Speaker 1: Welcome into the Bears Coaching Show featuring head coach Matty Reflution.
Speaker 1: A pleasant, good evening every one. I'm Jeff Jonaghak here
Speaker 1: with you until eight o'clock tonight. Good evening, Matt. How
Speaker 1: is your weekend? And were you able to get away
Speaker 1: even a little bit? Good evening? Yes, we did, and
Speaker 1: we worked a little bit, you know, to start the week.
Speaker 1: The coaches came in. You know, we did a little
Speaker 1: self scout the first couple of days, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and then I gave the coaches off Thursday through Sunday,
Speaker 1: so we got a chance to get away. We charge
Speaker 1: our batteries a little bit. But you know, self scout
Speaker 1: was good. We got a chance to look at ourselves
Speaker 1: like we did during the mini buy and improving our
Speaker 1: schemes as well as our players. You really never turned
Speaker 1: the brain off football wives, do you. No, you always
Speaker 1: have your iPad with you so, which is always nice.
Speaker 1: You can always watch the little tape and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: always uh you know, get a little something from that,
Speaker 1: and we certainly did that, all right. Weird question, but
Speaker 1: do you have the iPad next to you when you're
Speaker 1: talking to your bride? You know, you get the weak once.
Speaker 1: The last time he took her on a date. I
Speaker 1: have not taken it on a date. That would not
Speaker 1: that would not go well. But now it was. That
Speaker 1: was good. You get a chance to do a little
Speaker 1: bit in the mornings, you know, and uh, it was
Speaker 1: good to get away a little bit, but certainly stay connected.
Speaker 1: Has it been a challenge for you over the course
Speaker 1: of your career to find that work life balance, family
Speaker 1: cycle and all that that goes on, because it is
Speaker 1: it really is a three sixty five twenty four hour job.
Speaker 1: A little bit, Yeah, you really have to do a
Speaker 1: good job of kind of compartmentalizing it. You know, where
Speaker 1: you have your breaks, like on Friday afternoons where you
Speaker 1: spend family time and then some some you know, some
Speaker 1: time a little bit on Saturday, a little bit for
Speaker 1: home games. But uh yeah, it's only a few hours
Speaker 1: here and there. You're pretty much wired in the rest
Speaker 1: of the time. Did you get a look at some
Speaker 1: games yesterday for just for fun? Yeah? Yeah, I got
Speaker 1: a chance to watch the Philly game, of course, and
Speaker 1: I watched that, you know, on the way back I
Speaker 1: was flying back into Chicago, but I got a chance
Speaker 1: to watch it. On the plane thoughts. Yeah, they look
Speaker 1: really good. I mean, obviously they were humming on all cylinders,
Speaker 1: you know, umped out to a twenty one to zero lead,
Speaker 1: did a really good job running the football late to
Speaker 1: kind of close the game out. But played good offense,
Speaker 1: defense and kicking. All right, we'll break into them a
Speaker 1: little more detail in our last segment of tonight's program,
Speaker 1: But yeah, they're cooking at twelve and one, first team
Speaker 1: to clinch a playoff spot in the NFL. Some remarkable
Speaker 1: quarterback play yesterday. With the magicians now decorating this league,
Speaker 1: I gotta put justin in that category as well. But
Speaker 1: the handiwork with the football almost like point guardish with
Speaker 1: the guys like Jalen Hurts. Obviously, Patrick Mahomes the work
Speaker 1: of Brock Prudy, my fellow Iowa State alum, gets his
Speaker 1: first NFL start and beats Tom Brady and does so convincingly.
Speaker 1: I mean, what is going on in this league? I
Speaker 1: don't know. I knew you had to get to Iowa
Speaker 1: State plug in them. I knew that was coming. No,
Speaker 1: he did a great job, pretty did a really good
Speaker 1: job yesterday. And it's just, you know, the dynamics of
Speaker 1: the league. It's changing, you know, the mobile quarterback and
Speaker 1: the guys that can really move in a US on
Speaker 1: the fly. You're seeing that alway through Alan our guy,
Speaker 1: you know, mahomes Lamar. All those guys are really dynamic
Speaker 1: players and they can hurt you about bunch of different ways.
Speaker 1: And it's an exciting time for the NFL. All right,
Speaker 1: what happened during the bye week that you're pleased with
Speaker 1: and what it's going to do for you moving forward
Speaker 1: for the final month. Yeah, I just would micro it
Speaker 1: down to the individual. I think that you know, us,
Speaker 1: you know, partneringship with the with the coaches and players.
Speaker 1: You know, that's so important to be able to help
Speaker 1: the individual player, you know, so he can help himself
Speaker 1: to improve his fundamental techniques and therefore help our overall units.
Speaker 1: Because before you look at scheme, you know, winning football
Speaker 1: games comes down to the basic rudiments of the game.
Speaker 1: That's blocking, tackling, you know, running your routes to the
Speaker 1: correct way, covering the right way, you know, and making
Speaker 1: plays on the ball and all the things that we
Speaker 1: talk to our players about. But there's details that go
Speaker 1: into that, and I think that's that partnership of working
Speaker 1: with that, So that's what I'm most excited about. And
Speaker 1: then secondly, obviously improving our schemes, you know, that's obviously
Speaker 1: a big part of what we want to do. We
Speaker 1: want to learn, you know, and do a better job
Speaker 1: in situational ball. Third down defense has to improve, you know,
Speaker 1: the red zone run defense, we need to we need
Speaker 1: to get do a better job of two. And then
Speaker 1: on offense, you know, we were getting better in the
Speaker 1: passing game, the rhythm and timing that's been improved. But
Speaker 1: also let's learn how to you know, close out the
Speaker 1: end of the halves and you know, get you know,
Speaker 1: some no huddle going along, you know, in our two
Speaker 1: minute situation to make sure the tempo of that m
Speaker 1: is doing, you know, is functioning the right way. So
Speaker 1: we're excited about getting our two minute offense going too.
