of yards that those drops would have attached to the
Speaker 2: stats of the game. You know, now you're glowing even
Speaker 2: more about Caleb. But when you talk about that one
Speaker 2: specific play of getting the defensive lineman out of position,
Speaker 2: loved it, loved to see it, and how effective it's
Speaker 2: going to be on the coaching on the other side
Speaker 2: of the ball.
Speaker 1: Now, let's throw in the scramble for thirteen yards, because
Speaker 1: he has stated he doesn't want to be a guy
Speaker 1: who's going to run continuously out of the pocket. He
Speaker 1: wants to make plays from the pocket or as he's
Speaker 1: rolling out, buying time for his receivers forcing defense. That's
Speaker 1: just the plaster coverage as long as they can and
Speaker 1: you know that has a time limit out, it's going
Speaker 1: to run out. But his thirteen yards scramble alongs to
Speaker 1: demonstrates he does have the speed and the legs to
Speaker 1: pick up first downs. And I'll be interested this year
Speaker 1: to see how many first downs he picks up just
Speaker 1: with his legs, not the dynamic runner that we have
Speaker 1: come to learn that Lamar Jackson is who Michael Vick was,
Speaker 1: or Justin Fields was. He's going to do it a
Speaker 1: little differently and still put as you like to say,
Speaker 1: paranoia in a defense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you think about the exit strategy of
Speaker 2: that scrabble, Jeff, because we talked about during the broadcast.
Speaker 2: First of all, there was a stunt by the defensive
Speaker 2: lineup front that was passed off efficiently by the interior
Speaker 2: of the offensive line. The exit strategy wasn't escape to
Speaker 2: the outside right or left. It was escape when that
Speaker 2: crease opened right up the middle point A to point B.
Speaker 3: That thirteen yards was a straight ahead run.
Speaker 2: So that was the thing that I was really encouraged
Speaker 2: about in the one time he did want to take
Speaker 2: off that he understood and patiently waited for the offensive
Speaker 2: line to pass that stunt off, and then he took
Speaker 2: it off field. And you saw the slide in first down,
Speaker 2: A really good slider too on that surface turf, not
Speaker 2: easy balanced down the leg point with the left hand.
Speaker 3: Let's go to a first down.
Speaker 1: First down bears taste like Miller time, celebrate responsibly. Miller
Speaker 1: Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories, three point two
Speaker 1: carbs per twelve ounces. We'll get deeper into the offense
Speaker 1: and some other players, but let's now shift to the defense,
Speaker 1: which for the second week in a row, shut down
Speaker 1: the run game. And that's a very big part of
Speaker 1: this defense that Matt Eberflus is employing and calling. They
Speaker 1: have to stop the run, and by virtue of that
Speaker 1: they had eight sacks. We can talk about the guys
Speaker 1: that did the damage. Austin Booker certainly puts some great
Speaker 1: tape on for this performance, not just against the pass,
Speaker 1: but against the run, and his move movement skills, his
Speaker 1: length all showing up.
Speaker 2: Tommy, would you agree, Yeah, you know, I just like
Speaker 2: the reinforcement from what I've seen in practice that carries
Speaker 2: over to the game because we've been down there seeing
Speaker 2: one on ones.
Speaker 3: And you see Austin Booker what he's able to do.
Speaker 3: When you have a.
Speaker 2: Designated drill of one on one pass rushing, the offensive
Speaker 2: lineman knows what you're gonna do. Now it's it's the
Speaker 2: challenge of him to defend against it. And he's done
Speaker 2: a really nice job in those drills. But now do
Speaker 2: those drills carry over to the game field. And that's
Speaker 2: exactly what we saw in Buffalo this past weekend. His
Speaker 2: innate pass rushing skills and ability they compute to the
Speaker 2: game field.
Speaker 3: And that was super encouraging for me to.
Speaker 2: See because he's only chipping away at what his capabilities
Speaker 2: can ultimately be. He uses his length real efficiently, he
Speaker 2: doesn't let an offensive lineman spend a lot of time
Speaker 2: getting his hands to his body, and then he's got
Speaker 2: an arsenal of moves where if the offensive lineman is
Speaker 2: able to intercept his first move, he's already got a
Speaker 2: second move in mind. And so for what I've seen
Speaker 2: out of a young guy like Austin Booker, it's something
Speaker 2: that it's only going to be refined over time with
Speaker 2: coach Travis Smith and the rest of the defensive coaches,
Speaker 2: Eric Washington and so on. But you're really teaching a
Speaker 2: guy that has an understanding of what pass rushing is
Speaker 2: all about.
Speaker 1: And Daniel Hardy had replica statistics. They both had the
Speaker 1: same stat line five tackles, two and a half sacks,
Speaker 1: three quarterback hits, and two tackles for lost. They played
Speaker 1: well off each other when they were on the field.
Speaker 3: Daniel Hardy doing it two weeks in a row.
