Speaker 1: Welcome in Tough Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy.
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Speaker 2: Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilney at aka the Mayor
Speaker 2: of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 3: Hey are we doing, everybody?
Speaker 4: We're learning more and more about twenty twenty five Bears
Speaker 4: with each passing day during the OTA portion of the offseason,
Speaker 4: with mandatory mini camp set to open next Tuesday. Here
Speaker 4: at halisaw Welcome into Bears Weekly on a SPN one
Speaker 4: thousand and the Chicago Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl
Speaker 4: winning Bears guard Tom Thayre. I'm Jeff joniak along in
Speaker 4: a moment Bear's former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious
Speaker 4: x MNFL Radio guest free tonight, but we'll hear from
Speaker 4: Bears head coach Ben Johnson, quarterback Cato Williams, defensive end
Speaker 4: Montes Sweat, and the new veteran quarterback case Keenum. From
Speaker 4: the week that was up here at Halis saw Tommy
Speaker 4: good evening. I think Dan Barilli and Jordan treadep our
Speaker 4: producers spending the dials at ESPN is Jack McGrath, their
Speaker 4: executive producer, Eric Ostrotski of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: A lot going on.
Speaker 4: We got the next week's gonna be big, Gonna love that,
Speaker 4: But hey, what have we learned this week? What have
Speaker 4: we learned about the Bears that has caught your attention?
Speaker 4: It's almost my weekly question to you out of the gate.
Speaker 4: But with a few more OTA's in the books and
Speaker 4: the Caleb Williams podium experience, we'll here's some of that tonight.
Speaker 3: So a lot of things.
Speaker 5: You know, they're playing a faster brand of football.
Speaker 6: There's a lot of encouragement and coaching going on from
Speaker 6: the coaching staff. I think that they're trying to identify
Speaker 6: who fits where. We often talk about and I talk
Speaker 6: about with the depth chart, and everybody's trying to get
Speaker 6: their name on that depth chart because that's a key ingredient.
Speaker 5: When you move into training camp.
Speaker 6: What I'm excited about going forward is next Tuesday, all
Speaker 6: the alumni are invited to the practice, and I think
Speaker 6: that the way you monitor social media, I think you'll
Speaker 6: see you'll be able to read a lot more about
Speaker 6: what the alumni that come to the practice for the
Speaker 6: first time, what their reflection is of the atmosphere. And
Speaker 6: I think because these guys have so much experience in
Speaker 6: their football life, they understand how to listen to coach,
Speaker 6: and they understand how to watch their position. They understand
Speaker 6: how this stage of development is really important part but
Speaker 6: stage with the next stage of the whole process in
Speaker 6: the football team development is that's when the real stuff starts.
Speaker 6: And so I'd be excited to talk to a lot
Speaker 6: of those guys at practice, but I'm super encouraged by
Speaker 6: what I see at practice. I'm super encouraged at the
Speaker 6: speed of at which they're playing and the requirements of
Speaker 6: Ben Johnson and all of his staff.
Speaker 4: Hey, big Jim Miller joining us now. Jim will be
Speaker 4: here at training camp. He'll do his Syrio x NFL
Speaker 4: training camp tour, and his stop will be here in Chicago,
Speaker 4: hopefully with yours. Truly, we'll be breaking things down. But
Speaker 4: I know you're going to be excited to all this too.
Speaker 4: You're an alumni, it matters to you. I know you've
Speaker 4: played for several teams, but I'm wondering for both of
Speaker 4: you and Jim, welcome and good evening. I hope you're
Speaker 4: doing well. Did you guys have a lot of alumni
Speaker 4: hanging around when you guys were at these guys' age
Speaker 4: right now, you know, for the the eighty five Bears, Tommy,
Speaker 4: that was your first year, but Jim, I mean there
Speaker 4: were plenty of eighty five Bears around. Certainly Tom was
Speaker 4: one of them calling the games that you worked in
Speaker 4: for us.
Speaker 7: Yeah, like you know, guys would would show up periodically
Speaker 7: and also at training camp, and yeah, it was important,
Speaker 7: you know, and you'd have different staffs that come into,
Speaker 7: like college football staffs that come in. This is typically
Speaker 7: the springtime where staffs want to see what you're doing offensively,
Speaker 7: and certainly Ben Johnson, he'll have a couple of staffs
Speaker 7: that roll through there that are interested to see what
Speaker 7: he's doing offensively and how we install things, how they
Speaker 7: coach certain positions, all those type of things. So there's
Speaker 7: actually a lot going on in the spring, and it
Speaker 7: is more team team, It isn't installed. You're teaching guys
Speaker 7: the basics of what you want to accomplish and all
Speaker 7: the discipline and the techniques and all those type of things.
Speaker 7: So it's very thorough, and it has to be very
Speaker 7: thorough for a reason, and these are building blocks of
Speaker 7: what they want to press on to and that things
Speaker 7: are gonna come a lot faster come training camp. But
Speaker 7: it was always good to have the older players come by,
Speaker 7: stop by, you know, just to see them. You know
Speaker 7: that they've been through it. They've gone going through the
Speaker 7: same things you're going through as a curtain player, and
Speaker 7: they had a lot of success, so you try to
Speaker 7: tap their brains. Guys like Tom Thayer, Hey man, what
Speaker 7: was so different about your team? Why were you guys
Speaker 7: so tight? What made you guys so close knit? You know,
Speaker 7: we knew they were talented, But I think if you're
Speaker 7: a very good team, typically you're gonna have guys that
Speaker 7: work hard, that are self starters, like a Tom Thayer,
Speaker 7: like that whole eighty five Bears team, And there's a
Speaker 7: reason why they were so close knit. They knew that
Speaker 7: they were going to be good, and they believed in
Speaker 7: one another, and they counted on one another, you know.
Speaker 6: Jeff, Because we didn't have OTAs and we led us
Speaker 6: right into mandatory mini camp. We didn't have a lot
Speaker 6: of alumni hanging around at a mandatory Mini camp, and
Speaker 6: it was a three day mandatory process that you know,
Speaker 6: Dick had kind of dangled that carrot in front of
Speaker 6: the horse, where Okay, the last day of mini camp,
Speaker 6: we'll either have one practice or two practices.
Speaker 5: But it was more training.
Speaker 6: Camp when the guys came to Platteville, and that's when
Speaker 6: you know, either it was a destination to drive to
Speaker 6: with their family for a day or even a couple days.
Speaker 6: There's nice surrounding areas up there in Platteville, and so
Speaker 6: if you had that chance for fifteen to twenty minutes
Speaker 6: in between practices while we were in the weight room,
Speaker 6: they would come and visit the weight room in Clyde
Speaker 6: Emerck or even at night when we had our fifteen
Speaker 6: minutes of free time at the end of meetings and
Speaker 6: guys would go to different places and have a beer
Speaker 6: and and they would be there as well. So for us,
Speaker 6: it was more catching up with the alumni at training
Speaker 6: camp more so than Mini camp.
Speaker 3: Do you do you remember who showed up?
Speaker 6: Oh, there there was a lot of guys like Mike Pyle,
Speaker 6: ed Obradovich, Roland Harper, Jim Osborne, Danny.