Speaker 1: You've been commended over the course of the season for
Speaker 1: adjustments and what's taking place into the second half and
Speaker 1: out of that bye week thirty three twenty nine thirty
Speaker 1: two thirty points in those first four games, can we
Speaker 1: expect something of that sort? Do you hope here in
Speaker 1: the final four games on either side of the ball,
Speaker 1: something significant like that because that has been a commendable
Speaker 1: part of this, even though the record doesn't reflect it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we want we definitely want to see improvement. You know,
Speaker 1: when you emphasize something, you know, we want to see
Speaker 1: the fruits of that. So we want to make sure
Speaker 1: that we emphasize we do a good job of detailing
Speaker 1: it up for the players, but also keeping it simple.
Speaker 1: You know, it can't really be, you know, this big
Speaker 1: complex thing. You know, you can get better at two
Speaker 1: or three things on either side of the ball, just
Speaker 1: like an individual does, and if you focus on those,
Speaker 1: good things will happen. Well. Certainly the explosion that is
Speaker 1: justin field shows up on the ground and in the air.
Speaker 1: And I think people would probably fail this quiz if
Speaker 1: they were asked who heading into week fourteen was leading
Speaker 1: the NFL on explosive plays as a team, and the
Speaker 1: answer would be the Chicago Bears. Does that even surprise
Speaker 1: you a little bit. That's a lot of explosive plays
Speaker 1: on the ground and then through the air, and obviously
Speaker 1: he's a big part of that. Yeah, so obviously he's
Speaker 1: he is a big part of that. He's been a
Speaker 1: big part of our offense, and he does that, you know,
Speaker 1: multiple times of game, so it doesn't really surprise me. Again,
Speaker 1: it's hard to defend when you have somebody like that,
Speaker 1: you know, running your offense. And he's exciting to watch
Speaker 1: six straight games with fifty year more yards rushing and
Speaker 1: at least one touchdown. That's the longest drink since Gale
Speaker 1: Sayers in nineteen sixty nine. And today is the anniversary
Speaker 1: of Gale sayers six touchdown game. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if I ever told you this, but I had an
Speaker 1: opportunity in the at House Hall PNC Center to sit
Speaker 1: down with him and break down his six touchdown game
Speaker 1: against the forty nine ers at Wrigley Field in the mud,
Speaker 1: and it was one of the most gratifying moments of
Speaker 1: my career. But he was darting all over that field
Speaker 1: and the field was muddy for everyone but Gayale Sayers.
Speaker 1: That was the quote from Dick the Great Jack Brickhouse.
Speaker 1: The announcer then says, you know, galloping, Gaale carries the mail.
Speaker 1: They won fifty four to twenty. It was a rookie
Speaker 1: performance of legendary. Note the two play different positions. Justin
Speaker 1: has the same kind of explosion, but that cat he
Speaker 1: may have cuts almost midair. Now I'm not saying Justin
Speaker 1: does that, but the explosion of an athlete is so rare.
Speaker 1: They come around once in a generation. Would you agree, Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't agree with that. And you know, you get
Speaker 1: a chance to see these guys, you know, once every
Speaker 1: couple of decades that can move like this and can
Speaker 1: function in weather and different conditions, and it's just the
Speaker 1: you know, it's the god given talent that they're that
Speaker 1: they're blessed with that, the ability to stand on their feet,
Speaker 1: the ability to have balanced the ability to accelerate, the
Speaker 1: ability to cut and move. And what's great about it
Speaker 1: is they all move differently. You know, they come in
Speaker 1: all different sizes. You know Barry Sanders, you know all
Speaker 1: the all the different guys that Gayl Sayre's, Walter Payton,
Speaker 1: you know, all the great runners that we've had in
Speaker 1: this league. And what's great about it is they're all unique.
Speaker 1: They all got their own style and Justin's no different.
Speaker 1: He has his own style and he's certainly exciting to
Speaker 1: watch when he go when he does his thing. One
Speaker 1: segment in the books Snap his Back against the poor
Speaker 1: Man Rush Good protection SLINKs it to the left corner
Speaker 1: of the end zone, up in the air for the catch,
Speaker 1: darn Old Moody for the touchdown. Touchdown, Bears sixteen yards
Speaker 1: strike from Fields to Moody. Welcome back to the Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show Jeff Jonny act with Bears head coach Mattiberflus.
Speaker 1: Great seats available to see your Chicago Bears this season
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field. Get your tickets at Chicago Bears dot
Speaker 1: com slash tickets Matt Eberflus. Fans are super jacked about
Speaker 1: Justin Fields and an offense that is scoring points. It's
Speaker 1: fair to say their excitement is justified. Seven weeks of
Speaker 1: it of late, and four more big games to go.
Speaker 1: We just heard one of Justin's big passing touchdowns to
Speaker 1: Darnell Mooney this season, and that's the elevation part of
Speaker 1: the game that we're all keeping an eye on. Certainly
Speaker 1: started to come to form against the Packers. Did you
Speaker 1: see a lot discuss a lot during this bye week
Speaker 1: with your coach is about that aspect of his game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And we were really pleased with the protection that the
Speaker 1: offensive line provided last week to give you know, Justin
Speaker 1: that opportunity to really function in the offense. And to
Speaker 1: build a see downfield, you know, with a clean pocket,
Speaker 1: and you know obviously that we want to do that
Speaker 1: every single week. But they're they're to be commended for
Speaker 1: that for sure. But Justin's doing a really good job
Speaker 1: of keeping his shoulders, his platform, everything in the right
Speaker 1: spot to be able to deliver the ball down the field.
