Speaker 1: Welcome in to Bears Weekly, powered by IGS Energy, a
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Speaker 1: Chilliac aka the Mayor of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom
Speaker 1: the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 3: In twenty twenty four, the NFC North had the best
Speaker 3: combined winning percentage of the NFL Since two thousand and two,
Speaker 3: have produced three playoff teams. Changes across the border made
Speaker 3: the Bears a team to watch, a team on the rise.
Speaker 3: With first year head coach Ben Johnson, knowledge is power
Speaker 3: and Johnson has the knowledge of just what this division
Speaker 3: poses for the Bears.
Speaker 4: In twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: Five, we're back with you on Bears Weekly, talking Bears football.
Speaker 4: Happy Summer, everybody. This is a special.
Speaker 3: Edition of Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the
Speaker 3: Chicago Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl winning Bears guard
Speaker 3: Tom Fair. We're former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Sirius
Speaker 3: XM NFL Radio. I'm Jeff Joniak. Coming up in the program,
Speaker 3: we break down the entire division with the men who
Speaker 3: know the team's better than anybody. Minnesota Vikings radio analyst
Speaker 3: Pete Bursts, the voice of the Packers, Wayne Larvy, and
Speaker 3: former Lions great in the current radio analyst of the Lions,
Speaker 3: Lomas Brown, Dan Barrilli, Jordan Treadup, Katie Fox, our producers,
Speaker 3: the executive producer of the Bears Radio network, Eric Ostrowski,
Speaker 3: and in studio tonight, Justin Pottinger. It should be a
Speaker 3: fun show, boys, Tommy, A fun season ahead in the
Speaker 3: NFC North. Can't wait to hear how we break it down?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you hear a lot of positive things
Speaker 2: about this division for now a couple of years in
Speaker 2: a row. But there's a lot of things that have
Speaker 2: gone on the offseason that have really complicated this division
Speaker 2: with coaching changes, personnel movements, and new guys coming aboard
Speaker 2: that there's uncertainty about even though they were a first
Speaker 2: round picked. So it's going to be an exciting year
Speaker 2: inside this division. But you can't ignore the rest of
Speaker 2: the schedule. But when you just look at inside the division,
Speaker 2: it is going to be a fun year to watch.
Speaker 5: Last year, obviously, a lot of points were scored offensively,
Speaker 5: I believe it was the highest point differential of any
Speaker 5: division in the NFL.
Speaker 6: But you know, you come.
Speaker 5: Into this year, you've got the knowns. You know that
Speaker 5: Detroit the rosters kind of set. Other than Frank greg
Speaker 5: Now retiring. That was a surprise. Green Bay they were
Speaker 5: a top five team, but their roster is set. Minnesota,
Speaker 5: they're defensively, they're known. Offensively, what will they look like
Speaker 5: with JJ McCarthy, And to me, the Bears are the
Speaker 5: wild card. They're kind of the unknown right now and
Speaker 5: what Ben Johnson is going to un veil, So it
Speaker 5: should be a pretty exciting year.
Speaker 3: Stronger in the trenches. We can say this about our
Speaker 3: own team. We give our own sneak peak preview here.
Speaker 3: Stronger in the trenches, Boats out of the ball, a
Speaker 3: veteran defense with some new additions and some emerging talents.
Speaker 3: And offensively, Tommy just with the lone addition of Ben
Speaker 3: Johnson as the play caller, play design his staff that
Speaker 3: he's put together, I say the Bears are already better
Speaker 3: before they even take the field offensively because of that.
Speaker 7: Man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. It's all going to be how it
Speaker 2: affects the play and the process of improvement. By Caleb Williams,
Speaker 2: because we all know that if you have a head
Speaker 2: coach quarterback relationship that develops into some of the better
Speaker 2: relationships we've seen throughout the course of time in the NFL,
Speaker 2: you can probably turn that position around as quickly as
Speaker 2: any position in the NFL, especially when you're talking about
Speaker 2: the exterior assets that this team already has in place.
Speaker 2: But when you look at the quarterback position as a
Speaker 2: whole inside this division, who's the leader at the starting gate?
Speaker 2: Is it Green Bay because Jordan Love has been there
Speaker 2: a little bit with the same system. Is it the
Speaker 2: experience of Jared Goff. Is it a guy like Caleb
Speaker 2: Williams that has all those weapons I've talked about. Or
Speaker 2: is it JJ McCarthy because he's been sitting there not
Speaker 2: having to play, but he's lived through meetings. So let's
Speaker 2: go to our resident quarterback and the kind of get
Speaker 2: an answer to that.
Speaker 6: Jimiell.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I do think to me, I would give the
Speaker 5: tip of the cap to Green Bay. They were top
Speaker 5: five offensively, and they were top five defensively, and pretty
Speaker 5: much everybody is returning, and really their only question mark
Speaker 5: has been about Christian Watson on offense. The receiver and
Speaker 5: why they went out and drafted Matthew Golden. They actually
Speaker 5: drafted a couple of receivers to really fill that hole
Speaker 5: and fill that void. So I do think Green Bay
Speaker 5: probably is probably the most talented team right now. Detroit
Speaker 5: has the experience that you just mentioned, but that whole staff,
Speaker 5: meaning the coaches, got annihilated. That's something to watch. And
Speaker 5: really for Minnesota, I think they've got a great roster,
Speaker 5: but it is the uncertainty about their young quarterback. And
Speaker 5: for Caleb, he's somewhat in a similar situation is JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 5: JJ has been in the same system for two years now.
Speaker 5: Caleb is learning the new system, but he has the
Speaker 5: experience of one year under his belt. I think the
Speaker 5: Bears have done a great job insulating him with a
Speaker 5: lot of experience around him. And that's where what Tom
Speaker 5: alluded to that head coach Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams,
Speaker 5: their communication is going to be imperative because I think
Speaker 5: Ben has been there's kind of no wiggle room. You're
Speaker 5: going to do and execute things my way and what
Speaker 5: I have called. And I think it's really up to
Speaker 5: Caleb and how he improves his play.
Speaker 3: I also feel the depth on the team is better.
Speaker 3: I feel special teams will be significant. There have been
Speaker 3: very little disruption there and they have a rising bunch
Speaker 3: of young players that are core players that are still
Speaker 3: trying to find their way in terms of positional value
Speaker 3: and in terms of depth. So I think the kicking
Speaker 3: game is slid. Tory Taylor's going to have a better
Speaker 3: year as a second year punter, and then the division wide.
Speaker 4: I keep bringing this up.
Speaker 3: I finally did the actual math. How many additions on
Speaker 3: the three deep depth chart as it stands right now
Speaker 3: before training camp. Twenty seven trench players added in the division.
