Speaker 1: Good to be with you, everybody, and welcome into another
Speaker 1: edition of Bears All Access here from P and C
Speaker 1: Studios at Hollis Hall. Jeff, Joniak and Tom there with you.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by IGS Energy. Our special guest
Speaker 1: this week for the next hour is veteran center Cody Whiter.
Speaker 1: Kind of you to join us today in what is
Speaker 1: you know, the the three game in twelve days stretch.
Speaker 1: You got one out of the way, this one's normal,
Speaker 1: business is usual, and then you get Thanksgiving. But you know,
Speaker 1: when you get a win, I'm sure it doesn't look
Speaker 1: so daunting anymore. Yeah, for sure, especially you know, as
Speaker 1: big a win as the Lions game was for us.
Speaker 1: You know, we're really excited to get back to work
Speaker 1: and get ready for the Vikings this week. How much
Speaker 1: fun was it watching not only your defense, but just
Speaker 1: seeing Mitch really take another step and leads you guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's done a great job. You know. He just keeps
Speaker 1: taking steps each week and keeps improving each week. You know,
Speaker 1: but he had a great game for us, and I
Speaker 1: think that's just going to carry over the next week
Speaker 1: for us as well. You know, we haven't had a
Speaker 1: chance to talk to you since the early part of
Speaker 1: the season. So then I go on my phone and
Speaker 1: I want to search some stories about you. When I
Speaker 1: type in Cody, I get Parky before I get white hair.
Speaker 1: So now you're one of the leaders of this football team.
Speaker 1: Do you say anything in support of him? Or do
Speaker 1: you just leave him alone and let him be a
Speaker 1: professional about his approach? Well, I think there's tons of
Speaker 1: people to come up to him, you know, so I
Speaker 1: just kind of wanted to let him cool off. But
Speaker 1: you know, I was there to pat him on the
Speaker 1: back and you know, let him know that I was
Speaker 1: there for him as well. Very good. Yeah, a guy
Speaker 1: like him, Have you gotten to know him at any
Speaker 1: level prior to uh, you know what's going on here?
Speaker 1: Because I find it interesting obviously. It's it's inevitable if
Speaker 1: you become a story, you're gonna get surrounded by microphones
Speaker 1: and reporters. And that was the case up here this
Speaker 1: week with Cody Parkey, and in any other normal week
Speaker 1: you may have one or two guys to talk to
Speaker 1: him about a feature or something. But that's the that's
Speaker 1: the business, that's the job, and so forth. But he's
Speaker 1: an offensive guy when you get right down to it.
Speaker 1: Do you spend Have you spent time with Cody? You
Speaker 1: get to know him to see what his mindset is
Speaker 1: like in a situation like this. You know, I've got
Speaker 1: to know him a little bit just through um, you know,
Speaker 1: being a good teammate and stuff like that. But you know,
Speaker 1: he's very positive about it. Um, you know, he he
Speaker 1: just kept his head up the whole game, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know that just shows you the kind of person
Speaker 1: he is. And um, you know, I think he'll bounce
Speaker 1: back this week. We're good. The good news this fellas.
Speaker 1: There's not a chance. There's not a chance somebody's going
Speaker 1: to hit the upright four straight times in any game
Speaker 1: ever again. Right, Well, it's happened once, you know, with
Speaker 1: the amount of games that's going to be played in
Speaker 1: the history of the NFL, could happen again. And it's Hey,
Speaker 1: it's like giving up a sack. You don't want to
Speaker 1: give up a sack, but when you do, it's probably
Speaker 1: the most haunting thing that we offensive linemen have to
Speaker 1: live with. Yeah, it's one of the worst things. I mean,
Speaker 1: anytime you get your quarterback hit or pressured, it's the
Speaker 1: worst thing. You know, it's that's that's your guy back there. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's definitely tough to to move on,
Speaker 1: but you have to leave it in the past and
Speaker 1: go to the next play. You know, you've been around
Speaker 1: here for a couple of years, and when I was
Speaker 1: reading about you, I came across the story and it
Speaker 1: talks about you being from Abilene and a town of
Speaker 1: seven thousand people. So now that you've had some success
Speaker 1: in the NFL and you talk about the relationship of
Speaker 1: your mom and dad, have they changed it all? You
Speaker 1: always talk about the players because now there's apparents from
Speaker 1: a guy from a town of seven thousand people, and
Speaker 1: now they get exposed to all of the landscape of
Speaker 1: the NFL and your success, their superstitions, the food they eat,
Speaker 1: the way they dress, the restaurants they go to. Has
Speaker 1: anything changed about them? I mean on Sunday mornings, they
Speaker 1: got to go to the same coffee shop up here,
Speaker 1: you know, before they come downtown. You know. But other
Speaker 1: than that, they just kind of stayed the same. People,
Speaker 1: very supportive of me, and you know, come to as
Speaker 1: many games they can. Yeah, as they're gonna ask you,
Speaker 1: do they come, they come a lot. Yeah, they come
Speaker 1: to about every home game and then they try and
Speaker 1: come to a couple of road games too, so you know,
Speaker 1: very fortunate to have their support. Yeah, I thought I
Speaker 1: saw you coming out of the tunnel in Buffalo with
Speaker 1: a big smile on your face and it's cold, but
Speaker 1: you're just in a T shirt after the game and everything,
Speaker 1: and it's it's got to be great to walk out
Speaker 1: and and everything they've invested in you. You're able to
Speaker 1: repay them in the investment that you're putting into this game. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: And like I said, they're conscience support and you know,
Speaker 1: always there for me even through the ups and downs.
Speaker 1: You know, through the league there's ups and downs, you know,
Speaker 1: but they've always been by my side and stuck with me.
Speaker 1: You know, that's the one thing you don't think about
Speaker 1: as a fan, nor should you. I guess you know
Speaker 1: you're you're looking at it as you're released to watch
Speaker 1: a game on Sunday from your day to day grind,
Speaker 1: whatever walk of life you're in, or you're just a
Speaker 1: passionate football fan and you really want your team to win.
Speaker 1: But you know, I brought this up in our pregame
Speaker 1: show time the other day, because on any given day
Speaker 1: you know, you may have a zillion things going on
Speaker 1: in your head, or there's trouble, there's trouble at home,
Speaker 1: there's trouble, there's somebody sick in your family, or you know,
Speaker 1: you had a bad experience over the course of the week,
Speaker 1: non football related. But for sixteen days out of the
Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty five, you got to put that
Speaker 1: all aside and go out there and have a clear
Speaker 1: head and go about your life's work and family ways
Speaker 1: on some guys, I mean, there's stories every day. You'll
Speaker 1: learn every day about something going on in somebody's life.