Speaker 1: So he's going to continue to work on that consistency.
Speaker 1: So we can still see we can see more of
Speaker 1: that going forward. What do you want to see from
Speaker 1: the offense from the rest of the season to feel
Speaker 1: good about twenty twenty three. Now, I know that's a
Speaker 1: big statement to make because you got a month of
Speaker 1: games left here and this roster will be different next year,
Speaker 1: But justin fields and the platform and the foundation that's
Speaker 1: being formed here, I know you mentioned the word consistency
Speaker 1: a lot with all the questions today from the media
Speaker 1: this morning up at hallisaw regarding all all aspects of
Speaker 1: the team, is that really it? Well, the most important
Speaker 1: thing is our style, you know, the way we play,
Speaker 1: you know, the hits principle is very important to us.
Speaker 1: That's our foundation that we believe in offense, defense and kicking.
Speaker 1: And you can see that you know, and that all
Speaker 1: starts with our running game, you know, the offense. The
Speaker 1: ability to run the football is very important to us defensively.
Speaker 1: Want to see a big jump you know in our
Speaker 1: run defense these next four weeks, to be able to
Speaker 1: stop the run. That's one of our big things we
Speaker 1: need to work on, you know. And then obviously protecting
Speaker 1: the ball. You know, we got to do a great
Speaker 1: job protecting the ball, not only in the first three quarters,
Speaker 1: but also during two minutes. You know, we got to
Speaker 1: do a better job of finishing games. And us protecting
Speaker 1: the ball and be able to operate in a two
Speaker 1: minute offense is going to be very important to our
Speaker 1: success going forward. And there are two minute defense you know,
Speaker 1: to be able to stop you know, people two field
Speaker 1: goals or holding the zero points in a two minute drive,
Speaker 1: you know, and get a four and out or a
Speaker 1: takeaway to end the game. That's something we would like
Speaker 1: to see also. But so again, that whole thing about
Speaker 1: finishing that is a team that is a team goal.
Speaker 1: It's a team thing that we want to really accomplish
Speaker 1: here going forward and certainly improve on as we meet
Speaker 1: these really good opponents coming up here in the coming weeks.
Speaker 1: These opponents, in my opinions, serve as a great benefit
Speaker 1: to you as a head coach and this football team. Again,
Speaker 1: regardless of who's here who's not in next season, but
Speaker 1: you got four games against teams that have a lot
Speaker 1: to play for, including two big dogs right now back
Speaker 1: to back. Can you create a playoff atmosphere in your
Speaker 1: building for these final four games and just hey, whatever's happens, happen,
Speaker 1: who can we be here in these next four weeks?
Speaker 1: Is that possible? Can you create that? Well? I think
Speaker 1: the guys that are exciting excited about this opportunity to
Speaker 1: play these teams of these of this caliber, and it
Speaker 1: all starts with Philadelphia Eagles, the best team in football
Speaker 1: right now at twelve and one, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it's going to be a big challenge for us, and
Speaker 1: we'll see if we can operate and do a great
Speaker 1: job with just you know, staying in the moment, you know,
Speaker 1: and played in one play at a time, you know,
Speaker 1: like we always say, and be able to function, you know,
Speaker 1: at a high rate and be able to execute at
Speaker 1: a high rate against this good opponent. There will be,
Speaker 1: no doubt, a lot of discussion comparative contrast articles. The
Speaker 1: media will be working there their tails off on Josh Allen,
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts their first two years, the comparative analysis, the
Speaker 1: Justin fields in his first two years, and then each
Speaker 1: of these guys taking off in their third years. Is
Speaker 1: there something to that? Yeah, I think there is. You know,
Speaker 1: there's these young quarterbacks develop at a certain you know,
Speaker 1: a certain time. They're all different, they all have a
Speaker 1: bunch of different skill sets. Uh, they're you know, they're like,
Speaker 1: there're a lot alike in a lot of ways, but
Speaker 1: they're also different in a lot of ways too, you know,
Speaker 1: and Justin's journey is different than Josh is different than Jalen's.
Speaker 1: It's it's his own journey and he's going to develop
Speaker 1: at his own rate. And again, the pieces around those
Speaker 1: players are different, and that certainly does, you know, make
Speaker 1: a difference. Um, but we're certainly excited where Justin is
Speaker 1: and where his future is. Well. These opponents also give
Speaker 1: you some help in just further scheme development, the individual development,
Speaker 1: and the competitive aspect of things, because you know, you
Speaker 1: got a lot of young players going up against some
Speaker 1: some really impressive talent here. Oh I think that's good,
Speaker 1: I really do you can really you know, see where
Speaker 1: everybody is. You know, I think it's a great evaluation
Speaker 1: for all of our guys. And uh, I think the
Speaker 1: guys are excited about going against some of the best
Speaker 1: players in the league. You know, these teams have really
Speaker 1: strong rosters and they got some really good skill. You know,
Speaker 1: their top ten players are really good players at all positions.