Speaker 3: Four new centers that are starting, two second round picks
Speaker 3: of tackle backup at left tackle, and Justin's school I
Speaker 3: think I used to pronounce his name in Minnesota. Five
Speaker 3: new starting guards in the division, three backup guards drafted
Speaker 3: on the defensive side of the ball, five new defensive tackles,
Speaker 3: seven defensive ends. That up to twenty seven trench players.
Speaker 3: That tells me, boys, it's time to ball up the fists,
Speaker 3: stop the run, pound the run, and get physical in
Speaker 3: all three phases. We're gonna start breaking it all down
Speaker 3: with the pride of Providence. New Lenox High School in
Speaker 3: the University of underdam the Vikings radio analyst Pete bursts
Speaker 3: next don ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network. FISTS is Bears Weekly with the
Speaker 1: voice of the Bears for twenty four years, Chef jonyac
Speaker 1: Chefony on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly has brought to you by
Speaker 3: IGS Nergy along with Tom Thayer and Jim Miller. Jeff
Speaker 3: Jioniak and now we begin our preview of the NFC North.
Speaker 3: We tick it off with our Hinsdale Buddy Providence, New
Speaker 3: Lennox Star Notre Dame Minnesota, former Vikings coach and an
Speaker 3: analyst on the radio broadcast I believe since two thousand
Speaker 3: and seven, the one and only Pete Bursich give us
Speaker 3: a quick overview of just the highlights of what has
Speaker 3: been an interesting offseason for the Minnesota Vikings. Very active
Speaker 3: in the trenches, and of course we want to know
Speaker 3: about JJ.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 8: Absolutely, it seems the whole division has gone about revamping
Speaker 8: offensive line. That's the the you know, the interior offensive line,
Speaker 8: defensive line, is becoming very important, and we're all about
Speaker 8: JJ now. I mean, we had a year with Sam
Speaker 8: Donald that I don't know if anybody, we all knew,
Speaker 8: A lot of us thought he'd play well, but I
Speaker 8: don't think anybody expected him to play as well as
Speaker 8: he did. But now you make the transition to JJ McCarthy,
Speaker 8: and that's how our that's how our season is gonna go.
Speaker 8: So don't expect the fourteen wins that we had last
Speaker 8: year or the thirteen from a couple of years before.
Speaker 8: It's gonna be I think a little bit more up
Speaker 8: and down with the young guy at the helm. But
Speaker 8: hopefully our defense can continue. We were top one of
Speaker 8: the top scoring defenses last year. That's going to absolutely
Speaker 8: have to continue. We're gonna have to run the ball better.
Speaker 8: All those things I think help out a young quarterback.
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk about the real JJ in the room,
Speaker 2: and that's not Jeff Joniack.
Speaker 7: It's Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 2: When you talk about Justin Jefferson and what he's been
Speaker 2: able to do in the early part of his career,
Speaker 2: but now breaking into a new quarterback, what do you
Speaker 2: see that the evolution of that relationship is it going
Speaker 2: to be a training camp relationship or has that already
Speaker 2: started months ago?
Speaker 7: I think that's it's already started.
Speaker 8: Into JJ's credit, Justin Jefferson's credit, he came out for
Speaker 8: all of all the developmental camps this offseason, things that
Speaker 8: he doesn't have to be present for OTAs everything they've
Speaker 8: they're they're spending as much time together as they possibly
Speaker 8: can to try to get to where they want to go.
Speaker 8: I think JJ, since he was extended and got the
Speaker 8: big contract, is really kind of has really stepped up
Speaker 8: from a leadership standpoint. And you know what leaders do,
Speaker 8: They lead, They lead by example, and I think JJ
Speaker 8: is is Justin Jefferson that is has really done that
Speaker 8: there'll be enough work in training camp, is that they
Speaker 8: is as much as they can get to get ready for, you.
Speaker 7: Know, for the opening day.
Speaker 6: Jim Miller good to see again.
Speaker 7: And you know jum me ask.
Speaker 5: I know they beefed up the offensive line with Kelly
Speaker 5: and they pay Fries a really good amount of money
Speaker 5: at guard, but just how the offense is going to
Speaker 5: be structured and how that relates to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Edison,
Speaker 5: because you know, even last year with Darnold it doesn't.
Speaker 5: It did not look like coach O'Connell was was scared
Speaker 5: to throw.
Speaker 7: It all over the lot, you know.
Speaker 5: And I don't know if you can trust JJ to
Speaker 5: do that, and he never really did that at Michigan.
Speaker 5: You know how Jim Harbaugh structured the offense. So how
Speaker 5: is it all going to work?
Speaker 7: In your mind? Well, it is, it is what it is.
Speaker 7: That is our offense.
Speaker 6: Right.
Speaker 8: We bring in Jordan Mason to help with Aaron Jones
Speaker 8: to maybe take to take some snaps off of him.
Speaker 8: Regardless of how well we run the football, we are
Speaker 8: going to be a throwing team, right. That's That's what
Speaker 8: Kevin O'Connell is, That's what our offense is, and that's
Speaker 8: what McCarthy is tasked with doing. So I don't see that.
Speaker 8: I don't see that changing at all. And again that's
Speaker 8: kind of why I believe early in the season it's
Speaker 8: going to be a bit of a wait and see.
Speaker 8: This is a team that's going to need to be
Speaker 8: playing much better in November and December. So US playing
Speaker 8: right out of the gate opening day, I think is
Speaker 8: the best time to be playing against the JJ McCarthy,
Speaker 8: get him, get him early. You have a new offensive coordinator,
Speaker 8: defensive coordinator. The whole thing is going to be different.
Speaker 8: So it's going to be a tough environ for him
Speaker 8: to open up in Chicago in front of family and
Speaker 8: everything else. This offense is what it is, and that's
Speaker 8: a vertical passing game. You know, Donald was sacked forty
Speaker 8: nine times. I'm sorry, I hope I think it was
Speaker 8: fifty times last year. I think that started to show,
Speaker 8: especially the end of the season on the road in
Speaker 8: Detroit in the game where all the marbles were on
Speaker 8: the table. So hopefully guys like Kelly and Fries and
Speaker 8: maybe Donovan Jackson at left guard, we'll see how that
Speaker 8: left guard position falls out. But pass protection is going
Speaker 8: to be is going to be so important. JJ is
Speaker 8: going to be is a little bit more mobile than
Speaker 8: Donald was, but you're right, he's not used to throwing
Speaker 8: the football forty sometimes a game, and I don't personally,
Speaker 8: I don't think that's a key to success with a
Speaker 8: young quarterback is to get him out there throwing the
Speaker 8: ball forty fifty times a football game. So hopefully the
Speaker 8: running game will make up for that. But trust me,
Speaker 8: if that run pass ratio is fifty to fifty. Coach
Speaker 8: O'Connell's going to want to uh.