Speaker 1: So have you ever had a game where you had
Speaker 1: a lot weighing on you. You don't have to get
Speaker 1: into specifics if you don't want to, but weighing on you,
Speaker 1: and you still had to go out there and you
Speaker 1: got to go and do your job. You know, I've
Speaker 1: been very fortunate to have you know, everything go well
Speaker 1: for me. Knock on wooly um, you know. But like
Speaker 1: I said, it's just it's just great to have their support, um,
Speaker 1: you know, weekend and week out. And my wife does
Speaker 1: the same thing. She comes to all the games and
Speaker 1: and there's there to support me as well. But you know,
Speaker 1: earlier in training camp this year, you had to change
Speaker 1: a fundamental aspect of your game. And that is a
Speaker 1: trial and error type of thing, because every single time
Speaker 1: a play starts, Cody Whitehair is going to touch the
Speaker 1: football first. So you make a change in your style
Speaker 1: of snapping. Have you come to grips with it? Are
Speaker 1: you comfortable in there now? And do you feel like
Speaker 1: you're as powerful with this type of snapping, Um, the
Speaker 1: way you're at the balance and everything that you were previous? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, that was definitely a kind of a headache
Speaker 1: in the precia and um, you know, but we addressed it,
Speaker 1: We got it fixed. Um. You know, I have to
Speaker 1: have to say, you know, huge thanks to my coaches
Speaker 1: and my teammates for really sticking with me and helping
Speaker 1: me through that situation. But yeah, I feel, you know,
Speaker 1: as comfortable as ever and really really feel great about it.
Speaker 1: Was it good to be in Denver practicing against different
Speaker 1: people than practicing against your own guys maybe at home
Speaker 1: and making the transition and seeing different bodies. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean absolutely, anytime you can go against somebody else besides
Speaker 1: your teammates and get some good work there too, it's
Speaker 1: it's always good, but uh, you know, you tend to
Speaker 1: kick it up a little bit more, um going against
Speaker 1: a different opponents. So going through that transition and being
Speaker 1: able to practice against them and get it right before
Speaker 1: the game was helpful for me. Do you do you
Speaker 1: think at this point now looking back, that that was
Speaker 1: one of your bigger challenges maybe getting over that hump? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I do. Um, I can't you know, tell you the
Speaker 1: amount of stress and and you know all that that
Speaker 1: I put on myself. But you know, coach Harry and
Speaker 1: coach Donnie, UM, you know, my teammates and coach Naggie
Speaker 1: were right there with me, um in the hotel. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, helping me through that situation. So can you
Speaker 1: take us through it a little bit, like give us
Speaker 1: an example of what the stress was like. Well, anytime
Speaker 1: you you don't get the ball to the quarterback, um,
Speaker 1: you know, as you all know, that's where it all starts. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and I never want to be that guy.
Speaker 1: I never want to be that guy to to let
Speaker 1: my team down or or or you know, put my
Speaker 1: team in a bad situation like that. So, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I've always been that kind of guy, and it just
Speaker 1: it just really killed me for the times that you know,
Speaker 1: I'd let the team down and didn't get the ball
Speaker 1: to the quarterback. So you know, I really took it
Speaker 1: to heart and and you know, thankfully I was able
Speaker 1: to get it get it corrected. One of the one
Speaker 1: of the videos I was watching you talk about yourself,
Speaker 1: you said, I'm very serious and I'm all about business.
Speaker 1: And I think that is the approach that you need
Speaker 1: to have at this level, especially if you're going to
Speaker 1: make an improvement right in mid stride. It's not like
Speaker 1: something you could sit for three months and OTAs and everything.
Speaker 1: It's about the challenge of being ready every practice. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and that's that's the daily challenge. You got to come
Speaker 1: in ready to work and ready to improve your fundamentals,
Speaker 1: and you know, keep keep working. You know, it's interesting
Speaker 1: back in our first meeting in training camp, when we
Speaker 1: sat down with you, you basically said that you have
Speaker 1: to think like your quarterback. Your quarterback is very similar
Speaker 1: to you then in personality in terms of being quite
Speaker 1: serious and taking things hard when things don't go well. Um,
Speaker 1: So I couldn't think of a better pairing for a
Speaker 1: pivot and a quarterback to move together. In their career,
Speaker 1: because it will get it will get easier as as
Speaker 1: the days go on and the years go on, you'll
Speaker 1: become more experienced and more of an expert at your
Speaker 1: position and in this offense. So do you feel that
Speaker 1: I'm on the right track with that? Am I targeting
Speaker 1: this personalities? Absolutely? And I think you know, the more
Speaker 1: and more we play together, the more you know, the
Speaker 1: easier it'll get, the more will feel comfortable with the offense.
Speaker 1: And you know, each week we keep keep your own
Speaker 1: and keep improving. And I think we're headed in the
Speaker 1: right direction. You know, you taught talks about you and
Speaker 1: Mitch working together. Now let's include four offensive guards at
Speaker 1: this point in the season, because you're you're you're fortunately
Speaker 1: unfortunately not only working by yourself or with Mitch. You're
Speaker 1: working with four other guys sometimes the fifth that they
Speaker 1: put Bradley soul in or the tight ends and such.
Speaker 1: But how has that process been for you? Because you're
Speaker 1: bringing in a guy um in brad Witzman that he's
Speaker 1: he understands the system, but doesn't have a great deal
Speaker 1: of experience with you guys yet. And then you got
Speaker 1: a rookie the year left who's been playing offensive guard
Speaker 1: and center. But he's been around this system now for
Speaker 1: a few months. The whole transition with the whole group
Speaker 1: of guards you played with, how has that been for you? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's definitely a challenge every every time. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, you have to go through a transition, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: offensive line is all about continuity and getting playing next
Speaker 1: to each other. And you know, we were very fortunate
Speaker 1: to be able to do that for seven games. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, but the guys have coming and did a
Speaker 1: nice job. James and Brian have done, you know, an
Speaker 1: outstanding job, and Eric as well. Um, you know, so
Speaker 1: all you guys continue to speak the same offensive line
Speaker 1: language even when you have these changeable guys or do
Speaker 1: do guys like different type of a language. No, we
Speaker 1: all kind of keep it the same just you know,
Speaker 1: so it's not confusing to anybody. Um, you know, so
Speaker 1: we just keep it the same throughout. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: the four or five of us, and you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's been really good for us. All Right, we're gonna
Speaker 1: step away our first segment with starting center Cody Whitehair
Speaker 1: in the books. This is bears All Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy, with Tom there, I'm Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: back with more after this on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, and home warranty products
Speaker 1: to over one million customers across the country. Learn more
Speaker 1: about IGS Energy at igs dot com. Jeff and Tom
Speaker 1: and starting center Cody whitehair kind enough to give us
Speaker 1: a big chunk of his his day. Can I just back,
Speaker 1: I just wanted from the last segment, I got one
Speaker 1: more question that I want to ask them before you
Speaker 1: go onto. Okay, for those who just join the show,
Speaker 1: we were resettled. Okay, we're talking that. We're talking about
Speaker 1: Cody white here playing center and his ability to communicate,
Speaker 1: communicate with Mitchell Trubisky. However, he's had to communicate with
Speaker 1: four different offensive guards at this portion of the season.
