Speaker 1: Welcome in Tumble Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production
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Speaker 1: is brought to you by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico Physical Therapy,
Speaker 1: Bet Rivers, CD Delling, Connie's Pizza by Genis Energy, and
Speaker 1: Miller Life Kira. Your hosts Jeff Chilneac aka the Mayor
Speaker 1: of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom The Surfaster.
Speaker 2: There Mandatory Veteran Minicamp opens tomorrow afternoon at Halis Hall,
Speaker 2: one of the final steps in a busy offseason for
Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears, and we discussed tonight here on Bears
Speaker 2: Weekly Jeff Joniac with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer,
Speaker 2: and from Serious ex MNFL Radio's Moving the Chains, we
Speaker 2: have the former Bears quarterback Jim Miller. Thanks to our
Speaker 2: producers Dan Brilly and Jordan Treadup. And in the ESPN
Speaker 2: studios this evening, Sean Graeney, the executive producer of the
Speaker 2: Bears Radio Network, is Eric Ostrowski coming up conversation with
Speaker 2: Bear Special Teams Coordinator Richard H. Tower as the Bears
Speaker 2: gear up for the new kick return rules here in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four. We'll also talk defensive line with Travis Smith,
Speaker 2: the Bears veteran defensive line coach. We'll get into that
Speaker 2: as well, talk about some of the young players that
Speaker 2: could and should emerge here in their second years with
Speaker 2: the Bears. Guys, how we feeling. I can't wait to
Speaker 2: see the entire crew back together. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, ip
Speaker 2: at haus at Temmy, Oh.
Speaker 3: I thought you were talking about me, you and Jim.
Speaker 4: Well, you know Jims and Jims in Michigan.
Speaker 3: You're You're right, Jeff. You know, I'm really interested to
Speaker 3: see a snapshot of everybody in their place, and that's
Speaker 3: including Montest Sweat along with the defensive line, Nate Davis
Speaker 3: with the offensive line, that's the running back position in place,
Speaker 3: the receiver position in place. I would like to see
Speaker 3: a few days of work with everybody with hopefully is
Speaker 3: going to be in that place week one against Tennessee.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think you know, we know they're not in
Speaker 5: pads right now, but you want you want to run
Speaker 5: a tight ship, right It's about you know, the team
Speaker 5: coming together, getting a continuity young order back, working with
Speaker 5: the other ten veterans that are there with him, along
Speaker 5: with roma dooms who's going to be put in there.
Speaker 5: You know, you want some sharpness with the mini camp
Speaker 5: where you come away from this VET mini camp feeling
Speaker 5: pretty good about where the team's at with all the installs.
Speaker 5: Guys need to know where to line up. Guys got
Speaker 5: to start showing the technique. We know, you really can't
Speaker 5: evaluate the power side of football because there's no pads on.
Speaker 5: So you'd really want to run a type ship where
Speaker 5: everybody is assignment driven in a veteran mini camp.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you know one thing about it is, you know,
Speaker 3: if you really look at this roster right now, there's
Speaker 3: really one position that's battling, and that's the center position.
Speaker 3: If you look at every other single position out there,
Speaker 3: everybody should be in their place. And you're talking about
Speaker 3: the Marcus Walker at defensive end, Givon Dexter Senior at
Speaker 3: the three technique defensive tackle obviously Montes Swaton Billings and
Speaker 3: backed up by other guys. But you know what the
Speaker 3: linebacker position is. You know what the defensive position is
Speaker 3: to tackle the guards, the running backs of the receivers.
Speaker 3: So I when is the last time that the three
Speaker 3: of us had beenett going into a mini camp and thinking, okay,
Speaker 3: almost every position could possibly be decided on outside the
Speaker 3: center competition.
Speaker 2: Two thousand and six Super Bowl year. I mean, honestly,
Speaker 2: that is a heck of a point by you. I mean,
Speaker 2: you're right, everybody's in place.
Speaker 6: Yeah, pretty much. I agree with that.
Speaker 5: I think there is a battle at center with coman,
Speaker 5: with Coleman, Shelton and obviously Ryan Bates, you know, and
Speaker 5: there's a few spots obviously if injuries start to happen
Speaker 5: during training camp, you'll see some guys competing because I
Speaker 5: do think there's some backup positions that that guys will
Speaker 5: be able to battle, you know, if they have to
Speaker 5: earn some playing time. But overall, this this roster, overall
Speaker 5: the last two years, has been upgraded significantly by Ryan Poles.
Speaker 2: NFL dot Com did something recently. They picked one player
Speaker 2: from each team Fellas that was the most overlooked player.
Speaker 2: Do you have any idea on the Bears roster who
Speaker 2: that might have been? Maybe you guys saw it, so
Speaker 2: maybe I'm not surprising you.
Speaker 6: Who is it?
Speaker 4: From their opinion?
Speaker 6: Yeah, go ahead, Jim.
Speaker 5: Well, for me, it'd be Kyler Gordon, you know, because
Speaker 5: to me, he's gonna be significant from the nickel spot.
Speaker 5: He missed some games last year. He's got blitsability, he's
Speaker 5: a good ball hawk. He's a guy that can really
Speaker 5: you know. That's why they're give him the nickname spider
Speaker 5: Man because he's a very savvy player. And for me,
Speaker 5: I think it's Kyler Gordon. Your nickel position, especially in
Speaker 5: pro football now, is actually a starter, you know, because
Speaker 5: a lot of teams are running eleven personnel. So for me,
Speaker 5: that overlooked player would be Kyler Gordon.
Speaker 3: I would go Tyree Stevenson because you know, the the
Speaker 3: reputation that Jalen Johnson is coming in with this year
Speaker 3: and all the positive things that have been said about him,
Speaker 3: you know, with the reward the awarding of a new contract,
Speaker 3: and Okay, if they're not gonna go to Jalen, is
Speaker 3: Tariq Stevenson gonna bring his game to another level or
Speaker 3: is he going to be a guy that's targeted as
Speaker 3: often as possible? Because color Gordon in and out of
Speaker 3: the field, depending upon as the defensive Jim said, the
Speaker 3: defensive personnel matching up, Tyreek Stevenson will stay on the
Speaker 3: field the whole game.
Speaker 2: Well, their answer was running back Roshan Johnson. Wow, five
Speaker 2: games of fifty plus yards from Scrimmin's last year, some
Speaker 2: big powerful runs. As you know, he ran over some people.
Speaker 2: Was good and blitz pick up, played special teams. But
Speaker 2: they're looking at it, guys, Jimmy tom from a DeAndre
Speaker 2: Swift perspective, because yes, he had a great year last
Speaker 2: year in Philadelphia. We're not even talking about Khalil Herbert anymore.
Speaker 2: I don't believe he's going anywhere. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: they are really well slotted at the running back position.
Speaker 2: Travis Homer is in that group because of special teams
Speaker 2: as well, and of course you get a blasting game.
Speaker 2: But Rochean Johnson entering year too, I'm not going to
Speaker 2: fall asleep on what he can bring to the table.
Speaker 2: And yes he's got some grit to him. I like
Speaker 2: the way he played last year and I like the
Speaker 2: what he put on the table at training cap. He
Speaker 2: was a pick that the Bears are very happy to
Speaker 2: get when they did, and just a great overall person
Speaker 2: and a great overall teammate.