Speaker 2: That's what I like about it, because you know, some
Speaker 2: of these guys, Jeff, they come aboard a training camp,
Speaker 2: we look at them in their jerseys for a couple
Speaker 2: of weeks, we really don't know what to think about them.
Speaker 2: So Daniel Hardy stayed on my attention radar after the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame game, and then he was able to
Speaker 2: back up that performance.
Speaker 3: But it's not only just with the ability to win.
Speaker 2: It's hustle, it's hard work, it's just out, you know,
Speaker 2: playing his opponent. So that's some of super encouraging signs
Speaker 2: that you don't know if you can coach Hart. But
Speaker 2: Daniel Hardy so far in the first two weeks has
Speaker 2: shown that he's got a lot of it.
Speaker 1: Veteran Khalid Kareem he also had a sack, four tackles,
Speaker 1: tackle for loss in a pass breakup, and then Aman
Speaker 1: Bamiga seven tackles to lead the way, a sack and
Speaker 1: a pass defense plus a special teams tackle as well,
Speaker 1: Dravon Dexter a tackle for loss and a hit on
Speaker 1: the quarterback. And Zach Pickens time I thought played better
Speaker 1: in this game, a tackle for loss for him, a
Speaker 1: sack as well in three tackles.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was super encouraged by I saw. I saw
Speaker 2: more results on effort from Zach Pickens because he's the
Speaker 2: type of guy that has got to be a playmate
Speaker 2: of Andrew Billings, but he's got to play differently, and
Speaker 2: I think when you can put him into the lineup
Speaker 2: and you don't have that big three hundred and thirty
Speaker 2: pound powerhouse brick of a man Andrew Billings, you got
Speaker 2: a little bit more quickness, a little bit more elusiveness
Speaker 2: by Pickens and just to real quickly, Deshaun Mallory and
Speaker 2: Dominique Robins and super excited both of those guys had
Speaker 2: to tackle for a loss. I thought Dominique Robinson in
Speaker 2: terms of run football out of a defensive lineman, I
Speaker 2: think he played the best so far that I've seen
Speaker 2: out of him since he's been here.
Speaker 1: Tom and this defense linebackers are going to get the
Speaker 1: hands on footballs. They had the eight interceptions at that
Speaker 1: position last year, and Micah Baskerville, we saw it coming
Speaker 1: a mile away. The pick up Bouschelle into the end
Speaker 1: zone for a pick six. An exciting play for a
Speaker 1: young player highly regarded undrafted LSU at special teams work
Speaker 1: a year ago, but the Bears are likely to keep
Speaker 1: him in the mix as a special teams player in
Speaker 1: a backup at linebacker as well. Break down that one
Speaker 1: for me on Micah Baskerville.
Speaker 2: I think that you could have called the play probably
Speaker 2: two or three seconds before it actually happened. The most
Speaker 2: encouraging thing to me about that interception that Micah made
Speaker 2: was once he had the opportunity to catch a ball,
Speaker 2: he caught the ball. Because you never know how a
Speaker 2: defensive player is going to react to a pass with
Speaker 2: some velocity out of the the arm of a quarterback.
Speaker 2: Is it going to go through their hands? Is it
Speaker 2: going to stick to their hands? Are they going to
Speaker 2: be able to control it, catch it, tuck it, and run?
Speaker 2: And Micah did every single one of those things.
Speaker 3: So I was super happy for him. Jason McKee has been.
Speaker 2: Talking about him all throughout last year, last training camp
Speaker 2: and stuff. And if he lives up to the build
Speaker 2: a billing and he plays to the the accelerated rate
Speaker 2: that he can, he gives some great depth to this
Speaker 2: linebacker position.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by P and C Official Bank
Speaker 1: of the Bears. Let's talk special teams. Long snapper Patrick
Speaker 1: Scales was unable to practice or play in this particular game,
Speaker 1: so Lions the backup came back on the roster after
Speaker 1: his release at a need because you need a long snapper.
Speaker 1: So how did that impact? Cairo Santosi had a missed
Speaker 1: extra point and just the overall placement of the snap.
Speaker 2: Now you're talking about a new snapper and a new
Speaker 2: holder for Cairo, So the difficulty of that, and I
Speaker 2: think it can't go underscore because people have to realize
Speaker 2: within the instance of time that you need to be
Speaker 2: able to throw a seven and a half yard snap back,
Speaker 2: get it placed perfectly, so your kicker that's already beginning
Speaker 2: his motion by the time the ball is snap that
Speaker 2: whole transition of time has to be perfectly done. Now,
Speaker 2: if you throw a snap that's maybe six to twelve
Speaker 2: inches out of place, you're challenging the timing of the kicker,
Speaker 2: and so I do think the one miss that Cairo
Speaker 2: had interfered with his timing of perfection and pushed the
Speaker 2: ball a little bit to the outside. It's not going
Speaker 2: to happen with regularity. That's why snappers and holders everybody
Speaker 2: can't do it.
Speaker 3: It's a difficult position.