Speaker 1: And that's why they're good football teams, you know, because
Speaker 1: they have those top ten players at each position, and
Speaker 1: the guys are excited about the challenge. Lance throws picked
Speaker 1: up Eddie Jackson's got it up with it at the
Speaker 1: forty thirty five thirty Eddie Jackson, it'side the twenty five
Speaker 1: yard line and down here the twenty two. It's been
Speaker 1: thirty one game since Eddie Jackson had a pick. Four
Speaker 1: man rush pressure coming, trapping him up and bringing him
Speaker 1: down Downey goes. Dominique Robinson, a rookie out of Miami, Ohio,
Speaker 1: sacks Trey Lance on thirty eight calling out. Bears fans
Speaker 1: get the Ultimate VIP fan package for Chicago Bears. VIP
Speaker 1: secure a game ticket and appearance from Bears legends and
Speaker 1: more by visiting Chicago Bears VIP dot com Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Bears Coaches Show with head coach Mattyberflus. Just
Speaker 1: here at a couple of early season highlights. Eddie Jackson
Speaker 1: an interception, Dominie Robinson sack, some of the things you're
Speaker 1: looking a lot more of from your defense here in
Speaker 1: the final part of this sea and injuries and other
Speaker 1: situations defensively have certainly cropped up and put a big
Speaker 1: challenge on your unit overall. But these are things you're
Speaker 1: going to preach from the until the cows come home, buddy, right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, you know, and really we uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we hold ourselves to a high standard, you know, and
Speaker 1: that high standard is the ability to hustle every single play,
Speaker 1: the ability to have a strip attempt, you know, on
Speaker 1: every single play, and uh, you know, to cause takeaways
Speaker 1: you know, during the course of the year. So you know,
Speaker 1: we fell short, you know, last few weeks of that,
Speaker 1: and we're looking to get that thing going here, um
Speaker 1: these last four weeks. But uh, you know, as you
Speaker 1: just heard on the radio, there, you know Eddie Jackson's interception,
Speaker 1: you know, he's got he had four interceptions. Obviously, losing
Speaker 1: him is a big part of that he's a big
Speaker 1: ballhawk guy that creates a lot of takeaways himself. But
Speaker 1: he certainly has the knack for that and has great
Speaker 1: concentration and he does a really good job in a
Speaker 1: deep part of the field. I had forgotten this looking
Speaker 1: up some statistics on Dominique and that he had seven
Speaker 1: tackles in that first game, in his first NFL game.
Speaker 1: It's at your field. Now. The track was what it was,
Speaker 1: It was rainy, wet, all that business. But you mentioned
Speaker 1: a week ago you felt that there was major improvement
Speaker 1: against the Packers. Uh. He talks about owning his other gap.
Speaker 1: He says, he does all right owning the first gap.
Speaker 1: It's the need to improve the second gap. And he
Speaker 1: tends to play too high as he nailed it. And
Speaker 1: what is he referring to with owning two gaps? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we call that gap and a half, so meaning
Speaker 1: that if the guy's playing outside shade of the tackle
Speaker 1: and he's the defensive end, you know he owns that
Speaker 1: C gap. But if the ball gets run into the
Speaker 1: B gap. Once the ball that clears in there, he
Speaker 1: can he can shut off and play the B gap
Speaker 1: as well. We call that gap and a half. So
Speaker 1: you own your gap. The first gap is the C gap.
Speaker 1: The half gap is the B gap. Once the ball
Speaker 1: declares in there, he can shed and make a tackle
Speaker 1: in that gap. So that's what he's talking to. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, defense line away always need to play lower. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, he you know, we talked about his hustle.
Speaker 1: He's been really good at hustling um, you know, the
Speaker 1: whole year and given the second effort, and he has
Speaker 1: a high standard for that and it hasn't been where
Speaker 1: he wants it to be. But he certainly improved that
Speaker 1: last week and we look for him to keep improving
Speaker 1: that in the coming weeks. Is there a common denominator
Speaker 1: with young player, especially rookies, and and in his case,
Speaker 1: particularly because he hasn't played the position for an entirety
Speaker 1: of his life that hustle plays and all that kick
Speaker 1: in because they're either thinking too much on the field
Speaker 1: or maybe feeling a little defeated at their lack of
Speaker 1: success on a down to down situation. I mean, what
Speaker 1: is the common denominator with situations like that? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: would just say that he's you know, working to be consistent.
Speaker 1: You know, I know, I know that a lot of
Speaker 1: times rookies go through this rookie wall around Thanksgiving and
Speaker 1: that that is real. You know, some guys do go
Speaker 1: through that. But I think Dominic's strong enough mentally to
Speaker 1: push through, you know, and to do a really good
Speaker 1: job coming up here in the next four weeks and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we'll see where he goes. And we expected
Speaker 1: him to get some He was really close to hitting
Speaker 1: the quarterback last week. You know, he was in his
Speaker 1: past rush moves. We showed him those couple opportunities that
Speaker 1: he had. He just really needed to be a little
Speaker 1: bit stronger at the top of his rush and stepped through,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna get some hits on the quarterback Jack Sanborn.
Speaker 1: When you think about it, he opened the season as
Speaker 1: the fifth linebacker. You knew he would play special teams
Speaker 1: if he made the football team. But the instincts are
Speaker 1: just popping all over the place. He's getting a lot
Speaker 1: of inc a lot of discussion. People are thrilled with
Speaker 1: this guy. Double digit tackles now three times in four games.
Speaker 1: Roquan did it six times as a twenty eighteen rookie.
Speaker 1: So he's got a chance to nail that. He's got.
Speaker 1: He's up to fifty nine tackles, five tackles for lost,
Speaker 1: two sacks, three quarterback hits, a fumble recovery, and all
Speaker 1: those special teams tackles. We mentioned it last week. He's
Speaker 1: a revelation, but maybe not a surprise. And you forgot
Speaker 1: the interception taken away from him. But and a partridge
Speaker 1: in a pair of tree here in this holiday season, Matt, Yes, yeah, exactly. No,
Speaker 1: he's been really good, and he's got really good instincts
Speaker 1: for the ball and more importantly, hustles. This guy plays hard. Um,
Speaker 1: He's he's very instinctual. You know, He's does a really
Speaker 1: good job of working to the ball. He can read
Speaker 1: his keys really fast. I think that's very helpful for
Speaker 1: a linebacker. You know. The biggest thing we talked to
Speaker 1: our linebackers about, and this is going to sound elementary,
Speaker 1: but it's hit the ball. As a linebacker in the
Speaker 1: middle part of the defense, you should hit the ball.