Speaker 3: Still the best blocker amongst all the running backs, and
Speaker 3: I'm not ashamed to say that because it is a
Speaker 3: trait that's difficult to find of these running backs that
Speaker 3: are coming out of college. So I would be super
Speaker 3: confident if I had a blitz pick up against a
Speaker 3: team that brought it as off as some teams do,
Speaker 3: and Rochean being in the backfield for me at that moment.
Speaker 5: I remember Ryan Poles talking about that that was his
Speaker 5: favorite player in the draft and they were able to
Speaker 5: pluck Roshan in the fourth round. I thought every time
Speaker 5: he entered the game, when he had opportunities, he provided
Speaker 5: a spark. There's a little bit of a juice to him. Unfortunately,
Speaker 5: he missed a couple of games he got a concussion,
Speaker 5: had to sit there, But that's a nice I think
Speaker 5: the Bears have a nice backfield of a complimentary running
Speaker 5: backs that can all fill in and do a good job.
Speaker 5: And who knows, we'll see if they can lead the
Speaker 5: league in rushing again because I think those all four
Speaker 5: backs are really good compliments to one another and we'll
Speaker 5: get positive yards.
Speaker 2: Which leads me into this conversation what the run pass
Speaker 2: percentage might be under Shane Waldron and with this rookie
Speaker 2: quarterback and so many offensive weapons, I know Ryan Poles
Speaker 2: has said, hey, they still want to run the football,
Speaker 2: and like you said, they've done a nice job running
Speaker 2: the football the last couple of years. Obviously, a running
Speaker 2: quarterback in justin fields, those kind of numbers should not
Speaker 2: be expected from Kayleb Williams. Though he can run, he
Speaker 2: can run out of trouble, and he can run fast,
Speaker 2: but he doesn't want to do that. He wants to
Speaker 2: work from the pocket, in and around the pocket. So
Speaker 2: what would be a worthy run pass ratio percentage? Tom
Speaker 2: and Jim say, for the first eight games of the season,
Speaker 2: in the last nine games of the season, would you
Speaker 2: like to see it.
Speaker 4: Like we always want it?
Speaker 2: Or do we are we going to let this horse
Speaker 2: ride here a little bit and put the ball in
Speaker 2: the air out more.
Speaker 5: We'll start with Jimmy, I think you want it run
Speaker 5: heavy early, you know, through the first nine games, whether
Speaker 5: it's sixteen forty run to pass, and then towards the
Speaker 5: second half of the year, say the first nine weeks,
Speaker 5: if you are a sixty percent run team, it'll set
Speaker 5: up the play action pass. They can go more well personnel,
Speaker 5: and then by week nine they should be able to
Speaker 5: start transition where it can be you know, fifty to
Speaker 5: fifty and then maybe towards the end of the year
Speaker 5: sixty forty, when it's passing compared to the running. That
Speaker 5: would be my take because I would think at that
Speaker 5: point Caleb Williams should be able to do more from
Speaker 5: that standpoint where they'll trust him more in third and
Speaker 5: long situations, or third and medium situations, or third and
Speaker 5: short where they can trust him to throw get a
Speaker 5: first down rather than pounding it up in there, and
Speaker 5: sometimes where teams are stacking the box and they should
Speaker 5: be able to move the ball more better, I should say,
Speaker 5: through the air towards the latter part of the season,
Speaker 5: once he gets that base of the offense underneath him
Speaker 5: and he feels a lot more comfortable.
Speaker 3: You know me, I'm an eighty twenty type of guy.
Speaker 3: I'm joking, facetious what I say that, because of the
Speaker 3: personnel that the Bears can offer you, I'm going to
Speaker 3: do all based on evaluational vulnerabilities of my opponent. If
Speaker 3: I'm playing a team that doesn't have a very good
Speaker 3: pass rush, I'm going to allow Caleb to throw the
Speaker 3: ball a little bit more and trust my protection. If
Speaker 3: I have a team that doesn't stop the run very well,
Speaker 3: then I'm going to have a running game, and Chris
Speaker 3: Morgan and his offensive line in the running game coordinate
Speaker 3: or take advantage of the defense accordingly. So it is
Speaker 3: going to be a lot of depending upon your scouting
Speaker 3: to see what the deficiencies of your opponent is.
Speaker 7: Well.
Speaker 2: Last year, the Bears second in the NFL in a
Speaker 2: rush percentage at forty eight seven, with San Francisco trailing
Speaker 2: fifty point three percent, Baltimore the league leader. So the
Speaker 2: pass percentage for the Bears and forty nine ers fifty
Speaker 2: one point three percent. That by definition is a balanced
Speaker 2: attack run pass. All right, we come back well. Here
Speaker 2: from Bear's defensive line coach Travis Smith in the media
Speaker 2: session last week up at had a saw We get
Speaker 2: ready for Midiicamp starting tomorrow. Here on ESPN one thousand
Speaker 2: of the Bears Radio Network is Bears Weekly.
Speaker 1: With a voice of the Bears for twenty three years,
Speaker 1: Jeff Junick on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This second of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 2: Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to requested in
Speaker 2: clinic orbitual deployment that start feeling better tomorrow. The assistants
Speaker 2: gather each week defensive, one week offensive another week throughout
Speaker 2: the season and includes this offseason program right now leading
Speaker 2: up to Veteran Minicamp, and last week it was the
Speaker 2: defensive coaches had a chance to visit with other media members,
Speaker 2: with Travis Smith hitting all things defensive line, including Dexter
Speaker 2: Senior and pickings the two picks from a year ago.
Speaker 2: A lot of discussion about those two guys and third
Speaker 2: year pro Dominique Robinson. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 8: Yeah, so he's done a phenomenal job. Like if you
Speaker 8: look at the offseason where guys leave and now where
Speaker 8: they've shown up, he's one guy that sticks out for sure,
Speaker 8: and his body, his body fat stayed the same, but
Speaker 8: his weightly mass has gone up, and so he's definitely
Speaker 8: filled out, gotten stronger, has more masks to him, more anchor,
Speaker 8: more strength. So it's it's exciting to see him flying around.
Speaker 2: Now he's not allowing him to move inside maybe more.
Speaker 8: We haven't we haven't messed too much with that. Obviously,
Speaker 8: there might be a couple of situations where between whoever
Speaker 8: he's in there with, he might flip sides where he
Speaker 8: can be in there in rush situations, but more it's
Speaker 8: just it's really he's just trying to keep developing to
Speaker 8: be the best d N he can be right now.
Speaker 2: So you spent time with Booker last week.
Speaker 6: What's the first step for him?
Speaker 8: First step right here is just making sure that he
Speaker 8: knows where he's supposed to be when he's supposed to
Speaker 8: be there, and know what to do. There's the bottom
Speaker 8: line of all those other attributes, all the other abilities
Speaker 8: that you have. If you don't know what to do,
Speaker 8: you're gonna have a hard time. And so that's one
Speaker 8: thing that we're just working on every day, making sure
Speaker 8: that we eliminate mistakes. If there's a mistake, we don't
Speaker 8: repeat mistakes.
Speaker 2: Oftentimes with rookie edge rushers they say, oh, you know,
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter, just they go get the quarterback. It's
Speaker 2: a simple that, but you just outlined it's not as simple.
Speaker 8: As it was a question. That's not as simple as that.
Speaker 8: There's there's a lot that goes into it. To be
Speaker 8: one thing, if it's just hey, stopping the run and
Speaker 8: rushing the passer, but with us playing a form in front,
Speaker 8: there's a ton of detail that goes into that and are.