Speaker 2: But I think the work that Tory Taylor had as
Speaker 2: the new holder on this football team benefited him because
Speaker 2: some of the conditions he could face throughout the season
Speaker 2: won't be easy.
Speaker 1: Forty eight yard average on two punts for Tory Taylor,
Speaker 1: one inside of the twenty, quotas weightman two for forty
Speaker 1: one and a half and a punt inside the twenty
Speaker 1: as well. Josh Blackwell a couple returns for twenty yards.
Speaker 1: Greg Strowman won for sixteen of the punt return game
Speaker 1: in Blackwell with four tackles on defense playing in that
Speaker 1: role as the nickel. With Kyler Gordon hopefully returning this week,
Speaker 1: that's my hope anyway to get back on the practice
Speaker 1: field as they get ready to meet the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 1: All right, so that's some of the highlights of it.
Speaker 1: Now let's break down some of the other hot topics,
Speaker 1: and one of them was putting Vaylis Jones at running
Speaker 1: back last week. So we know he's got the speed,
Speaker 1: We know he can turn the corner on you. We
Speaker 1: don't clearly know what his instincts are as a between
Speaker 1: the tackles runner or of a point of attack runner.
Speaker 1: He is. He did have a rushing touchdown, six carries
Speaker 1: thirty four yards in return, one kick for thirteen yards.
Speaker 1: How would you evaluate his overall day including special team?
Speaker 2: You know, I think the coaches are doing a nice
Speaker 2: job of the way they're trying to break him into
Speaker 2: a position. That's not as easy as everybody thinks. The
Speaker 2: skills of reading how the blocks are going to unfold
Speaker 2: in front of you. It takes that inate ability to
Speaker 2: see how defensive players are moving before an offensive lineman
Speaker 2: or an exterior blocker ever gets to him and they're
Speaker 2: feeding him the right time. Kind of plays. When Dayalas
Speaker 2: Jones Junior has the ball in his hands, he is
Speaker 2: a courageous runner, even though he knows he's going to
Speaker 2: deliver a hit or he's gonna get hit. So those
Speaker 2: exterior plays that are using his side and his size
Speaker 2: and speed I think can benefit this team. But he's
Speaker 2: gonna have a wi He's going to need to have
Speaker 2: a wider variety of skills in order to be deceptive
Speaker 2: when he's on the field, because if he's only one dimensional,
Speaker 2: the defense will call that immediately. So if he can
Speaker 2: catch a screen, if he can catch an outlet pass,
Speaker 2: if he can pick up a blitzer, if he can
Speaker 2: run an RPO in the middle of the offensive line
Speaker 2: and run it efficiently, whether not to take it or
Speaker 2: to take it, those are the types of things that
Speaker 2: Dayleas Jones Junior is going to need to show the
Speaker 2: coaching staff that he's starts to understand the position.
Speaker 1: And now I'm going to talk about a couple of
Speaker 1: undrafted rookies. One Ian Wheeler who had a terrific two
Speaker 1: touchdown game five carries, I think for forty three yards rushing,
Speaker 1: he'd been banged up, but I've always enjoyed how he
Speaker 1: ran the football during practice. He's a four to three
Speaker 1: to eight to forty guy. He's got a lot of
Speaker 1: speed and it looks like he's got a big heart. Man,
Speaker 1: he wants this badly. He I impressed.
Speaker 2: Well, you know the thing about Ian Wheeler and vailis
Speaker 2: you can talk. You can see the differences between the
Speaker 2: innate ability to read as a career running back, or
Speaker 2: you can see how a guy that has the skill
Speaker 2: that's trying to learn how to be a running back.
Speaker 2: Ian Wheeler understands the design of the blocking up in
Speaker 2: front of him, and then how to pre predict how
Speaker 2: the defensive first level and second level are going to
Speaker 2: flow and where and how the hole is going to
Speaker 2: open up and listen for years, you know, watching players
Speaker 2: like Walter Payton or Thomas Jones or Barry Sanders or
Speaker 2: so on and so forth that have that in a
Speaker 2: they have those you know, how many carries do you have?
Speaker 2: Forty thousand carries throughout the practice life, in the game
Speaker 2: life of their careers, and so when you see what
Speaker 2: they have to offer, Ian Wheeler he's got those innate skills,
Speaker 2: but he's going to be in testing, also catching and blocking.
Speaker 1: Busy Heart Seltzer Flavors for every vibe Celebrate Responsibly Mosten
Speaker 1: Course Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All Right, you know I'm
Speaker 1: bringing this guy up. You know I am. Who do
Speaker 1: you think I'm going to bring up next? Undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: Brendan Bates. Love this player, and yes he had he
Speaker 1: had some catches, but he also had three special teams tackles,
Speaker 1: and so that becomes an important don't care who you're
Speaker 1: playing against, that becomes a big deal, especially at that position.
Speaker 1: What's your thought on Brendan Bates three catches eighteen yards?