Speaker 1: So you should you should get the TFLs, you should
Speaker 1: get the sacks, you should get the interceptions, you should
Speaker 1: get the cost fumbles, the recovered fumbles because you're in
Speaker 1: the middle of the defense and the Chicago Bear fans
Speaker 1: are no you know, it's it's they're very familiar with
Speaker 1: this position because of the greats we've had at that
Speaker 1: position at the Chicago Bears. And uh, you know, we
Speaker 1: certainly want instinctual linebackers that hit the ball. Oh, Bailey's
Speaker 1: intercepted tider Garden down the right side thirty twenty ten.
Speaker 1: Then shut that down back to throw Mac Jones. Here
Speaker 1: comes a little pressure throws down the fields. Scared out
Speaker 1: of the air, Bark Rusker, what an interception? What up
Speaker 1: high one hander? I believe Tommy sucked it into it. Philly,
Speaker 1: welcome back to the Bears Coaches show with that coach
Speaker 1: Matt Iberflus. That's the counter Gordon interception of the Bears
Speaker 1: last win in New England. Bailey Zappy's fourth quarter picked there.
Speaker 1: I also heard jikuon Brisker's amazing one hand at interception
Speaker 1: back with Matt Eberflus. I actually had a visit with
Speaker 1: a Brisker. We had an event last Tuesday, Tom Thayer
Speaker 1: and I with some Bear sponsors and had that interception
Speaker 1: meant a lot to him, he said, New England. It
Speaker 1: really never gave him a thought. And the draft and
Speaker 1: he was in the back of his mind, so he
Speaker 1: wanted to play all out for that game. I love
Speaker 1: his attitude. No, he's got a great attitude, and he's
Speaker 1: got high energy. You know. Obviously, both those guys have
Speaker 1: a really good knack for taking the ball away. Both
Speaker 1: those plays that they made in that New England game
Speaker 1: are really special. Obviously the high point from Brisker being
Speaker 1: able to high point that with one hand, and then
Speaker 1: obviously the tip pass, you know that the concentration that
Speaker 1: it took Gordon to be able to catch that, you know,
Speaker 1: and obviously the good return he had and all those things.
Speaker 1: But two impactful plays in that game up in New England.
Speaker 1: You know, at some point in your season, they're no
Speaker 1: longer rookies right there. They got to think and play
Speaker 1: like veterans. Have any of these guys reached that point? Um? Yeah, Well,
Speaker 1: the old time NFL guys would say that their rookies
Speaker 1: until the third game of the second year. That's the rule.
Speaker 1: And I'm not going to break that rule. But these
Speaker 1: guys have had a lot of experience working, you know,
Speaker 1: this year, you know a much you know as Dominic
Speaker 1: and Brisker and you know, obviously Sanborn and all the
Speaker 1: rookies that have played in special teams and have stepped
Speaker 1: in on defense as well. So we've had a handful
Speaker 1: of those guys. I think it's eleven guys, eleven rookies
Speaker 1: that have played significant time either offense, defense, kicking. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously Trenton Gill's done an awesome job as well. But
Speaker 1: when you play that many rookies in one season, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of benefit to that, you know, going into
Speaker 1: these last four games, because they do have a you know,
Speaker 1: a bunch of games under their belt. You know, like
Speaker 1: I said, once you learn these experiences, you only can
Speaker 1: get them through experience, and it's an important part to
Speaker 1: be able to put those things away and learn from
Speaker 1: them and get better and grow as a rookie. So
Speaker 1: those guys are doing that. We're getting better before our eyes. Heck,
Speaker 1: I think it's fourteen because eight started a game. Six
Speaker 1: more on the active roster have impacted somewhere on all
Speaker 1: three phases. Forty eight starts. And again, we know your history,
Speaker 1: you believe in kids. Why the trust? Well, I just
Speaker 1: think that you know, in the last two spots that
Speaker 1: I've been Indianapolis and eighteen and here at the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: this is where we were, you know, we were kind
Speaker 1: of put in that situation. And uh, you know when
Speaker 1: you draft guys that you believe in and you and
Speaker 1: you put them in there, and you have the coaches
Speaker 1: the ability that coach and teach really well, and you
Speaker 1: have the systems to be able to plug and play
Speaker 1: at an early rate like our offense, defense, and kicking
Speaker 1: systems are and our coordinators have done an excellent job,
Speaker 1: you know, Alan Luke and ht have done a great
Speaker 1: job of putting those guys in position to be successful.
Speaker 1: Is it hard to have patients in building our roster?
Speaker 1: I think as a coach you have to have patients, Um,
Speaker 1: you really do. You've got to be able to see
Speaker 1: around the corner. You gotta be able to see the
Speaker 1: best of the player wise working through adversity. And I
Speaker 1: think sometimes and this happened to me when I was
Speaker 1: in college, that you know, my coach believed in me
Speaker 1: before I believed in myself, and then I started to
Speaker 1: believe it and then I became a decent player. But
Speaker 1: and that's exactly what we want to do as coaches.
Speaker 1: We want to believe in our players. We want to
Speaker 1: help them grow and help them fundamentally to succeed on Sundays,
Speaker 1: you said after the tough loss to Detroit thirty one
Speaker 1: thirty in week ten, this is your players are learning
Speaker 1: perseverance and determination and that clearly is part of football,
Speaker 1: part of winning habits, as you like to say, do
Speaker 1: you feel you see a lot of positive signs of
Speaker 1: winning habits that have already formed and yet to finish
Speaker 1: forming obviously the finishing aspect that you mentioned earlier in
Speaker 1: the show. Yeah, I really do see that because our
Speaker 1: coaches do a great job of resetting every single week,
Speaker 1: and our players do the same. They reset every single week,
Speaker 1: and to me, that's winning habits. That's how you go
Speaker 1: on win streaks, that's how that's how you, you know,
Speaker 1: form championship habits and become a champion. To be able
Speaker 1: to look at the winds as the same as you
Speaker 1: do defeat and just be determined to go forward and
Speaker 1: get better every single week. And our players have done that.