Speaker 8: My job as a coach is to make sure I
Speaker 8: eliminate all the gray, but allowing them to play as
Speaker 8: fast and as physical as they can.
Speaker 6: With Dexter and Zach able to.
Speaker 2: Just discussed with Dominique to add to their body without
Speaker 2: the worry about combine last year getting ready for your four.
Speaker 6: Are they a different body type two?
Speaker 8: They both they showed where they left left in the
Speaker 8: last season. Where they've shown up. They've completely They've they've
Speaker 8: improved immensely physically wise, and I think as you guys
Speaker 8: are out there too, you can see them for two
Speaker 8: big men. They can run now, both of them, and
Speaker 8: they both and they the numbers that we saw. They've
Speaker 8: really done a good job of taking the offices and
Speaker 8: not taking it off, making sure they're improving, they're physically.
Speaker 6: We're really happy where they are right now.
Speaker 9: Are expecting a lot of Javan this year. How have
Speaker 9: you seen his mentality maybe shift coming back in understanding
Speaker 9: that you guys need more out of him this year.
Speaker 1: Apartment.
Speaker 8: Absolutely, I think he's he's taken as a challenge individually
Speaker 8: from himself but also from our organization too, that he
Speaker 8: has a lot of pride in what he's doing on
Speaker 8: the field, and he wants to make sure that he
Speaker 8: has goals and aspirations. There's a lot of things that
Speaker 8: are on in his mind, but he knows it's one
Speaker 8: step at a time. And so the first step was
Speaker 8: where he could not come back in the same that
Speaker 8: he was when he left that this last season, and
Speaker 8: where he's shown up now he's he's he's taking step one.
Speaker 8: He's done a great job. And now it's now where
Speaker 8: six ot as in where he was ot A one.
Speaker 8: I think today even he saw him show up a
Speaker 8: little bit in the rush, then where he's he's doing
Speaker 8: a great job, taking a little small steps every day.
Speaker 6: So I'm excited about that. Where is his rush and
Speaker 6: way you can tell.
Speaker 8: About being going to have I think, well, right now,
Speaker 8: if you look with us, with us not in pads,
Speaker 8: there's really no power element to the rush and there's
Speaker 8: no games to the rush. So everything that we concer
Speaker 8: rate now is one to one rush ability or one
Speaker 8: on one win ability, working speed, edges, hands hands pea,
Speaker 8: getting hands off, not staying blocked. So he's to the
Speaker 8: whole group is really taking a good ownership with that
Speaker 8: to make sure we talk about finishing every play unblocked.
Speaker 6: Not just that the line of scrimmage on their side.
Speaker 8: Line of scrimmage making sure the quarterback can't.
Speaker 6: Throw the ball feels just right.
Speaker 8: We got to speed up his heartbeat. And so where
Speaker 8: he's improved, I think he's because he's a big, powerful man,
Speaker 8: but he can't play with power right now, and so
Speaker 8: it forced him. It's like tying one hand by your
Speaker 8: back and never go play. But I think it's too
Speaker 8: it's gonna make it makes this tie end of the year.
Speaker 8: It makes all the guys better because it forces them
Speaker 8: to be a little bit uncomfortable and do some things
Speaker 8: that some guys might.
Speaker 6: Not do as much. What's that experience though, I.
Speaker 8: Mean it's really not as much as he's thinking. Is
Speaker 8: there's everyone in a while, there'll be a boom in
Speaker 8: your drill and you look at what like that. But
Speaker 8: other than that, they do a good job of kind
Speaker 8: of staying out of the way. And then in the
Speaker 8: meeting rooms that's all automated cameras and so they're the
Speaker 8: ones that are manually one guy controls all of them. Really,
Speaker 8: so it really isn't it's it's I think it's a
Speaker 8: great opportunity for us as as a team as organization,
Speaker 8: just to kind of show who the Chicago Bears are,
Speaker 8: our culture and just being a part of it that year,
Speaker 8: even with the situation that was going on that year,
Speaker 8: really wasn't it's it's still football, it's still training camp,
Speaker 8: but still we're trying to get ready for the season.
Speaker 8: I'm pretty from what I remember, Coach Gruden and Mike
Speaker 8: may Ick had full control of what was released and
Speaker 8: what wasn't released, because there was situations that year, if
Speaker 8: you remember with a certain receiver that you guys saw
Speaker 8: a little bit. So I'm done in those conversations, but
Speaker 8: I'm pretty sure the organization has control over what's put
Speaker 8: out and.
Speaker 6: What's not put out.
Speaker 2: Do you forget it times because you're absorbed in your
Speaker 2: coaching that everything's live with my immy or do you
Speaker 2: just I mean maybe.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I'm sure people are different me personally. There's so
Speaker 8: much stuff we have going on a daily basis, and
Speaker 8: you got to think it's myself and coach being my
Speaker 8: assistant with fifteen guys that not only we were trying
Speaker 8: to make sure know what to do, know how to
Speaker 8: do it, and we're splitting up multiple drills you really
Speaker 8: don't think about it. Now if they put a mic
Speaker 8: on you might You're figet about that in two seconds,
Speaker 8: So you got to be careful what you say to
Speaker 8: a little bit like that. But you're really they're out
Speaker 8: of the way enough where you don't even recognize it.
Speaker 8: I think that's how I felt.
Speaker 6: Yeah, is there anything?
Speaker 7: Is there anything about Booker's game that you've seen in
Speaker 7: person that maybe didn't show up and doesn't tape. Is
Speaker 7: there anything that pretty good like that you can only
Speaker 7: really seek his y being a close.
Speaker 8: I don't know if there's anything that I'm seeing now
Speaker 8: that I didn't see on tape. But I think the
Speaker 8: good thing is is that things that we saw on
Speaker 8: tape that we were attracted to, we're seeing on the
Speaker 8: field right now. Some of the unorthodox movements, some of
Speaker 8: the difficulty to block, with his ability to kind of
Speaker 8: slip inside and get on an edge and beat with
Speaker 8: an inside move. You're seeing some of those things that
Speaker 8: you saw him do in college at Kansas that he's
Speaker 8: doing in practice now. He does have a high motor,
Speaker 8: he does play a good effort. He's got a long
Speaker 8: way to go though, from an improvement from conditioning. Some
Speaker 8: of a physicality standpoint from getting the system in. The
Speaker 8: rookies are obviously behind because they showed up whatever two
Speaker 8: weeks late, but we're doing coach being myself or spend
Speaker 8: an extra time where we're allotted in the schedule where
Speaker 8: we get time in the afternoon to meet with them
Speaker 8: and trying to make sure they're getting caught up fully
Speaker 8: ready to roll here for the mini camp and then
Speaker 8: when they get back for training camp that.
Speaker 7: This defense as a whole could take a fairly big step.
Speaker 7: Does that make it any easier for him for Booker
Speaker 7: to find spots, you know, don distance wise, whatever situationally
Speaker 7: to make plays that he can't just because he's a
Speaker 7: really good athlete.
Speaker 8: I think so for sure. And I think what's helping
Speaker 8: him too right now too is there's with the guys
Speaker 8: that are in the group or in the room or
Speaker 8: really good where he's he's kind of trying to absorb
Speaker 8: everything he can because there's guys that aren't holding information
Speaker 8: back on the people we It's not just myself and
Speaker 8: coach being coach in the room. We got some good
Speaker 8: veterans in there too that when they see something off,
Speaker 8: they're pulling them aside. And either stopping something right when
Speaker 8: it happens or helping them get them little knowledge with
Speaker 8: the situational knowledge where they're talking to a presnap so
Speaker 8: something he might he's just worried about playing five tech.