Speaker 1: And when you have offensive linemen and we developed our
Speaker 1: own language, we would develop a language that give us
Speaker 1: an example. Okay, I'm Jay No so Mark so Now,
Speaker 1: if I wanted to communicate with Mark Boards on the
Speaker 1: other side of Jay, I would say ice fishing, because
Speaker 1: one of his favorite things to do was ice fishing,
Speaker 1: so he knew that I was communicating with him, and
Speaker 1: you kept that consistent for sixteen ye So yeah, but
Speaker 1: we we sometimes you had to adjust language because teams
Speaker 1: would be familiar with you. So as much as I
Speaker 1: know about you, I would you know Hersey. That would
Speaker 1: be to ignite a thought process between me. I thought,
Speaker 1: he's going to go Seinfeld on me. But that's all right,
Speaker 1: I'll take Hersy. That's where I went to iol. But anyway,
Speaker 1: so my point with Cody ism who helps develop that language?
Speaker 1: Do you guys talk amongst yourself kind of like we
Speaker 1: did or is that do you have a glossary of words?
Speaker 1: We kind of have a set were a few set
Speaker 1: words that we use. That way, when we get to
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage, we see everything through one set
Speaker 1: of eyes and everybody kind of clicks with one set
Speaker 1: of words, you know, And that's that's pretty much given
Speaker 1: to us in training camp with you know, the coaches
Speaker 1: and stuff. But you know, if there is certain things
Speaker 1: that we need to change, because teams pick up on
Speaker 1: things and then we're able to do just as well.
Speaker 1: So it does come from the top down. It doesn't
Speaker 1: come just from your room. Yeah yeah, okay, very good.
Speaker 1: All right. Well it's a big week, a big week
Speaker 1: for Cody white Hair because he was the Bear's nominee
Speaker 1: for the Art Rooney Award that's given by the National
Speaker 1: Football League and recognition of outstanding sportsmanship on the playing field.
Speaker 1: It was just started a few years ago in twenty
Speaker 1: fifteen in honor of Art Rooney, the founding father of
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Stealers and a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: So it is a vote determined by NFL players. So
Speaker 1: the award presented each year to a player demonstrates on
Speaker 1: the field some of the qualities we learned to buy
Speaker 1: you great sportsmanship for one, fair play, respect for opponent's integrity,
Speaker 1: and competition. I think that's all all fair. What's it
Speaker 1: mean to you as being one of the thirty two?
Speaker 1: It all get paired down before the Super Bowl, so
Speaker 1: you got some tough competition. Yeah, it's it's it's a
Speaker 1: great honor. I'm very humbled by it. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I couldn't couldn't be in this situation without the people
Speaker 1: that have helped me get here with you know, family, coaches, UM, teammates, UM,
Speaker 1: you know all those people that have helped me get here. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, so I want to I want to give
Speaker 1: them a shout out and thanks for that too. And
Speaker 1: the winner receives a twenty five thousand dollar donation from
Speaker 1: the NFL Foundation to a charity of your choice. Last
Speaker 1: year's winner was Carolina linebacker Luke Keickle and it started
Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen. So it's Larry Fitzgerald, Charles Woodson, Frank Gore,
Speaker 1: three guys who should be in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: and Keikley might be there as well. Well, i'd luck
Speaker 1: to you. I would like to see Cody walk off
Speaker 1: the field in a full uniform at the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: except yard, thank everybody for it, and go back into
Speaker 1: the end zone, do your final warm ups, locker room,
Speaker 1: come out and play. Yeah, that would be very awesome,
Speaker 1: you know. Um you go. So you and Trubisky, this
Speaker 1: is probably the most versatile quarterback that you've ever played
Speaker 1: with some of the challenges of his active feet in
Speaker 1: blocking for an offensive line. You know, we saw you
Speaker 1: when you escorted him into the end zone when you
Speaker 1: had that, but your pass blocking responsibilities in the uncertainty
Speaker 1: of him running where he's going to be in the protection.
Speaker 1: How challenging has that been for you guys, you know,
Speaker 1: if I don't know if it's been too big of
Speaker 1: a challenge. If you know, I think it helps us
Speaker 1: out a little bit more, you know, just because he
Speaker 1: is so active on his feet, he's able to you know,
Speaker 1: get away from defenders if there's any anybody free, and
Speaker 1: you know, make something out of nothing if you will, um,
Speaker 1: you know. So we're very fortunate that he, um, you know,
Speaker 1: was so agile and get on his feet. If you
Speaker 1: could step back to the day that you were introduced
Speaker 1: to the playbook and now fast forward to today now
Speaker 1: knowing the playbook and what was going through your mind
Speaker 1: when you first got it, where you like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: how are we gonna how are we gonna get this
Speaker 1: figured out? This voluminous this is not easy as it
Speaker 1: become easier as it becomes second nature. Still working all
Speaker 1: the above, I mean, you tell us the journey of
Speaker 1: the playbook. I mean it was definitely you know, when
Speaker 1: you first get here. It can be overwhelming at times, um,
Speaker 1: you know, but you just have to set aside some
Speaker 1: time to really um, you know, dive into it and
Speaker 1: really study it. And kind of break it down by
Speaker 1: concept and uh, you know, take it a little by little, um,
Speaker 1: you know, but I definitely think we've gotten better and
Speaker 1: I feel a lot more confident and you know, feel
Speaker 1: really good with it. Did Matt say he has eight
Speaker 1: hundred plays? That was in reference to what he thought
Speaker 1: how many plays Zimmer has defensively throw at an offense.
Speaker 1: He said eight hundred, right, So I mean, you know
Speaker 1: he is joking. Yeah, you say offensively if the Bears
Speaker 1: have five hundred plays, But if you're gonna get ready
Speaker 1: to play a defense and they can play probably eight
Speaker 1: variations of their defense, so the five hundred plays, you
Speaker 1: have to know it in eight different ways because you
Speaker 1: could be working with so many different people. That's the
Speaker 1: anything about it is it has to become second nature
Speaker 1: if a defense moves right before the snap of the ball,
Speaker 1: when you don't have the instant to community. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I think that's the biggest challenge each week, is
Speaker 1: you know, figuring out, you know, the little things that
Speaker 1: we can do to help us communicate at the last
Speaker 1: second in case things like that do happen. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's definitely a bigger challenge when you know defenses play
Speaker 1: multiple defenses, you know, the bears, the overs, the unders,
Speaker 1: all sorts of you know, different defenses. But you know,
Speaker 1: as long as we communicate all eleven guys, when we're
Speaker 1: all on the same page, usually everything works out. If
Speaker 1: you get to stay in this system with Mitch for three, four,
Speaker 1: however many years, and you see the success of the
Speaker 1: other examples of that around the league, this offense is
Speaker 1: going to be unreal because, yeah, you install the offense
Speaker 1: and it takes a year. You can't, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no way around it. Well, yeah, that's me talk. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if Cody agrees, but I'm saying it
Speaker 1: takes a long time to install, install the entirety of
Speaker 1: an offense. And then when you get to go over
Speaker 1: throughout the second couple of seasons, I think Mitch's upside
Speaker 1: is unlimited, and I think the offenses upside is unlimited. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And you see us, you know, we have some hiccups obviously,
Speaker 1: but you see constant growth and constant improvement throughout the
Speaker 1: weeks and um, you know, you turn on the tape
Speaker 1: on Monday mornings and you know you just see, um,
Speaker 1: you know, the improvement that we're making so you know,
Speaker 1: give us another you know, year or two and you know,
Speaker 1: I think you guys a limit for this team. How
Speaker 1: is it when the defensive players come into the offensive huddle?