Speaker 7: Week in and week out.
Speaker 8: He's gonna have to resist the urge to throw the
Speaker 8: football because that's what he does.
Speaker 3: Vikings radio analyst Pete Burst it's our guest here on
Speaker 3: ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio network. So you
Speaker 3: got two weeks in Europe. The only other team to
Speaker 3: do that back to backup course has been Jacksonville, London
Speaker 3: and Dublin. What do you think the impact could be
Speaker 3: on this team. It's something that Jacksonville gets used to.
Speaker 3: This has not been done.
Speaker 8: Before, No, it hasn't. It's playing the Steelers on a
Speaker 8: neutral site I think is an advantage period, right, and
Speaker 8: then having to and then play in Cleveland as the
Speaker 8: visitor as the visiting team as well is also an advantage.
Speaker 8: Hopefully for the team will be out Watford or in
Speaker 8: the middle of nowhere somewhere, Hopefully that I'll give the
Speaker 8: team some time to bond and spend some real time together,
Speaker 8: kind of away from everything. That's what you're kind of
Speaker 8: that's I think that's what you're hoping for. But when
Speaker 8: you look at our schedule, those two games are going
Speaker 8: to be very, very important though, non division Roague games AFC,
Speaker 8: those are going to be the difference makers and standings
Speaker 8: this year because this is going to be a tough
Speaker 8: to cut, a tough division. I don't see a team
Speaker 8: run away with it this year. It's going to come
Speaker 8: down in the wire, but wins early, especially with the
Speaker 8: middle of our schedule and how difficult it gets with
Speaker 8: with Baltimore and with Philadelphia and some of these other
Speaker 8: games that we're going to have, they're going to be
Speaker 8: extremely important.
Speaker 2: Hey, you guys signed a lot of guys off front
Speaker 2: of the defense. If you have a really successful defensive season,
Speaker 2: how long before Brian Flores starts getting mentioned as the
Speaker 2: next Inner Division head coaching candidate.
Speaker 8: Yeah, especially if things go south in Green Bay, right, Yeah,
Speaker 8: Brian Flores does more with less than than any than
Speaker 8: any coordinator I've seen, especially with the Vikings.
Speaker 7: He I think that's kind of his calling or what
Speaker 7: he does.
Speaker 8: I mean, he saves this organization, this franchise a lot
Speaker 8: of money. We had not spend much on defense at all.
Speaker 8: Taking guys like Andrew Van Ginkel, who is a very
Speaker 8: very good football player, but put him in a system
Speaker 8: where he's almost all Pro caliber and which warranted him
Speaker 8: a contract extension. Guys like Josh Mattelish six round draft pick. Right,
Speaker 8: he's he's out there producing. So he does a very
Speaker 8: good job of putting guys in positions to succeed.
Speaker 7: The defense is unique.
Speaker 8: It's it requires an an extensive amount of versatility, meaning
Speaker 8: corners will play safeties and Nichols will play, will play linebacker,
Speaker 8: and they'll blitz, they'll do they're they're called upon to
Speaker 8: do a lot of different things, and that's his system.
Speaker 8: He's very he's good, he's attention to detail, he's tough.
Speaker 8: He gets the most out of players, which which tom
Speaker 8: as you know, is not the easiest thing to do
Speaker 8: in this in this day and age.
Speaker 7: But the addition of of.
Speaker 8: Jonathan Allen and Javon uh you know, Hargrave is is huge.
Speaker 8: Hardgrave I'm especially excited about because he was i think
Speaker 8: on a Pro Bowl caliber type season in San Francisco
Speaker 8: before he injured himself. So between the two of them,
Speaker 8: you know, we're you know, we're we're replacing Jerry Tillery,
Speaker 8: who was a journeyman at best. And you know, so
Speaker 8: either either way, if both of them are on the
Speaker 8: field or one of one of the twos on the field.
Speaker 8: For most of the time, it's going to be improvement
Speaker 8: to our defensive front.
Speaker 5: What currently probably would have the hardest position battles coming in.
Speaker 8: The cornerback position has has kind of I think the
Speaker 8: the you know, the most amount of competition because you
Speaker 8: resigned Byron Murphy, pay him a lot of money. You're
Speaker 8: counting on. You're counting on guys like Isaiah Rodgers, who
Speaker 8: has played played well, but hasn't put together an entire season,
Speaker 8: right he hasn't been a game to game starter. And
Speaker 8: if he's going to be our number two cornerback, right
Speaker 8: then you're like, okay, well, who's behind him? Well, ma
Speaker 8: Kai black backman who had a good rookie campaign. I
Speaker 8: wouldn't call it great, but a good rookie campaign. And
Speaker 8: you know, then you have Theo Jackson, Makai Blackman, Jeff Okuda,
Speaker 8: who's you know, he's he's kind of trying to resurrect
Speaker 8: his career. So not a lot of depth in that
Speaker 8: defensive back room. A lot of guys, a couple of
Speaker 8: guys that we're going to have to really count on
Speaker 8: and being you know that are unproven. So I think
Speaker 8: Isaiah guys like Rogers and black Men. Their development is
Speaker 8: absolutely key to the success of this team. And that's
Speaker 8: that's the room where there may be something that comes up,
Speaker 8: or there might be another body add it at some
Speaker 8: point during camp. But everywhere else, I think they're pretty
Speaker 8: well set.
Speaker 2: All right, big gott to let you go.
Speaker 3: We'll see you at Soldier Field September eighth, Monday Night football.
Speaker 3: It's going to that's going to be fabulous, fabulous night.
Speaker 8: I'll be I'll be in your I'll be in your
Speaker 8: booth stealing all the shrimp and caviar and t bone
Speaker 8: steaks that you got.
Speaker 7: They take care of you up there.
Speaker 4: I love it well, we love it too. We love
Speaker 4: you too. People will let you go.
Speaker 3: Coming up next, we are joined by the voice of
Speaker 3: the Green Bay Packers, Wayne Laravie. This is ESPN one
Speaker 3: thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Well, welcome back to Bears Week on.
Speaker 6: The Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, the Voice of the Bears, Jeff.
Speaker 6: Joey At.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio
Speaker 3: Network with Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller. Wayne Laravie,
Speaker 3: the voice of the Green Bay Packers, joins us, Do
Speaker 3: I have this right? Seven years with the Chiefs, fourteen
Speaker 3: years with the Bears, and this is your twenty seventh
Speaker 3: season with the Green Bay Packers. If my Matt's right,
Speaker 3: that's forty eight years.
Speaker 6: Wow.
Speaker 9: Unfortunately that's right, which makes me old. So no, what
Speaker 9: can I say?