Speaker 1: They put the work in every single week in practice,
Speaker 1: and they're focused and they're detailed in their preparation. Snap
Speaker 1: his back looking to throw fields, jumps up of the pocket.
Speaker 1: Now he's gonna have to keep it himself. He runs,
Speaker 1: he gets the first down to midfield. How where at
Speaker 1: the forty field to the thirty to the twenty can
Speaker 1: he beat the Agle? He does. He finishes in the
Speaker 1: end zone, touched down sixty one yard. A Sunday stroll
Speaker 1: for Justin Fields and the Bears do match fire with fire.
Speaker 1: The Bears match up with the Eagles is brought to
Speaker 1: you by United Airlines, the official airline of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Bears Coaching Show with head coach
Speaker 1: Matt Eberflus. Has heard one of Justin Fields a tremendous
Speaker 1: fifty plush yard touchdown runs three most of any quarterback ever.
Speaker 1: He's done it in twenty nine days, and he did
Speaker 1: it against Miami. I don't know, I can't pick a
Speaker 1: signature play of the season yet. You for Justin No, No,
Speaker 1: there's you have to go back and watch them again.
Speaker 1: They of them, so yeah, you got you gotta go
Speaker 1: back and watch because there's some really good ones in there. Um,
Speaker 1: obviously the three ones that they had over fifty yards,
Speaker 1: and then obviously the passes, the deep passes he've had
Speaker 1: he's had over the last couple weeks. Um, just some
Speaker 1: really remarkable plays by the young man, and he's only
Speaker 1: getting better. All right. You touched on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: I don't feel like over the course of these shows
Speaker 1: it's my fault because I'm the one asking the questions.
Speaker 1: But we haven't given enough due to this offensive line, honestly. Uh.
Speaker 1: And the protection was outstanding last week, no sacks. Hopefully
Speaker 1: they can build some momentum because boy, they got you know,
Speaker 1: we keep talking about the Eagles, but I know that
Speaker 1: you in a dream world would like to have two
Speaker 1: levels of starting caliber defensive lineman rotating in because it
Speaker 1: looks like they've got it. But so a big task.
Speaker 1: But explain exactly how pleased you are despite the const
Speaker 1: and change upfront you are with this offensive line. Certainly
Speaker 1: they've done a hell of a job in the run game,
Speaker 1: and that's been the entire unit, including tight ends, receivers
Speaker 1: and backs. But the past protection, I mean, yes, they've
Speaker 1: given up some things. They've they've caused pressures, they've but
Speaker 1: you know, you've got an interesting mobile quarterback there too
Speaker 1: that they've had to adjust to. There's a a ying
Speaker 1: and yang to this end development overall. Yeah, so overall
Speaker 1: it starts with Chris Morgan, you know, and Austin King,
Speaker 1: the two coaches that coach those positions, you know, they
Speaker 1: lay the foundation. We have a system in place, you
Speaker 1: know for how we do things, you know, in terms
Speaker 1: of teaching the run game step by step and then
Speaker 1: teaching our protections step by step. And it's very thorough
Speaker 1: but easy to understand, but also complex enough to give
Speaker 1: obviously the defenses issues in the run game and pass
Speaker 1: protection so you know, and then really the skilled development
Speaker 1: you know that they've done also with the players, partnering
Speaker 1: with the player to improve. You know, you can go
Speaker 1: across the line and really say each guy has improved
Speaker 1: and gotten better really from A to Z, from Braxton,
Speaker 1: you know, Tevin to everybody, to Sam to everybody's gotten
Speaker 1: better over the course of the year. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: even Cody, you know, Cody has improved, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: just you know, for him being a big vet, you know,
Speaker 1: he's improved over the course of the year too. But
Speaker 1: that's a tribute to the players and the coaches working together.
Speaker 1: But uh, you know, we're pleased with those guys. Obviously
Speaker 1: they got a big task ahead of them the next
Speaker 1: couple of weeks going forward, and uh, we're gonna take
Speaker 1: it one day at a time. We got a big Wednesday,
Speaker 1: big petted Wednesday coming up coming off of our buy,
Speaker 1: and that's gonna be a big part of our success
Speaker 1: going forward. Explain if you can, what this season has
Speaker 1: been like for Tevin Jenkins and how you have seen
Speaker 1: him grow adapt big uncertainty to start the season and
Speaker 1: pro football focus, which everybody keeps talking about. And obviously
Speaker 1: you grade differently than they do. But uh, he's been
Speaker 1: they say, the league's fourth best guard. We've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of good things about him. Well, what's your perspective
Speaker 1: on him? Yeah, So obviously the move to guard number one,
Speaker 1: you know, stepping in there and then feeling really comfortable,
Speaker 1: um in there pretty fast. You know, he really did
Speaker 1: a good job of stepping in there. Um, he's really smart.
Speaker 1: Um understands that guard position does has some different things
Speaker 1: that we do, has some more calls. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: does more in the run game in terms of polling
Speaker 1: and jump into the second level than the tackle does. Um.
Speaker 1: So that fit him really well, you know. And it's
Speaker 1: really good to have a big body in there, you know.