Speaker 2: You know, I like him since he's got here, he's
Speaker 2: in a really competitive position. He's got to demonstrate that
Speaker 2: he has multiple skills at the tight end position. Line
Speaker 2: up as a tight end, next to attack, line up
Speaker 2: on the back side of a blocking play, lineup as
Speaker 2: a wide receiver, line up as an h back, line
Speaker 2: up as a fullback, and then contribute on special teams.
Speaker 2: If you're a rookie, he's demonstrated every one of the
Speaker 2: skills as you just acknowledge. So I like the fact
Speaker 2: that he's increasing the competition of the position and being
Speaker 2: a rookie, you don't know what his future is, but
Speaker 2: he's definitely showed that he has the skills to go
Speaker 2: out and compete at a position that has multiple responsibility.
Speaker 1: In a stack position. Obviously with Cole Kmet and Gerald
Speaker 1: Everett and Marcedes Lewis, Stephen Carlson with the organization here
Speaker 1: now for two seasons, a fourth year veteran Tommy Sweeney,
Speaker 1: a fifth year veteran out of Boston College, had a
Speaker 1: couple of catches yesterday as well, and then bates the
Speaker 1: underlying factor for Baits in my opinion, he can run.
Speaker 1: He's got a four to six six forty during his
Speaker 1: off season work at two hundred and fifty five pounds,
Speaker 1: So Gerald Everett at two forty five or in a
Speaker 1: four to six, and we looked at him as a
Speaker 1: terrific athlete playing that position. So this is one of
Speaker 1: the faster tight ends you've got here, carrying around two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty five pounds pretty good, you know.
Speaker 2: It just shows you how competitive the tight end position must.
Speaker 3: Be at a college level.
Speaker 2: For a guy like that with those types of numbers,
Speaker 2: doesn't get drafted, and then what the heck is going
Speaker 2: on here? Because he's definitely shown in the early stages
Speaker 2: of this offseason, then through all practices. This is not
Speaker 2: only on field on game day field experience that's showing it.
Speaker 2: He does it in practice as well.
Speaker 1: He's one of the three guys that got dinged up
Speaker 1: in the game that came back in the game. Also
Speaker 1: they just did not this is you know, that tells
Speaker 1: me a lot as well. And then ready Stewart, we
Speaker 1: keep bringing him up. He's a five to eleven corner
Speaker 1: out of Troy undrafted. Five tackles again, Tommy, he puts
Speaker 1: his nose in there. He shows a great willingness to
Speaker 1: be a tackler.
Speaker 2: You know, to me, it's one of the most it's
Speaker 2: one of the hardest picial positions to evaluate. Unless you're
Speaker 2: just one of those top tier guys that come out
Speaker 2: and one of the first cornerbacks picked in the draft.
Speaker 3: It's a crap shoot.
Speaker 2: And I see you see free agents that have incredible
Speaker 2: success Hall of Fame careers through throughout their life in
Speaker 2: the NFL. So all of a sudden, you see a
Speaker 2: guy that the game's super important to him. He prepares
Speaker 2: every day like it's his last day, and then he
Speaker 2: goes out there and plays with such confidence that it's
Speaker 2: hard to ignore him. Because those are the type of
Speaker 2: athletes that can fit into special teams all over the place,
Speaker 2: and then if they can develop, you know, i e.
Speaker 2: Tyree Stevenson, Terrell Smith, or whomever else you want to
Speaker 2: look at. On this team, it's a great position to
Speaker 2: have a lot of good players.
Speaker 1: We've been talking about, you know, the plays that can
Speaker 1: be made with the offense because they're all catching run
Speaker 1: type players. They can do it all. They can cover
Speaker 1: everybody grass. So obviously this is the entire game, but
Speaker 1: you have fifteen plays that you call big plays, ten
Speaker 1: plays or more, and that's my thirteen different players. So
Speaker 1: how terrorizing could this be once you get in the
Speaker 1: regular season and say, hey, who are we gonna who
Speaker 1: are we gonna take out here? Because the skill sets
Speaker 1: are pretty impressive.
Speaker 2: Jeff, When you talk about that many players having a
Speaker 2: hand in a ten plus yard play, it just brings
Speaker 2: me right back to the coaching. They're doing a great
Speaker 2: job on the practice field to get these guys ready,
Speaker 2: so when they have their opportunity in a game, they
Speaker 2: know exactly how to go about business and then they're
Speaker 2: productive accordingly. And that's when Ryan Poles what he said
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks ago, to you, it's gonna be real,
Speaker 2: really difficult to make this football team. And every single
Speaker 2: time you talk about a guy from Ian Wheeler to
Speaker 2: Vlis to Bates at the tight end position, to all
Speaker 2: the other guys that had a hand in a big
Speaker 2: play opportunity and took advantage of it shoots. I think
Speaker 2: it's a great thing for the Bears. It's a great
Speaker 2: thing for the development of this roster. And you know,
Speaker 2: some of these guys are gonna have a chance to
Speaker 2: be on a practice squad that have the ability to
Speaker 2: have a long, six scessful career in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Tastes like middle time. Go to Miller lit dot com,
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Speaker 1: point two carbs per twelve ounces. All right, I saved
Speaker 1: the best for last. We have to talk about the
Speaker 1: offensive line. No over, absolutely now we're just getting started.