Speaker 8: They give them Hoodie, who to the down distance? He
Speaker 8: went to second and twelve after a TfL or hey,
Speaker 8: he's alerted more to pass situations. Those type of things
Speaker 8: are helping and the young guys out.
Speaker 2: We don't talk too much about the veteran free agents
Speaker 2: that we're added. They may that'd be big name pass
Speaker 2: rushers or whatever, but you are you feeling good about
Speaker 2: where that unit is in terms of having a couple
Speaker 2: of waves of guys that can get to the quarterback.
Speaker 8: The thing I love right now with the new guys
Speaker 8: and even the guys that are coming back, there's not
Speaker 8: one guy in the room that is not competing their
Speaker 8: tail off relentlessly every snap. And it's not just the
Speaker 8: team work. If you were able to walk, I know
Speaker 8: you guys are far away, but our individuals they're working
Speaker 8: unlike any group I've ever seen work where it's constant.
Speaker 8: Whether we have a twenty minute individual, thirty minute individual,
Speaker 8: it doesn't matter they're all competing to improve. There's not
Speaker 8: one guy that's allergic to work. There's not one guy
Speaker 8: that's looking for an easy way out. And so when
Speaker 8: I look at that where the new guys that have
Speaker 8: come in here, some of the new guys that are vets,
Speaker 8: all of a sudden, you start working like that, they're WHOA,
Speaker 8: it's not how D line will work. They're kind of
Speaker 8: they don't want to do that, or we don't have
Speaker 8: that problem right now. So that's a good problem to
Speaker 8: not have. So I'm excited about where it's trendings.
Speaker 9: Was Zach he had a he had a in college,
Speaker 9: he was very good get off pass rusher. He didn't
Speaker 9: have a great pass rushing pack last year. Guys haven't
Speaker 9: nosed mainly what does he need to do to kind
Speaker 9: of unlock that pass rush ability that's obviously inside him.
Speaker 8: I think just what we talk about all the time
Speaker 8: is just is trust. You gotta trust your ability, but
Speaker 8: we gotta do You got to eliminate overthinking. And when
Speaker 8: you eliminate everything, if you just know your alignment, your assignment,
Speaker 8: that's gonna tell you. And that guy that crossing, he's
Speaker 8: not gonna lie to you. That guy who whatever that
Speaker 8: key is. If you're you start looking in the backfield,
Speaker 8: you got problems. But if you're looking at that guy
Speaker 8: a cross, he's telling you a running pass and you
Speaker 8: just get off on the ball, like you were talking
Speaker 8: about he did in college. That he's able to do.
Speaker 8: Everything else is gonna be easier. He's gonna impact the game.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 8: I don't care to run your past because it's not
Speaker 8: always perfect upfront. It's a physical game, but it's not
Speaker 8: always gonna be clean cut. But as long as he's
Speaker 8: on their sideline scrimmage, playing with his hands, knocking guys back,
Speaker 8: throwing guys around, and we talk about that with the
Speaker 8: whole group, that he's gonna end of affecting the play
Speaker 8: in a good way that's going to help him or
Speaker 8: someone else on the front or in the back.
Speaker 2: Seven all right, guys, I was uniquely interested in visiting
Speaker 2: with him because, first of all, I started, as you heard,
Speaker 2: with the body transformation, so to speak, of Dominique Robinson.
Speaker 4: He to me looks a lot bigger, and he confirmed
Speaker 4: that for me. And you know, he can be.
Speaker 2: Used inside, kick inside as well. Still trying to find
Speaker 2: his toolbox, I guess as a pass rusher.
Speaker 4: They're not giving up on him.
Speaker 2: But then what we're hearing about Davon Dexter Senior and
Speaker 2: Zach Pickens Tom if anybody on the entire team the
Speaker 2: development of those two gentlemen at defensive tackle, and if
Speaker 2: Dominique Robinson can find a way to get his mojo
Speaker 2: working as well, another rusher to put on the outside
Speaker 2: with DeMarcus and also with the rookie Austin Booker, that
Speaker 2: would be a huge development.
Speaker 3: Listen, if you got as many snaps as you needed
Speaker 3: out of the combination of billings and pickings on the nose,
Speaker 3: and every one of them were fresh, one efforted snatch,
Speaker 3: it really does a lot to be destructive on the
Speaker 3: interior of the offensive line. Number two is Javon Dexter
Speaker 3: Senior is a big man. When I look at him
Speaker 3: standing out there practice and he stands ahead and shoulders
Speaker 3: above everybody else. He's got the lamp that is a
Speaker 3: real asset, and the way he uses.
Speaker 5: It for their defensive line, I think those are where
Speaker 5: the battles are. Who is going to be that third
Speaker 5: pass rusher behind Martez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker is going
Speaker 5: to be Jacob Martin can Dominique Robinson step up, the
Speaker 5: development of young Austin Booker, who's just getting his feet
Speaker 5: wet right now, Khaleid Kareem, who's obviously a veteran. I
Speaker 5: think that's where really the camp battles are are going
Speaker 5: to be, because you're going to need a third pass
Speaker 5: rusher and sometime rotate in there to keep guys fresh.
Speaker 5: Which guy is going to step up and be and
Speaker 5: going to be able to really fill that room?
Speaker 6: All right?
Speaker 4: When we come back, we'll be joined by Richard h.
Speaker 2: Tower, the Special Teams Coordinator, as we talk kick return
Speaker 2: and much more on Special Teams with Jim Miller and
Speaker 2: Tom There.
Speaker 4: I'm Jeff Joniak.
Speaker 2: This is the SPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network's.
Speaker 1: Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears for twenty
Speaker 1: three years, Jeff Jonyaik on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 2: CDW people to get it.
Speaker 4: Richard Hiitier, the.
Speaker 2: Bear Special Teams coordinator, uniquely involved with the new change
Speaker 2: in kick return rules this year, along with several other
Speaker 2: members of the special teams coordinator community in the National
Speaker 2: Football League, as they have got basically a reinvigorated role
Speaker 2: because they're not just setting up returns and coverages. They're
Speaker 2: going to be making plays. As we listen into our
Speaker 2: interview with the Bear special teams coordinator.
Speaker 10: Thanks for having me, Jeff, I would say it's going
Speaker 10: to be exciting because every time the ball is kicked off,
Speaker 10: there's an opportunity for play. Where in the past there's
Speaker 10: been a touchback, it's been a dead play.
Speaker 6: You can take a break. This time it may go
Speaker 6: to the house. It may be a big hit inside
Speaker 6: the twenty.
Speaker 10: So you got to you gotta see what it's going
Speaker 10: to do for your offensive defense.
Speaker 2: Has this reinvigorated your coaching career because it's a play,
Speaker 2: it's going to be designed, it's matchups, timing, it's spacing.
Speaker 2: Not that any of that wasn't before, but I would
Speaker 2: think return right, return left, return mill, it's a whole
Speaker 2: different thing now.
Speaker 4: It's a design play, right.
Speaker 10: Yeah, a design play, and I think it's gonna reinvigorate
Speaker 10: the careers of more than anything, more than the players,
Speaker 10: you know, because now you're gonna have to look at
Speaker 10: keeping a certain roster construction based on the plays that
Speaker 10: these guys are going to be contributing to the game.