Speaker 1: Are they overly excited? Are they shy kind of sneak
Speaker 1: into the huddle hope no one sees them? Or no,
Speaker 1: they're excited. Um, you know it's obviously it's an opportunity
Speaker 1: for them too. Um. You know, so it's it's pure
Speaker 1: excitement right Well, that was the same for us. And
Speaker 1: when they inserted William Perry into the backfield. You know,
Speaker 1: when you see him waddle across the field from the
Speaker 1: defensive short yardage goal line period to the offense, it's
Speaker 1: just kind of fun to watch him, you know, run
Speaker 1: across the field. And I think the biggest thing, you
Speaker 1: know is their eyes when they hear how long our
Speaker 1: plays are and draft you know, they're just like whoa
Speaker 1: you know, But you know, it's always great to have
Speaker 1: them in the huddle with us. You know, things change,
Speaker 1: job you're seeing your blocking style as well this year
Speaker 1: with a new offensive line coach and a new system
Speaker 1: and whatnot pulls. I'm interested in how that has changed
Speaker 1: for you guys when you guys are pulling into a
Speaker 1: fourth and especially with now a young rookie at left
Speaker 1: guard and some rotation at right guard. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: he's coach Hary's done a great job with us. You know,
Speaker 1: he comes to work with a great passion and great attitude.
Speaker 1: You know, along with coach Donovan Rayel as well his assistant.
Speaker 1: You know, they've been great for us and the techniques
Speaker 1: and teachings they brought has just been unreal. Is that
Speaker 1: a timing thing? Fellas with those pulling yep. To me,
Speaker 1: you have to have a balanced stance because the one
Speaker 1: thing you cannot do is you can't show what direction
Speaker 1: you're pulling. If you're an offensive linement, you've got to
Speaker 1: be consistent about your stance, whether it's pass or run,
Speaker 1: whether you're pulling right or left, because the defensive linement
Speaker 1: are too smart. So it's not it's more a fundamental
Speaker 1: and a technique than it is timing to play itself,
Speaker 1: is timing like getting out there. I'm it's one of
Speaker 1: my favorites to see you guys pulling out and eating
Speaker 1: the way and it's definitely alignment, you know, one of
Speaker 1: their favorite things too, you know, to get to get
Speaker 1: away from blocking a three hundred pounder for a little
Speaker 1: bit and get it out on the edge and and
Speaker 1: getting one of those dbs for sure. Well, when when
Speaker 1: you were able to escort Mitch into the end zone
Speaker 1: with that play, Oh yeah, my favor The thing about
Speaker 1: it is, um, you know, defensive backs, if they have
Speaker 1: a lot of space, they'll all lay you. They are
Speaker 1: they're so quick, and they're such good athletes and big us,
Speaker 1: big oaths are trying to catch him that they'll they'll
Speaker 1: dodge us. This guy couldn't. He had to stand there
Speaker 1: and take it. And it was like no, he ran
Speaker 1: out of real estate. There was no slowing down. It's
Speaker 1: it's an unbelievable feeling when you're playing football and you
Speaker 1: can run at somebody and have no hesitation about hitting him.
Speaker 1: And that's what you had. Yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 1: a great feeling. Um, you know, very well shut up
Speaker 1: by Mitch. He brought that guy right to me, and
Speaker 1: you know, it was a great feeling. But you know,
Speaker 1: it was great for all eleven guys. It's great when
Speaker 1: you hear the highlight and on NFL films at the
Speaker 1: end of the year, when you happen to hear it.
Speaker 1: You're going to be in there leading the way from
Speaker 1: Mitch or Bisky because you rolled the guy in front
Speaker 1: of you. All Right, we need to step away for
Speaker 1: another break. Cody Whitehair, our guest here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The score. This
Speaker 1: segment of Bears All Access is orchestrated by CDW. CDW
Speaker 1: people to get it. Jeff and Tom with Cody Whitehair,
Speaker 1: our guest here on Bears All Access. Thanks again for
Speaker 1: joining us. Tom and I hosted an event Bears After
Speaker 1: Dark with Keem Hicks this week, and Tom asked him
Speaker 1: a great question, because Tom's very blunt. He says, Keem,
Speaker 1: how come you? How come you wait so long to
Speaker 1: getting your stands? And he had a great answer, because
Speaker 1: you didn't like it. You didn't like when the guy
Speaker 1: didn't commit himself. When when as you just you're ready
Speaker 1: to go, and now you're guessing a little bit on
Speaker 1: what he's thinking. Right, is that was your points? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's how do you feel about it? For me? For me,
Speaker 1: if I'm looking at my offensive lineman, when I was
Speaker 1: in my stance, there's something that I looked to that
Speaker 1: was a target and I want and I want him
Speaker 1: to be in the stands and I could see the
Speaker 1: top of his number, and knowing the snap count, I
Speaker 1: knew that if I could shoot my hands into it
Speaker 1: the base of his number, then I would hit him
Speaker 1: before he would hit me. But am he slowly gets
Speaker 1: in his stance, So it would irritate you if you
Speaker 1: had I want my target set, you know, I think
Speaker 1: that's with any of us. Yeah, we we constantly focused
Speaker 1: on targets, and you know, pre snap indicators, and if
Speaker 1: we don't have something you know there for us, when
Speaker 1: you know pre snap to kind of focus on, then
Speaker 1: you know it's obviously hard for us. So what's the process? Then?
Speaker 1: If if a guy's doing that to you, well, I
Speaker 1: think you would want to be able to use the
Speaker 1: snap cut, especially at home. You'd want to use your
Speaker 1: snap count as a weapon against him. So if I
Speaker 1: go to line of scrimmage and I know exactly what
Speaker 1: the sound is, and if he's not balanced and not
Speaker 1: in a powerful position in his stance, and I can
Speaker 1: come and just stop his initial momentum, then I'm going
Speaker 1: to win the battle there. If you give a guy
Speaker 1: like a team a chance to get a running started,
Speaker 1: there's no stopping him. You might as well just get
Speaker 1: on your back because he's going to run right over
Speaker 1: the top of you. And you know that's you know,
Speaker 1: part of the thinking the duel of offensive lineman defensive
Speaker 1: lineman on an every play basis. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: does a big guy like that lose some of his
Speaker 1: leverage then because he's a little more upright right near
Speaker 1: the snap, he's not settling into his hands. He know,
Speaker 1: his knees are banned, his framework is low. He's so
Speaker 1: big and powerful that even a player like Reggie Wider
Speaker 1: a team hicks and stuff, even off balance, they're still
Speaker 1: as powerful as anybody else. You feel that power and
Speaker 1: training camp you he's a very powerful player. You know,
Speaker 1: what have you noticed about teams now nine games into
Speaker 1: the season doing defensively regardless of scheme, maybe a little
Speaker 1: differently than they did at the beginning of year when
Speaker 1: they didn't know what the heck the Bears were going
Speaker 1: to be? You're saying anything, Yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: you definitely get you know, teams in there to help
Speaker 1: stop the run and things that we do. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: so we've definitely noticed that and um, you know, Uh,
Speaker 1: it's just the battle you have to deal with each
Speaker 1: and every week is how to you know, continue to
Speaker 1: improve and work against that defense. It's nice because there's
Speaker 1: no pattern to your offense. I mean, you guys can
Speaker 1: come out and throw it on first down, running on
Speaker 1: second long the ability that you guys have on third down,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting to see the battles that the defensive
Speaker 1: coordinators are facing against Coach Naga and the entire offense.
