Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. But doing everybody, and welcome to
Speaker 1: another edition of Bears All Access. This one we're excited about.
Speaker 1: With my broadcast partner from WBBM, Tom Thay, I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by IGS Energy here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy to score as we get you
Speaker 1: set for what is now officially training camp practice with
Speaker 1: pads coming up on Monday. And Tom, when you think
Speaker 1: back to the impact of COVID back in March, shutting
Speaker 1: every sport down and the constant tug a war with
Speaker 1: the experts, the doctors, the fans, the media, everybody, all
Speaker 1: these opinions whether football was going to play, we still
Speaker 1: got hurdles to clear. But now less than a month
Speaker 1: before the season opener and true Blue training camp practices,
Speaker 1: it feels like this is going to happen. Well, I think, Jeff,
Speaker 1: you officially started the countdown to the first regular season game. However,
Speaker 1: when you talk about all those plans we talked about
Speaker 1: throughout the corpse of the off season, how is it
Speaker 1: going to affect the facility to make the safest place possible?
Speaker 1: And I think the Bears went to every extent to
Speaker 1: get the safest environment the players could possibly walk into.
Speaker 1: All right, and that has to happen because you know,
Speaker 1: and I know, you can't play football with something else
Speaker 1: on your mind thinking about ball. You got to be
Speaker 1: thinking about your assignments. You can't have missed assignments. You
Speaker 1: can't have mental errors because the evaluation is strict as
Speaker 1: it always is, but I think it'll be stricter this year,
Speaker 1: if that's even possible. There's a small timeframe to get
Speaker 1: this team ready the first game September thirteenth against the
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions. Can't be thinking about something else because that's
Speaker 1: how injuries happen. Up all the time you leave the
Speaker 1: facility in full pads, you can think about whatever you
Speaker 1: want to. But once you get in the huddle, once
Speaker 1: you get in your stance, once the cadence is going.
Speaker 1: You better only be thinking about football, your assignment, your goal,
Speaker 1: your fundamentals, and that's the quickest way to improve as
Speaker 1: a football team. And I'm not trying to minimize anything time,
Speaker 1: and I don't think you are either. We know there
Speaker 1: are serious concerns. Each player has families that may or
Speaker 1: may not have some issues that could cause a problem
Speaker 1: with COVID if they were to unfortunately get it. If
Speaker 1: something was going on in your life that really had
Speaker 1: you down or really was weighing on your mind, how
Speaker 1: were you able to compartmentalize that for three and a
Speaker 1: half hours or even longer, because it takes longer to
Speaker 1: get yourself ready on game day to actually just play bond,
Speaker 1: think about bond, not about that. Well. I do think
Speaker 1: that's one of the positive escape areas for these football players,
Speaker 1: for these coaches. Again, I talk about when you're inside
Speaker 1: the building, when you have personal time, you can think
Speaker 1: about any issue that you need to think about. When
Speaker 1: you get on the practice field and you get in
Speaker 1: terms of trying to get better as a football team,
Speaker 1: that's a release for a lot of these guys. That's
Speaker 1: a relief for a lot of these guys Jeff, Finally
Speaker 1: their mind can be occupied by something other than world
Speaker 1: concerns and the health issues. Well, how did it impact you.
Speaker 1: Did you ever have a situation in your playing career
Speaker 1: was hard to play on game day because of what
Speaker 1: was going on in your head? Yeah, you know, there
Speaker 1: was different health issues with my mom and dad along
Speaker 1: the way that it would occupy a majority your free time.
Speaker 1: But again, when I did get on the practice field,
Speaker 1: when I got in the football field, I realized the
Speaker 1: importance of my occupation of what was helping me, you know,
Speaker 1: decide my fate in life. So I had to pay
Speaker 1: attention to football. And then soon as I got off
Speaker 1: the field, I had we could have other concerns. Okay,
Speaker 1: so what should we expect on Monday? Enthusiasm at some
Speaker 1: of the highest level that we've seen in quite a while.
Speaker 1: Because you think, Jeff, when we're out there in the
Speaker 1: first day of training camp and they're looking at a
Speaker 1: four week stretch of just hard, a grind of training
Speaker 1: camp with four preseason games, it is a grind, and
Speaker 1: it is a state of mind. This is not this
Speaker 1: is getting prepared for the regular season. All that preseason
Speaker 1: stuff is behind us. This is now regular season preparation
Speaker 1: in every way, shape or form you started it, countdown
Speaker 1: is on, and you know, it's that nervousness I would
Speaker 1: imagine for a player mentally, even on Sunday night, it
Speaker 1: might be a little sleepless. Oh I know if it
Speaker 1: was me, I would not be sleeping Sunday night. I
Speaker 1: would have so much I would be concerned, I would
Speaker 1: be excited. I'd be nervous. I'd be anticipating what the
Speaker 1: future is gonna hold. But you know, Jeff, there's nothing
Speaker 1: like putting on cleats for real inside the locker room.
Speaker 1: There's nothing like taping your fingers in your risk because
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna have contact. There's nothing like Colin
Speaker 1: Tony Medlin the head equipment manager, and say, hey, fill
Speaker 1: my helmet up with air. I need a little bit
Speaker 1: more padding. Every one of those little elements add to
Speaker 1: the excitement of what you're actually gonna do Monday morning,
Speaker 1: starting at about nine thirty. This coaching staff, obviously with
Speaker 1: four new offensive coaches, there's still a ramp up there
Speaker 1: for them and to get to know these guys. When
Speaker 1: they start running at full speed on the practice field
Speaker 1: with pads, it's a whole different ballgame versus routes on
Speaker 1: air and walkthroughs and whatnot. Are there any risks from
Speaker 1: Matt Naggy through artist coaching staff of trying to do
Speaker 1: too much in a short period of time to get ready?