Speaker 5: Neil, Doug Yeah, Doug Buffone, Doug Plank, you know, Terry Schmidt. Uh,
Speaker 5: you know, there's a plenty of guys.
Speaker 6: You know, you still had your Bob Avellini's and stuff,
Speaker 6: So there was plenty of guys that showed up for
Speaker 6: one reason or the other.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I get a kick out of that.
Speaker 4: Actually, when I see all that they it's I think
Speaker 4: it's important to keep that. The alumni close to the
Speaker 4: organization of the Bears do a really good job of
Speaker 4: trying to make that happen. So they'll continue to do
Speaker 4: that next week. So guys like Kyler Gordon, T J.
Speaker 4: Edwards dealing with some soft tissue injuries, Luther Burden the
Speaker 4: third as well, and we'll learn more about this during
Speaker 4: the next week with the mini camp. Who's available, but
Speaker 4: Ben Johnson saying yesterday that everybody should be in the
Speaker 4: building at least it is mandatory, so even if you
Speaker 4: are injured. With that said, let's listen in to some
Speaker 4: Ben Johnson yesterday at the podium. He was talking about
Speaker 4: the specifics that he needs from his players. No detail
Speaker 4: too small, and one is they start defining what a snap,
Speaker 4: a rep a play looks like at the finish from
Speaker 4: defense right through to the offense.
Speaker 8: The ball, the momentum of the ball running through the
Speaker 8: defense in practice, even without pads on, and so it's
Speaker 8: a learning experience of what that looks like and what
Speaker 8: we're going to be about. And then offensively, we talk
Speaker 8: about the finishing aspect of getting connected down the field
Speaker 8: and blocking for our buddies.
Speaker 9: So finishing is a huge deal about.
Speaker 10: What we're doing.
Speaker 8: We're very much rooted in the fundamentals and the techniques
Speaker 8: of what we're asking our guys to do. And so
Speaker 8: we saw growth last week in that way, and that's
Speaker 8: the expectation for us going forward.
Speaker 10: I saw you guys make him go back in the
Speaker 10: huddle several times. What exactly are you looking forward in
Speaker 10: the huddle and as they come out.
Speaker 8: Of Yeah, there's a certain way that the play needs
Speaker 8: to get communicated in the huddle. There's a certain way
Speaker 8: that the break should sound to us around us. That
Speaker 8: means that that we're ready for business and we're ready
Speaker 8: to get going. And if it doesn't sound that way,
Speaker 8: then we're just not going to allow the practice to
Speaker 8: go south. Fatigue is something that we're gonna combat. The
Speaker 8: longer practice goes, the more fatigue guys get and the
Speaker 8: mental toughness has to come through of still doing the
Speaker 8: little things correctly.
Speaker 9: So that's a part of it.
Speaker 6: I saw I'm gaji left tackled last week when we
Speaker 6: were here and today it was Ozzie. Is it a
Speaker 6: is it one day on, one day off for each
Speaker 6: guy or is it based on how they're.
Speaker 8: We're moving guys around. Yeah, we want to give everyone
Speaker 8: an opportunity. So you know, Darnell woul feel pretty comfortable
Speaker 8: keeping him at the right side right now, so the
Speaker 8: left the left side until we get bracting back in
Speaker 8: the mix.
Speaker 9: It's gonna be a little bit of musical chairs. Consider
Speaker 9: right tackles, settle them that he's not going to uk
Speaker 9: to be determined.
Speaker 8: Anything's on the table, and we're gonna let the plan
Speaker 8: play out, which is keep them there for the time
Speaker 8: being and let these guys battle it out on the
Speaker 8: left side and we can decide to change course whenever
Speaker 8: we need to.
Speaker 10: And what have you been learning about what Caleb can
Speaker 10: at this point as you're resetting for him.
Speaker 9: It's been consistent throughout.
Speaker 8: He's been very attentive, He's been very detailed in terms
Speaker 8: of the meetings. He's taking great notes, He's asking excellent questions.
Speaker 8: The more we're out on the grass together, we're figuring
Speaker 8: out what we can put in in the morning and
Speaker 8: what we can execute later on in the afternoon. And
Speaker 8: so that's that's been the fun part of it so far,
Speaker 8: because there is for everybody, there's a saturation level that
Speaker 8: we got to find what that point is so that
Speaker 8: as coaches we don't ask too much out of any
Speaker 8: player over the course of the season. We've got to
Speaker 8: be able to download a game plan and and execute it.
Speaker 8: And so it's been a health the process right now.
Speaker 8: I think JT. Barrett's doing a phenomenal job. Deklan's a
Speaker 8: big part of that as well, just figuring out how
Speaker 8: much install we can push on these guys. And the
Speaker 8: good news is we got the weekend that they can
Speaker 8: get the plan and start ahead for the next week.
Speaker 8: And you can really see guys separate, not just at
Speaker 8: the quarterback position, but really all around on offensive defense.
Speaker 8: Who's in their book a little bit exer than the
Speaker 8: next guy.
Speaker 9: Keen of helping Caleb throughout the case has been phenomenal.
Speaker 8: I haven't been with him in the past, but he
Speaker 8: came highly recommended from a number of people that I trust.
Speaker 8: He's got skins on the wall. I mean, he's been
Speaker 8: to playoff games, He's won playoff games. He's done it
Speaker 8: at a high level. He's been the number two quarterback
Speaker 8: at a number of different places as well, so his
Speaker 8: experience level is off the charts. He's seen a little
Speaker 8: bit of everything that this league has to offer. And
Speaker 8: I can say from my experience of being in the
Speaker 8: room with him, he finds a good way to ask
Speaker 8: questions that I might not or Deck Leonard JT we
Speaker 8: might not have provided the answer to prior. So he
Speaker 8: does a good job filling those gaps. And then, of
Speaker 8: course we're constrained so much by the time limits in
Speaker 8: the springtime that he's able to help the process when
Speaker 8: we're not in there as coaches, and he.
Speaker 4: Is battling for the number two job with Tyson Bag
Speaker 4: and entering his third season. One thing out of this
Speaker 4: that I'll throw in and then I want your reactions
Speaker 4: from both of you guys.
Speaker 3: He is a first time head coach.
Speaker 4: He has not had a regular season game just yet,
Speaker 4: but he certainly sounds like he's been here before. He
Speaker 4: sounds like a head coach and everything he's saying makes sense.
Speaker 4: That that's the number one thing for me. Everything Ben
Speaker 4: Johnson is saying makes sense.
Speaker 6: You Know one thing I kind of giggle at is
Speaker 6: when I listened to Ben Johnson, if you didn't know
Speaker 6: he was a first time head coach, you really wouldn't
Speaker 6: know it because he's prepared and he's concise about all
Speaker 6: of his answers. However, when I listened to him, he
Speaker 6: reminds me so much of George Allen talking at the podium,
Speaker 6: because George Allen was a stickler for breaking the huddle,
Speaker 6: and he says the breaking the huddle that was a
Speaker 6: big part of the influence of practice because he kind
Speaker 6: of got a feel that everybody was on the same page,
Speaker 6: the sound of the break, the way you went to
Speaker 6: the line of scrimmage. And when I think about my
Speaker 6: past experiences of football and all the quality coaches that
Speaker 6: I had a chance to play for, it already kind
Speaker 6: of makes me think about a guy that we're all
Speaker 6: waiting to see how his first experience goes at head coach,
Speaker 6: but he sounds like a seasoned head coach and it's
Speaker 6: super encouraging to me because it's things I've heard. I've
Speaker 6: heard before from coaches with a great deal of experience.