Speaker 10: So it's it's really exciting and it's really going to
Speaker 10: be a schematic battle.
Speaker 2: You're a guy that loves going to work every day,
Speaker 2: does this even put a little extra pep in your
Speaker 2: step now? Because it is drawing on all of your
Speaker 2: football coach aspects offense, defense, and special teams.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it really has.
Speaker 10: I mean, and it's litting a fire under players too,
Speaker 10: because they come in, uh, wide eyed and bushytail with
Speaker 10: more questions and they're excited. So it's it's been awesome
Speaker 10: because it's we're all students of the game and it's
Speaker 10: just stimulating our minds more and more so. And I
Speaker 10: want to give them every opportunity to be successful and
Speaker 10: be great. So I've talked to XFL coaches, talked to
Speaker 10: different coaches that have done this scheme or coached this scheme.
Speaker 10: I mean, it's this type of play, so again, I
Speaker 10: want to give them the best chance to be successful.
Speaker 10: So we've done our research on it, and the players
Speaker 10: have seemed to really like like that.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean, I'm sure it's caught their attention
Speaker 2: too in the same way, like this is going to
Speaker 2: be an exciting thing. And what are these coaches and
Speaker 2: others what they what are they'll drawn from what they've
Speaker 2: explained about what this.
Speaker 6: Is all about.
Speaker 10: Now, Yeah, the main draw draw from it is that
Speaker 10: the play is happening really fast.
Speaker 6: So uh, whereas.
Speaker 10: You would have time in the past to kind of
Speaker 10: read and react and you better be right or it
Speaker 10: could pop to the house, or it could be a
Speaker 10: I slip a block and make a tackle back there
Speaker 10: and inside the twenty yard line to set my defense up.
Speaker 10: So really, the speed of the play and how fast
Speaker 10: it happens.
Speaker 2: So is there anything that you have already trial and
Speaker 2: errored with that? Say, oh, I really didn't think about
Speaker 2: that while it's happening. I mean, for me just watching again,
Speaker 2: this is not training camp, pads aren't on yet. But
Speaker 2: the speed by which from the forty they're already even
Speaker 2: though they can't move until the ball hits something or somebody,
Speaker 2: they're they're they're.
Speaker 4: They're pretty quick. Yeah, So I mean there's not a
Speaker 4: lot of time.
Speaker 10: Yeah, no, you're watching it right, because we actually experimented
Speaker 10: with it with the rookies and like I just said,
Speaker 10: you know, a moment ago the rookies or they're trying
Speaker 10: to they're trying to throw an athroom. They're trying to
Speaker 10: find a bathroom. They didn't know what the heck what's
Speaker 10: going on when we when But when we did it
Speaker 10: with the veterans, Now it happens so much faster because
Speaker 10: there are obviously more experienced players and there faster. But
Speaker 10: you know, some of those rookies in the tryout guys
Speaker 10: we had it just it shocked me how much faster
Speaker 10: it happened with the veterans.
Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, there's no time. Tom and I have
Speaker 4: this thing. If you think your beat be there are
Speaker 4: no time, no time for thinking.
Speaker 2: So also thinking big picture, because when I'm talking to
Speaker 2: these groups, I said, mark my words, some player is
Speaker 2: going to win a game on kickoff, and your plans
Speaker 2: are gonna be going, oh, what a great job, what
Speaker 2: a great job. And around the league, some players gonna backfire.
Speaker 2: It's going to cost a team a game. This is
Speaker 2: the uniqueness of this in my opinion. It could be
Speaker 2: a dirty ball that bouncing around and it gets you know, fumbled,
Speaker 2: or whatever the case may be, or something really ingenious
Speaker 2: and you're gonna be talking about it on Monday morning.
Speaker 4: Would you say that's fair?
Speaker 10: Yeah, I would say that's fair, and I would say,
Speaker 10: you know, it's always been that, but not as much
Speaker 10: for the kickoff and kickoff return now and now it's
Speaker 10: back in.
Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2: Also a variety of different types of players, much like
Speaker 2: Tush Push.
Speaker 6: You know, we're copakat league.
Speaker 2: Do you sense that all eyeballs are your staff guys
Speaker 2: that work on that stuff, the assistants that are multi
Speaker 2: dimensional and not just a certain position. They'll be scanning
Speaker 2: the tape catalog and watching what works.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 10: I mean, in fact, with this new staff, it's funny
Speaker 10: you bring that up. But with the new staff on offense,
Speaker 10: Shane has been dialed in to this and he just
Speaker 10: thinks it's so interesting.
Speaker 6: Like he is.
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, him, Chad Morton, those guys have actually been
Speaker 10: so what do you think is gonna happen here?
Speaker 6: And what do you think? And have you thought about this?
Speaker 6: And we just.
Speaker 10: Talked football, whether it's offense or special team. So those
Speaker 10: guys have been really cool and good to get to.
Speaker 2: Know, honestly, And this is this is for your benefit
Speaker 2: a man who wants to be an NFL head coach.
Speaker 2: One day you're actually playing offensive coordinator. You're playing defensive
Speaker 2: coordinator and special teams coordinator, not.
Speaker 4: That you hadn't before, but this is a different level.
Speaker 2: Do you think this enhances special teams coordinators' abilities even
Speaker 2: in the future to be more marketable for jobs.
Speaker 6: Well, I sure hope so.
Speaker 10: Like in the past, I've always thought that, you know,
Speaker 10: and we've talked about this before, you've been as a
Speaker 10: special teams coordinator the only guy that deals with so
Speaker 10: much of the whole roster, like the head coach and mixing,
Speaker 10: matching and dealing with the whole team and roster decision
Speaker 10: and personnel and game management and all those different things.
Speaker 6: So I think it can only help.
Speaker 10: So I sure hope so for for because there are
Speaker 10: a lot there are a lot of good special teams coordinators.
Speaker 2: You know, when we look back at this, if it sticks,
Speaker 2: you know, no more fair catches, hopefully minimal touchbacks. There's
Speaker 2: going to be strategy involved. It's going to be a
Speaker 2: chess match late game. I'm really interested in, you know,
Speaker 2: are you willing to get in thirty I mean, are
Speaker 2: you willing or do you just want to really pin
Speaker 2: them in deep and let your defense in a home
Speaker 2: game go wild, get the crowd behind you, get them
Speaker 2: backed up us.
Speaker 4: That's a part of this.
Speaker 2: But also do you feel honored and humbled that you're
Speaker 2: part of the group that changed the rule? You gave
Speaker 2: your input and this will one day hey, if this sticks,
Speaker 2: you're in this group of Special Teams coaches that had
Speaker 2: to say in this.
Speaker 10: You know, I never really thought about it that way,
Speaker 10: but I got to be honest with you, I just
Speaker 10: got chills when you asked me that question.
Speaker 6: True, because.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean, it's something I'm definitely proud and honored
Speaker 10: to be a part of. And I'm proud that you know,
Speaker 10: we included all the other.
Speaker 6: Special Teams coaches as well, you know.
Speaker 10: But to be selected to be on a working group
Speaker 10: with Darren Rizzy and John Fossil, to learn and meet
Speaker 10: with the Competition committee and meet with the owners and
Speaker 10: meet with the league office, it's it's.
Speaker 6: Something that I don't take for granted. I'm extremely grateful
Speaker 6: for it.