Speaker 1: Offensive line. Tommy offensive line. So twenty snaps thereabouts for
Speaker 1: the first team offense that included quarterback Caleb Williams, so
Speaker 1: prior the starter at right guard. This week Jenkins Jones
Speaker 1: at left tackle, and Shelton was the center. So those
Speaker 1: are the guys that stayed down the field for those
Speaker 1: twenty plays. Evaluate that before we go into the second
Speaker 1: and third units.
Speaker 2: I think Ryan did a really nice job of bringing
Speaker 2: Coleman Shell on the board because he's a legitimate starting
Speaker 2: center in the NFL. So when you have to move
Speaker 2: Ryan Bates over to right guard, then he has a
Speaker 2: hiccup and he didn't play in the game. They don't
Speaker 2: have Nate Davis. Then you think about bringing in Matt Pryor.
Speaker 2: This guy's a mountain six seven, three hundred and thirty
Speaker 2: three pounds and he's got the skill to play offensive tackle,
Speaker 2: but he's got the size and the power to be
Speaker 2: an interior offensive lineman at guard. So I think the
Speaker 2: Bears in the offensive line they put out there, which
Speaker 2: included Tevin and the tackles, I think they did a
Speaker 2: nice job. They came in and did exactly what was
Speaker 2: asked of them.
Speaker 3: Perform.
Speaker 2: Protected Caleb, open up for the running game, give this
Speaker 2: offense the time to do a variety of things to
Speaker 2: make sure that they get a better understanding of what
Speaker 2: they're going to be able to do in the future.
Speaker 2: So I'm encouraged by the group that Chris Morgan the
Speaker 2: offensive line could put out there to start the game,
Speaker 2: and if that's what they had to go to bat
Speaker 2: with week one against the Tennessee Titans, I wouldn't shy
Speaker 2: away from it, and I just hope this continues to
Speaker 2: increase the competitiveness on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: On the other side of the line, a Jitari Carter
Speaker 1: and Jerome Carvin both played a team high thirty six
Speaker 1: snaps each had two penalty. He's Carvin jumping back on
Speaker 1: both sides of the line at guard if I'm not mistaken,
Speaker 1: and Carter has been here now this is his what
Speaker 1: third year with the Bears, trying to continue to prove
Speaker 1: that he could be in that rotation and battle for
Speaker 1: that number three or four guard position. That is so
Speaker 1: important as well, given the inability for offensive line these
Speaker 1: days to stay completely healthy throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 2: Jerome carbon he played center and guard in the game,
Speaker 2: and he's got the capabilities of playing all three interior position,
Speaker 2: which I think increases your value, especially when you look
Speaker 2: at a guy that's sixty five, three hundred and six pounds,
Speaker 2: he's a really good athlete. He's got good length to
Speaker 2: be able to put his hand on the ground and
Speaker 2: getting a three point stance at guard. And then he's
Speaker 2: got a good arch in his back to get underneath
Speaker 2: the football and play center. And then when you talk
Speaker 2: about Jatari Carter, he's a multiple position player. I really
Speaker 2: believe that he could play either guard or either tackle.
Speaker 2: And when you talk about game day activations and a
Speaker 2: limited amount of roster space that you have for those
Speaker 2: fifty three guys, you're talking about two young guys, two
Speaker 2: young football players that their skill level is super coachable.
Speaker 2: They are intelligent guys that can accept the responsibility of
Speaker 2: multiple positions. And then they've demonstrated that they have the
Speaker 2: athleticism to kind of plug and play. And when you're
Speaker 2: those types of guys, you're not going to get a
Speaker 2: ton of notice before your number is called in the
Speaker 2: course of a football game. So the versatility they've shown
Speaker 2: and the reliability that they've shown so far, they're interesting
Speaker 2: candidates for this team.
Speaker 1: I'm a lake that we had no turnovers. No turnovers, yep.
Speaker 2: Another another credit to the coaches again that you know,
Speaker 2: they did a nice job in the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: game when they put out there and had a scoring
Speaker 2: two minute drive at the end of the first half
Speaker 2: of the Hall of Fame game. And then ball security.
Speaker 2: How many times throughout the course of your life, whether
Speaker 2: you were talking to a defensive coach, do they talk
Speaker 2: about trying to create takeaways in turnovers? And then on
Speaker 2: the other and the other hand, every single offensive coach
Speaker 2: talks about ball security. So it's a super complimentary phase
Speaker 2: that the players are getting the point that the coaches
Speaker 2: are continuing to preach.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears.
Speaker 1: All right, Tom, let's look forward to this week.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: The Cincinnati Bengals will come on Thursday for a joint practice.