Speaker 11: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I like the part of if we don't allow things.
Speaker 7: That was the problem last year, and it was veteran
Speaker 7: players saying, well, we just kind of skipped over things
Speaker 7: and if something wasn't run right, they just let it go. Okay,
Speaker 7: you can't allow that. That's why you're dead last in offense,
Speaker 7: dead last in sacks. I literally would put up every
Speaker 7: statistic of what the Bears did last year in that
Speaker 7: locker room to let them know how bad they were.
Speaker 7: And if I were Ben Johnson, I'd say when a
Speaker 7: player says, oh, I got it, coach, don't worry, I
Speaker 7: got it. The only thing you're gonna get is me fired.
Speaker 7: I'm not gonna be the guy that gets fired over
Speaker 7: you not knowing your job. Okay, So don't allow it.
Speaker 7: Don't allow it at all on any single play. And
Speaker 7: it starts with breaking the huddle. Like Tom just said,
Speaker 7: don't allow any of it because they haven't earned that
Speaker 7: right as any player in that locker room.
Speaker 4: Well, by watching practice, I can tell you it's fast,
Speaker 4: it's furious, it's aggressive on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 4: and they are pushing the limits here just in short
Speaker 4: pants and shirts and helmets, no pads.
Speaker 3: It's going to be a great training camp when we
Speaker 3: come back.
Speaker 4: We'll be joined by Caleb Williams some of his press
Speaker 4: conference yesterday here at HASAW. This is Bears Weekly on
Speaker 4: ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: You were listening to Bears Week on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Fiss Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
Speaker 2: twenty four years, Chef Chef on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4: This second of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 4: IGS editor Jeff and thom and Jim Miller from sirius
Speaker 4: X and MNFL Radio, as we break down what has
Speaker 4: been an interesting off season for the Bears leading into
Speaker 4: next week's veteran medicamp. It was admittedly a distraction, frankly
Speaker 4: the only one of this offseason distraction. Freeze good, that's
Speaker 4: what teams want. But the ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's
Speaker 4: upcoming book, American King's, a Biography of the Quarterback, will
Speaker 4: include some Caleb Williams in there. Some of what came
Speaker 4: from Wickersham was discussed at length Wednesday, as the Bears
Speaker 4: quarterback who did a very good job tackling some key points,
Speaker 4: clarifying his thought process and what he wants to do
Speaker 4: as a Bear moving forward. And this is about moving forward,
Speaker 4: among other topics. Here's Caleb Williams.
Speaker 12: The main goal and the main objective of being here
Speaker 12: is to turn around. That's why I was selected number one.
Speaker 12: And so you know, that's what we're here to do.
Speaker 12: That's what they brought you know, me here to do.
Speaker 12: That's what they brought all these guys here to do,
Speaker 12: Joe DJ, all these different guys, and that's why they
Speaker 12: brought Ben here. And so, like I said, it's a
Speaker 12: challenge and and we look at those challenges and you
Speaker 12: know we you know, we don't laugh. We look at
Speaker 12: him really really seriously, and you know, we go attack him,
Speaker 12: you know, to the best of our ability to go
Speaker 12: and change it and turn.
Speaker 11: Around about the new leadership.
Speaker 10: Has has left an impression.
Speaker 12: Yeah, no, it, Ben's uh. I think y'all have been
Speaker 12: able to to see it. When he gets up here
Speaker 12: and you get a little taste of of how he is.
Speaker 12: He's he's always laser focused. He he encourages and he
Speaker 12: pushes you and challenges you to be at your best
Speaker 12: as a team, offense, defense, special teams, doesn't matter position,
Speaker 12: uh sharp. And he's a he's a guy that wants
Speaker 12: to win. And so you know, being here being the
Speaker 12: head guy, and he's and and to be honest, he's
Speaker 12: consistent with it every day. So excuse me, uh so
Speaker 12: him him being here and being the head guy and
Speaker 12: and doing all those things and being consistent with it.
Speaker 12: So far, it's been awesome, and I think everybody's been
Speaker 12: enjoying what.
Speaker 9: Has Ben taught about.
Speaker 13: Those shortcuts are just things that maybe he sees that
Speaker 13: he wants you to start seeing.
Speaker 12: Like I said, I think Ben has been extremely detailed.
Speaker 12: And so when he talks about the plays, when he
Speaker 12: talks about you know, the past run screen play action,
Speaker 12: he talks about him really in depth and and you know,
Speaker 12: what we love him verse and what we don't love
Speaker 12: him verse and things like that, and you know, just
Speaker 12: have an idea going into practice, going into soon game
Speaker 12: days and things like that, it's gonna be nice for
Speaker 12: something that we've been repping and getting after. And you know,
Speaker 12: I think I think that's been I think that's been
Speaker 12: one of the things that's that's been really awesome. Is
Speaker 12: the detail. And you know him him really been on
Speaker 12: top of that. And I mean he's been in it
Speaker 12: for six years, has been his offense for six years,
Speaker 12: so you know, he's really on top of it. And
Speaker 12: you know, we're only trying to catch up. I'm only
Speaker 12: trying to catch up to him and be on top
Speaker 12: of the details as much as possible. Curious, uh Na, honestly,
Speaker 12: don't care. It's not it's not you know, like I said,
Speaker 12: we're we're all those things were in the past, all
Speaker 12: the things happened already, and so we're here focused on
Speaker 12: the future. We're here focused on the present and and
Speaker 12: and really trying to, like I say, get this train going,
Speaker 12: and and and you know, have this thing picking up
Speaker 12: steam and and and chewt you and alone.
Speaker 14: Being said when when you the past is the past?
Speaker 14: You're hearing now Ben Johnson has made some tweets to
Speaker 14: your game. Have you adjusted to the change and the stands?
Speaker 14: How have you adjusted to being under centered a little bit more?
Speaker 12: Yes, the Ben Johnson effect, right, I guess the Ben
Speaker 12: Johnson effect.
Speaker 11: Right.
Speaker 12: He's gonna get a kick out of that when he
Speaker 12: hears it. Yeah, No, I think I think uh, I
Speaker 12: think part of it is just you know, different coaches
Speaker 12: have different philosophies, philosophies for things, and you know that's
Speaker 12: one of his things, is left foot up. I've been
Speaker 12: a right foot up guy for typically all of my career,
Speaker 12: and I think I've I've done it once or twice
Speaker 12: throughout my you know, throughout my time and playing QB.
Speaker 12: So you know, it's just one of his things. And then,
Speaker 12: like I said, the details been on top of it, huddle.
Speaker 12: We call it PSP, but preesting that procedure all these
Speaker 12: different things, and especially in big games and big moments,
Speaker 12: all the little things come up. And so you know,
Speaker 12: I think, I think, you know, that's important to him,
Speaker 12: and it's important to us, and we gotta, you know,
Speaker 12: we gotta get on top of it and be on top
Speaker 12: of it from from the head down. So like I said,
Speaker 12: the Ben Johnson effect, I guess right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And and the Ben Johnson effect is permeating the
Speaker 4: entire building in many different ways.