Speaker 1: You know, if I think for the assistant coaches and
Speaker 1: for the head coach, I think it's all about eye
Speaker 1: adjustment during practice, Jeff, because a lot of times we see, okay,
Speaker 1: there's a course of four or five weeks, thirty or
Speaker 1: forty seven on seven plays. During the course of a practice,
Speaker 1: sometimes an assistant coach can have an off, off the
Speaker 1: side conversation with the player that you need to correct
Speaker 1: a mistake. I don't think you have that luxury. I
Speaker 1: think you have to watch the next play being run
Speaker 1: and make those corrections inside the meeting room in front
Speaker 1: of the video. So it is about eye contact on
Speaker 1: the play on the drill you're doing. Any concerns on
Speaker 1: your part, given no off season, within the framework of
Speaker 1: the building, OTAs, whatnot, and enough ramp up to avoid
Speaker 1: serious injuries, I do not have that concern. To me. Again,
Speaker 1: I mentioned it several times throughout the off season. This
Speaker 1: is like old school NFL that you weren't obligated to
Speaker 1: be at the facility for any OTAs or anything other
Speaker 1: than a two day mini camp, same restriction, same type
Speaker 1: of protocol. Now it's going to be about what did
Speaker 1: you do? What did Jeff Joniac, the wide receiver for
Speaker 1: the Bears, dedicate himself to the offseason to be prepared
Speaker 1: day one? And you're gonna see that reflection of it
Speaker 1: in every one of these guys, attitude's effort, conditioning in
Speaker 1: status at the end of the day. Right, I have
Speaker 1: my forty down to seven point zero to play wide receiver,
Speaker 1: and I thought you'd thrown me a bone, let me
Speaker 1: be a growling linebacker or something. You put me at receiver. Well,
Speaker 1: that's poor evaluer, that's poor evaluation from you, Tom. Jeff
Speaker 1: Joni X sounds better as a wide receiver than it
Speaker 1: does a lot. It doesn't have that bite to it
Speaker 1: like R. Lacker and L Boogie, Lance Briggs and Danny
Speaker 1: Trevathan and Rokwin Smith. All right, coming up, we're gonna
Speaker 1: visit with Bears receiver Allen Robinson. We're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: feeder receiver Anthony Miller from his Zoom meeting, and also
Speaker 1: some comments from Robinson from the Zoom meeting on Friday
Speaker 1: with Bears reporters that there was some insightful stuff there.
Speaker 1: Head coach Matt Naggie from the week and we're getting
Speaker 1: you set for padded practices Monday morning at Hallishaw. Jordan
Speaker 1: trud Up, Dan Bailly our producers for Tom there, I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joning Act. This is Bears All Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: the Score. This segment of Bears All Access is brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural asking home warranty products to
Speaker 1: over one million customers across the country. Learn more about
Speaker 1: IGS Energy at igs dot com. With Tom Fair, Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniac and our special guests on this week's show, Bears
Speaker 1: Wide receiver Alan Robinson. Robinson, good to talk to you.
Speaker 1: You gotta be as excited as anybody and just being
Speaker 1: with your teammates and everybody together. Now it's starting to
Speaker 1: get real and starting on Monday, you throw the pads
Speaker 1: on and it's gonna it's gonna appear to us as
Speaker 1: it's real football. No, I'm definitely it's exciting to be back.
Speaker 1: You know. Again, we spend a lot of time doing
Speaker 1: doing the leagues and kind of learning different things virtually,
Speaker 1: you know. But for most athletes, you know, the best
Speaker 1: way for them to learn, Our best way for them
Speaker 1: to prepare is by doing the physical stuff and getting
Speaker 1: the muscle memory. So being out heart with the quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: then it put to run route, they pretense balls and
Speaker 1: kind of go through our offenseests and the fun Hey, Alan,
Speaker 1: we always talk about quarterbacks learning and receivers. How long
Speaker 1: does it take for receivers to learn quarterbacks? For me personally,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a person who I don't think it
Speaker 1: takes that long, you know, I think at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, you know, it may be a few
Speaker 1: routes that that you may have to get adjusted to,
Speaker 1: or maybe some ball trajectory or something like that. But
Speaker 1: for the most part, you know, being a being a receiver,
Speaker 1: you know, you want to be that that like security
Speaker 1: blanket or that you know, uh sense of comfort for
Speaker 1: the quarterback, you know, so you want to make sure
Speaker 1: that you know that there isn't a learning curve or
Speaker 1: that you can adapt to almost thinking. I think that's
Speaker 1: what makes a lot of great receivers greatness that they're
Speaker 1: able to to kind of minimize that uh adjustment curve
Speaker 1: you know, to a quarterback or to a different philosophy,
Speaker 1: you know. So, I mean again, it may take some
Speaker 1: some specific routes, you know what may take a little
Speaker 1: bit of extra work with extra time, but for the
Speaker 1: most part, you know, being a receiver, you want to
Speaker 1: make sure that you know that you're in a spot
Speaker 1: where you need to being that you can, you know,
Speaker 1: be able to be there for the quarterback and for
Speaker 1: the quarterback to feel comfortable with you, you know, right
Speaker 1: out of the game. You know. The other day, Matt
Speaker 1: Naggie said, there's value to every rep this year and
Speaker 1: the in practices. So will you do anything different in
Speaker 1: practice because you don't have preseason games? For me personally,
Speaker 1: you know, you know again, Um, I felt pretty good
Speaker 1: last year. Uh I didn't play in the preseason me
Speaker 1: or but for myself personally, you know, I felt really good.
Speaker 1: I felt prepared, you know, I felt sharp, you know.
Speaker 1: So for me, um, taking um the same approach as
Speaker 1: I did, you know, especially you know with just then
Speaker 1: on top of taking care of my body, you know,
Speaker 1: doing what I need to do on the field and practice,
Speaker 1: you know, making sure that um that I'm locked in,
Speaker 1: and meetings and walker or you know, I think that's
Speaker 1: the biggest thing, you know, for for me, you know,
Speaker 1: I take so much out of a out of a
Speaker 1: walk through, you know, it's to me, it's literally another practice,
Speaker 1: you know, just not going that fashion. So so so
Speaker 1: for myself, I'm able to to kind of you know,
Speaker 1: get in the groove pretty quickly and to kind of
Speaker 1: stay in the groove, you know, even even with no
Speaker 1: preceson Alan Rominson, our guests joining us here on Bears
Speaker 1: all access. You know, I read something up in Detroit
Speaker 1: about Kenny Galla Day and his his coaches say, you know,
Speaker 1: the best receivers are those receivers that dictate to the
Speaker 1: defense how they have to cover him. Does that make
Speaker 1: sense to you? And are you that receiver right now too?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely. You know, for me, even my approach
Speaker 1: to the game as a receiver, you now, I want
Speaker 1: to dictate the temple. I want to dictate the pace
Speaker 1: of everything, ninth line of scrimmage. You know, I never
Speaker 1: want to be reactive, you know, to what the dB
Speaker 1: is doing. You know, for me and my game is
Speaker 1: always proactive. I'm trying to make the dB react to
Speaker 1: what I'm doing, you know, So I think that's that's
Speaker 1: a definitely truth. You never want to might be playing,
Speaker 1: you know, a little bit slower because they're more more
Speaker 1: playoff of reaction and stuff like that. You want the
Speaker 1: receiver to be able to dictate coverage, you know, whether
Speaker 1: that's covered two backside, whether that's you know, making them
Speaker 1: shade the safety over or whatever the case will be.
Speaker 1: But you want that receiver to be able to dictate
Speaker 1: a lot to the defense. It's a tight team. I've
Speaker 1: always felt that way what Matt Naggie has done, and
Speaker 1: your coaching staff and you as one of the leaders
Speaker 1: and the rest of the leaders, are you looking around
Speaker 1: the landscape when sports returned and seeing what's going on NBA?