Speaker 1: And I think it's like you talk about a team
Speaker 1: Hicks being slow into a stance. I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people that of your opponents that's still processing
Speaker 1: information during the snap count the Anthony Miller touchdown that
Speaker 1: the guy missed the tackle. The two defensive backs were
Speaker 1: talking amongst themselves when the ball was snapped. And it's
Speaker 1: not necessarily where the defensive players aren't. It's where my
Speaker 1: offensive players are and that's the reason that play was successful.
Speaker 1: But you are confusing defenses. Yeah, absolutely, And like you said,
Speaker 1: the amount of stuff that we have on first, second,
Speaker 1: and third down that we can use in the weapons
Speaker 1: that we have us for the defense. Do you ever
Speaker 1: does a play call ever surprise you when you're thinking,
Speaker 1: you're going, oh, here it is second three, this is
Speaker 1: what it's you know what analytics say that football teams
Speaker 1: do in that course, but you're going, oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is what we're gonna do. You know, I just
Speaker 1: think coach Naggie puts us in great situations and um,
Speaker 1: you know, we always trust in it, so you know,
Speaker 1: it's it definitely doesn't surprise us in terms of stunts
Speaker 1: and what defensive lines can do at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: Are you seeing more of that? And if it was
Speaker 1: on a percentage basis, could you even tell me what
Speaker 1: often do that other than they just put their hand
Speaker 1: in the dirt and there's a four man rush or
Speaker 1: a three man rush. You know. The thing around the
Speaker 1: League two this year has kind of been a lot
Speaker 1: more bare, you know, five now fronts and you know,
Speaker 1: really fill in the gaps so um. You know, when
Speaker 1: when teams do that, there's not as many twists and
Speaker 1: movements and stuff like that, because the more and more
Speaker 1: you move, the more and more you get out of
Speaker 1: your gap, you know, and create holes. So um, as
Speaker 1: long as you're fulfilling your gap, and that's kind of
Speaker 1: what we've seen this year when you get in preparation
Speaker 1: for a team like Minnesota, they're a lot different than
Speaker 1: the last couple of teams that you faced. Um does
Speaker 1: that Does that alter the style of the type the
Speaker 1: plays you are going to run? Or you could just
Speaker 1: run the same plays and you have different um assignments
Speaker 1: associated to this type of defense on the couple you've
Speaker 1: been playing lately. I mean, I don't think it'll change
Speaker 1: a whole lot um, you know, just more technique and
Speaker 1: you know, fitting on guys um, you know. But I
Speaker 1: think it's just going to be the same stuff. We don't.
Speaker 1: Cody Whitehair, our guest here on bears All Access along
Speaker 1: with Jordan Trutup, filling in for Big Paul's rank today.
Speaker 1: He's doing a heck of a job working that very
Speaker 1: complicated board. I'm impressed with the young man and Dan
Speaker 1: Burrelly just chewing his gum light did go over there
Speaker 1: like he does every week. We appreciate their help here
Speaker 1: on bears All every year Employee the Year, Dan Burley,
Speaker 1: Tom Fare and Jeff joniag with you the enormity of
Speaker 1: the game because the lights and whatnot is certainly special
Speaker 1: and fun. We all we all love that, but Matt
Speaker 1: Naggie is really working very hard as he has from
Speaker 1: the day of the season started to keep the focus
Speaker 1: on one snap at a time, let alone one game
Speaker 1: at a time. How does he go about doing that?
Speaker 1: To you guys? Over the course of he tells us
Speaker 1: some things which I'm sure he tells you guys as
Speaker 1: a team, but he's really done a really good job
Speaker 1: of compartmentalizing the season. Yeah, he just you know, constantly
Speaker 1: tells us to dial in and focus on the week
Speaker 1: and the task at hand. Um, you know, just staying
Speaker 1: in the moment and working on improving each week. Is
Speaker 1: that hard to do despite his request? Um? You know
Speaker 1: the thing. The thing is is a lot of guys
Speaker 1: have bought in and continue to just focus on weekend,
Speaker 1: you know, that week at task and you know you
Speaker 1: see just you know, improving and playing well out there.
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, all the players have bought
Speaker 1: in and it's pin off. You know, you got to
Speaker 1: accept the responsibility of the popular Chicago Bears football team.
Speaker 1: So you have the game that's got moved this Sunday.
Speaker 1: You got the national TV game on Thanksgiving and then
Speaker 1: you got the information today that the Rams game has
Speaker 1: been moving to national team. So it's got to be
Speaker 1: one of the responsibilities that you guys have to accept
Speaker 1: with success and it's a good thing. And I think
Speaker 1: you guys have the right personalities in the locker room
Speaker 1: that enjoy that aspect out but there they cannot absorb
Speaker 1: the success that you're having. But also know that it's
Speaker 1: about your next your next week of hard work, because
Speaker 1: it seems at this stage of the season, Matt and
Speaker 1: Aggie has talked a lot about how great the weeks
Speaker 1: of practices have been in preparation for your next opponent. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's where it all starts, you know, is
Speaker 1: practice in preparation what you do and practice you're going
Speaker 1: to carry over to the games. And you know, I
Speaker 1: think that's what shows on Sundays is our constant improving
Speaker 1: practices throughout the week, and um, you know, it definitely
Speaker 1: carries over to Sundays. But we just gotta stay you know, focused,
Speaker 1: and that's what we're doing. Some of the skeptics would say, well,
Speaker 1: you know, we've heard that before, you know, over the years,
Speaker 1: and you know what happens on Sunday, But you know,
Speaker 1: you're only speaking the truth for you're in it. So
Speaker 1: if you're saying they're going good, they're going good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it doesn't guarantee success on Sunday, but it certainly does
Speaker 1: close the gap on getting there. That's that's absolutely correct.
Speaker 1: I mean it helps you, you know, when when everything
Speaker 1: you know, it is crazy out there, and we all
Speaker 1: know it can get crazy on Sundays. It just comes
Speaker 1: back to preparation and what you do in practice. Your
Speaker 1: body's trained to do in the game, So you know,
Speaker 1: as long as you're having great practices, it's going to
Speaker 1: carry over to the all this what we're talking about
Speaker 1: about growth and about patience and time and two or
Speaker 1: three years from now, Wow, what luck out does? It
Speaker 1: give you a great sense of comfort knowing that while
Speaker 1: you're learning, while this is all happening, while Mitch is
Speaker 1: growing and bringing the offense with them, and this whole
Speaker 1: collection of skill position players that have never played with
Speaker 1: each other before until these nine games. You're averaging almost
Speaker 1: thirty points a game, almost thirty five points a game
Speaker 1: in the last five or six games, and you're winning.