Speaker 3: But okay, so that's a portion of it. Tommy, take
Speaker 3: the floor, you know.
Speaker 6: The thing about whether would put forward or you know,
Speaker 6: and how things are changing, that is fundamentally done and
Speaker 6: you're gonna do it a million times before the season start,
Speaker 6: and it's gonna become second nature and that'll be an
Speaker 6: easy transition. But when Ben Johnson was talking up at
Speaker 6: the podium, he was talking about oversaturating these guys and
Speaker 6: see how they absorbed that amount of information and then
Speaker 6: how they carry it to.
Speaker 5: The field in the afternoon.
Speaker 6: And that's just the process of installing a playbook to
Speaker 6: all these guys because they're you know, they're all star
Speaker 6: darting from ground zero because this is a new head coach. Fortunately,
Speaker 6: I was in a system for seven years and by
Speaker 6: year two or three, it's second nature to you. You
Speaker 6: know every single little thing about it, and then you
Speaker 6: just keep repeating it. It's not something you start installing
Speaker 6: different stuff because that's not what your offensive game plan is.
Speaker 6: So by the time Caleb gets in the training camp
Speaker 6: and the latter stages of training camp, all of this
Speaker 6: footwork and terminology will become second nature to them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jim, that's a great point.
Speaker 4: It would be refreshing to know that Caleb Williams will
Speaker 4: be with this head coach for the next five years
Speaker 4: at a minimum and learn, you know, everything second nature,
Speaker 4: And to me, that would make the most impact on
Speaker 4: Caleb Williams is the continuity with the head coach and
Speaker 4: play caller.
Speaker 7: Absolutely, and here Ben Jonson's given him the reasons why.
Speaker 7: There's a reason why he wants his left foot forward.
Speaker 7: It's to make them a more efficient, better quarterback and
Speaker 7: there it absolutely correlates to him playing better. And so
Speaker 7: again he's not responsible for the sins of the past. However,
Speaker 7: Caleb was coached in the past. I don't care. I
Speaker 7: don't think Ben Johnson cares, and nobody else should care.
Speaker 7: The bottom eye is to make him a better quarterback,
Speaker 7: and having your left foot forward will make him a
Speaker 7: better quarterback. So do it coach his way and maybe
Speaker 7: we'll have better offensive numbers than we had a year
Speaker 7: ago because there's a reason why he wants you to
Speaker 7: do that, and so he's got to do it his way.
Speaker 7: And again, you don't allow with certain things, and Ben
Speaker 7: Johnson's in control of it.
Speaker 4: Jim, what will defense This may be a shot in
Speaker 4: the dark, but what will defenses do to challenge Caleb
Speaker 4: now that they have a seventeen game survey of sorts
Speaker 4: to sift through from last season? Or is it all
Speaker 4: irrelevant from last season? Because it is going to be
Speaker 4: a new system.
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, it's irrelevant. They'll they'll go by the first
Speaker 7: game breakdown or the first five weeks breakdown. They'll see
Speaker 7: what the Bears. You know, I think they will go
Speaker 7: back to watch the Lions tall Ben likes to you know,
Speaker 7: he does two tight ends twenty six percent of the time,
Speaker 7: So we're probably going to expect Loveland and Cole Comet
Speaker 7: are going to be out there twenty six percent of
Speaker 7: the time. Is how either teams are going to game
Speaker 7: plan them before week one, they're going to look at
Speaker 7: some of the things that Ben taps into some of
Speaker 7: his tendencies. But as for the Bears players and what
Speaker 7: they've shown, no, they really can't game plan. It won't
Speaker 7: be till after really week four, week five that they'll
Speaker 7: start to get really a beat on Caleb and how
Speaker 7: he performs in this new offense, and how he performs
Speaker 7: differently from what they did a year ago, and what
Speaker 7: their areas of focus are going to be, because there's
Speaker 7: going to be areas that are better than others until
Speaker 7: they catch up with everything that Ben wants to.
Speaker 6: Do, you know, And one thing leading up to that
Speaker 6: first four or five weeks of the season. For Jeff
Speaker 6: Joniac the broadcaster, it's going to be more important for
Speaker 6: you to pay attention during practices in training camp than
Speaker 6: it will be for preseason games, because I don't think
Speaker 6: that Ben Johnson is gonna reveal or unveil what his
Speaker 6: offense is all gonna be about in that first four
Speaker 6: or five weeks. He's gonna show a little bit of something.
Speaker 6: You guys start preparing for this, but this is a
Speaker 6: this is an offshoot of what else we can offer you.
Speaker 6: So probably for us going to practice every day in
Speaker 6: training camp, it's gonna be a time that you really
Speaker 6: really want to pay attention.
Speaker 3: We'll do good advice.
Speaker 4: Indeed, coming up next, we'll hear from case Keenum, the
Speaker 4: newest Bears quarterback. As we continue on Bears Weekly with
Speaker 4: Jim Miller and Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniac. This is
Speaker 4: Bears Weekly, an ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Jonia on
Speaker 2: the radio network. Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on
Speaker 2: the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the voice of
Speaker 2: the Bears, Jeff Jolian.
Speaker 4: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
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Speaker 3: Jeff and Thoma.
Speaker 4: Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radio another quarterback new
Speaker 4: to the Bears, but certainly not to the NFL. A
Speaker 4: battle under way for that number two spot, according to
Speaker 4: the head coach, Ben Johnson, with third year Tyson Bagent
Speaker 4: and the twelve year veteran Case Keenan on his eighth team.
Speaker 4: In those twelve years, once upon a time, the NCAA
Speaker 4: leader in total passing yards, touchdowns and completions at the
Speaker 4: University of Houston. And you gotta remember, and I forgot
Speaker 4: this fellas. This is an undrafted player at six one
Speaker 4: two fifteen, similar in size at least height and wait
Speaker 4: to Caleb Williams, and he's impressed.
Speaker 3: With the second year quarterbacks performance.
Speaker 11: Only cows.
Speaker 13: Guy's really good and he's got a chance to be
Speaker 13: a lot better.
Speaker 11: And it's been great.
Speaker 13: It's been so much fun coming here and playing and
Speaker 13: being a part of that quarterback groom and an offense
Speaker 13: and you know, working with Ben a deck and JT
Speaker 13: and press and obviously with Caleb and Tyson Austin, those
Speaker 13: guys in that room.
Speaker 11: It's just it's been really special for me. I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 8: You was to be a guide for him, So so
Speaker 8: what is excited you about the early stages of that
Speaker 8: relationship on what you think you could give him at the.
Speaker 13: Stage, you know, he's just he's a sponge, you know,
Speaker 13: for being an all world talent, a guy who's obviously,
Speaker 13: since high school, you know, been the best player on
Speaker 13: any field anywhere he's ever stepped on.
Speaker 11: Uh.
Speaker 13: To to be humble enough to like ask me questions
Speaker 13: and and and watch and learn.
Speaker 11: Has been really refreshing.