Speaker 1: The Phoenix Suns unbeaten during their time there together, the
Speaker 1: cub's best record in baseball. They're together, They're sited, no
Speaker 1: matter if they're fans are not. The Blackhawks had their run.
Speaker 1: Do you see that type of structure for the Bears
Speaker 1: as they hit the ground running basically? You know, I think,
Speaker 1: like I said before, you know you have a close
Speaker 1: knit group. You know, you bring guys together, you know,
Speaker 1: especially with everything that's going on right now. This is
Speaker 1: kind of like the safe haven of everything, you know,
Speaker 1: being able to just come into the facility, being able
Speaker 1: to just play ball, being able to take your mind
Speaker 1: off on everything else, you know, especially we have a
Speaker 1: close group. You know, guys have enjoyed and I think
Speaker 1: it's tail from being back that gods haven't have enjoyed
Speaker 1: being around each other, you know, and just you know,
Speaker 1: um getting that enjoyment you know again. I mean we
Speaker 1: went I believe about eight months you know before we
Speaker 1: actually were able to come together as a team, you know,
Speaker 1: so being able to be back in the facility and
Speaker 1: around my teammates and stuff like that. Not only me personally,
Speaker 1: but a lot of other guys told that as well. Hey,
Speaker 1: you know, Alan, I think it's gonna be really interesting
Speaker 1: because your value carries to the other side of the ball. Well.
Speaker 1: You have during when time has a lot of conversations
Speaker 1: with Jalen Johnson, maybe about his habits or what he's seeing,
Speaker 1: how the NFL receivers. Yeah, for sure, you know him,
Speaker 1: him and him and Fuller and Eddie. You know, I
Speaker 1: think that's a big thing for us as you know,
Speaker 1: being able to communicate as far as what we're seeing
Speaker 1: and what we're getting and what people are trying to accomplish,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Even before we even got back,
Speaker 1: you know, Fuller was telling me that there was there
Speaker 1: was some stuff that he had been you know, just practicing,
Speaker 1: you know, as far as his side. You know. So
Speaker 1: for me, I'm very interesting and very curious to see that,
Speaker 1: you know, just see how that plays out. And I
Speaker 1: had the same time from for me, you know, there's
Speaker 1: same thing that I want to act tim you know,
Speaker 1: what is he seeing when I did this? Or what
Speaker 1: do you feel when I this? Just so I can
Speaker 1: try to get an edge on the defense, you know,
Speaker 1: when it comes time to playing games. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. You know how how they'll be, um, how
Speaker 1: they'll feel about certain routes or you know how I
Speaker 1: can kind of you know, conquer certain leverages and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. All right, Man, A momentary with Anna Robinson
Speaker 1: Bears receiver. A couple of quickies one. I just more
Speaker 1: of a statement than anything. But you know, you've you've
Speaker 1: been exemplary and your constant and consistent professionalism when you
Speaker 1: you've come to this team in this city, and even
Speaker 1: when you're asked questions about contracts and stuff, your focus
Speaker 1: is on being a pro. Other guys, whatever their situations are,
Speaker 1: they may sound off a bit, so you know, just
Speaker 1: your reaction to that. And also who won your Madden League?
Speaker 1: I know you and your buddies put one together to
Speaker 1: pass the time. Yeah, yeah, the one over the summer. Um,
Speaker 1: I wasn't the Madden League, you know, until and to
Speaker 1: the until your first question, you know. Um. Again, I
Speaker 1: mean there's so many things that can that can happen,
Speaker 1: you know, and really, um, in this business and in
Speaker 1: this league. You know, all you can really do is
Speaker 1: control what you can control, you know, um. And I
Speaker 1: think for me that's something that I was able to
Speaker 1: run pretty quickly in this league, you know. So again,
Speaker 1: I mean I can control what I do and how
Speaker 1: I quality each and every day, you know, how I compete,
Speaker 1: how I prepare myself and stuff like that, you know,
Speaker 1: And that's my main focus, you know, because again, when
Speaker 1: you start to focus on things that you can't control,
Speaker 1: you know, it can it can become a bit frustrated,
Speaker 1: you know. So for me again, I mean I I
Speaker 1: let I let certain things outside of me play out,
Speaker 1: how they play out, you know, but everything that I
Speaker 1: can control, from a from a preparation standpoint to a
Speaker 1: teammate standpoint to performer standpoint. You know, I try. I
Speaker 1: try to control that, you know, and I'm and I'm
Speaker 1: comfortable at the end of the day, you know, knowing
Speaker 1: that that's that That's what I did, and I gave
Speaker 1: him a haul into that. Alan, great to talk to you.
Speaker 1: We'll look forward to seeing you next week. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Sam Here. Alan Robinson our guest here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access with Tom Thare. I'm Jeff jony Ak. Let's take
Speaker 1: a break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score.
Speaker 1: This segment of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: by CDW Pelet will get it. Learn more at CDW
Speaker 1: dot com With Tom Thare Jeff jony Akin this week's
Speaker 1: edition of Bears All Access. Tom, what'd you think of
Speaker 1: a rob in our interview? The thing that pops into
Speaker 1: my mind is just pure problem, you know, Jeff. I
Speaker 1: gotta say I wish Matt Naggie would designate captains for
Speaker 1: the entire season. Alan Robinson would be number one above
Speaker 1: all these other quality guys we talk about so what
Speaker 1: I hear him saying. You know, first of all, he
Speaker 1: own us all by example of what football means to him,
Speaker 1: recovering from an injury, being the most high profile receiver
Speaker 1: on a team that's having quarterback issues. And now when
Speaker 1: you listen to him talk in front of the media,
Speaker 1: he says everything you want to hear out of a captain.
Speaker 1: He's an influence on the young guys, he's an influence
Speaker 1: on the defensive players, and he shows that preparedness is
Speaker 1: the result while he's so good on the field. Also,
Speaker 1: he doesn't give you a bunch of blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: He just speaks the truth and he doesn't get sucked
Speaker 1: into Okay, this is what I need from somebody else. No,
Speaker 1: this is what I'm going to give to you as
Speaker 1: your offensive MVP. He was a year ago. I would
Speaker 1: assume that he remains that here in twenty twenty. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Leader by example. I think that's the greatest attribute you
Speaker 1: could put on display once you get in front of
Speaker 1: your teammates, and that carries from the meeting room to
Speaker 1: the practice field onto the game field. Alan Robinson is
Speaker 1: a guy that deserves touches. He doesn't necessarily have to
Speaker 1: go out and earn touches. These other guys that we
Speaker 1: talk about that have the capabilities of touching the ball
Speaker 1: on offense, they have to go out and reintroduce themselves
Speaker 1: to the coaches, and they have to go out and
Speaker 1: earn their touches. Alan Robinson deserves touches, so it can
Speaker 1: help him considerably get some attention off him from defense
Speaker 1: is if a guy like Anthony Miller plays to his potential,
Speaker 1: he believes he can be a very big impact player
Speaker 1: and can be special. He was talking with reporters this
Speaker 1: week and one of the big things we keep hearing
Speaker 1: about from Mike Furer, he shows them a lot of
Speaker 1: tough love as an assistant coach and an outstanding receivers coach,
Speaker 1: and from Mattneggie and maybe Anthony really bristles sometimes at
Speaker 1: the notion, but he does understand what they're trying to say.