Speaker 1: To me, that's like light bulb going off. Excitement. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: it's very comforting. And you know, like I say, each week,
Speaker 1: we're getting better and we're growing together. You know, guys
Speaker 1: are getting a feel for each other a little bit better,
Speaker 1: and you know, it really does help out. And you know,
Speaker 1: us coming together as an offense, all eleven players playing
Speaker 1: for each other and buying in. It's just it makes
Speaker 1: Sunday's a lot more enjoyable. But you guys are good
Speaker 1: at a lot of different things. You know, whether you're
Speaker 1: throwing lateral screens, big plays down field, Jordan Howard, tree cone,
Speaker 1: Benny Cunningham running the ball. That's the verse. I talked
Speaker 1: about the versatility of Mitchell Chubisky earlier for you guys
Speaker 1: as an offensive line. But the versatility of this offense
Speaker 1: that you guys have, the athletes are capable of doing
Speaker 1: everything that's asked of you guys, I think has really
Speaker 1: been one of the keys of the success at this
Speaker 1: point in the season. Absolutely. Anytime you know you're able
Speaker 1: to do multiple things and have the versatility and not
Speaker 1: be so one dimensional, that helps you on Sundays. That
Speaker 1: keeps the defenses honest and they're not able to stack
Speaker 1: the box or you know, play pass coverages that you
Speaker 1: know are effective on first and second down. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, as long as we keep doing our job
Speaker 1: and staying aggressive. Then you know the versatility is great.
Speaker 1: Did it blow you away that how quickly Alan Robinson
Speaker 1: got back involving the seventh play of the game. They
Speaker 1: throw him a slant route and he's got a lot
Speaker 1: of run yards after the catch. Run. That's prize you
Speaker 1: or is that something you've been seeing since training camp?
Speaker 1: You know, that's something that Alan's done since day one,
Speaker 1: since he's got here. You know, he works very hard,
Speaker 1: does a great job, and he prepares well. You know
Speaker 1: when that carries over on Sundays, like we talked about,
Speaker 1: it'll be fun to watch on Sunday night, Dad, I
Speaker 1: almost said the Dallas Cowboys for some so the reason
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings arrive at Soldier Field. We'll have it
Speaker 1: on WBBM starting at four o'clock with our pregame coverage
Speaker 1: seven twenty two, the official kickoff for you going out
Speaker 1: to Soldier Fiel. Let's step away. Another segment of Cody
Speaker 1: White are coming up here on Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The score this Sunday's game
Speaker 1: has brought to you by Verizon, the official Wildest provider
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears. Minnesota arriving in town. They've won
Speaker 1: four or five. The Bears have won four of six
Speaker 1: half games separating the two teams. With a packer still
Speaker 1: lurking at a game and a half back, it's going
Speaker 1: to be a tight NFC North race. You wouldn't want
Speaker 1: it in any other way, man. This is what it's
Speaker 1: all about, the division. You guys kicked it off. Cody Whitehair,
Speaker 1: our guest here on Bears All Access. With that impressive
Speaker 1: win over the Lions, and awards and all that stuff
Speaker 1: mean something later to you in your career. But in
Speaker 1: Mitchell Trubisky is a perfect example. Named this week the
Speaker 1: NFC Offensive Player of the Week by virtue of throwing
Speaker 1: for three hundred and fifty five yards and being responsible
Speaker 1: for four touchdowns, three through the air, one on the
Speaker 1: quarterback draw to beat the Lions. But he's left it
Speaker 1: off this week. You know, no big thing. Mattneggie did
Speaker 1: the same thing, and I think that is the goal way.
Speaker 1: That is the way to go about it, because when
Speaker 1: you win, there will be a lot of attention, but
Speaker 1: you still gotta stay focused because nothing yet really has
Speaker 1: been accomplished. Yeah. Absolutely, and that's just Mitchell's personality, you know,
Speaker 1: just to move on and not take all the accolades
Speaker 1: and the rewards and just you know, set him aside
Speaker 1: and go back to work. Who's the calming factor in
Speaker 1: the huddle? Is it? Mitch? Is it you? You know
Speaker 1: where does that? Where does that fall on the shoulders?
Speaker 1: Or even a guy like Chuckle, you know Charles Lenno,
Speaker 1: he seems like a even keel guy. Yeah, Charles Leno
Speaker 1: does a great job and Mitch as well. And I
Speaker 1: think it all just depends on what's going on. You know,
Speaker 1: if somebody makes a bad play, everybody's there to pick
Speaker 1: them up. And you know that that's all eleven guys
Speaker 1: on our offense. They've done a great job about coming
Speaker 1: together and you know, no one when a guy needs
Speaker 1: a little pad on the you know, pad on the
Speaker 1: back and and you know lift it up. So um,
Speaker 1: we've really gotten close and got to know each other
Speaker 1: and know when when we need it, you know. The
Speaker 1: offensive tackles last week, Bobby Massey and Charles Leno Junior
Speaker 1: really played well. And it does it seems like they're
Speaker 1: not the type of guy that need to be over
Speaker 1: coddled or over congratulated. They just go out there and
Speaker 1: they do their business. You know, Charles got a ton
Speaker 1: of snaps consecutively and everything. So, yeah, that's nice because
Speaker 1: the issues that you've gone through in the middle with
Speaker 1: the growth of that position, it's nice to have those
Speaker 1: two guys on the end where you can put them
Speaker 1: in individual responsibilities and understand that they can withstand that
Speaker 1: type of the battle. Yeah, they've been rock solid. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, not only last week but the whole year. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, they've done a great job and they bring
Speaker 1: you know, consistency to our offense each and every week. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, but they've done a great job, and you know,
Speaker 1: inside we'll just continue to grow each Charles had a
Speaker 1: great quote this week in the locker room because you know,
Speaker 1: he's been on teams that I think and and starts
Speaker 1: that he's head up until this point, like twenty one wins,
Speaker 1: you know, and a lot more losses. So being six
Speaker 1: and three is exciting, is exciting. It's you know, there's
Speaker 1: a there's a whole fan base that has wound up
Speaker 1: right there. And he said, this week's shoot, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: excited about it. So it's a great feeling to finally
Speaker 1: get over the hump a little bit and experience success
Speaker 1: and whether that's a rookie coming in that had success
Speaker 1: in college and he's coming in here. Because when you
Speaker 1: you're a winning program in college, losing at your first
Speaker 1: stages of your NFL life cannot be easy. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was tough. Um, you know, I kind of came into
Speaker 1: that myself. Yeah, you know, winning a lot of games
Speaker 1: at Kansas State and then coming here and um, you know,
Speaker 1: not not winning a whole lot of games, but you know,
Speaker 1: the times of taint, the times of change, and the
Speaker 1: culture as well here and you know, anytime that you
Speaker 1: get to win as always a celebration in the locker
Speaker 1: room as well. Yeah, well that's going on. Yes, we
Speaker 1: could talk to ask him the standard question about the
Speaker 1: disco ball. Well, everybody, I think I've asked you. I
Speaker 1: think you've talked about you danced a little bit in
Speaker 1: the background of the disco ball, But I always asked,
Speaker 1: do you see anybody that you think shouldn't dance again?