Speaker 1: So you know he's got he's obviously got a really
Speaker 1: big frame. He's really Athletic. But it's certainly good to
Speaker 1: have that inside there in the pocket, to keep that
Speaker 1: inside pocket clean um infirm um for the quarterbacks. So
Speaker 1: we're really pleased with that part of it. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's done a good job of growing. You know,
Speaker 1: he's grown in terms of his consistency and practice, which
Speaker 1: has led to more consistency in the game. Adam Johns
Speaker 1: to The Athletic. I don't know if you saw the
Speaker 1: feature he wrote one on on Tevin. Chris Morgan in
Speaker 1: that article said that they you guys track pancake blocks
Speaker 1: and he says, quote, the belt has changed hands quite
Speaker 1: a few times, but as a title that Jenkins wants
Speaker 1: to win, that's how he plays. He finishes every block
Speaker 1: to the echo of the whistle, puts guys on the back. No,
Speaker 1: he's got great wind. You know, he's got great stamina,
Speaker 1: which you know that comes naturally to a lot of players,
Speaker 1: but it certainly comes natural to him. He's able to
Speaker 1: run all day, and he's able to get down the
Speaker 1: field on those screen blocks, and you know that when
Speaker 1: we break some runs, he's able to get down there
Speaker 1: and give second effort blocks as well. Braxton Jones, he
Speaker 1: keeps talking about his inconsistency handling bullrushes. Can an off
Speaker 1: season of lower body strength and technique help him withstand
Speaker 1: that and drop his anchor. Yeah, I think he can.
Speaker 1: You know, he get with a strength staff, you know,
Speaker 1: and then working with his off site people that he
Speaker 1: works with and obviously gaining a little bit of weight,
Speaker 1: you know, and get some strength in his lowers and
Speaker 1: some technique improvement's going to help him in that, you know.
Speaker 1: And you know he's got to be able to set
Speaker 1: differently when he goes against different skill sets that will
Speaker 1: help him out with that bullrush, snap bootleg fields. He's
Speaker 1: got an opportunities pick clean the water but cool come
Speaker 1: at make the grab of the eighteen. There he goes
Speaker 1: to the end zone touchdown touchdown Bears fifty yard strike
Speaker 1: on second and one and come out with this second
Speaker 1: touchdown of the day. Back in our final segment with
Speaker 1: Bears head coach Matt Heberflus out of the bye week
Speaker 1: back to work at Hallis Hall as they get ready
Speaker 1: for the Philadelphia Eagles. Will touch on them coming up
Speaker 1: in this segment as well. But last six weeks, coach
Speaker 1: Cole come at two hundred and sixty yards and five touchdowns.
Speaker 1: I've I've felt all along he'd be excellent in the
Speaker 1: in the red zone and be a touchdown maker. It's
Speaker 1: starting to come to fruition. Four first down catches in
Speaker 1: the Green Bay game. That was a season high, and
Speaker 1: it's been elevating as the season goes on. Arrow up
Speaker 1: for this guy, isn't it. Yeah, no question. He's done
Speaker 1: a really good job of learning the offense, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's really taking you know, the physical style really
Speaker 1: to heart. You know, his run after catch has been excellent.
Speaker 1: He's done a really good job of punch it forward.
Speaker 1: Obviously a big, big target, you know. Obviously in the
Speaker 1: open field. He's had that one big shot that we
Speaker 1: had the other week. You know, that corner route was
Speaker 1: really excellent and Bill catch that ball in the sun,
Speaker 1: you know, and then his red zone targets have increased,
Speaker 1: and he's a guy that's always open. You know, when
Speaker 1: you get a big target like that, you know he
Speaker 1: can he can work himself away from the defender and
Speaker 1: has the big catch radius to always be opened in
Speaker 1: the strength at the catch point to be able to
Speaker 1: finish and seal the deal. So we're pleasantly surprised, not
Speaker 1: really surprised, pleasantly you know, optimistic about his future and
Speaker 1: about where he's gonna take this thing going forward. All right,
Speaker 1: let's touch you on the run game, because the numbers.
Speaker 1: I love him. I love the run game, you know
Speaker 1: I do, and not clearly you do as well. So
Speaker 1: it does Luke Jetsy averaging one hundred eighty nine rushing
Speaker 1: yards I paced to set a single season franchise record
Speaker 1: with thirty two sixteen. This is just fun media stuff,
Speaker 1: so I know you don't get into all the math.
Speaker 1: But Baltimore the league record of thirty two ninety six
Speaker 1: and twenty nineteen, there's only been five teams that have
Speaker 1: hit three thousand and rushing yards, including the Bears. Is
Speaker 1: it's something of a goal to get three thousand yards
Speaker 1: rushing or more here and and go for these records?
Speaker 1: Why not? Yeah? I mean, it's it's an important part
Speaker 1: that we just are able to run the ball efficiently,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's that's a big part of of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, and that's uh, we'll be us going forward.
Speaker 1: We just want to do a great job or running
Speaker 1: the ball efficiently and effectively to win the game. And
Speaker 1: we know, when the elements is you get down the
Speaker 1: stretch here, um, you know, into into December and into January,
Speaker 1: and you know, in later dates than that, we got
Speaker 1: to make sure that we got to do a great
Speaker 1: job be on a run to control the game, you know,
Speaker 1: with the run games. So that's always an important part
Speaker 1: for us going forward. You know, I failed to bring
Speaker 1: this up earlier when we're talking about the rookies. How
Speaker 1: do you measure the balance of letting things kind of
Speaker 1: just happen naturally develop with players versus throwing them into
Speaker 1: the fire. Because I don't think you're necessarily throwing guys
Speaker 1: into the fire. You need to see it on the
Speaker 1: practice field. Guys are probably lost snaps or earned snaps
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. Yes, yep, that's so true. And that doesn't
Speaker 1: matter if they're a rookie or not, because it's important
Speaker 1: for us to be able to see it on the
Speaker 1: practice field. You know, they got to perform in practice,
Speaker 1: you know, through the repetition of individual into the team
Speaker 1: reps for us to be able to say, Okay, we
Speaker 1: feel good, we feel confident that the guy knows what
Speaker 1: he's doing and knows how to do it, and then
Speaker 1: we put him in there, and the guys have done that,
Speaker 1: you know, And again that goes back to the teaching
Speaker 1: of the coaches. Coaches have to be great teachers to
Speaker 1: be able to put a young player out there, to
Speaker 1: be able to get him to that point. So we
Speaker 1: can trust them and so we can be there and
Speaker 1: we understand there's going to be some bumps along the
Speaker 1: way when you put some young guys in there, but
Speaker 1: we know that the benefit of that down the road
Speaker 1: is going to be is going to outweigh that. So
Speaker 1: we're excited where those guys are going. And again a
Speaker 1: big test here to the next four weeks away from
Speaker 1: the football field, there is a I've always been impressed
Speaker 1: certainly with this organization, but players around the league football
Speaker 1: gives back, in my opinion, more than any other sport.