Speaker 3: That's a fantastic run, true legendary status. Let's dig in
Speaker 3: youngest team in the league last couple of years. What's
Speaker 3: the fifty thousand foot overview of the Green Bay Packers
Speaker 3: as you get ready for training camp?
Speaker 9: Well, you know when Aaron Rodgers, when they decided to
Speaker 9: part ways with Aaron Rodgers and that era ended. I
Speaker 9: honestly believe there was a three year process put together
Speaker 9: to kind of rebuild the roster, to move the club
Speaker 9: forward into a different era with Jordan Love at the controls.
Speaker 9: Now you know that process is going into year three.
Speaker 9: They've got a lot of good football players on this team.
Speaker 9: They have excellent depth, among the best in the NFL.
Speaker 9: But the question now becomes, how many of these young
Speaker 9: players over these past couple of years, the youngest team of
Speaker 9: the league. It's time for them now to step up
Speaker 9: to the next level. And that's the big question because
Speaker 9: the improvement for this team is going to have to
Speaker 9: come from within.
Speaker 2: Hey, Wayne, when you talk about it, you know they
Speaker 2: already had a pieces in place. When you talk about
Speaker 2: Jordan Love taking over for Aaron Rodgers, do they have
Speaker 2: a piece in place to take over for Jaire Alexander.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 9: No, that's a good question, Tom. You know, Keyshawn Nixon
Speaker 9: will probably step into the number one role, but they
Speaker 9: don't have a cornerback of the ILK that will be,
Speaker 9: you know, assigned to your best receiver and travel with
Speaker 9: him across the formation.
Speaker 6: I don't think they're going to do that.
Speaker 9: I think they'll play more straight up in man coverage.
Speaker 6: You know, want to play the right side, I want to.
Speaker 9: Play the left side, the other slot defender in there,
Speaker 9: and Jeff Halfley uses more zone than I thought he
Speaker 9: did in the past. It certainly was the case last year.
Speaker 9: So I think they feel pretty good about their top
Speaker 9: three cornerbacks. Jai Year could have you know, he was
Speaker 9: still their best cover corner, but they just couldn't count
Speaker 9: on him to show up for each game.
Speaker 5: Wayne Good to see one. I was shocked when I
Speaker 5: looked at the numbers. I mean this you mentioned a young,
Speaker 5: talented team, but they were top five offensively and they
Speaker 5: were top five defensively. And that's what Jeff Halfley his
Speaker 5: first year is a defensive coordinator. Last year, I guess
Speaker 5: expectations for this defense because I thought it was shocking
Speaker 5: when they moved on from Jill Barry. They really struggled
Speaker 5: to stop the run. But here this defense was terrific
Speaker 5: a season ago.
Speaker 9: Yeah, and you know, the question now becomes the loss
Speaker 9: of TJ.
Speaker 6: Slayton.
Speaker 9: He was their best run defender in the middle of
Speaker 9: that defensive line. He played very well over the last
Speaker 9: three years, and they let him go in free agency.
Speaker 9: You know, it'll be interesting to see how good they
Speaker 9: are against the run this year because Jim I thought
Speaker 9: that's what started it for this defense. They became more
Speaker 9: physical and they were better against the run, and that's
Speaker 9: something you couldn't say about Green Bay defenses dating all
Speaker 9: the way back to maybe twenty ten. So it'll be
Speaker 9: interesting to see how the run defense comes to four
Speaker 9: and then the pass rush. You know, Halfley did a
Speaker 9: great job of manufacturing pressure, but they know that they
Speaker 9: can't afford to manufacture as much because of the fact
Speaker 9: that they are a little light at the corner position.
Speaker 9: They don't have a lockdown corner back there, so they're
Speaker 9: going to have to be careful with what they do
Speaker 9: in generating pressure. They need to get more pressure from
Speaker 9: their four man rush. That wasn't the case a year ago.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 3: Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit athletical dot com to request an
Speaker 3: in clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Wayne lear Revy our guest here on a ESPN one
Speaker 3: thousand of the Bears Radio Network, Jeff tom and Jim
Speaker 3: Miller breaking down the NFC North. I always felt that
Speaker 3: the receiving core you had really did a great job
Speaker 3: as young players. I know some injury issues and some
Speaker 3: drops last year, but they really doubled down on the
Speaker 3: draft and added pieces that can have an instant impact.
Speaker 3: What's your take on Samby on Williams, Matthew Golden, the Speedster.
Speaker 4: Are they ready to make an immediate impact?
Speaker 9: Well, Golden would be the guy who probably would be
Speaker 9: more in the regular rotation of receivers right now. He
Speaker 9: looked good in many camps and the Ota s he
Speaker 9: for a rookie fit in pretty well. But you know,
Speaker 9: rookie wide receivers outside of a few struggle to make
Speaker 9: major contributions. They feel like Golden can. That was interesting,
Speaker 9: Jeff that you mentioned because I felt the same way
Speaker 9: watching the draft that they doubled down on receivers when
Speaker 9: they had a stable of receivers. But you know, Romeo
Speaker 9: Dobbs is going into the last year of his deal,
Speaker 9: and the same thing when you go with Christian Watson,
Speaker 9: who will be on the injured reserve list for a
Speaker 9: while until he gets back from that injury yet late
Speaker 9: last year, but that'll be in the second half the
Speaker 9: season more than likely. So they understand where they're at
Speaker 9: in that regard. They needed the speed of Golden and
Speaker 9: they saw in Savigon Williams a guy who can maybe
Speaker 9: become a Swiss Army knife in this offense.
Speaker 2: You know, you guys have always had a solid center
Speaker 2: over however many years now you're Jenkins is moving into
Speaker 2: the center position. Is that something that's going to be
Speaker 2: a natural fit or is that going to be something
Speaker 2: that reps are needed throughout the course of full padded practices.
Speaker 6: Well, Tom, you know the interesting thing.
Speaker 9: When they drafted Elton Jenkins, they said, we think his
Speaker 9: best position is center, but we're going to have to
Speaker 9: play him at guard, and that's what they did, and
Speaker 9: he became a Pro Bowl guard a couple of years.
Speaker 9: Now they move him to center because they bring in
Speaker 9: Aaron Banks and what they're doing with this team, and
Speaker 9: it started obviously when they acquired Josh Jacobs. This is
Speaker 9: becoming more of a physical offensive football team under Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 9: under Brett Farv even they threw the ball around, they
Speaker 9: were more of a finesse offense. They are more physical
Speaker 9: upfront of they were last year, and they're becoming more
Speaker 9: so this year with the structure of the offensive line.
Speaker 9: So it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.