Speaker 1: They'll go their separate ways on Friday for the walkthrough,
Speaker 1: and then Sunday, excuse me, Saturday, a kickoff at noon
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field. I am disappointed to report though, that
Speaker 1: the head coach, Zach Taylor of the Bengals says they
Speaker 1: will not play their starters in this game, so we
Speaker 1: will not see Joe Burrow on the field during the game.
Speaker 1: And this is what happened, correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: Same thing with the Colts and Bears in their joint
Speaker 1: practices last year in Indianapolis. The starters did not play
Speaker 1: in the game itself. So the practice ones will get
Speaker 1: all the work or most of the work for the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals. And you know, I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: going to be the same case for the Bears or not.
Speaker 1: But from what we know right now, he had his
Speaker 1: news conferences. We tape this here on Monday, and that's
Speaker 1: what he has to say. So he says the opportunities
Speaker 1: are going to come for his team with different bodies,
Speaker 1: different looks, and they're going to be long practices, hard practices,
Speaker 1: in some ways, harder than a game. It is only
Speaker 1: one practice. But how we evaluating this then.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm looking at it three ways. There's a seventy
Speaker 2: percent chance of rain on Thursday, and the worst thing
Speaker 2: that could happen if they come and they have a
Speaker 2: rain soaked day. And now they're super apprehensive on the
Speaker 2: practice field, trying to protect everybody. Stay up, don't fall down,
Speaker 2: watch your feet, don't slip, don't slide. Bears have great
Speaker 2: practice fields. I hope the fact that rain doesn't come
Speaker 2: in here and interfere with the ability to have a
Speaker 2: really good, solid practice, especially if your starters aren't going
Speaker 2: to play in the preseason game.
Speaker 3: You look at who is it.
Speaker 2: There's two teams that had to cancel their joint practices
Speaker 2: because there's so many injuries with one of the teams,
Speaker 2: And you know, you're glad that that hasn't infiltrated the
Speaker 2: thinking of the coaches as of yet. I wish I
Speaker 2: knew I had it at the top of my head.
Speaker 2: I know you'll figure it out, but you know, I
Speaker 2: wish Joe Burrow would play in the game. I think
Speaker 2: he started this his game the other night, and he
Speaker 2: started with maybe like a sixteen play scoring drive. So
Speaker 2: they understand what they have in Joe Burrow, and uh,
Speaker 2: you know, well, coaches nowadays are going to make those
Speaker 2: types of decisions.
Speaker 1: That was the forty nine Ers and Saints. Okay, yeah, but.
Speaker 3: You know have a lot of injuries and holdouts, Joe.
Speaker 1: Burrow in particular. You know, I'm sure they're a little
Speaker 1: gun shy about this because he's had injuries. He's coming
Speaker 1: off wrist surgery. In fact, that game that they played
Speaker 1: against the Buccaneers. It was one series. It was twelve plays,
Speaker 1: but that was it. You know, that was on. He
Speaker 1: hadn't done that in the first two years. In itsas well.
Speaker 2: You got to think in the last two years he's
Speaker 2: had a pulled calf that kept him on a lot
Speaker 2: of action. Then he had the risk thumb injury that
Speaker 2: ended his season. So when you're talking about a fifty
Speaker 2: five million dollar quarterback, you want to make sure that
Speaker 2: he's there for Week one of the regular season and
Speaker 2: in the physical, long practice that they'll have against the Bears,
Speaker 2: he's going to have a red jersey on that makes
Speaker 2: him untouchable, so he can get through a hard practice
Speaker 2: against a really good defense and not be you know,
Speaker 2: not have the threat of being hit.
Speaker 1: Don't forget his rookie year, Week eleven, he had an
Speaker 1: MCL and ACL tear, so he missed the rest of
Speaker 1: that season two So again, young quarterbacks, you don't want
Speaker 1: them to have to stagger through the early part of
Speaker 1: their career overcoming injuries because it doesn't bode well for
Speaker 1: the future. Now he's bounced back, got them to a
Speaker 1: super Bowl. He's been an incredible player. But Taylor also
Speaker 1: suggested that he's going to lean toward Matt Eberflus and
Speaker 1: how the Bears run practice to kind of set the
Speaker 1: tone of how practice is going to be. If it
Speaker 1: were in Cincinnati, they would do it their way. What
Speaker 1: do you think about that they're going to kind of
Speaker 1: just follow the Bears lead in how they practice.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you an example when we went to
Speaker 2: practice against the New Orleans Saints at one point and
Speaker 2: the coach there, Maura, he didn't practice at full speed,
Speaker 2: but we did. And so Dika gave us a talk
Speaker 2: before we got on the practice field and said, you
Speaker 2: practice at our speed, don't ever go down to their speed.
Speaker 2: And it was nothing but fights, and so we actually
Speaker 2: had to end the practice sessions early, get on the
Speaker 2: bus and go back to Plattefell and that was it.