Speaker 1: Or is there anybody that's you know, I haven't seen
Speaker 1: any of that yet, but you know, I'm always in
Speaker 1: kind of in the back, just watching and waiting for
Speaker 1: my time to really get in there, and well, you knows, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I think Nagie's gonna get all you guys dance. He's
Speaker 1: gonna dances. Hey, he's threatened to dance himself. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you would put some of those guys and you
Speaker 1: know it trying to see Vic Fangio doing some dance moves,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I want to see that, you know, No,
Speaker 1: I think you want to see it. I think it
Speaker 1: would be quite entertaining. I think it probably was a
Speaker 1: stunner to see it materialized to begin with, But now
Speaker 1: it's become a thing. And the more it becomes a
Speaker 1: thing for you guys that closed circle right there, although
Speaker 1: that the Bears do post it every week, so you know,
Speaker 1: it puts it out there a little bit, but I
Speaker 1: think the more, the more it's just put you guys
Speaker 1: closer together. Oh that's my ten cent view on it. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: And you know you see the guys, you know, get
Speaker 1: all excited for it after the game and on their
Speaker 1: way you know, through the tunnel and back to the
Speaker 1: locker room. There you see him kind of pick up
Speaker 1: the tempo back to the locker room. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: so that's great to see and just you know, anytime
Speaker 1: you can celebrate with your teammates and congratulate your teammates
Speaker 1: on you know, the great efforts that they put out,
Speaker 1: there's always fun as well. With all the excitement that's
Speaker 1: been going on. You guys were the first team in
Speaker 1: training camp. You guys have been there the longest. Has
Speaker 1: this gone fast for you? Because to me, it's gone fast.
Speaker 1: When you when you get that pamphlet of all the
Speaker 1: parking passes before the season, it seems thick and you
Speaker 1: don't know if you'll ever get through it. Now it's
Speaker 1: so much thinner, there's that not that many parking passes left.
Speaker 1: It's gone fast for me. Has it gone fast for you?
Speaker 1: It has gone fast? And I think, you know, in
Speaker 1: my short career in the league, I've only been in
Speaker 1: this is my third year, I've noticed that it gets
Speaker 1: faster each and every year, right, um, you know, even
Speaker 1: with the Hall of Fame game in the extra week camp.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's it's definitely it definitely is a
Speaker 1: great feeling when you're winning two. Um, you know, and
Speaker 1: just the culture that we have in this locker room
Speaker 1: and the people that are in this organization make it
Speaker 1: you know, fun and easy to come to work every day.
Speaker 1: Football life is about experience, though you you know, you're
Speaker 1: one of those you know, old not older than, but
Speaker 1: you have more experience than most people that have been
Speaker 1: in the league as long as you have, and I
Speaker 1: think that adds to that kind of aging process also
Speaker 1: in a good way. Yeah. Absolutely, Um, you know, and
Speaker 1: like you should have been very fortunate to you know,
Speaker 1: kind of jump in and been able to play. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, so I gotta give credit to my coaches
Speaker 1: and my teammates helping me through that. Cody White hare
Speaker 1: our guest Jeff and Tim with you as well here
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. How's Kyle
Speaker 1: Long doing? How's he handling all this? Yeah? Kyle's great. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, he's had a very positive attitude and you know,
Speaker 1: just continues to work through rehab and and hopefully, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll have him back here soon. Has he Is he
Speaker 1: open up? Does he? Does he open up to you
Speaker 1: guys about just the struggles of it all? Or is
Speaker 1: that just a topic that you guys don't get into.
Speaker 1: And you know, what's his demeanor when he's not able
Speaker 1: to suit up in practice? Is he is he climbing
Speaker 1: the walls. Is he still participated participatory? I don't know
Speaker 1: how to put put it into context, but what's it?
Speaker 1: What's it all like for a guy like that? Anytime
Speaker 1: the sport that you love has been taken away, in
Speaker 1: the sport that you've worked so hard at, is always hard, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and you definitely see, um, you know that'd
Speaker 1: be hard for Kyle, But like I said, he's kept
Speaker 1: a positive attitude. Um. You know, he's in the treatment
Speaker 1: and all that and getting you know, able to get
Speaker 1: back for us, um, you know, helping us in the
Speaker 1: film room, helping the younger guys that you know have
Speaker 1: stepped into playing guard and that rotation that you've talked
Speaker 1: about those four guys. Um, he's done a great job
Speaker 1: of helping him and you know, I think he'll continue
Speaker 1: to do that. Right. You know, he's got such a
Speaker 1: dominating personality when he walks into a room, he's you know,
Speaker 1: the guy that you noticed because of his size and
Speaker 1: in everything. And you know, when when you're an active
Speaker 1: player and you're going through everything that these guys are
Speaker 1: going through on the pactice field, in the meeting room
Speaker 1: and the preparation and all that, you're you're here, but
Speaker 1: when you're are going through a rehab that Kyle is,
Speaker 1: you're not. You're not detached from the team, but you're
Speaker 1: concerned about your own efforts and getting ready to make
Speaker 1: sure that you can get back on the field. So
Speaker 1: you have that common ground of both, you know, still
Speaker 1: focused on the same goal and everything, but you're you're
Speaker 1: doing two different things during those six eight ten hours
Speaker 1: a day that Kyle is doing one thing and the
Speaker 1: players are doing the other. You know, with the rookies
Speaker 1: that have come aboard, I think Anthony Miller and boy,
Speaker 1: you guys getting a kick out of him because he's
Speaker 1: he's not your typical rookie. Yeah, he's he's got a
Speaker 1: great personality and you know, we really enjoy him. All Right,
Speaker 1: We're gonna take a break one more segment with Cody
Speaker 1: White here as the Bears prepared for the Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score. Thanks very much to Cody White here
Speaker 1: for joining us tonight on Bears All Access. Ruth's Chris
Speaker 1: would like you to have this one hundred dollar gift
Speaker 1: card to enjoy one of their Chicagoland area steakhouses, Ruth Chris,
Speaker 1: you can't go wrong, big guy. Hopefully like yourself a
Speaker 1: little steak, you bet? I love it? Is that on
Speaker 1: the menu? What do you like to eat in general?
Speaker 1: So you have a specific diet going on? Not really? Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I am a steak guy coming from Kansas.