Speaker 9: But I think this team, and I go back to
Speaker 9: the defense as well, they became much more physical a
Speaker 9: year ago. Especially you have the cornerback position. They're not
Speaker 9: the best cover corners in the league, but what they'll
Speaker 9: do Keyshawn Nixon and Carrington Valentine. You're running backs running
Speaker 9: downhill around the end, these guys will come up and
Speaker 9: make a hit on them, and that gives you that
Speaker 9: kind of toughness, that's what they're looking for. They're trying
Speaker 9: to become a team more like San Francisco has been
Speaker 9: over the last couple of years.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 5: I really give a lot of credit to your head coach,
Speaker 5: Coach Laflour, because he's brought along a lot of those
Speaker 5: young skill position players, receivers in the young quarterback Jordan
Speaker 5: Love at the same time. And typically you put veterans,
Speaker 5: you know, like a veteran quarterback with young receivers or
Speaker 5: vice versa. And he's brought all those guys along together.
Speaker 5: And I'd just like to know where Jordan Love is
Speaker 5: at because at times he's a little too loosey goosey
Speaker 5: with the football for me. But but boy, he is
Speaker 5: ultra talented from where when he was drafted and how
Speaker 5: green of a player he was and what he has
Speaker 5: matured into and really the Lafloor impact on all those
Speaker 5: young players.
Speaker 9: Yeah, you know, I tell you what, Jim first on
Speaker 9: Jordan Love this spring. He looks a lot better than
Speaker 9: he did a year ago at this time in my opinion,
Speaker 9: just in the command he has out there, his fundamentals,
Speaker 9: He's tightened those up. He had to do that. It
Speaker 9: was part of the problem last year. He had injuries
Speaker 9: last year, and then the Packers were among the league
Speaker 9: leaders in the dubious category of dropped passes. You know,
Speaker 9: and that's an analytic, Isn't it interesting?
Speaker 6: How?
Speaker 9: I don't care where you look at what analytic on
Speaker 9: drop passes you look, All of them are different. Some say, well,
Speaker 9: they drop twenty eight balls, Others say forty one, some
Speaker 9: say thirty eight.
Speaker 6: I mean, how many.
Speaker 9: It's a subjective statistic, but the Packers in any of
Speaker 9: those categories almost led the league in draw passes, and
Speaker 9: that's something they've got to do a better job. The
Speaker 9: receivers have to do a better job of catching the ball.
Speaker 9: That also being said the quarterback. It's not just completing passes.
Speaker 9: That's not just the deal in the NFL. Where do
Speaker 9: you complete the pass to your receiver? You give him
Speaker 9: a chance to make a play, You throw it away
Speaker 9: from where the contact is coming. Do you give this
Speaker 9: receip do you lead him the right way on those
Speaker 9: big bombs down the field? I think Jordan Love is
Speaker 9: going to be a lot more active, a lot more
Speaker 9: accurate in those areas this year, at least, that's what
Speaker 9: we've seen so far this spring time will tell final moments.
Speaker 3: And Wayne Lerevine, the veteran voice of the Green Bay Packers. Wayne,
Speaker 3: we always say we hear coaches and scouts say, if
Speaker 3: your corners like to tackle and hit and your receivers
Speaker 3: will block, that's the definition of a tough football team
Speaker 3: outside of the obvious in the trenches. I believe in
Speaker 3: this division and you tell me what you got. You
Speaker 3: mentioned the corners. All four teams are going to take
Speaker 3: that policy into this year, especially from Ben Johnson's perspective.
Speaker 3: No block, no rock, that's his big theme.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: Is this going to be a true black and blue
Speaker 3: division the old way the NFC Central used to be
Speaker 3: the NFC North. Is this your take on what this
Speaker 3: division is going to be?
Speaker 9: I think these teams are more talented than those legendary
Speaker 9: teams you talk about. By that, I mean throughout the division.
Speaker 9: I mean one to four. These are all good teams. Okay,
Speaker 9: in the past you couldn't say that. I mean, maybe
Speaker 9: there were two teams battling it out, the Vikings and
Speaker 9: the Bay in the eighties, and and the Packers and
Speaker 9: the Bears, and also the Vikings in the nineties. And
Speaker 9: two thousands. But this division, these teams are all good.
Speaker 9: Detroit's the best they have if you look at just
Speaker 9: do blue chip players you know, and that's again subjective,
Speaker 9: but they probably have I don't know, six to seven
Speaker 9: blue chip players on that roster. Minnesota probably has four
Speaker 9: or five. The Bears and Packers have, however, many maybe four,
Speaker 9: three to four on their rosters. And the thing about
Speaker 9: Green Bay, Jeff and I really think this is important,
Speaker 9: is how many of their young players, second and third
Speaker 9: year players can take that next step and a couple
Speaker 9: of them become blue chip players, because, as we know,
Speaker 9: the blue chip players how you win championships. You can
Speaker 9: win a lot of games with a deep roster and
Speaker 9: good players, but you need blue chip players to carry
Speaker 9: you past the finish line.
Speaker 3: All right, Wayne, thank you so much. Enjoy the balance
Speaker 3: of your summer. We will see you soon, Buddy.
Speaker 6: Great being with you, guys. We'll see I'll try.
Speaker 4: And thanks Wayne.
Speaker 3: Coming up next Lomas Brown, the outstanding former tackle of
Speaker 3: the Detroit Lions. The radio analysts coming up body ESPN
Speaker 3: one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio
Speaker 1: Network Welcome back to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, the Voice of the Bears, Jeff Joey Say.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 3: IGS Energy. As we begin our NFC North A Division
Speaker 3: preview for twenty twenty five before the even training camp
Speaker 3: snaps take place, we wrap things up with Lomas Brown,
Speaker 3: our good friend from the Detroit Lions, legendary figure there
Speaker 3: as a player and a longtime radio analyst.
Speaker 4: Thomas, how you feeling, man, You're doing well.
Speaker 6: I'm killing great, chilling good.
Speaker 4: How are you guys doing great?
Speaker 3: Like you know we said before we get on here,
Speaker 3: you said, Hey, excitements building up here in Chicago. But
Speaker 3: that's been the case for the last couple of years
Speaker 3: for the Detroit Lions. And we just got done talking
Speaker 3: to Pete Bursich of the Vikings Networking. Of course Wayne
Speaker 3: Larvy from Green Bay, and they still put a lot
Speaker 3: of money on the Detroit Lions right now despite all
Speaker 3: the change. How do you feel about where things are
Speaker 3: headed into Troit here for twenty twenty five?
Speaker 10: Yeah, you know we are. I can say we are
Speaker 10: feeling good around here. I mean again, you look at
Speaker 10: this ranking, the ranking that just came out, and we
Speaker 10: got eight players in the top you know, sixty players
Speaker 10: in the NFL young guys. So the nucleus is here.