Speaker 2: And how and how beautiful is it the symmetry of
Speaker 2: Devin Hester going to the Hall of Fame during a
Speaker 2: period of which you know, special teams, I mean, kick
Speaker 2: returns were basically engineered out of the plan. But to
Speaker 2: celebrate his success is history to hit it back in
Speaker 2: there in a different way.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm so fired up for him.
Speaker 10: It's just awesome that the rule happened and he's going in.
Speaker 6: The Hall this year, and the cap it all off.
Speaker 10: We get a chance to play in the Hall of
Speaker 10: Fame game as well, So it's just been a I mean,
Speaker 10: right now, it's a match made in heaven.
Speaker 6: I can't wait to see him going the Hall.
Speaker 2: All right, last they let you go. How's the unit
Speaker 2: three two to one? How's the unit looking? You got
Speaker 2: a lot of variety, young veteran, you name it, different positions.
Speaker 4: How's it looking?
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's day.
Speaker 10: Got a lot of young talent, which Ryan and those
Speaker 10: guys in personnel in and Jeff and all those guys
Speaker 10: have done a heck of a job assembling.
Speaker 6: Pieces to work with.
Speaker 10: So it's coming along and we're just improving every day.
Speaker 10: But the veterans are leading the youngsters right now, and
Speaker 10: it's been.
Speaker 6: Exciting, it really has.
Speaker 10: So we just got to keep putting into work, one
Speaker 10: foot in front of the other and hopefully put a
Speaker 10: hell of a product out there Chicago.
Speaker 6: Fans can be proud of, enjoyed it, and have fun
Speaker 6: with it. Thanks Jill, appreciate you, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Jim and tom What strikes you about that from him?
Speaker 2: I like the fact that Shane Waldron's even like, hey,
Speaker 2: I guarantee you some of these offensive coaches, maybe even
Speaker 2: the defense, they're gonna draw plays up and say, hey,
Speaker 2: why don't you give this a look, Let's see what happens.
Speaker 3: Right, Tommy, Well, you think of historically throughout the NFL
Speaker 3: and the life of the NFL, how some of these
Speaker 3: coaches like Marv Levy and stuff would have taken this
Speaker 3: challenge inspecting the entire offseason, after drawing board trying to
Speaker 3: figure out angles and how to create actual return blocking
Speaker 3: plays that they've never done in the history of the game.
Speaker 3: I think it's going to be one of the most
Speaker 3: exciting elements of this the beginning of this season, throughout
Speaker 3: the preseason, and into the regular season. And like you
Speaker 3: asked them, it's going to have some game changing effects
Speaker 3: at the end or during the course of the game.
Speaker 3: And I think it's going to be super exciting to
Speaker 3: watch from the Hall of Fame game to the end
Speaker 3: of the year.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think you see teams that legitimately now are investing
Speaker 5: assets through the draft and free agency because of this
Speaker 5: new kickoff return rule. I mean go back many Bears fans.
Speaker 5: They know Quarterall Patterson and how deadly he is in
Speaker 5: the return game. What did Pittsburgh Steelers do as soon
Speaker 5: as that rule was passed? They signed quarter Ole Patterson
Speaker 5: and for me, probably the youngest or probably the best
Speaker 5: way to incorporate a young players, say like a Roma
Speaker 5: Dunza is as a kick or a punt returner where
Speaker 5: they can have a big impact. And a Dunza does
Speaker 5: have punt returnability, then kick returnability.
Speaker 1: That's what the.
Speaker 5: Kansas City Chiefs did as soon as they drafted Tyreek Hill.
Speaker 5: That's how he really burst onto the scene for the
Speaker 5: Kansas City Chiefs. So teams have had to now invest
Speaker 5: assets in kick returners and guys up front that will
Speaker 5: be battling hand to hand combat, say like tight ends
Speaker 5: and things like that. Will probably be a bigger body
Speaker 5: that's out there on kickoff coverage because it's becoming more
Speaker 5: of a hand to hand combat play. It's going to
Speaker 5: be interesting how it plays out all year long, but
Speaker 5: fans should love it because what once was really an
Speaker 5: inconsequential play because everybody was just kicking it through the
Speaker 5: end zone for a touchback. You're going to see a
Speaker 5: legitimate kickoff returns. And now it's legitimized this play again,
Speaker 5: and I'm glad they put the foot back in football.
Speaker 2: I love this man's passion. I like when he gets
Speaker 2: fired up. That's Jim Miller.
Speaker 1: There.
Speaker 2: I'm Jeff Joniac back with more after this at ESPN
Speaker 2: one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Is Bears Weekly with a Voice of the Bears for
Speaker 1: twenty three years, Jeff Joniac on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4: Call the Gol Bears.
Speaker 2: Fans want unforgettable access to see the Chicago Bears play
Speaker 2: at Soldier Field this season, well VIP Official Ticket Package
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Speaker 2: VIP Jim Miller, Tom there, Jeff Joniack with you on
Speaker 2: Bears Weekly. Always get some bold thoughts from Tom Thayer
Speaker 2: in advance of the show, And Tom, you have some
Speaker 2: pretty keen insight on on the little bit you've seen
Speaker 2: so far of what the offseason program has looked like
Speaker 2: from a passing game perspective. With this rookie quarterback Caleb
Speaker 2: Williams and his new cachet of weaponry, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 3: They're a better passing team right now than they finished
Speaker 3: the season last year. I think the timing of Caleb,
Speaker 3: whether it's zone coverage or man demand, his ability to
Speaker 3: put the ball in a position where it's super difficult
Speaker 3: for the coverages by the defensive backs. There are times
Speaker 3: that he doesn't want to throw the ball and he's
Speaker 3: willing to hold it and then throw it out of
Speaker 3: bounds before he gets to the line of scrimmage instead
Speaker 3: of taking a sack or looking to run down field.
Speaker 3: Those are types of the growing not growing pains, the
Speaker 3: growing process of a quarterback. But what I see right
Speaker 3: now in seven on seven and in TeamWorks of this
Speaker 3: passing offense, Caleb is going to be such an exciting
Speaker 3: quarterback to watch with this personnel that he he has
Speaker 3: to work with. But his efficiency long passes downfield like
Speaker 3: we always used to see, you know, Aaron Rodgers and stuff.
Speaker 3: Let's call a man and man coverage twenty five yards
Speaker 3: downfield and try to invite pass interference. That's the type
Speaker 3: of accuracy he has downfield, the different windows that he understands.
Speaker 3: In zone coverage, he knows how to take advantage of him.
Speaker 3: When it is man coverage, he knows how to put
Speaker 3: the ball in position where the receiver is going to
Speaker 3: be the first guy to touch it. So after you
Speaker 3: see from the day one of him getting here to
Speaker 3: the last practice of last week, his improvement, his recognition,
Speaker 3: his understanding of the terminology, the little discussions he has
Speaker 3: behind the line of scrimmage in between plays. It's impressive
Speaker 3: and I think it's something that Jim Miller quarterback like
Speaker 3: that we should all be excited about.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree with that. I think he gets the
Speaker 5: benefit of being in a Lincoln Riley system. You know,
Speaker 5: whether it's you Knowatrick Mahomes that was in that system,
Speaker 5: whether it's somebody like Baker Mayfield or even Kyler Murray.
Speaker 5: I think, you know, the passing concepts. There's a lot
Speaker 5: of carryover to the NFL in terms of the pro
Speaker 5: passing schemes that Lencoln Riley. So he's been exposed to
Speaker 5: a lot the last few years at USC being in
Speaker 5: that system, and I think it helps him from the
Speaker 5: timing and rhythm and all the things that Tom is
Speaker 5: talking about. So he's got a lot of reps in it,
Speaker 5: and I think that will continue and continue to improve.