Speaker 13: To see a guy that young and that talented, but
Speaker 13: but still you know, take to to me, it will say,
Speaker 13: you know, it's been it's been really fun.
Speaker 6: One of the assurances that you could compete to be
Speaker 6: the number two coming.
Speaker 13: Out, I've competing my whole life. You know, I show
Speaker 13: up every day and hope my lockers are not cleaned out.
Speaker 12: Man.
Speaker 11: That's that's how I treat every day.
Speaker 13: I compete against myself, compete against uh, the guys in
Speaker 13: that room. I compete against you know, the defense we're
Speaker 13: playing that day today, And then every day. I've competed
Speaker 13: my whole life, so you know I have I have
Speaker 13: a knack of uh, you know, sticking around and being
Speaker 13: ready to go when my name is called, no matter
Speaker 13: when that is or how that is.
Speaker 11: So I'm impressed with that whole room.
Speaker 13: Caleb, obviously, I've already talked about him, but I think
Speaker 13: Tyson is gonna play a long time in this league.
Speaker 11: I really do. He is very athletic.
Speaker 13: Uh, He's trained, and he is hungry man he is.
Speaker 13: He's one of the most well prepared guys on that
Speaker 13: field every day. So I'm very impressed with him in Austin.
Speaker 13: I see a lot of myself in Austin. Young guy
Speaker 13: that just needs a shot and it's hungry, doesn't get
Speaker 13: a ton of reps, but uh, it makes makes the
Speaker 13: most of him when he when he can.
Speaker 11: You have a connection with Ben Johnson all or anyone
Speaker 11: else on the staff.
Speaker 13: I mean when you played as long as I have,
Speaker 13: and you've been around enough coaches that we had a
Speaker 13: bunch of kind of a couple of degrees of separation.
Speaker 13: And I've talked to a bunch of guys about him,
Speaker 13: and I think he did the same about me.
Speaker 11: Uh to some of those same people.
Speaker 13: So, uh, yeah, we had we had some connections, but no,
Speaker 13: I'd never really worked with him in the past.
Speaker 14: She talked about you can watch some of cables from
Speaker 14: before you into him coming here.
Speaker 9: What were some of the things that you.
Speaker 14: Saw that immediately you were like, if he makes this
Speaker 14: small tweet, he's gonna take.
Speaker 15: This next step.
Speaker 13: I mean, uh, what jumped out immediately was just effortless
Speaker 13: arm talent. I don't know if I've seen a guy
Speaker 13: do that as as a you know, a young guy,
Speaker 13: but just just being able to take sometimes what defenses
Speaker 13: give you and not make this crazy big, you know,
Speaker 13: off schedule play, letting those plays kind of come to you.
Speaker 11: And I think he found some spots of that last year.
Speaker 13: And you know he's he's settled into this this offense
Speaker 13: and how Ben sees it and trying to get on
Speaker 13: the same page with him and Press and Deck and JT,
Speaker 13: trying to trying to all come out of that quarterback
Speaker 13: room and seeing the defense the exact same way as
Speaker 13: the play caller has been. So you know what we're
Speaker 13: trying to accomplish and how we're trying to accomplish it
Speaker 13: along with the footwork, you know, the operation before the snap,
Speaker 13: defense recognition, all all those things combined with leadership.
Speaker 11: So it's quarterbacking.
Speaker 13: I mean, it's an art and it's a science, and
Speaker 13: it's all of that combined. And there's a you know,
Speaker 13: one hundred ways of getting the ball down the field.
Speaker 13: But in the end, you know, I think there is
Speaker 13: some common thread, some common themes of being a pro quarterback.
Speaker 13: What it means day in and day out, showing up here,
Speaker 13: being ready to do your job.
Speaker 11: And you know, that's.
Speaker 13: Representing himself, his family, this, you know, an offense, a
Speaker 13: coaching staff, the team, an organization, and a city like
Speaker 13: Chicago where it was such a a story tradition of
Speaker 13: players and coaches and and really sports teams. It's it's
Speaker 13: incredible that he's got a chance to do that. He's
Speaker 13: going to do it for a long time.
Speaker 4: And that is case Keenum coming to the Bears after
Speaker 4: not able to playing last season because of a foot injury,
Speaker 4: but sixty six starts on his resume in eighty games,
Speaker 4: only twelve starts in the last six years, but Jim
Speaker 4: eleven and three in Minnesota. In that twenty seventeen season,
Speaker 4: he had twenty two touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
Speaker 3: And I'm sure there's a lot there you can relate to.
Speaker 4: I'm intrigued by him calling quarterback playing art and a science.
Speaker 3: Would you agree?
Speaker 7: Yeah? That that year in Minnesota he was the number
Speaker 7: one quarterback against the Blitz. Okay, he knows protections is
Speaker 7: not how to get sacked or avoid sacks. And so
Speaker 7: that'd be a resource if I were Caleb and Tyson
Speaker 7: that I'd tap into. You know, and you hang around
Speaker 7: the league twelve years for a reason, and like you said,
Speaker 7: he's an undrafted guy because he takes his job seriously.
Speaker 7: He's responsible for what he had to work for everything
Speaker 7: to stay at a roster. He knows what it's about.
Speaker 7: So you know, they need to use him as a resource.
Speaker 7: Tap into him. You know, how were you the number
Speaker 7: one rated quarterback versus the Blitz? How do you learn
Speaker 7: your protections, what's hot, what's not? How do you protect yourself?
Speaker 7: Utilize that that asset, that experience that he has. He's
Speaker 7: been in eight different offenses that he just mentioned. He
Speaker 7: knows a lot of football.
Speaker 10: Is my point.
Speaker 7: Use him, use them. He's a resource that you can
Speaker 7: learn from.
Speaker 6: You know, one thing about case I don't want his
Speaker 6: experience to be wasted only on the quarterback room, because
Speaker 6: he's got the same mentality I did. Every single day
Speaker 6: I walked in the Hallas hall, I thought, this may
Speaker 6: be the day.
Speaker 5: That I'm going to get cut.
Speaker 6: And his dedication and desire to be a professional football
Speaker 6: player should spill over to some of these other young
Speaker 6: guys who take it for granted, because once you start
Speaker 6: taking the NFL opportunity for granted, and the next step
Speaker 6: is going to be out the door. And I think
Speaker 6: Case can be a great reflection to every single position
Speaker 6: I'm in that locker room about what it takes to
Speaker 6: be a dedicated, double digit years of service player.
Speaker 4: We'd do on Beijing, by the way, Jim, because more
Speaker 4: often than not, I'm hearing these same platitudes about his preparation.
Speaker 3: And the amount of time he spends on being ready.
Speaker 4: And for Case Keenum to come in here only for
Speaker 4: a few months and know that out of the gate
Speaker 4: he's seeing it firsthand, says a lot about Tyson Beaging.
Speaker 4: And this sounds like it'll be a pretty interesting battle
Speaker 4: for the number two job.
Speaker 7: If teams are gonna call to trade for Tyson Beagen.
Speaker 7: I guarantee you. They may have already gotten them calls
Speaker 7: the words out. That kid is a grinder. That kid prepares.
Speaker 7: That kid went to and two as a rookie, and
Speaker 7: Justin Fields was getting sacked one out of every eight plays.