Speaker 10: We got our foundation set. Of course, a big, big
Speaker 10: chip fill out that foundation when we're talking about Frank
Speaker 10: Ragan now retire. But for the most part, I think
Speaker 10: Dan brand Holmes, I think they are all on the
Speaker 10: same wavelength when they talk about players, the type of
Speaker 10: players that they want to bring on this Detroit team,
Speaker 10: the type of players they want to bring into this
Speaker 10: Detroit Lion organization. You have to fit that mold, and
Speaker 10: they've been doing a great job of fitting putting the
Speaker 10: guys in that direct mold that they need to fit into.
Speaker 2: Almost what about a Hutchinson update.
Speaker 10: He seems to be And we know it's different when
Speaker 10: you have a three hundred pound man pushing you in
Speaker 10: your chest trying to send you somewhere you don't want
Speaker 10: to go.
Speaker 6: But on air, everything seems to be good. He seems
Speaker 6: to be.
Speaker 10: The old eight Hutchison on air. So again we know
Speaker 10: once the battle starts, it's a different thing. But I
Speaker 10: think everything's going to be should be pretty well with them.
Speaker 6: I know Dan and them. They're going to ease him
Speaker 6: in there.
Speaker 10: That's just what they do regardless, So I know they're
Speaker 10: going to take the ease approach with him, but I
Speaker 10: think he's at the point.
Speaker 6: But regardless, regardless of how aiden.
Speaker 10: Is, if we don't get somebody on that other end,
Speaker 10: I mean, it's like the guy's fight with one arm
Speaker 10: behind his back.
Speaker 6: So we're gonna definitely have to find somebody on the
Speaker 6: other end. The compliment.
Speaker 5: Yeah, in Lomas, I talked to Brad Holmes, your general manager.
Speaker 5: He said everybody was beating on him that they didn't
Speaker 5: draft it in that rusher. You got the health of
Speaker 5: your star player in question, and Zadarius Smith is begging
Speaker 5: to be re signed. I mean, who's rushing the quarterback
Speaker 5: right now?
Speaker 6: I'm telling you, I don't understand that when they look.
Speaker 10: Brad has built up so much equity here in Detroit.
Speaker 10: I'm not gonna question him, but it has been a
Speaker 10: lot of questions asked to whysa there is in back
Speaker 10: in the fold already a guy that seems to be
Speaker 10: committed to the Detroit Lion, the guy that wants to
Speaker 10: be here, you know so, and I think he could
Speaker 10: be valuable plus even with him coming back, you're still
Speaker 10: going to have to look at somebody else or still
Speaker 10: looking to have some more debt to that position now.
Speaker 6: So, like I said, Brad, we trust.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he's done a great job for sure.
Speaker 3: Lomas Brown, by the way, is a Hall of Famer
Speaker 3: at the University of Florida, the College Football Hall of Fame,
Speaker 3: the Detroit Lions Hall of Fame, in the Michigan Sports
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4: He's been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4: One day.
Speaker 3: You're going to get there, my brother, You're going to
Speaker 3: get there. You got you got the mojo going on.
Speaker 3: Lomas brought our guests, all right, let's talk about the coaches.
Speaker 3: So your new offensive coordinator obviously in John Morton, defensive
Speaker 3: coordinator Calvin Shepherd, they're going to put their own wrinkle
Speaker 3: to it, I'm sure.
Speaker 4: But are we talking about staying as similar as possible?
Speaker 4: What should we expect?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 10: You know, the soothing thing of the most confident thing
Speaker 10: about this, especially on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 10: is that, you know, when Ben Johnson was here, don't forget,
Speaker 10: Dan Campbell took over the offense for the remainder that year.
Speaker 10: We fired Anthony Lynn. Dan Campbell took over the offense
Speaker 10: and ran the offense for the rest of that year.
Speaker 10: Then Ben got promoted up. So I say that to say,
Speaker 10: the basis the foundation of our offense really realized, really
Speaker 10: lays in Dan Campbell.
Speaker 6: So he's here.
Speaker 10: So that's the one thing that you know you can
Speaker 10: count on the consistency with our calls. Of course, John
Speaker 10: Morton is going to want to add his flavor to it.
Speaker 10: I mean, if you are offense coordinator, that's what you
Speaker 10: are supposed to do, so it'll be some things different.
Speaker 6: From that standpoint. I expect the Calvin Shephard.
Speaker 10: I expect that transition to be a lot smoother because
Speaker 10: again we got Calvin coming from behind back of.
Speaker 6: Coach up to the defensive coordinator. Again, we took a
Speaker 6: big ball.
Speaker 10: If you think about the seven coaches, that's a lot
Speaker 10: to lose. Even when you think about Philadelphia when they
Speaker 10: won the Super Bowl. When they got purged, they lost
Speaker 10: both of their coordinators. But we lost both coordinators and
Speaker 10: we lost five other good coaches. So it's gonna be
Speaker 10: a big change, a lot of moving parts. But like
Speaker 10: I say, Dan, he'll get it well.
Speaker 2: Almost the second most important Campbell on your team. Jack
Speaker 2: Campbell have been a linebacker. I was reading an article.
Speaker 2: They said, he's got to be comfortable, be consistent with
Speaker 2: the mundane things. So does he have the defensive tackle protection,
Speaker 2: He's got a new defensive coordinator. Are the pieces in
Speaker 2: place in front and behind him to be the guy
Speaker 2: that the Detroit Lions need him to be, especially in
Speaker 2: this division.
Speaker 10: Yeah, that's a great question, and I think a lot
Speaker 10: of that is gonna rely on DJ Reed.
Speaker 6: He has to have a bounce back, yere He has
Speaker 6: to have a.
Speaker 10: Better year than last year, and I think if he could,
Speaker 10: because again we're going to be missing the Leen McNeil,
Speaker 10: and you don't want to put too much on the
Speaker 10: rookies play, even though we don't need our rookie to
Speaker 10: stand up, stand out and play this year.
Speaker 6: But I think it.
Speaker 10: Comes down to DJ Reader, because you're absolutely right, they're
Speaker 10: going to have to keep them off of those linebackers
Speaker 10: Jack camb Alexanzeloni, Dereck Barnes coming back off of injury.
Speaker 6: You know they're gonna have to let these guys be
Speaker 6: able to flow.
Speaker 10: And that's what Jack Campbell seems to be in this
Speaker 10: element when he can flow, not to say he can't
Speaker 10: fight off the blockers, but I mean, I guess with
Speaker 10: any linebacker that would impede.
Speaker 6: But again, he needs to be.