Speaker 1: To be a true pro it means in the classroom,
Speaker 1: on the field, at practice, and on game day. There's
Speaker 1: nuances of being an NFL receiver and it is a
Speaker 1: learned behavior because a lot of guys don't come from
Speaker 1: the college game right to the NFL. Here's a clip
Speaker 1: when I was drafted. I I was just thinking of
Speaker 1: the game is you know, just going out there and playing, um,
Speaker 1: you know, not really paying attention to, um, the depth
Speaker 1: of my route or um, you know, the small details
Speaker 1: of you know, this game. And UM, I was really
Speaker 1: just going out there and running and playing, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. But when you really understand the game
Speaker 1: and you know the concepts of the play and uh
Speaker 1: what kind of defense is back there? Um, then it
Speaker 1: puts you on another level. And I think this year, UM,
Speaker 1: you know, I've gained a lot of knowledge, UM, and
Speaker 1: I've been working pretty hard, so I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see the result, you know, learning how to operate, you know,
Speaker 1: like within the meeting room, the weight room, um, just
Speaker 1: around the whole building. Just being a complete pro. And UM,
Speaker 1: I think this this is the year that I'd be
Speaker 1: that I want to be perfect out there. I'm gonna field.
Speaker 1: I want to do each and every play right into
Speaker 1: the best of my ability. So I just want to
Speaker 1: have a smooth year as far as you know, normal
Speaker 1: what I'm supposed to do. You know, I just never
Speaker 1: stopped working. Eventually the opportunities came our way, so hopefully
Speaker 1: I get even more of those this year. Hopefully I
Speaker 1: start off the year like those last few games of
Speaker 1: the season last year, So I'm ready for everything that
Speaker 1: comes with you. You know, you can't blame receivers from
Speaker 1: the college game, because yes, if you're really star potential
Speaker 1: to be an NFL player, be a high draft pick,
Speaker 1: you're burning a lot of people in the college game.
Speaker 1: And I think you can get lulled into thinking, yak,
Speaker 1: I just rely on my skill set and that it
Speaker 1: can't happen that way. It's got to be deeper in that.
Speaker 1: You're exactly right. But you know, one thing Anthony Miller
Speaker 1: said there is I have to be more detailed about
Speaker 1: the concept of the play because these plays Jeff through
Speaker 1: the architect and the designer, there's an exact to them.
Speaker 1: It's not a general vicinity. And maybe the quarterback will
Speaker 1: see you because you're beating college defensive backs, it's all.
Speaker 1: It's a pro quarterback is going to anticipate where you
Speaker 1: need to be and they're gonna throw the ball a
Speaker 1: second and a half before you actually get there. So
Speaker 1: understand the concept. You know, when you go into the
Speaker 1: NFL facility, there's not a request box in there. It
Speaker 1: can't say dear, coach, this is Anthony Miller. I request
Speaker 1: ten more touches a game. No, we talked about it before.
Speaker 1: Deserve or earn Anthony Miller, no matter how good he is,
Speaker 1: he has to earn more touches this year. In addition,
Speaker 1: Robinson from his Zoom meeting with reporters addressed that same topic.
Speaker 1: Tom on the process of what Anthony Miller is going through.
Speaker 1: He's definitely find of his niche with everything in and
Speaker 1: growing and continue to develop a mature and see different
Speaker 1: things you know, within the game, you know, because I
Speaker 1: mean football, it's a game. Within the game, you know,
Speaker 1: you have everything that's going on in between the lines,
Speaker 1: you know. But also you know before and after, you know, things,
Speaker 1: preparing yourself to see different things, what you're expecting, being
Speaker 1: able to predict different coverages, different leverages, you know, and
Speaker 1: things like that. And I think that's something that he's learning,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to line up to know Okay,
Speaker 1: if he gets this look, you know, how defenders will
Speaker 1: play him like this, you know. So it's all the
Speaker 1: process and the more snaps that you take, you know,
Speaker 1: the more familiar you get with that. You know. So again,
Speaker 1: like I always say, you know, um, playing playing ball
Speaker 1: is the only way that that you can get better
Speaker 1: and on the way that that you can understand more things,
Speaker 1: you know. So I think for him, you know, late
Speaker 1: last season, as he starts to get a lot more
Speaker 1: repstion as we got later in the season, you know,
Speaker 1: he's kind of able to to take that momentum into
Speaker 1: this year, you know, and just kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: be able to develop and be able to mature, you know,
Speaker 1: within the lines a lot. Well, you know, he had
Speaker 1: nine for one forty against the Lions, he had how
Speaker 1: did an eighteen a touchdown against the Packers? Time his
Speaker 1: second half of the season and a five game span
Speaker 1: was really good. Thirty three four thirty one, two touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Is that his new floor? We wanted to be his
Speaker 1: new normal with great consistency. You know what Allen Robinson
Speaker 1: says there, He speaks volumes specifically to Anthony Millier because
Speaker 1: even though they're both wide receivers, they played two different
Speaker 1: roles at the wide receiver position. So Alan Robinson is
Speaker 1: being able to create his niche in terms of what
Speaker 1: he's asked to do at his receiver position. So now
Speaker 1: as he's watching film on a daily basis, and you
Speaker 1: see All twenty two. He has an opportunity to pay
Speaker 1: attention to what Anthony Miller is doing on the inside,
Speaker 1: so he understands the route tree, what he has to
Speaker 1: do specifically to influence the coverage against Allen Robinson or
Speaker 1: for himself. I just think that what Alan Robinson is
Speaker 1: trying to teach Anthony Miller, it's in every single day process.
Speaker 1: If you're a one year player or a ten year player.
Speaker 1: You know, you may think as you're listening to this
Speaker 1: out there that we're spending so much time on this topic.
Speaker 1: But I think it's extremely important because you look around
Speaker 1: the league there are some really powerful weaponry at the
Speaker 1: skill position within their own division as well. And creating
Speaker 1: and manufacturing and growing some of these assets offensively beyond
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson is to me as important as anything. Now.