Speaker 1: You know, beef's always been, you know, the great thing there. Um,
Speaker 1: So you know I love that. Um. You know, my
Speaker 1: wife's a pretty good cooked too, so she spoils me
Speaker 1: a lot throughout the season as well. Do you have
Speaker 1: an assigned weight? I have like a weight that I'd
Speaker 1: like to play around. I'm you know, between three or
Speaker 1: five and three or weight. It's kind of my comfortability
Speaker 1: weight to play around. Um. Have you ever put on
Speaker 1: your full pads and then got on the scale? I haven't, No,
Speaker 1: what does that? It'd be interesting to see, you know
Speaker 1: what it is? Right? I did? At one time I would.
Speaker 1: Before we were getting ready to play in the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: I put on my uniform and in the back of
Speaker 1: the New Orleans locker room, they had a scale and
Speaker 1: so I put on and it started to swing passing,
Speaker 1: and I got off because I didn't want to psychologically
Speaker 1: effect myself going, oh my god, I'm so heavy, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be slow. So you picked the Super Bowl to
Speaker 1: do it? Come on, Tom, I ate it, Ruth Chris
Speaker 1: the two nights before the game and really, oh my god, yes,
Speaker 1: oh man, that's funny. I mean, you know, there there
Speaker 1: is you know, when I prepare for games. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously with the Division games you get to know the
Speaker 1: players a little bit more, and so it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: if it's Antoine Winfield is now a coach in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: The height and weight height, obviously, but the weight stays
Speaker 1: the same. Once your weight is checked in on an
Speaker 1: NFL roster, that's your weight for the rest of your career.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not accurate. There's no way, nor is
Speaker 1: your forty times. You know, from the high school program.
Speaker 1: You get shorter and heavier because in high school I
Speaker 1: was six five, two thirty. Then they measured me at
Speaker 1: the combine and I'm sixty three and three quarters and
Speaker 1: three hundred. You know. So I'm still pluzzled by you.
Speaker 1: Why because you are too fidgy. You got to the
Speaker 1: game too early. You put yourself on a scale and
Speaker 1: you could have hurt yourself mentally for that game. No,
Speaker 1: but I felt strong. You know, It's just I think
Speaker 1: every player goes through these mind games with themselves of
Speaker 1: making sure that they're confident and prepared and they're feeling
Speaker 1: good when they're Look, how much weight do you think
Speaker 1: it does throw on? In terms of carrying your pads?
Speaker 1: You know they always talking about, hey, you know you
Speaker 1: gotta run well with your pads. You know, well run
Speaker 1: well behind your pads. I think I think dry it's
Speaker 1: it's twenty five or thirty sweaty, sweaty, it's probably thirty
Speaker 1: five or forty. Really, I mean that's what That's what
Speaker 1: I You know, you think about the clear scaring the
Speaker 1: young man. I mean he puts on his he puts
Speaker 1: on his equipment every day. Do you have a like
Speaker 1: Tom said, Now Tom had his routine and everybody's got
Speaker 1: the routine. What's yours forgetting? You know, to get on
Speaker 1: that field and know you're mentally right and ready to
Speaker 1: go on Sunday Sunday morning. I think it all starts, um.
Speaker 1: You know. Obviously with my week of preparation, I kind
Speaker 1: of have a little thing I do there too. But
Speaker 1: as far as like the night before the games Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I just go through my last minute reminders
Speaker 1: throughout the week. You know what I've what I've kind
Speaker 1: of struggled with and and you know what, I've kind
Speaker 1: of gotten better through out the week, and you know,
Speaker 1: just really key on those and and focus on a
Speaker 1: little bit of tape too as well. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: personnel wise. UM, I like to just see if I
Speaker 1: can pick up a few things like last minute stances. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, anything I can pick up there. And then
Speaker 1: you know, I always eat a little bit of salmon
Speaker 1: before um, you know, on the pregame meal and a
Speaker 1: little salmon, little salmon. Yeah, light protein, a little light protein,
Speaker 1: that's right. So do you go right up until Saturday
Speaker 1: night look at a tape? I do. Yeah, I'm kidding, yep. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, right basically right up until I go to bed.
Speaker 1: I watched a little bit before bed, and then um,
Speaker 1: you know, in the morning, I kind of let my
Speaker 1: my mind clear out a little bit and just you know,
Speaker 1: give my mind a little break before you strike meat time.
Speaker 1: You must you are a haze in the barn kind
Speaker 1: of guy. Were you done watching tape at a certain
Speaker 1: time the night before the game, Because we're again Remember
Speaker 1: we are watching from real to real or beta. These
Speaker 1: guys have their tablet and they can bring it anywhere
Speaker 1: with them, you know, and so you have it's more accessibility.
Speaker 1: But there's an eventually eventuality during the course of the
Speaker 1: preparation week, and every one of my head coach said, hey,
Speaker 1: look the haze in the barn. You can't be you
Speaker 1: can't be thinking out there. You gotta know what ever,
Speaker 1: what you're doing, and you're prepared absolutely, And that's kind
Speaker 1: of where I kind of cut it off is, you know,
Speaker 1: the night before when I go to bed, and then
Speaker 1: when I wake up in the morning, you know, it's
Speaker 1: the haze in the barn, if you will, and it's
Speaker 1: it's time to just go out and play with your
Speaker 1: instincts and what your body tells you to do, what's
Speaker 1: your icy and and just go out there and play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you insinuator, you got a routine in the rest of
Speaker 1: the week too, So what's what is your deal? So
Speaker 1: basically I just start out, um, you know, the week
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, watching personnel and studying you know what my
Speaker 1: opponent's gonna do, um, you know, and try and get
Speaker 1: our scout team guys to give me that kind of
Speaker 1: look throughout the week, um, you know, and then I
Speaker 1: kind of Wednesday's kind of my first and second down,
Speaker 1: and then you know, Thursday's third down. Um you know,
Speaker 1: in Friday and Saturday's kind of that red zone area,
Speaker 1: um you know, and then just you know, sat later
Speaker 1: in the day on Saturday, just kind of clean up
Speaker 1: a few things and get ready to go. So when
Speaker 1: you have the scout team, I always always under the
Speaker 1: impression the coaches would say, Okay, this is what they're doing.
Speaker 1: You got to do this. So you can actually ask
Speaker 1: these guys to stand a certain way, rush you a
Speaker 1: certain way, and you ask the individual players yourself on
Speaker 1: the practice. Yeah, that's our scout team for example. That
Speaker 1: that's interesting. Our scout team has done a great, great job,
Speaker 1: you know, trying to help us, you know, at least
Speaker 1: up frun as far as the defensive lineman kind of
Speaker 1: the rushes that will mainly see, um, you know, if
Speaker 1: a guy's more of a power guy, if a guy's
Speaker 1: more you know of a penetrator or two gapper guy, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they're able to help you out. And they've
Speaker 1: done a great job for us. This year. We go
Speaker 1: get the Vikings. It'll be fun back in the division
Speaker 1: against a team you know very well. So good luck
Speaker 1: to Sunday. Thank you guys. Cody white Hair our guest
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access. That's going to wrap us
Speaker 1: up for Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks to Jordan
Speaker 1: Trudup and Dan BURRELLI as well. Hope you enjoyed the show.
Speaker 1: Everybody will talk to you next week here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six Hamdy the Score