Speaker 10: Able to flow, especially when you're talking about the responsibilities
Speaker 10: that the mic takes on in our defense with having
Speaker 10: the cover a lot of coverages. And as we know,
Speaker 10: you know, the most impressive thing to me is just
Speaker 10: kind of this influx of tight ends that are coming
Speaker 10: in the game. Just think about all the tight ends
Speaker 10: got drafted this year and how these guys are looking now.
Speaker 6: It seems to be kind of slnting towards the tight ends.
Speaker 10: You got to have that dominant tight end that can block,
Speaker 10: but it can also run like a wide receiver and
Speaker 10: catch like a wide receiver too.
Speaker 5: This is really a veteran team other than the retirement
Speaker 5: of Frank greg Now and maybe Tate rat Ledge to
Speaker 5: the rookie ends up getting some playing time. But you know,
Speaker 5: when Dan Campbell started, he kind of had had to,
Speaker 5: you know, carry an iron fist and really break these
Speaker 5: guys in. And now they're a veteran group, and will
Speaker 5: they you know, I don't think he's got to be
Speaker 5: his heart on them because they know what he expects.
Speaker 5: But at the same time, they got to be self
Speaker 5: motivators just to sustain what they've earned as a team.
Speaker 5: And you mentioned all the coaching changes. Do you feel
Speaker 5: they are that type of team.
Speaker 6: With the leaders.
Speaker 10: Yeah, but it should be easy because think about it,
Speaker 10: we haven't won anything.
Speaker 6: What have we won?
Speaker 10: You know, if you think about it, Okay, you won
Speaker 10: the division the last two years. We were doing that
Speaker 10: back in ninety one. You know, we were winning the
Speaker 10: division back then. We got to the championship game, but
Speaker 10: we didn't win that. The Lions got to the championship game.
Speaker 10: They ever won that. So we haven't won anything yet.
Speaker 10: So again, you know that that hunger should still be that.
Speaker 10: It shouldn't be hard to motivate these guys because still
Speaker 10: got so much in front of them that they have
Speaker 10: to give accomplished. So that's how I look at it.
Speaker 10: I think those guys look at it too. And it
Speaker 10: was so disappointed man to be in that locker room
Speaker 10: to hear those guys after that Washington game. Think about it,
Speaker 10: they went fifteen and two, fifteen and two last year,
Speaker 10: number one.
Speaker 6: Seed, set to run the table.
Speaker 10: You know, everything's coming through the Mova City best crowd
Speaker 10: in the world. You know, we got home fill advantage
Speaker 10: all the way through up into the.
Speaker 6: Super Bowl, and you know it didn't work out.
Speaker 10: I mean, we fell flat on our face versus the
Speaker 10: Washington Commander. So again, they haven't won anything, and I
Speaker 10: know that's how they feel.
Speaker 6: I know that's how Dan Campbell and that staff feels too.
Speaker 3: All Right, they'll be at Soldier Field at the end
Speaker 3: of the season week eighteen, but the big one at
Speaker 3: Detroit on September fourteenth, week two, after the Bear's coming
Speaker 3: off a short week against the Vikings on Monday Night football.
Speaker 3: That'll set the tone for the year. I think, I
Speaker 3: think you let us with this before we get on
Speaker 3: the air. Why should we be so excited about what's
Speaker 3: happening here in Chicago.
Speaker 6: Oh my goodness, man.
Speaker 10: So again, I never told you, guys, but I worked
Speaker 10: out one morning I'm on the road trip and Ben
Speaker 10: Johnson was in there. And the night before I had
Speaker 10: went and I had looked up the word savant and
Speaker 10: under the definition of savant is someone that's who's.
Speaker 6: A genius, genius in what they do.
Speaker 10: So I said that fits Ben Johnson, and I told
Speaker 10: him that.
Speaker 6: I told him that walking down the hallway. I said,
Speaker 6: you know what, I say, my nickname for you from
Speaker 6: now on this stuff savant, because the dude is a genius.
Speaker 10: I'm telling you, man, you know, I got eighteen years
Speaker 10: in the league, four years in college, I went all
Speaker 10: four years that far, and then three years in high school. Man,
Speaker 10: I've never been around a more cred play caller. And
Speaker 10: I'm telling the things that's gonna amaze you guys so much.
Speaker 6: Just watch. It's gonna be all the little moving pieces.
Speaker 10: It's gonna be so many pieces you're gonna have to
Speaker 10: look at that have to click, that have to go
Speaker 10: together to make that play work.
Speaker 6: And man, I'm telling think about this now.
Speaker 11: We ran a fake fumble and Jared had to talk
Speaker 11: him out of actually fumbling the ball. Jared had to
Speaker 11: talk because Ben Johnson wanted Jared to actually fumble the
Speaker 11: ball and then pick it up and throw the you know,
Speaker 11: And Jared had to talk him out of them and say, wait, man,
Speaker 11: wait what if I fake like I fumbled the ball.
Speaker 6: I mean, it's just unbelieved. Think about stuff like that.
Speaker 6: Think about you got your three hundred.
Speaker 10: Pound tackle coming around in motion and you pitched the
Speaker 10: ball to him. While he's going around in motion and
Speaker 10: he's looking not to run the ball, he's looking to
Speaker 10: throw the ball down field on a third down. I mean,
Speaker 10: come on, now, we're not talking about, you know, a
Speaker 10: game you getting blown out.
Speaker 6: There were talking about a close game. It's third down
Speaker 6: and panay sue of the store.
Speaker 10: He's running a reverse motion, getting a pitch, throwing the
Speaker 10: ball to an open receiver. Now, I mean, I'm telling you,
Speaker 10: guys are gonna be so amazed with what you see
Speaker 10: from Ben Johnson. It's gonna be something week after week
Speaker 10: that you say, you're gonna be like, oh.
Speaker 6: My goodness, man.
Speaker 10: So the dude is Now sometimes it could work against you,
Speaker 10: but I'm telling you the timing with Ben Johnson, and
Speaker 10: that's another talent that you have to have, is a
Speaker 10: great coordinator.
Speaker 6: It's got to be the time when when you do everything,
Speaker 6: his timing was great most of the time.
Speaker 3: Wow, Okay, let's let's play right now, because now you
Speaker 3: gotta society Lamas, We're gonna let you go appreciate it
Speaker 3: as always. You're delightful and we look forward to seeing
Speaker 3: you during the season.
Speaker 6: Absolutely, guys, take care of us.
Speaker 3: Thanks all us Brown coming up our final segment with
Speaker 3: Tom and Jim. This is Bears Weekly and he's been
Speaker 3: one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 7: You were tuned into.