Speaker 7: Tyson Bazin Pagent was inserted into the lineup, he was
Speaker 7: sacked one every twenty one because he knows what's expected
Speaker 7: of him the words out. He will be a hot
Speaker 7: commodity that teams will call the trade for by the
Speaker 7: trade deadline. If a quarterback goes down, then you still
Speaker 7: have a veteran in case Keenum that could step in
Speaker 7: and play and the Bears could get assets for Tyson Beagen. Okay,
Speaker 7: that kid's the words out. He's a good player.
Speaker 4: I would like to keep Tyson Beaijing. I like this player.
Speaker 4: I like his personality. I think he's good for the
Speaker 4: football team. He's got the respect of the players as well.
Speaker 4: Tom Jim knows all these ratios of sacks per PA.
Speaker 3: Did you know yours?
Speaker 7: No? I didn't know why. I know for the Bears,
Speaker 7: I only got sex seven times that whole year.
Speaker 3: I do know that the two thousand and one season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we got back twenty seven as a team, and
Speaker 7: I was responsible for seven of them.
Speaker 4: Holy smokes, and it Doug on it. If it didn't
Speaker 4: happen in that playoff game, we'd be singing a different tune, Jimmy.
Speaker 7: Of that. Hey, if you Doug Douglas to me right now,
Speaker 7: cage match, Let's go.
Speaker 4: Right, Hugh Douglas, Tommy, you Douglas. Oh, he was a
Speaker 4: nasty player, But Jim you were a hell of a quarterback. Here, buddy,
Speaker 4: a hell of a quarterback. All right, let's take another break.
Speaker 4: Coming up, we'll hear from defensive player, a defensive end
Speaker 4: that has a lot of significance to his game and
Speaker 4: will need to be that way this season.
Speaker 3: Montes Sweat.
Speaker 4: This is Bear's Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the
Speaker 4: Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 2: the Bears Radio Network. I'll come back to Bears Weekly
Speaker 2: on the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the Voice
Speaker 2: of the Bears, Jeff Joy.
Speaker 4: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 4: Igs Energy, Jeff Joniak, TM Thayer and Jim Miller from
Speaker 4: sirius XM NFL Radio. Getting you set for the start
Speaker 4: of Veteran Minicamp next week. We talk a lot about Cale,
Speaker 4: a lot about the offense. But strangely, I've had some interviews,
Speaker 4: not interviews, but speaking engagements up here at Hallashall with Bears, partners,
Speaker 4: sponsors or whatever, and I find myself Jim and Tom
Speaker 4: not talking that much about kit. I'm talking a lot
Speaker 4: about coaching, and I'm talking about other important pieces to
Speaker 4: the puzzle, because it is a puzzle. It's not just
Speaker 4: about the quarterback. Yes, the quarterback has to play well
Speaker 4: and all that. But one of the guys I've been
Speaker 4: talking about is Montes Sweat. And I think I mentioned
Speaker 4: on Wada and Sylvie earlier tonight when I was out
Speaker 4: with them late this afternoon that you know, I'm thinking
Speaker 4: that I never heard this, but you know, Montes Sweat
Speaker 4: had some issues in training camp with a nagging injury
Speaker 4: and it may have lingered throughout the whole season. That's
Speaker 4: that's my guess, and I think he was working through
Speaker 4: some stuff and now with a new defense to learn
Speaker 4: that he has not really played in much. It's it's
Speaker 4: probably a pretty big learning moment right now for Monteste Sweat.
Speaker 4: Albeit that when you're an edge rusher. You know what
Speaker 4: your main job is. You got to go get the quarterback,
Speaker 4: but stop of the run will be as equally important
Speaker 4: this year.
Speaker 5: Yeah you know.
Speaker 6: I mean that's one of the requirements of Dennis Allen
Speaker 6: is having a defensive line that's willing and able and
Speaker 6: capable of stopping the run so they have the opportunity
Speaker 6: to rush the passer. But if I think if there's
Speaker 6: any one marquee name on this roster that means the
Speaker 6: most of the success of this football team, it is
Speaker 6: probably Monteste Sweat. And not to deny the fact that
Speaker 6: Caleb Williams is going to be an important part of
Speaker 6: the future of this organization. But when you go out
Speaker 6: and you get a guy like Montese Sweat and then
Speaker 6: you give him a big contra, you want every offensive line,
Speaker 6: every offensive coordinator for seventeen weeks to think about how
Speaker 6: you're gonna block him.
Speaker 5: And then when you figure out how.
Speaker 6: You're gonna block him, what openings does that give the
Speaker 6: other members of the defensive front seven and even defensive
Speaker 6: backs for that matter. So when you look at Montese Sweat,
Speaker 6: he's got to be such a dial mover for your
Speaker 6: defense that other guys are succeeding because Montese Sweat is succeeding.
Speaker 4: Right and Jim, you know, not every team has a
Speaker 4: pass rusher that can demand a double team down in
Speaker 4: and down out in the pass game. And so but
Speaker 4: those moments when he will be he'll be chipped or whatever,
Speaker 4: it does open up some great opportunities from other defensive
Speaker 4: lineman's that's the obvious. And I just think he's a
Speaker 4: terrific talent. He's still young, and he's still got a
Speaker 4: lot left in the tank.
Speaker 7: He does he's got to be a double digit sack guy.
Speaker 7: I believe he had five last year. Whether he's heard
Speaker 7: or whatever was wrong. They need him to be a
Speaker 7: double digit sack guy. And on the other side, whether
Speaker 7: it's Booker, whether it's Daye who's brought in there, they've
Speaker 7: got need to take advantage of that. You know, if
Speaker 7: you got a double digit sack guy on one side,
Speaker 7: you have to be able to take advantage on the
Speaker 7: other side because of the attention that he commands, and
Speaker 7: those other guys got to step up and get in
Speaker 7: on the party. No matter if it's a rotation or
Speaker 7: if Dayo's the guy. You you know, it's just you
Speaker 7: gotta get minimum. If you can get twenty sacks from
Speaker 7: your two outside guys, you're cooking with gas. If both
Speaker 7: are double digit, you got something good brewing. But if
Speaker 7: he can be just who he is, a double digit
Speaker 7: sack guy in sweat, and then you can get whether
Speaker 7: it's Dale Booker, other guys opposite, to get up the
Speaker 7: double digits, say five and five as a rotation group.
Speaker 7: Now you're talking, but it starts with sweat. Period.
Speaker 6: I think the pass rush does on obvious third down
Speaker 6: start with a Monteste sweat.
Speaker 5: But I think you have to have.
Speaker 6: The understanding that if Grady Jarrett gives you interior explosiveness
Speaker 6: and he's making penetration into the backfield, and now you're
Speaker 6: talking about how a center guard tackle will slide all
Speaker 6: the way.
Speaker 5: Out to Monteste sweat.
Speaker 6: Now if they have to slide quicker and maybe sustain
Speaker 6: a little bit longer time with Grady Jarrett, then that's
Speaker 6: gonna give Monteste sweats some one on one opportunity. Or
Speaker 6: if they feel that that guard's got to slide out
Speaker 6: to help the offensive tackle as quickly as possible to
Speaker 6: try to get to Monteste sweat, it's going to open
Speaker 6: up opportunities for Grady Jarrett, and so I think when
Speaker 6: you look at the relationship between those two guys, that's
Speaker 6: where the influence of pass rush is gonna come from.