Speaker 1: The quarterback battle will also shed some light on that,
Speaker 1: because we're either going to see massive growth from Mitchell
Speaker 1: Trubisky to become the starter and stay the starter, or
Speaker 1: we're gonna see Nick Foles play to his potential in
Speaker 1: an offense that he knows and by that all boats
Speaker 1: will rise. In either case, if things are going well,
Speaker 1: then all these other positions can also grow on that
Speaker 1: same path. And I think, you know, whatever, the running game,
Speaker 1: the offensive line needs to be obviously better, but the
Speaker 1: receiver and tight end position, the skill positions have to
Speaker 1: become big in terms of the scheme. You know, all
Speaker 1: the exterior weapons have to become bigger than they were
Speaker 1: last year, including Allen Robinson, but what include the tight
Speaker 1: end position and the variety of tight ends they have.
Speaker 1: You look at the receivers outside of Anthony Miller, there
Speaker 1: are some guys there Jeff that are going to be
Speaker 1: nipping at his heels for his playing time in coach
Speaker 1: stand Fell Dick stan Fell, my Upans line coach. He
Speaker 1: always used to have a saying, as long as your
Speaker 1: arrow is still pointing up, you're gonna get coached. As
Speaker 1: soon as I see your arrow start pointing down, I'm
Speaker 1: going to have to make other personnel decisions. It is
Speaker 1: the reality from the eighties to the two thousands. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest weird I think is the biggest
Speaker 1: fear for a player. And you know, I've been around
Speaker 1: this now for twenty four years with the Bears and
Speaker 1: thirty five years covering sports. And when they player knows
Speaker 1: that you stopped getting coached in the true sense. They
Speaker 1: may be telling you what you need to do, but
Speaker 1: you can tell the difference when you're not being coached.
Speaker 1: The two greatest concerns is when you're not being coached
Speaker 1: and when they start drafting guys that you're saying position
Speaker 1: that have certain traits that you have, but maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit more in depth in terms of time at
Speaker 1: the position program they played in or even clock speed.
Speaker 1: So when they got these multiple bodies waiting in the
Speaker 1: same line as you, you better have eyes in the
Speaker 1: back of your head. All right, we're gonna take a
Speaker 1: break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score,
Speaker 1: we come back. We're gonna go position by position in
Speaker 1: our segment here and try to give you a true
Speaker 1: blue preview on the doorstep, I should say of the startdown,
Speaker 1: the countdown, the countdown to camp, the countdown to pads,
Speaker 1: as we embrace the NFL Here in twenty twenty with
Speaker 1: Tom There, I'm Jeff Joning acc on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy The Score. Tide Cleaners is now offering new
Speaker 1: Tide Complete Care. This exclusive cleaning formula can only be
Speaker 1: found at Tide Cleaners. Visit Tide cleaners dot com to
Speaker 1: learn more Today, Welcome back to Bears All Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy with Tom There Jeff Joning
Speaker 1: ek Hurt from Allan Robinson earlier this evening looking forward
Speaker 1: to his twenty any campaign, looking to improve at the
Speaker 1: receiver position at the top of his route, which is
Speaker 1: always an important nuance to the position time That makes
Speaker 1: a difference between a big play and no play at times,
Speaker 1: and beating a dB or not beating a dB. You
Speaker 1: have been talking about this before we go into this
Speaker 1: position group, position by position. Maddeneggie has talked about this
Speaker 1: repeatedly from the time the season ended to the time
Speaker 1: the season is going to begin on September thirteenth. He
Speaker 1: wants a mentally and physically tough football team, but in
Speaker 1: this camp time he is emphasizing urgency for excellence in
Speaker 1: every single rep. With the season a month away, we
Speaker 1: as coaches got to understand that the players got to
Speaker 1: understand that there's a little bit more of a sense
Speaker 1: of urgency. So every single rep that you take in practice,
Speaker 1: every single rep that you scripted as a coach, it really,
Speaker 1: really really has to be magnified. When we're done with practice,
Speaker 1: we get together, we watch the film. The evaluation process,
Speaker 1: we have a good process for that. There's definitely a
Speaker 1: sense of urgency between all of us and making sure
Speaker 1: that we're effective in every practice. You know, in the
Speaker 1: twenty five camp. So we've covered Jeff because they have
Speaker 1: that long period of time. He kind of lived through
Speaker 1: that honeymoon stage with the coaches as they lead up
Speaker 1: to the regular season. But this is regular season seriousness.
Speaker 1: From the Monday when they start putting on pads. All
Speaker 1: that honeymoon period is over, and like Matt says, this seriousness,
Speaker 1: the importance, the value of every rep is increased dramatically.
Speaker 1: All right, what side of the ball you want to
Speaker 1: attack first? Offens or defense? Defense? All right, we're gonna
Speaker 1: start with defense. We're gonna start with the defensive line,
Speaker 1: not necessarily the front seven defensive line. The return of
Speaker 1: the Keem Hicks to me is the biggest story. I
Speaker 1: would say the substory to that is Eddie Goldman opting
Speaker 1: out for COVID concerns here in twenty twenty. How does
Speaker 1: it impact everything with those two guys in particular. Again,
Speaker 1: you know my affinity for Keem Hicks. I think he's
Speaker 1: the type of guy that has Reggie White type of
Speaker 1: traits and he can lend that to the defensive line.
Speaker 1: Eddie Goldman I'm concerned about, but I can't think about
Speaker 1: him because he's not here for to me, Roy Robertson,
Speaker 1: Harris Lile, Nichols, Urban Abdula, Anderson. They have to have
Speaker 1: career years, I mean, the best that they played since
Speaker 1: they benefit the NFL. That will decide the faith of
Speaker 1: this defensive line. It's not a Keen Hicks, it's all
Speaker 1: the counterparts. You can make a case that inside linebacker
Speaker 1: is one of the strengths of the football team. Roquan Smith,
Speaker 1: who seems dialed in and ready to go plant to
Speaker 1: his potential, will be a big part of that story,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. You know, Roquan Smith is a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl caliber player. You got Danny Trevathan who has
Speaker 1: speed and assets that a few linebackers do. Okay, let's
Speaker 1: go to that next level. Joe Elia Booneyway, Josh Woods,
Speaker 1: those are the guys that are going to have to
Speaker 1: take that next level step and really turn the inside
Speaker 1: linebacker into quality play, but also turning into depth and
Speaker 1: quality play. You'll be interesting to see what other rookies,
Speaker 1: undrafted free agents get into the next They have some
Speaker 1: high hopes for a couple of those guys, but they
Speaker 1: will be challenged to get reps. But they'll have to
Speaker 1: be if they make it to the practice squad. They
Speaker 1: got to be on a moment's notice during this COVID
Speaker 1: era is what we're gonna have to call it for
Speaker 1: game day this year and a larger practice squad. Let's
Speaker 1: go to outside linebacker stars, period stars. You know you
Speaker 1: got marquee names in the NFL. You know when you
Speaker 1: look at Khalil Mack, you look at Robert Quinn. What
Speaker 1: can this next level do? Can Isaiah Irvin take another
Speaker 1: step forward? Can Vaughters take another step in that level?