Speaker 5: You know, he's still going to have his bumps along
Speaker 5: the way, There's no doubt about that. You don't want
Speaker 5: him to carry the load in terms of passing, but
Speaker 5: I think the Bears will be, you know, basically a
Speaker 5: fifty percent run to passing team where he's not carrying
Speaker 5: that whole load. So that's what they plan for him,
Speaker 5: and he's not going to have to do it all himself.
Speaker 4: Who makes you better here?
Speaker 2: I mean I know the answer is both, But who
Speaker 2: makes you better the dbs that are already zooming around,
Speaker 2: flying around and they have a lot of chemistry on
Speaker 2: the back end, or Caleb.
Speaker 5: I think the defensive backs will make him better because
Speaker 5: I think we all know the windows are a lot
Speaker 5: smaller in the NFL. Probably the best thing I ever
Speaker 5: did where I learned a lot. We used to scrimmage
Speaker 5: the Washington Redskins every year at training camp when I
Speaker 5: was with the Steelers. Guess what I was up there
Speaker 5: with the ones going against Darryl Green. He's obviously one
Speaker 5: of the best in the league. And you know, I
Speaker 5: learned to get the ball out and those windows are small.
Speaker 5: And so I think the Bears, because they have a
Speaker 5: really good secondary, that's going to benefit a young Caleb
Speaker 5: Williams of how to throw into tight windows.
Speaker 3: You know, I think we're super fortunate to have Eric
Speaker 3: Washington called it the best back seven that he's coached
Speaker 3: so far, and to have great receivers in their future
Speaker 3: because I think both of these guys are making each
Speaker 3: other better. And that's one thing about the continuous development
Speaker 3: of Caleb Williams. To work with this group of talent,
Speaker 3: they're going to be able to make the defensive back
Speaker 3: better as much as the defensive backs can make the
Speaker 3: whole offense better. So I think it's a great combination
Speaker 3: that these guys are going to have a chance to
Speaker 3: work against this week in mandatory mini camp, going forward
Speaker 3: to training camp, and then when they have joint practices
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's going to be wins and losses
Speaker 2: on each side, especially a training camp. But I think
Speaker 2: it's a great, great question, a great topic, certainly the
Speaker 2: DBS against Caleb or Caleb against the DBS. I saw
Speaker 2: a Pro Football Focus post Sunday on Patrick Mahomes quote,
Speaker 2: good luck taking Patrick Mahomes down. Sacks allowed since twenty
Speaker 2: eighteen annually, twenty six, twenty five, twenty four, twenty eight,
Speaker 2: twenty six, twenty eight, which was the second fewest number
Speaker 2: in the NFL last season, all were top five.
Speaker 4: Seasons and fewest sacks.
Speaker 2: Is that him and his unique ability to escape and
Speaker 2: get rid of the football or late in the down
Speaker 2: to get rid of the football, be smart about it
Speaker 2: and accommodate of his offensive line.
Speaker 4: And is this kind of a template you'd love.
Speaker 2: To see for Caleb Williams, especially early in his career,
Speaker 2: because Patrick is not seeing ghosts, He's avoiding the rush
Speaker 2: at an elite rate.
Speaker 5: Well, the last two years when you look at the Bears,
Speaker 5: you know, for with Justin Field's way too many sacks,
Speaker 5: and that doesn't when you get sacked, it doesn't allow
Speaker 5: you to stay on schedule. And I think that's where
Speaker 5: Patrick Mahomes has really grown as a quarterback. You list
Speaker 5: those numbers, Jeff, those are terrific numbers. If you're under
Speaker 5: thirty sacks in a season, that's where you want to be.
Speaker 5: And I just think it's him playing a lot smarter. Yeah,
Speaker 5: he'll take off when he needs to, but it's normally
Speaker 5: in the postseason. If you watch him during the regular season,
Speaker 5: he's staying on schedule. It's not till the postseason, like
Speaker 5: in that game against Miami in that frigid cold where
Speaker 5: he took off and remember his helmet exploded and where
Speaker 5: he's conscious of I got to make some plays with
Speaker 5: my legs and get some first down. But during the
Speaker 5: regular season, it's all about staying on schedule. And that's
Speaker 5: where Patrick Mahomes is terrific at and hopefully Caleb Williams
Speaker 5: will identify that as well, where he's trying to stay
Speaker 5: on schedule. I would expect it to be better in
Speaker 5: the second half of the season, once he gets his
Speaker 5: feet or his sea legs underneath him and really starts
Speaker 5: to feel that of how it needs to unfold for
Speaker 5: him to do that.
Speaker 3: You know, Jeff, in your interview with Eric Washington. He
Speaker 3: said one of his great quotes was bonding builds trust.
Speaker 3: And I think the more that Caleb gets to trust
Speaker 3: his receivers and his offensive players and he understands that
Speaker 3: they're going to be in the exact position he expects
Speaker 3: out of them, then you're going to see that special
Speaker 3: kind of arm talent on display, the decision making process,
Speaker 3: the ability to maybe throw a guy open that looks covered,
Speaker 3: or you look at some of those trust passes that
Speaker 3: Travis Kelsey gets just because they've developed that bonding relationship.
Speaker 3: So I think that's one of the things that can
Speaker 3: benefit a guy like Caleb is the more that he
Speaker 3: can trust every one of these guys, the more of
Speaker 3: those unique passes you're going to see.
Speaker 2: Only three teams gave up thirty or less sacks last
Speaker 2: year Jordan Love and the Packers at thirty, twenty eight
Speaker 2: for KC and twenty four for the Buffalo Bills. Few
Speaker 2: of sacks in the NFL, So yeah, we'd love to
Speaker 2: be under thirty. Apparently tough to do with today's NFL.
Speaker 2: And if you're the New York Giants giving up eighty
Speaker 2: five head for the Hills, tom eighty five.
Speaker 5: Tommy cutl I've ever heard of that. Yeah, between Daniel
Speaker 5: Jones and Tommy Cutletz, they struggled. Part of it was
Speaker 5: their offensive line, but a young inexperience to Tommy DeVito
Speaker 5: in there for once Daniel Jones got hurt. That didn't
Speaker 5: help either.
Speaker 4: Tom.
Speaker 2: I feel for you because you're probably having You're probably
Speaker 2: having daytime sweats on that one already thinking.
Speaker 4: Whoever, who can survive eighty five second?
Speaker 3: It makes me think, what's the most in the history
Speaker 3: of the NFL during this well sixteen game season, because
Speaker 3: seventeen games has only been around a couple of years,
Speaker 3: you know, is that is that the most ever in
Speaker 3: the history of the NFL? And oh my gosh, how
Speaker 3: can the offensive line coach still have a job and
Speaker 3: how can the offensive lineman not be all competed against
Speaker 3: for their job? I know they have a solid one
Speaker 3: solid offensive tackle, but oh my god, eighty five.
Speaker 2: No, I just went back about ten years I got
Speaker 2: and there's nothing any even close to that. So no,
Speaker 2: all right, We'll take a break and you can gather
Speaker 2: your breath. That's Tom Beair Jim Miller our final thoughts
Speaker 2: after this on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years, Jeff Jonyik on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 2: IGS Energy, Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller from Serious
Speaker 2: XMNFL Radio is moving the change.