Speaker 4: All Right, let's listen in to Montest sweat from the
Speaker 4: podium yesterday. Hear it to how Saul his initial opinion
Speaker 4: of his new defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen.
Speaker 10: Oh, yeah, he's a very complex individual.
Speaker 15: He has a lot of a lot of fronts and
Speaker 15: schemes and things that he can attack the attack the
Speaker 15: offense with.
Speaker 10: So, yeah, he's a great guy. Smart.
Speaker 11: You were thinking about it for a second.
Speaker 10: For White, it's complex. The word that comes up when you.
Speaker 2: Think the end.
Speaker 15: Well, I mean, I'm saying I'm trying to learn a
Speaker 15: new defense right now.
Speaker 10: So it's a uh.
Speaker 15: It presents his challenges, different friends, different blitches, different different countries,
Speaker 15: different coverages and things like that, and uhs just more
Speaker 15: than I had to learn in the past, I would say. So, uh,
Speaker 15: he's definitely a little bit more complex than the DC's
Speaker 15: I had the path.
Speaker 12: Seeing how the team addressed the D line, how do
Speaker 12: you feel about that?
Speaker 15: I'm excited. Yeah, add a new talent on the D line.
Speaker 15: Every year you get new guys and uh, new personalities
Speaker 15: and things and stuff like that.
Speaker 10: So yeah, I'm excited what the year has to offer early.
Speaker 7: But what has Brady brought to that room, you know
Speaker 7: of off the field.
Speaker 10: And how do you expect your bringing on the field,
Speaker 10: because obviously.
Speaker 6: That pressure in the middle if you'd probably help you will.
Speaker 10: Yeah, Greaty.
Speaker 15: He's brought a lot of leadership and experience to the
Speaker 15: to the room. He helps how the young guys a lot.
Speaker 11: Uh.
Speaker 15: He's also kind of played in this type of in
Speaker 15: this type of defense before that. Uh, some some players
Speaker 15: haven't included me, so he's helping out in that in
Speaker 15: that aspect too, So yeah, Greaty is a big help
Speaker 15: right now.
Speaker 1: I know you guys are still getting to know the
Speaker 1: coaching staff, but are you already sensing that they're bringing
Speaker 1: in the right energy or there's a sense of buying
Speaker 1: in the room that the culture is going to change
Speaker 1: the way that you guys.
Speaker 3: Feel it needs to.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I definitely feel like we're on the right track.
Speaker 15: You could do all the hoot and to hollering before
Speaker 15: the before the season and all that type of stuff,
Speaker 15: it all comes down to what's what's happening on Sundays.
Speaker 10: Are we winning or are we losing? So we'll bring
Speaker 10: the judge board out there.
Speaker 9: We'd expected that in this defense that's different from the
Speaker 9: specific defense you played under.
Speaker 7: I don't know.
Speaker 10: I don't think much has changed. Football is football.
Speaker 15: I'm just probably playing from another alignment or from another stands.
Speaker 15: But at the end of the day, are here to
Speaker 15: fade the QB. Grady said that Von put together those workoutshots.
Speaker 15: Did that in Miami? You showed up why that was important,
Speaker 15: But also what do you think it said about de
Speaker 15: people that together? Yeah, dex is Ah, he's a leader
Speaker 15: on the d line, he's a leader on his team. Uh,
Speaker 15: he's actually from he's from Uh, he's from Florida. So
Speaker 15: it was a kind of convenient for us to come
Speaker 15: to meet him down there. And I just thought it
Speaker 15: was important because, uh, just meeting your new teammates, letting
Speaker 15: him just developing that chemistry and all all those type
Speaker 15: of things.
Speaker 8: Uh.
Speaker 10: Yeah, supportant.
Speaker 11: Last season, you.
Speaker 14: Guys struggled to stop the run, especially towards the second
Speaker 14: half of the year.
Speaker 10: What kind of changes is da Broady?
Speaker 11: And of course the talent has been out of that.
Speaker 14: You think it's gonna affect stopping to run more positively.
Speaker 15: This season, We're gonna see we understand that we got
Speaker 15: to stop the run to rush the passer. And everybody
Speaker 15: likes to rush the passer, but you gotta stop the
Speaker 15: run for So that's definitely a big emphasis in his
Speaker 15: defense and.
Speaker 10: That's what we plan on doing.
Speaker 3: That is Montes sweat guys.
Speaker 4: One of the key things he said there that that
Speaker 4: really got my attention that he looks at Jervon Dexter
Speaker 4: as one of the leaders of the football team. And
Speaker 4: I mentioned this earlier today as well. The more young
Speaker 4: guys that can emerge as important leaders is a great
Speaker 4: sign for the future. And there's any number of guys
Speaker 4: on both sides of the ball. If you just want
Speaker 4: to stick on the line of scrimmage, a guy like
Speaker 4: Darnel Wright and a guy like Javon.
Speaker 3: Dexter Senior Tommy, that would be huge.
Speaker 4: And that was Jervon Dexter's initiative that brought those guys together.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you know, you think of Grady Jaron, the enthusiasm
Speaker 6: that he approaches football with and you look at the
Speaker 6: skill and the athleticism what.
Speaker 5: Dexter Senior has.
Speaker 6: He's gonna have to figure out how to compliment whomever
Speaker 6: he's playing next to, if it's Monteese on one side
Speaker 6: and Grady on the other. But he's gonna have to
Speaker 6: turn into that high draft choice bona fide defensive line leader,
Speaker 6: that it develops a reputation within the the conference, in
Speaker 6: the within the division, that he is a guy that
Speaker 6: you have to identify his whereabouts as much as Montes
Speaker 6: or anybody else in that defensive line. And we've seen,
Speaker 6: we've seen you know, uh steps of you know, uh
Speaker 6: improvement by Dexter, but we need to see it for
Speaker 6: seventeen game, all year round type of performance.
Speaker 4: Jimmy is a hustle guy, backside guy, downfield guy. Do
Speaker 4: you feel that there are dominant traits that can be
Speaker 4: pulled out of him from Dennis Allen and the d
Speaker 4: line coach.
Speaker 5: Definitely there.
Speaker 7: Yeah, he's an interesting guy who's like like Tom said,
Speaker 7: he's made splash plays, but this is a new defense
Speaker 7: for him. And it's good that you know, here, you
Speaker 7: just heard from Montes Sweat saying, hey man, this defense
Speaker 7: is pretty complicated. It's pretty complex, and Dexter is the
Speaker 7: younger player than even Montese Sweat and he's out there
Speaker 7: to show in leadership. So it tells me he feels
Speaker 7: pretty confident in what he's being installed and that he
Speaker 7: is going to do pretty well in it. If he's
Speaker 7: out there, you know, bouncing around and having that type
Speaker 7: of enthusiasm where guys are calling him a kind of
Speaker 7: a leader guy, he should be a more competent guy.
Speaker 7: He's played, he's had splash plays, he knows he's capable
Speaker 7: of more, and now he's going to be in a
Speaker 7: new defense that probably, if anything, would cause him to
Speaker 7: be more reserved about it practice. But it seems like
Speaker 7: he's excited about this move and how he could be utilized.