Speaker 1: Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniac on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty four years, Chef Chef on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletical
Speaker 3: Physical Therapy. Visit Athletic with dot comer A question in
Speaker 3: clinic or virtual deployment that start feeling better tomorrow? Jeff,
Speaker 3: Tom Jim Our final view. What are we learning in
Speaker 3: your opinions from those guys?
Speaker 5: Well, I just it's going to be interesting to see,
Speaker 5: like here just talking to Lomas. How is that coaching staff? Well,
Speaker 5: they call the plays a similar Calvin Shepherd. The guys
Speaker 5: are going to have their own wrinkles. Johnny Morton, who'll
Speaker 5: have his own wrinkles. And for Ben Johnson, you know,
Speaker 5: other defensive coordinators have seen his play calling in division,
Speaker 5: so how will they game plan him? Do they look
Speaker 5: at Chicago the same way is maybe they looked at
Speaker 5: the Detroit Lions when they were game planning the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 5: So really that first month of the season or when
Speaker 5: they played those early division games.
Speaker 6: That'll be something to watch, you know.
Speaker 2: I'll be interested in seeing how the defensive coordinators attack
Speaker 2: all the centers in the division because it's such an
Speaker 2: important part of the success and the timing come at offense.
Speaker 2: And when you bring new guys aboard, or you're playing
Speaker 2: guys for the first time, and you're playing against the
Speaker 2: caliber of talent that they have in the NFL, you
Speaker 2: can really disrupt the flow of the offense if you
Speaker 2: make things super uncomfortable for a center who maybe within
Speaker 2: the first four or five weeks of the regular season,
Speaker 2: is just learning his role inside the offense. So I
Speaker 2: know it's something that people around the league won't pay
Speaker 2: attention to, but I think it's something you got to
Speaker 2: pay attention to because the role in the relationship of
Speaker 2: center quarterback is unlike a lot of others.
Speaker 3: Yeah, four new centers in the division, four new starting centers,
Speaker 3: and then you get the defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. That's
Speaker 3: the other wrinkle that the teams in the division not
Speaker 3: quite sure how he'll run this defense. There's different pieces
Speaker 3: to the puzzle, and Jim, I'm curious on that side
Speaker 3: of the ball, because, as I mentioned at the outset
Speaker 3: of the show, that's where the experience is on this
Speaker 3: football team. At nine returning starters, if they all retain
Speaker 3: their starting jobs and enter the season healthy, and some
Speaker 3: players ready to take that rise from year three to
Speaker 3: four or year from year two to three, and we're
Speaker 3: talking about the secondary in that regard, do you feelieve
Speaker 3: any of these Bears players are ready to become blue Chippers?
Speaker 5: You know, Roma Donze was drafted high for a reason,
Speaker 5: you know, and I think that the same thinking is
Speaker 5: for Loveland. You know, Loveland comes with a lot of
Speaker 5: credentials in catching the ball. Now that's a lot to
Speaker 5: expect a rookie to make that jump up. Roma Doonza,
Speaker 5: I think came highly regarded. So I think offensively he's
Speaker 5: a guy that has to have a huge impact and
Speaker 5: defensively it's it's going to be interesting. It shakes out
Speaker 5: with Dennis Allen and how aggressive he has to be
Speaker 5: because there's a lot that is under their belt that
Speaker 5: Dennis Allen has given them to be responsible for.
Speaker 2: I think a guy like TJ. Edwards, I don't care
Speaker 2: what the other parameters are about blue chip linebackers. To me, TJ.
Speaker 2: Edwards is that type of guy. And then if we
Speaker 2: can get a guy like Travon Dexter Senior to take
Speaker 2: that next massive jump forward and then he can start
Speaker 2: complimenting Grady and the rest of these guys, then here's
Speaker 2: a guy that's going to at least get his name
Speaker 2: on the list.
Speaker 3: So in the division as a wrap up here, will
Speaker 3: offenses be more powerful than the defenses in the division?
Speaker 4: Like you mentioned, Jim, they scored a lot of points
Speaker 4: last year? Or will it level out? Will it be
Speaker 4: a war every week?
Speaker 5: I think it's going to be the highest scoring division again,
Speaker 5: I really believe that. I don't think Detroit's pass rush
Speaker 5: is there. They're going to be trying to outscore everybody
Speaker 5: like they did last year. I think Green Bay and
Speaker 5: be a potent offense that can score a lot and
Speaker 5: even with a young quarterback going on a second year,
Speaker 5: Minnesota has a lot of pieces to the puzzle. I mean,
Speaker 5: Jordan Jefferson probably one of the best in the league.
Speaker 5: Their skill positions are second to none. And I've said
Speaker 5: it on the Bears airwaves here here on ESPN, the
Speaker 5: Bears offense is going to have to carry the Bears
Speaker 5: defense for a little bit. These guys need to get
Speaker 5: in scoring mode because they are going to have to
Speaker 5: score points in order to keep up with the Jones.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 2: I think when you look at this division, if you
Speaker 2: can get an advantage at home, including Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota,
Speaker 2: and Green Bay, that's going to give you an opportunity
Speaker 2: to be, you know, have that environment on your side early.
Speaker 2: I think Brian Flores at home is a difficult defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: I think when you look at Detroit and what they
Speaker 2: developed there as a home field advantage, it helps both
Speaker 2: sides of the ball. And I think that's what Chicago
Speaker 2: has to do starting Week one against the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 2: If they come out out and they have a high
Speaker 2: performing offense and a complimentary defense, I think you're going
Speaker 2: to see that for the rest of the season, and
Speaker 2: it's going to be a factor inside Chicago, especially when
Speaker 2: you play against Detroit last week at home.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you right now, if you think about that,
Speaker 3: if this has me so fired up, this division's insane
Speaker 3: that the skill positions like Jimmy mentioned, if you really
Speaker 3: add them up, I'd like to compare it to the
Speaker 3: rest of the league's divisions and see because I'll say
Speaker 3: across the board, it's going to be very interesting to
Speaker 3: watch and every single snap is going to matter. It
Speaker 3: all begins Week one against the Vikings at Soldier Field
Speaker 3: in a division with a Bears host Monday Night Football
Speaker 3: at Detroit September fourteenth, Week eleven and Minnesota Week fourteen
Speaker 3: at Green Bay home against the Packers. Two weeks later
Speaker 3: a week sixteen, ending Week eighteen at home against the
Speaker 3: Detroit Lions. That's going to do it for us. Thanks
Speaker 3: everybody for listening. The executive producer The Bears Ready to
Speaker 3: now work, Eric Ostrowski, Thanks to Dan Brilly, Jordan tread Up,
Speaker 3: Katie Fox, and our producer Justin Pottinger. For Tom There,
Speaker 3: Jim Miller and all our guests, I'm Jeff Jonniak. This
Speaker 3: has been Bears Weekly on the radio home of the
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