Speaker 1: Can Khalil's younger brother have an opportunity to impact. Can Gibson,
Speaker 1: the player they drafted, come in here and show the
Speaker 1: traits that we've seen on tape and bring them to
Speaker 1: an NFL field. And Barkivous Mingo, who could be a
Speaker 1: very important player on special teams as well, but as
Speaker 1: a run stopper, and it came into the league with
Speaker 1: pass rushing skills, So that's a guy to watch as well.
Speaker 1: Very well set there in terms of depth and what now,
Speaker 1: let's go to cornerback. Tom. You got Kyle Fuller and
Speaker 1: now a leader on that unit. He is the veteran
Speaker 1: presence and playing at a three year stretch of outstanding
Speaker 1: excellence to teach whomever becomes the starter on the opposite side.
Speaker 1: Kyle Fuller has a work ethic right now that's second
Speaker 1: to none in terms of cornerbacks in the NFL because
Speaker 1: that goes from the meeting room to the practice field.
Speaker 1: If you go out there and you look at his
Speaker 1: dedicated time into his tablet where he's studying the way
Speaker 1: he plays, studying the opponent. That's what young guys have
Speaker 1: to learn because that can be they're probably their most
Speaker 1: helpful tool away from the facility. But then you've got
Speaker 1: a key group of other guys are going to have
Speaker 1: a lot of fun competing for that cornerback position because Jeff,
Speaker 1: if you go out there and you line up every
Speaker 1: NFL player, the most confident group of athletes on the field,
Speaker 1: a lot of times are cornerbacks. Can they bring that
Speaker 1: now to the meeting room to no padded practices onto
Speaker 1: the practice and whoever's there's going to get attacked in
Speaker 1: week one, two, three and four until they prove that
Speaker 1: they are ready to take that position and be a
Speaker 1: big time defender there. Nicol I love Buster screen, another
Speaker 1: guy a leader to help craft. There's plenty of options
Speaker 1: behind him as well to grow. Let's go to safety.
Speaker 1: The big story there is obviously to Sean Gibson's battle
Speaker 1: with Deon Bush, and then you got Eddie Jackson, one
Speaker 1: of the premier defenders in the NFL. Eddie Jackson's gonna
Speaker 1: have to be the leader he was paid to be
Speaker 1: in this defensive backfield, on the defense, on the whole team.
Speaker 1: He's got a return to the ballhawking traits that he
Speaker 1: displayed a couple of years ago. A lot of that
Speaker 1: goes to the callings of Chuck Pagano. But then when
Speaker 1: you do look at the other safety battle, how excited
Speaker 1: would you be if you're gonna play a safety position
Speaker 1: with the front seven in front of you. I think
Speaker 1: there's huge capabilities. I would love to see Dion Bush
Speaker 1: capitalize on his opportunity, but it's gonna be difficult for
Speaker 1: him because to Sean Gibson has a lot of experience
Speaker 1: in the NFL and they have seen a lot of
Speaker 1: different offenses biggest concern on defense, what might it be
Speaker 1: identifying that proper cornerback. Because you mentioned Jeff Week one, two, three, four,
Speaker 1: and five, they're gonna face great receivers and great quarterbacks
Speaker 1: up and down that whole early portion of the schedule.
Speaker 1: They have to have a solid plan of attack at
Speaker 1: that opposite corner, all right, for time constraints. Because we
Speaker 1: did embrace what is the strength of the football team,
Speaker 1: that defensive unit we're going to switch to special teams
Speaker 1: will do offense in the next segment. So special teams.
Speaker 1: I know. There's a ton of conversation that we've had
Speaker 1: off the air and on the air about Eddie Pinieto.
Speaker 1: It's year two and a lot is expected for development
Speaker 1: and improvement in terms of having the opportunity to make
Speaker 1: bigger field goals, longer attempts from fifty plus, and just
Speaker 1: that consistency you need beyond forty. Yeah, you know, he's
Speaker 1: kind of the Anthony Miller of the special teams. Anthony
Speaker 1: Miller has to earn his opportunity. He has to earn
Speaker 1: touches by impressing the coaches in practice. It's the same
Speaker 1: thing for Eddie Piniero. You got to be able to
Speaker 1: walk up add a pinero before he kicks. Shut your eyes,
Speaker 1: listen to his foot hitting the football, and that's going
Speaker 1: to tell you a lot of the story. Has he
Speaker 1: gained leg speed, has he gained laying strength, has he
Speaker 1: gained confidence in those his own accuracy from distances? And
Speaker 1: I think every day during the course of training camp,
Speaker 1: because it's so short, we're going to have an opportunity
Speaker 1: to see that plethora of return options, including the great
Speaker 1: ones in Cordarell Patterson and Terricohen in the punt game,
Speaker 1: and the presence of Ted Gain. Maybe an opportunity for
Speaker 1: Darnell Mooney we'll see during practices. But they are well
Speaker 1: conceived to have a very strong return game again, and
Speaker 1: they have a core group of guys that were played
Speaker 1: the most important role in big returns, and that's the
Speaker 1: blockers in front of them. So all these returners you
Speaker 1: talked about, aside from Ted Gan Jr. And Mooney, are
Speaker 1: familiar with the blocking schemes in front of them, and
Speaker 1: I think that can speed up the process in the
Speaker 1: early part of the season. But it's still home run
Speaker 1: potential punting game with Patrick o'no with a long snapper,
Speaker 1: Patrick scales. The Pats are very close duo and they've
Speaker 1: included Pinetto in that bunch. This is the seventh year
Speaker 1: now for Patrick O'Donnell. He's the model of consistency from
Speaker 1: the punt game. He's got a high spiral, long punt
Speaker 1: and he can punt at the rugby style and really
Speaker 1: dictate field position. He really was a savior last year
Speaker 1: when Eddie did Nick as thee and he was able
Speaker 1: to kick off and that's always a nice ace in
Speaker 1: the hole. So I think Patrick is still in this.
Speaker 1: You know, he's not in the development stages, but he's
Speaker 1: really a high level pro good gunners. You got shaf
Speaker 1: you managed to lead the way there if obviously you
Speaker 1: look at the linebackers. He a Booney Way and Woods
Speaker 1: will be key factors in that. And Quadell Patterson as
Speaker 1: well proved to be a guy that can get down
Speaker 1: the field and make things happen. You know, Sheriff could
Speaker 1: be another one of my identified captains at the start
Speaker 1: of the season because it's all about desire, willingness, inability
Speaker 1: to do anything that's asked of him at a moment's notice.