Speaker 4: A couple of national nuggets.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, the Bears will fly the most
Speaker 2: estimated miles of any Bears team in history, nineteen thousand,
Speaker 2: four hundred and seventy, eclipsing a record that was set
Speaker 2: in twenty eleven according to Stats Inc.
Speaker 4: That's the London trips in there.
Speaker 2: You got to go to San Francisco, so it's not
Speaker 2: a shocker, But you know, do you factor that in
Speaker 2: it all?
Speaker 4: Does that matter? Is that just funny, fun conversation.
Speaker 3: Fun conversation. I mean that hot Arizona, San Francisco, right,
Speaker 3: the London trip, But then you got to take into
Speaker 3: account division games Minnesota, Detroit, Green Bay. You're in the
Speaker 3: air for twenty minutes, so you know, snow, big deal.
Speaker 5: I really don't care. If they hadn't fly to Mexico
Speaker 5: City and play in a parking lot, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5: Get your mind right, to play football.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get your mind right on the wie receivers.
Speaker 2: Justin Jefferson gets his bag, He gets his bag, sets
Speaker 2: a new bar thirty five million annually. Uh, the Vikings
Speaker 2: get it done for a premier weapon. But the records
Speaker 2: are changing monthly. And now the highest paid non quarterback
Speaker 2: in the NFL is Justin Jefferson at wide receiver. How
Speaker 2: high can the bargo Jim Well?
Speaker 5: Next up, it's going to be Jamar Chase and CD
Speaker 5: Lamb you know, and certainly Brandon Ayuka has to be paid.
Speaker 5: And there has to be a market correction in my opinion,
Speaker 5: that has this position at some point. I mean, you've
Speaker 5: got now, there's five teams that are paying receivers, two
Speaker 5: guys over twenty million dollars. The Bears are one.
Speaker 4: Of them, right, five teams.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and then you.
Speaker 5: Look at who they just traded for in Keenan Allen.
Speaker 5: Five teams in the NFL have done that. Man, that
Speaker 5: is a lot of salary cap dedicated at one position.
Speaker 5: I get it, because a lot of teams run what
Speaker 5: we call eleven personnel. There's going to be three wide
Speaker 5: receivers out on the field. But I think at some point,
Speaker 5: maybe after Jamar Chase and Cede Lamb, that there is
Speaker 5: going to be a market correction at this position moving forward.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, how.
Speaker 3: Can you pay CD Lamb over thirty five million dollars
Speaker 3: when you're paying Dak Prescott over fifty million dollars. You're
Speaker 3: gonna have two guys eating up such a significant amount
Speaker 3: of their salary cap. And then you got Micah Parsons
Speaker 3: waiting in the wings for his deal. It's gonna be
Speaker 3: like Jim said, there's got to be a market correction
Speaker 3: or else. And then you think about if there is
Speaker 3: no market correction, you think in two and four years
Speaker 3: about the Bears with DJ Moore coming up, this scenario
Speaker 3: with Keenan Allen, and then when Caleb Williams and Roma
Speaker 3: Dunes they are up in four years, what is the
Speaker 3: market commitment going to be?
Speaker 2: Then it's a very fair question, very fair question. Now
Speaker 2: running backs are making a third on average of a
Speaker 2: wide receiver. I mean that that that market corrected obviously,
Speaker 2: But boy, that is that is some interesting stuff right there.
Speaker 4: If you ask me, does.
Speaker 2: It matter to you guys that Lamar Jackson missed more
Speaker 2: than eighty percent of offseason workouts for the Ravens, gave
Speaker 2: up a seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars bonus In addition.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm somewhat surprised. You know that he would do that.
Speaker 5: It's only his second year into the system of the
Speaker 5: Todd Monkin, you know, him taking over his offensive coordinator,
Speaker 5: and you know, I think we know how he finished
Speaker 5: the season. It wasn't a great game against the Kansas
Speaker 5: City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. So I am
Speaker 5: somewhat surprised. Again, it's voluntary. I know he's a veteran now,
Speaker 5: but he's by no means is a finished product. So
Speaker 5: I was somewhat shocked about that, because no other guy
Speaker 5: in the AFC North, and to me, that's the best
Speaker 5: division in football. I mean, you look at between Cincinnati
Speaker 5: and Joe Burrow. Now what the Steelers have added in
Speaker 5: the Cleveland Browns. Obviously, Deshaun Watson has to really be
Speaker 5: consistent this year, but that's a difficult division, and I
Speaker 5: would have thought he would have been there more than that,
Speaker 5: and I'm sure they would have liked him to be
Speaker 5: there more than that. But of course John Harpball coaches
Speaker 5: play nice now, they say it's voluntary. You know they
Speaker 5: don't have to be here. But I guarantee internally, John Harball,
Speaker 5: his blood is boily.
Speaker 3: Quite frankly, when they get rid of OTAs, we won't
Speaker 3: even have these discussions anymore. You're not going to have
Speaker 3: the chance to make a seven hundred and fifty thousand
Speaker 3: dollars bonus for showing up unless you show up in
Speaker 3: the weight room. That used to be the requirements to
Speaker 3: earn offseason bonuses back in the days. And so you know,
Speaker 3: NFL fans and all this, you know, changing up schedules.
Speaker 3: Once you get rid of OTAs, we won't have to
Speaker 3: have this discussion anymore.
Speaker 2: And then a shout out to Tarikh and the former
Speaker 2: Bear gets a one year deal last week with the Jets.
Speaker 2: Has not played in the league since twenty twenty was
Speaker 2: with the Carolina Panthers, trying to attempt another comeback. I
Speaker 2: root for the guy. He was always a great kid
Speaker 2: to work with here in Chicago. His love of the
Speaker 2: game is this is what he wanted was to be
Speaker 2: an NFL player, and he was so excited to be
Speaker 2: a Bear. Unfortunately, a severe injury and the subsequent surgeries
Speaker 2: that filed have really derailed that dream a little bit here,
Speaker 2: but somebody's given him a carrot, and I hope it
Speaker 2: happens for him.
Speaker 3: Guys, so do I I all the best retreat calling
Speaker 3: because he was a guy that you know, you didn't
Speaker 3: know if he was going to make it when he
Speaker 3: came into the league just given his size, and then
Speaker 3: he impressed everybody. And I hope he has the equal
Speaker 3: amount of success he had here in Chicago.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Really, Robert Salad talked about it. Why did they add him?
Speaker 5: Because of the new kickoff return rule. That's where he's
Speaker 5: going to be a weapon. I mean, solid is his staff.
Speaker 5: I guess ran a study. They expect that there could
Speaker 5: be over one hundred kick returns this year, say for
Speaker 5: the New York Jets and dree Gohen has been known
Speaker 5: to be a very explosive player and it's unfortunate what
Speaker 5: happened to him as a Chicago Bear because he has
Speaker 5: big play potential and I hope he's one hundred percent
Speaker 5: healthy so we can see that on display again.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, but fellas, that's going to do it for us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to Special teams coordinator Richard high Tower for
Speaker 2: Tom Thayer and Jim Miller.
Speaker 4: I'm Jeff Joniac, the.
Speaker 2: Executive producer of the Bears Radio Network, Eric Ostrowski, Thanks,
Speaker 2: Dan Brilli, Jordan Treadap and Sean Greeney. Coming up next,
Speaker 2: Black and Abdada. This has been Bears Weekly, ESPN Chicago
Speaker 2: and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4: Good night, everybody.
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