Speaker 7: So it could be a good thing. But a young
Speaker 7: player who's ascending is what i'd say.
Speaker 4: Right, He's only twenty three. He'll be twenty four in
Speaker 4: season on October fifth of this year, So a young player.
Speaker 4: Jim born in two thousand and one, Jim, when you
Speaker 4: led the Bears to the playoffs, we're getting old?
Speaker 7: Who was our who is our defensive leader?
Speaker 5: Well?
Speaker 7: No, no, I'd say you, well, no, no.
Speaker 8: No, no.
Speaker 3: Jervine was born in two thousand and one. I said
Speaker 3: you and I.
Speaker 7: We're yeah, man, I can't even believe that. Don't bring
Speaker 7: that start up again.
Speaker 4: J One more segment to go. Well, we'll get to
Speaker 4: the lightning round. As I like to say, Tom's thoughts.
Speaker 4: We got Tom's thoughts. He texted some today. Jimmy, you
Speaker 4: saw him. We'll break him down there. Coming up next
Speaker 4: on Bears Weekly on AESPN one thousand of the Bears
Speaker 4: Radio Network.
Speaker 2: You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
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Speaker 3: All back, everybody.
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Speaker 3: I hope everybody's feeling great.
Speaker 4: Final five minutes of our program tonight, as we took
Speaker 4: a canvas look at the week that was here up
Speaker 4: at Hallow, Saul, Let's talk DeAndre Swift want to talk
Speaker 4: to you guys about the fit and how he can
Speaker 4: be used to his full capabilities with Ben Johnson. Jim
Speaker 4: will start with you because he was with Ben in
Speaker 4: twenty twenty two, and if you just go on Pro
Speaker 4: Football Focus rankings, it's just a good gauge to give
Speaker 4: you some just a ballpark anyway, he had his best
Speaker 4: rushing grade in twenty twenty two, that was his final
Speaker 4: season in Detroit. It was not a big workload, small
Speaker 4: sample size of carries, but at least it gives you
Speaker 4: some idea that Ben Johnson knows what he has in
Speaker 4: a DeAndre Swift.
Speaker 7: Yeah, he knows him, and DeAndre should feel pretty comfortable
Speaker 7: of how the system is set up and didn't work
Speaker 7: out in Detroit, but here he's getting another He gets
Speaker 7: another bite at the apples, so to speak, in an
Speaker 7: offense that he's familiar with, with an upgraded offensive line,
Speaker 7: So he should be pretty excited about that. And I
Speaker 7: think for Swift, he's you know, he's definitely a three
Speaker 7: down back, you know, and in my opinion, he's been
Speaker 7: in a couple of places that we haven't utilized him
Speaker 7: the way he should have been utilized. And I think
Speaker 7: Ben will tap into his skill sets. But he's a
Speaker 7: good receiving back out of the backfield. One drop in
Speaker 7: Detroit kind of plugged him. That kind of went south
Speaker 7: for the fans that he dropped the touchdown pass and
Speaker 7: he kind of never recovered and why he got you know,
Speaker 7: ended up moving on to Philly. So the best is
Speaker 7: yet to come, I think for Swift. I think he's
Speaker 7: got probably the best personnel around him as he's had
Speaker 7: other than Philadelphia prior to Chicago.
Speaker 6: You know, I believe DeAndre Swift is a three down
Speaker 6: back there, There's no doubt about it. However, there's one
Speaker 6: thing that Ben Johnson said when he's at the podium,
Speaker 6: I want to make sure DeAndre Swift is willing to
Speaker 6: get the dirty yards. And so that will be something
Speaker 6: that I will pay attention to in the early portion
Speaker 6: of the season. If it is that third and two,
Speaker 6: third and one second three, are you willing to take
Speaker 6: the point of attack and commit to it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? And another thing my head turns every time. I
Speaker 3: love the screen pass.
Speaker 4: One of my favorite things for a running back, not
Speaker 4: just a wide receiver or a flanker screen or a
Speaker 4: tight end screen. But I'm watching and there's this lightning
Speaker 4: bolt and it's Swift on the screen with the big
Speaker 4: guys out in the front. That could be some deadly
Speaker 4: damaged there.
Speaker 5: All right.
Speaker 3: Some of Tom's thoughts. Tom Offensive line.
Speaker 4: We talk about left tackle, It's going to be a
Speaker 4: big battle at training camp, no question about it, between
Speaker 4: at least those three guys that we know of right now.
Speaker 4: When a healthy Braxton Jones, I'm a Gaji and Ozzie Trapido.
Speaker 3: But you are not shying away from the.
Speaker 4: Rest of the battles because the spillover for the sixth
Speaker 4: and seventh and eighth offensive lineman. You got to view
Speaker 4: them also as starter grade because of the threat of
Speaker 4: injury or performance issues.
Speaker 6: Correct, Well, you think of the Bears offensive line last year,
Speaker 6: if they didn't have Coleman Shelton, where would they have
Speaker 6: been at center? Now you're talking about there's the sixth
Speaker 6: inserted offensive lineman. Then you do have a late season
Speaker 6: injury by Braxton Jones.
Speaker 5: So this is not all only.
Speaker 6: And I know we focus a lot of tension of
Speaker 6: the future of the left tackle with the Chicago Bears
Speaker 6: because it is really important.
Speaker 5: However, when you're talking about.
Speaker 6: An offensive line, you better have minimum seven hopefully eight.
Speaker 4: All right, and Jim time off after training camp. It's
Speaker 4: always a pet peeve from my big guy over here,
Speaker 4: Tom Thayer. What are you gonna do with that time?
Speaker 4: He feels it's his important as training camp itself.
Speaker 5: Do you agree.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you better be cranking it up prior to training
Speaker 7: camp starting. You know, you you better be in your
Speaker 7: best shape because there are no guarantees. This is a
Speaker 7: new coach, so you better be ready to go day
Speaker 7: one if you're a player, So I wouldn't do yourself
Speaker 7: a disservice. I would not do your team a disservice
Speaker 7: by coming in out of shape and not knowing your
Speaker 7: assignments because that would not be a good thing. And
Speaker 7: as coach said, it's not going to be allowed. So
Speaker 7: don't even fall into that trap if you're a player.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the mental part of it, you better stay.
Speaker 6: Is dedicated to the mental part of it as you
Speaker 6: are right now going to meetings every day, the weightlifting
Speaker 6: part of it, the conditioning part of it.
Speaker 5: That's what's expected of you.
Speaker 6: However, you can't come in here in full pads and
Speaker 6: start making mental mistakes.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that will be the first thing that gets you
Speaker 4: cut for sure, or at least lose your position.
Speaker 3: Guys, we're out of time. Thank you so much, Jim,
Speaker 3: appreciate it.
Speaker 4: For Tommy and all our producers, including Jack McGrath, this
Speaker 4: has been Bears Weekly on the new radio home of
Speaker 4: the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago. We are joining Game five
Speaker 4: of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals between the Knicks and
Speaker 4: the Pacers. It's coming up next here on ESPN one thousand.
Speaker 4: Have a great night, everybody.
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