Speaker 1: All right, when we come back, our final segment, will
Speaker 1: look at the offense and some other quick hitting questions
Speaker 1: for Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff joni Ac. This is Bears
Speaker 1: All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score.
Speaker 1: Hey Bears fans, it's important to stay connected now more
Speaker 1: than ever, and at Motorola we love making that possible.
Speaker 1: With the new razor, you can enjoy staying connected a
Speaker 1: little bit more. It's a phone, it's an accessory, it's
Speaker 1: an icon reinvented. Hello Moto. Jeff joni Ac along with
Speaker 1: Tom thare our final segment here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy The Score. Tom, the Bears are coming up
Speaker 1: with something that's going to debut Monday at eight pm
Speaker 1: on their Bears YouTube channel, episode one of Bears Behind
Speaker 1: the Scene series entitled nineteen twenty Football Drive. Here's a
Speaker 1: little clip from General manager Ryan Pace at the initial
Speaker 1: team meeting in the Peyton Center getting everybody comfortable with
Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen protocols. You know, the moment the COVID
Speaker 1: situation started unfolding, life quickly. Want to how can we
Speaker 1: handle this better than any other team the NFL? Like,
Speaker 1: how can we create a situation where when you guys
Speaker 1: come in here, and then you talk to players with
Speaker 1: other teams. You look at us and say, man, we're
Speaker 1: doing it better than all the other teams in the league.
Speaker 1: I want you guys to feel that and that it's
Speaker 1: not just talk, it's not just lip service. You feel
Speaker 1: it when you walk in the door as a first impression,
Speaker 1: and then most importantly, you continue to feel this throughout
Speaker 1: this whole season. So that's a clip of it. Bears fans,
Speaker 1: you're gonna love this look behind the scenes and what
Speaker 1: has been a monumentally difficult undertaking for the franchise in
Speaker 1: order for Hawle saw it'll be suitable for a successful
Speaker 1: return to play how the season ended in disappointment in
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen and frankly how Tom it's set the table
Speaker 1: for a different twenty twenty. There's a lot of good
Speaker 1: clips in there, a lot of great camera work done
Speaker 1: to take fans behind the curtain a little bit. The
Speaker 1: Bears broadcasting department planning to do more of this throughout
Speaker 1: training camp. I don't know exactly how many, but I
Speaker 1: think fans are going to appreciate the look given that
Speaker 1: they cannot attend training camp this year. You're gonna hear
Speaker 1: players and coaches miked up. I think it's a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. You put yourself in the mind of Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace when we talk to him during the offseason. It's
Speaker 1: like blinders on. All you do is you prepare for
Speaker 1: the draft, and then you get ready for OTA's and
Speaker 1: mini camp and you don't think about a lot else.
Speaker 1: Now you got to give Ryan Pace a complete off ramp.
Speaker 1: I can't think about football or players. I got to
Speaker 1: think about how making this facility the most confident facility
Speaker 1: in the NFL, completely off the grid of what you
Speaker 1: are initially thinking. It's probably good that they were already
Speaker 1: in the process of adjusting training camp to have it
Speaker 1: entirely at Hollis Hall, that was probably a savior of time.
Speaker 1: But what you had to do to develop safety inside
Speaker 1: the building a really spearheaded an important role. All right,
Speaker 1: let's tuck offense. In the lead up here to camp,
Speaker 1: got to start with quarterback before we do. Anthony Miller
Speaker 1: had an appraisal of Nick Foles in his first experience
Speaker 1: with him. You can definitely tell that, you know, Nick
Speaker 1: has been playing this game for a long time. He
Speaker 1: knows this offense very well. You know, he's very detailed
Speaker 1: in practice, you can get him in the back of
Speaker 1: the offensive play going through his progressions and he's not
Speaker 1: even in you know, that's just the type of player
Speaker 1: he is. And I can't wait to see him live action,
Speaker 1: you know, to see what he really can do. One
Speaker 1: of the roles that every single offensive players should have
Speaker 1: is they should know the play that's called in the huddle,
Speaker 1: even though they're not in the huddle. So if you
Speaker 1: see Nick Foles out there going through the end and
Speaker 1: going through all the details of what his assignment would be,
Speaker 1: that's the same thing that Anthony Miller should be doing.
Speaker 1: That's the same thing Cole Commet should be doing every
Speaker 1: one of these news guys, including Demetrius Harris, and then
Speaker 1: there's Alan Robbinson. He was asking the Zoom Coffee's seen
Speaker 1: a change in Mitchell his mechanics after working with him
Speaker 1: in the offseason a quarterback coaching, I think. So it's
Speaker 1: kind of it's hard to tell. I don't really know
Speaker 1: mchannics and stuff like that, but you know, just as
Speaker 1: far as you know how you see him um move around,
Speaker 1: and you know how he how he throws the ball,
Speaker 1: as far as you know, being being just more you know,
Speaker 1: confident in h and everything. You know. I think, like
Speaker 1: I said before, that's the that's the same thing with
Speaker 1: with Mitch. You know, as you know, as you're going
Speaker 1: to you know, your fourth year, you know, the more
Speaker 1: football that you play, you know, you're able to slow
Speaker 1: the game down. You're able to slow a lot of
Speaker 1: things down. You know, Jeff, when I looked at Mitch's mechanics,
Speaker 1: I never looked at him saying, wow, he really needs
Speaker 1: to change this about himself or and he needs to
Speaker 1: change his delivery. It's all about the mental side of it.
Speaker 1: And as Alan Robbin just said, the longer year around
Speaker 1: football the law, the better you understand those types of details.
Speaker 1: And I think that's going to be the deciding line
Speaker 1: for Mitch. It's not as mechanics. It's about how well
Speaker 1: he understands and knows this offense got a battle for
Speaker 1: the interior spot at right guard. Jermain Effetti Rich had
Speaker 1: coward overall the interior offensive line thoughts big, big bodies.
Speaker 1: You know, when one Castillo was talking about his offense line,
Speaker 1: he's talking about you know, three hundred and twenty pounders,
Speaker 1: three hundred twenty five pounders across the board, that's some
Speaker 1: big size, big strength. Now, if they can move athletically
Speaker 1: like Juan Castillo needs him to move, then you're gonna
Speaker 1: see a lot should be a lot more powerful line tackles.