Speaker 2: So I think you got to come to an understanding
Speaker 2: and allow the head coaches to stand before their team
Speaker 2: before they take the field and let everybody know what
Speaker 2: the tempo of practice is. No tackling to the ground
Speaker 2: by the running backs, no hitting the cornerback, and none
Speaker 2: of those sideline shots that we saw, you know, happen
Speaker 2: in the game. So it's just it's you know, for
Speaker 2: the betterment of safety, because these teams on a walk
Speaker 2: away healthy looking.
Speaker 1: When we practiced against the Patriots in Foxborough, that was
Speaker 1: Anthony Miller special. They were the center for the young
Speaker 1: Belichick kicked him out of practice. So hopefully we won't get.
Speaker 2: Anthony Miller, who just got signed by the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1: Very good, very good, Timmy, you're on it. Uh. The
Speaker 1: Bengals have some injury issues. I was really looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing their number one pick this year, Amarius Mims.
Speaker 1: He'd off off to a great start playing at right tackle,
Speaker 1: a massive human being out of the University of Georgia.
Speaker 1: To Trent Brown hadn't been practicing, so now he's back
Speaker 1: to ramping up. But he's got a pectoral straand so
Speaker 1: he's going to be out a couple of weeks. So
Speaker 1: that's a loss and some other you know, star players
Speaker 1: haven't been practicing yet for the Bengals. But you know,
Speaker 1: you want to get the most you can out of this,
Speaker 1: and if Taylor's looking at this as you're going to
Speaker 1: get better results out of this practice than you would
Speaker 1: in a game. You know, this is a very important
Speaker 1: practice then for both teams, and you want to see
Speaker 1: the best guys out there, and what do coaches get
Speaker 1: out of this? What do the gms get out of this?
Speaker 1: They're going to be looking at each other's players, no
Speaker 1: question about it. But can sometimes a coach maybe or
Speaker 1: a team loose perspective on what they think they do
Speaker 1: or do not have when you go up against another team,
Speaker 1: one that is also playing in a very difficult division,
Speaker 1: obviously in the AFC North, a black and blue division
Speaker 1: all by itself, with Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore all run
Speaker 1: teams that'd like to run the football.
Speaker 2: You know, if I could have two drills that were
Speaker 2: full speed one hundred percent, it would be offensive defensive
Speaker 2: linemen one on ones in seven on seven, because then
Speaker 2: I would get a better understanding of my coverage skills
Speaker 2: and ability with seven on seven. Both ways, you can
Speaker 2: go one hundred percent of you're not going to tackle,
Speaker 2: you're not going to be exposed to devastating hits, But
Speaker 2: then you're going to be able to judge the athleticism
Speaker 2: of your defensive players and the route running ability of
Speaker 2: your offensive players. And then if you can go to
Speaker 2: one on ones, you can do that at one hundred
Speaker 2: percent full speed. Let it go, Let it rip. If
Speaker 2: you get beat at the line of scrimmage, so be it.
Speaker 2: What type of corrections can you make and what type
Speaker 2: of you know, techniques can you positively reinforce in yourself.
Speaker 3: So those are the two drills that I would be.
Speaker 2: Most hopeful that they do them one hundred percent. The
Speaker 2: other full team works, they're all tempo controlled, and there's
Speaker 2: going to be so many, so much talking about this
Speaker 2: is thud.
Speaker 3: This is not tackling. You do not hit the quarterback.
Speaker 2: And then if guys disobey the rule, the rules of
Speaker 2: the coaches, then you're gonna see chippiness, You're gonna see fights,
Speaker 2: and then you're going to be talking about a different
Speaker 2: type of tempo.
Speaker 1: Tom would you, as a player, if you recall your practices,
Speaker 1: did you ever get any good ideas from how the
Speaker 1: other team went about their work or is it just
Speaker 1: so universally accepted everybody does what they do that this
Speaker 1: is a standard standard practices around the NFL. Or do
Speaker 1: you get good ideas from this stuff? You know?
Speaker 3: No, I never did get any good ideas.
Speaker 2: Alls I did is you know, when you're being coached
Speaker 2: as an offensive line you're being coached as a unit,
Speaker 2: and you're just again positively reinforcing that the techniques that
Speaker 2: we're using, the fundamentals that we're taught, are working, even
Speaker 2: with the acknowledgement that this is a controlled tempo practice.
Speaker 2: But every single time Jeff, that we practiced against the
Speaker 2: other team with Ditka, we kind we always had the
Speaker 2: conversation with the players after practice and they would always say,
Speaker 2: oh my god, you guys do this every day. What
Speaker 2: you don't ever you know, kind of take a step back,
Speaker 2: and so they were more amazed at just the level
Speaker 2: of effort that we gave a practices and even you
Speaker 2: know in the preseason game. We played a lot of
Speaker 2: pre in international games against the Vikings, against San Francisco,
Speaker 2: against Dallas, and when we would go to these international
Speaker 2: sites and we would practice against the opponent, it was
Speaker 2: the same way. And I remember practicing against San Francisco
Speaker 2: and you know, San Francisco, man, they jogged every single period,
Speaker 2: won a period in the next And Dicka brought us
Speaker 2: in the meetings that night says, look, I don't want
Speaker 2: anybody walking on this practice field. You're gonna jog from
Speaker 2: drill to drill, and we're going to pick up the
Speaker 2: pace and pick up the tempo. So some other teams
Speaker 2: influenced influenced us as much as we thought we influenced them.