Speaker 1: They get Tuesdays off for a reason, yes, to reload
Speaker 1: and get a little break, but they hit the commun
Speaker 1: unity and it's something that is important to you. And
Speaker 1: the net result of that is everybody gets to Walter
Speaker 1: Payton Award nominee and this year it's Jalen Johnson announced
Speaker 1: last week He's done a lot in his Fresno area,
Speaker 1: impactful indeed, and why is it so important to you? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, Jalen's done an outstanding job. That's why he's
Speaker 1: our nominee. He puts himself out there and worked tirefully
Speaker 1: to help his community in a couple of different you know,
Speaker 1: charities and a couple of different events that he puts
Speaker 1: on every single year. And our guys have done a
Speaker 1: really good job this year. We've made a real big
Speaker 1: emphasis on giving back to the community, and every single
Speaker 1: team meeting on the Wednesdays, we have a community pictures
Speaker 1: where we you know, show pictures and each guy talks
Speaker 1: about where he was and how impactful it was for him,
Speaker 1: not only for the people that he was visiting in
Speaker 1: that particular place, but very important to us about giving
Speaker 1: back because we are in this position to be able
Speaker 1: to do so, we want to make sure we maximize
Speaker 1: that here in the Chicago area and lives right, Matt
Speaker 1: touching lives sir. All right, now, it's time to look ahead.
Speaker 1: Brought to you by Bette Rivers, the official sports book
Speaker 1: partner of the Bears. We've touched on it from the
Speaker 1: top to hear Eagles arrive red hot forty eight twenty
Speaker 1: two over the Giants first team to clinch a playoff spot.
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurt's top ten and touchdown passes through two ran
Speaker 1: for one first drive of the game. Matty had eight
Speaker 1: different receivers and made it look easy. He is definitely
Speaker 1: an MVP candidate. Yeah, So the Eagles have a you know,
Speaker 1: a really complete football team, you know, you know, start
Speaker 1: with the quarterback. You know, the runners, you know that
Speaker 1: would see the talented receivers, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: best offensive lines in football. Um. Then you flip it
Speaker 1: over the defense, you know, starts up front and they
Speaker 1: got you know, two ways of defensive linemen. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously I think they have five five players. They have
Speaker 1: overre five sacks. UM. You know, their corners are really good,
Speaker 1: solid players that are ballhawk type players. UM. And the
Speaker 1: linebacker safeties you know, they're they're solid as well. So
Speaker 1: they have a really good roster and they got good
Speaker 1: schemes you know that are simple, um, that are easy
Speaker 1: to repeat, but also comp enough to give people fits
Speaker 1: in terms of their pace and how they do things.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, the quarterback makes that thing go.
Speaker 1: And he's certainly having an MVP year and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he's exciting to watch you watched him yesterday. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things going on empty sets and
Speaker 1: different quarterback runs and you know in the quick passing
Speaker 1: game and the way they utilize their skill sets on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball is impressive. And that's why
Speaker 1: they're twelve and one. The defensive line. They're getting into
Speaker 1: your and exterior pass rush and heck there linebacker has
Speaker 1: sound Raddick leads them in sacks with ten, so they're
Speaker 1: they're getting it from everywhere. Is this the biggest challenge
Speaker 1: of the year, you know, right up there with the
Speaker 1: Dallas game, because you guys have faced really good fronts
Speaker 1: all year, right, Yeah, we certainly have. I don't know
Speaker 1: if we've faced one this deep though. This is a
Speaker 1: very deep defensive front, and uh again, we'll have our
Speaker 1: hands full, but we're up for the challenge for sure.
Speaker 1: Do you think you've uncovered anything that could ignite the
Speaker 1: pass rush during this bye Weekum, we'll see, we'll see.
Speaker 1: You know, we were we were dets and different things,
Speaker 1: you know, pressure in different different different ways and you know,
Speaker 1: second level players and we certainly have to do that.
Speaker 1: But again, we'd like to get a passers from our
Speaker 1: front four, and we're working with those guys diligently to
Speaker 1: help those guys pass rush and get home to the quarterback.
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back, Good forward to seeing you this week,
Speaker 1: and good luck with the preparation. Appreciate it, all right,
Speaker 1: thank you. That's Bears head coach Mattie Berflus. Want to
Speaker 1: thank Keith Johnson, Andy Gersher, Dan Bally, Jordan Trudup and
Speaker 1: Brandon Faber for helping us out tonight. I'm Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: for head coach Mattie Berflous. We're back at Soldier Field
Speaker 1: for week fifteen as the Bears meet the Eagles. Pregame
Speaker 1: at nine, kick off at noon. That's it for us.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, everybody. This is News Radio one oh
Speaker 1: five nine w BBM. Good night,