Speaker 1: You know, Bobby Massey, I liked his growth that he's
Speaker 1: shown the last couple of years. He's got a good
Speaker 1: understanding of how to use his length. He's got good
Speaker 1: feed along with his size. Now you go to the
Speaker 1: other side, Charles has got to pick it up a
Speaker 1: little bit. Charles Leno had a couple mistakes last year
Speaker 1: that really came back to halt the Bears and in
Speaker 1: some important scenarios. I think the specific coaching of Juan
Speaker 1: Castillo can put Charles Leno in a more aggressive position
Speaker 1: but also have a more safely placed position with his
Speaker 1: hands to stay in a better position. Ends been revamped.
Speaker 1: We put all the math out there for you. It
Speaker 1: was one of the worst productive units in the National
Speaker 1: Football League at that position. We fully expect a big
Speaker 1: bounce here in twenty twenty with the additions that have
Speaker 1: been put together, no doubt about it. I think Cole
Speaker 1: Cammet Jimmy Graham, you got to put him at the
Speaker 1: top of the heap because Both of these guys have
Speaker 1: great catching ability, but again, Cole is going to have
Speaker 1: to be a blocker as well as JP Holts and
Speaker 1: Demetrius Harris and Jessper Horstead. They all have different qualities,
Speaker 1: but I do think there's enough guys that can have
Speaker 1: that online blocking role, eights back role, fullback role, and
Speaker 1: the U tight end role. I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be a great development in a complete importance for the
Speaker 1: success of the offense. Also could help out the running
Speaker 1: game and that in line aspect of things, and that
Speaker 1: brings us to the running back position and David Montgomery,
Speaker 1: Tarikko and Ryan h I love David Montgomery. It would
Speaker 1: be his job to have as many carries as he
Speaker 1: sees fit. He's capable of doing everything. But the role
Speaker 1: that Tariq will play, Cordarrell Patterson and the other guys
Speaker 1: that they're fighting for playing time, Ryan, all those guys
Speaker 1: are going to be in arted. But I think David
Speaker 1: Montgomery is going to get a bulk of the work
Speaker 1: out of the backfield. He spent a lot of time
Speaker 1: tonight when Alan Robinson an Anthony Miller conversation. But there's
Speaker 1: a whole collection of talent at the receiver position that
Speaker 1: we're looking to see rise. You got Riley Ridley, you
Speaker 1: got Javon Wims, you got Mooney into the mix. You
Speaker 1: got ted Ginn Jr. To also a lot to pick from.
Speaker 1: How many they bring to in terms of roster on
Speaker 1: September thirteenth against the Lions is yet to be determined,
Speaker 1: but I'm expecting six. Well. To me, I put Riley
Speaker 1: Ridley number one. He is my most interesting character. I've
Speaker 1: got a couple of examples, a couple of training camps
Speaker 1: watching Javon Wims. I know what ability he has. He
Speaker 1: has to do it with great consistency. Riley Ridley. I
Speaker 1: think he's got a better understanding of route running. He's
Speaker 1: played against big competition in college, and he's had a
Speaker 1: year to mature. So I have high expectations for Ridley
Speaker 1: to compliment Alan Robinson, Anthony Miller, Jimmy Graham and the
Speaker 1: rest of the crew. All right, now, some quick hitters
Speaker 1: for you, Tom. You have no idea what I'm gonna
Speaker 1: ask you here, so I know it's putting you on
Speaker 1: the spot. All right. Will there be a rookie starter
Speaker 1: in Detroit Week one? Yes? Share to share. I think
Speaker 1: both Cole Commet and Jalen Johnson have an opportunity to
Speaker 1: line up play one who will grow over the course
Speaker 1: of the season and be a big factor in the
Speaker 1: last half of the season. Tshan Gibson, the safety, will
Speaker 1: be able to capitalize in the second half with this
Speaker 1: front seven He's gonna play with. Biggest challenge for Matt
Speaker 1: Naggie this season is calling the run game. Who starts
Speaker 1: more games at quarterback? Mitchell Trubisky. Where do you see
Speaker 1: the Bears fit in the division? I think they will
Speaker 1: fight for the top position in the division and it's
Speaker 1: gonna start with the early game dominance player the Bears
Speaker 1: can least afford to lose on each side of the
Speaker 1: ball this year, A Kim Hickson, David Montgomery, who is
Speaker 1: your surprise riser on this roster of eighty players that
Speaker 1: on September thirteenth, we're gonna go, Wow, that guy made
Speaker 1: the team and he's making plays. Riley well, considering how
Speaker 1: many games he was active for last year and what
Speaker 1: he could now go from what being active for a
Speaker 1: couple of games last year to being active for sixteen
Speaker 1: games and having the offensive coordinator decide where the ball
Speaker 1: is going to be distributed according to where he's lining
Speaker 1: up right, And it is really a difficult question because
Speaker 1: there's so many guys that we know what they can
Speaker 1: play too in terms of their potential that have to
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw one on there. I'm gonna throw below Nichols,
Speaker 1: below Nichols because he flashed enough, needs to stay healthy
Speaker 1: and they need him in a big way to be
Speaker 1: a big time contributor upfront. Well, then I would switch
Speaker 1: him and Roy Robertson Harris. I would play Roy Robertson
Speaker 1: Harris in the middle of the defensive line and I
Speaker 1: would play blow Nichols off to the edge. I think
Speaker 1: that Roy Robertson Harris has this ability, this size to
Speaker 1: move up and down the line of scrimmage from guard
Speaker 1: to guard to center and invoke his size in that
Speaker 1: position and time before we go. The key to any
Speaker 1: training camp We've at it for years is obviously the
Speaker 1: health of the players. So knock on wood and no
Speaker 1: serious injuries. Hey, there's gonna be some mispractices for this
Speaker 1: or that. But it's like Anthony Miller was saying on
Speaker 1: Friday to the media on the Zoom Call, in a
Speaker 1: condensed and gym packed one month to the trip to
Speaker 1: Detroit to play the Lions. It's health, both from COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen but also from injuries. Start the season healthy, finish healthy,
Speaker 1: you increase your playoff chances. The biggest challenge, like for
Speaker 1: any team, I think, and coach says this all the time,
Speaker 1: is the team who's gonna be the healthiest, the team
Speaker 1: who were gonna have all their players available. You know
Speaker 1: they have. That team has the best chance to win.
Speaker 1: And I think we're just so tight on those details
Speaker 1: around here that we won't have that problem. Hopefully we
Speaker 1: don't have the problem. All right, that's a complete training
Speaker 1: camp preview, like you wrote it in a newspaper article.
Speaker 1: Time way to go to break it down, looking forward
Speaker 1: to Monday, countdown to training camp. All right, that's down. Fair.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Jonia. Thanks for listening and everybody. Thanks to
Speaker 1: our guest Alan Robinson. Thanks most of all to you
Speaker 1: for listening, and our producers Jordan Tredup and Dan BURRELLI
Speaker 1: that'll do it this week here on Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All
Speaker 1: Access podcasts are available on Chicago bears dot com and
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