Speaker 1: Usy Heart seuts their flavors for every vibe Celebrate responsibily
Speaker 1: most in Coorse Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All right, tom,
Speaker 1: before we wrap things up, the LA Olympics is next
Speaker 1: down the docket for the summer games. But US sports
Speaker 1: will include baseball, softball on lacrosse, and there's going to
Speaker 1: be the debut of flag football and it's not going
Speaker 1: to be contact for of course, but there are plenty
Speaker 1: of NFL superstars that have already said, hey, they wouldn't
Speaker 1: mind being involved, including guys like Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek
Speaker 1: Hill and Micah Parsons and even Gronk would come out
Speaker 1: of retirement if he could do it. Peyton Manning apparently
Speaker 1: told Pat McAfee on his show last month that he'd
Speaker 1: liked to coach. Would you be interested in something like
Speaker 1: that or would you prefer to have the amateur athletes
Speaker 1: get their crack at doing something like this? Like it
Speaker 1: all had been in the past with Olympic sports, including
Speaker 1: young players in the college basketball world. Before the dream
Speaker 1: teams were put together.
Speaker 2: You know, I think there's a lot of guys that
Speaker 2: are on the cusp of making an NFL team, or
Speaker 2: guys that have an extensive college background, and there's a
Speaker 2: lot of other countries that have never participated in football,
Speaker 2: so they're going to play a period of catch up.
Speaker 2: So I don't necessarily think that Mahomes or Brady or
Speaker 2: Tyreek Hill or some of these incredible superstars of the
Speaker 2: future should be out there playing flag football. Listen, if
Speaker 2: they're not concerned about getting hurt in flag football, but
Speaker 2: don't ever tell me that you're concerned about getting hurt
Speaker 2: in a full padded practice on the NFL. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, I just think there's got to be protection
Speaker 2: for the NFL team if they have a guy does
Speaker 2: go out there and have some type of horrific injury.
Speaker 2: That one time they had beach football at the Pro
Speaker 2: Bowl and Thomas, the running back from New England, got
Speaker 2: such a devastating knee injury that it might have ended
Speaker 2: his career. So you can't ever think that you could
Speaker 2: just go out there and play football. But you look
Speaker 2: at what the USA women's team has done. I think
Speaker 2: it's now eight straight gold medals. You think of what
Speaker 2: the USA men's basketball team did and winning the gold medal.
Speaker 3: When you're the best, you're the best.
Speaker 1: YEP, that was Robert Edwards. He jumped Robert Edwards, excuse
Speaker 1: me jump to defend a pass in a four on
Speaker 1: four flag football game leading up to the Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety nine. He was really on the way
Speaker 1: to becoming an impact player. He was a first round pick,
Speaker 1: eighteenth overall and they were just replacing Curtis Martin. And yeah,
Speaker 1: that damaged his career forever. So your point is well taken.
Speaker 1: I would prefer not to see NFL players me neither.
Speaker 1: I would prefer you know, we're growing this game in
Speaker 1: a way that is impressive. We're getting women involved in
Speaker 1: flag football. I think it's fantastic. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: high school programs across the country, including here in the
Speaker 1: state of Illinois. And for guys that made you know,
Speaker 1: a guy my size back in the day would not
Speaker 1: have been even to play high school football, just too small,
Speaker 1: you know, But I could have played flag football. It
Speaker 1: would have been a fun experience. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: keep him in the NFL.
Speaker 2: I was playing flag football in the Olympics because I
Speaker 2: think there's too many talented athletes. Yeah, that can show
Speaker 2: and demonstrate their athleticism in flag football at an Olympic.
Speaker 1: Level for sure. All right, Tom, that's gonna wrap us up.
Speaker 1: You got any final thoughts before we let you go?
Speaker 1: I know you always got Tom's thoughts. Anything we left
Speaker 1: on the table, No.
Speaker 3: You covered it all.
Speaker 2: I'm super excited and I just hope it doesn't rain
Speaker 2: on Thursday, so if Joe Burrow is not going to
Speaker 2: play that he can go out there and they can
Speaker 2: have a lively practice instead of being field concerned.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd love to see it. I'd love to see
Speaker 1: him and t Higgins and Jamar Chase and all those guys.
Speaker 1: It would be a fun practice. Indeed, it is open
Speaker 1: to the public for that one, so we'll have fans there.
Speaker 1: So hopefully the weather want to stage clear, Yeah, one
Speaker 1: of the Yeah, I'll be there early. Don't you worry
Speaker 1: about me.
Speaker 3: I'll be early.
Speaker 1: Oh don't know, I'm going to be there early anyway.
Speaker 1: All right, Thanks Tom, I'm Jeff. Thanks for listening. Everybody.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe now in the Chicago Bears Official at Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
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