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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access, your all
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Speaker 1: Miller Lite and Hulu. It is a bye week edition
Speaker 1: Affairs all Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score. We're brought to you by IGS Energy. We
Speaker 1: got a great lineup of guests today. We got Tom
Speaker 1: Fair and Jay Hilgenberg. What could be better than end
Speaker 1: too offense? But I'm digging into your past in this show.
Speaker 1: We're not just talking about the Bears. We're going to
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about your journeys as well. Because
Speaker 1: I haven't had the opportunity to ever interview Tom there
Speaker 1: and I've never had the opportunity to ever interview Jay
Speaker 1: Hilgenberg on an in depth level. This will be interesting. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you better take notes. But the task at hand though,
Speaker 1: is breaking down what's happened so far the first quarter
Speaker 1: of the season. Bears three and one sit in the
Speaker 1: top of the NFC North at the moments, and it's
Speaker 1: a feel good moment. Three game winning streak and a
Speaker 1: bright future ahead for this football team. Um, what they
Speaker 1: did against Tampa Bay obviously took a lot of folks
Speaker 1: by surpress. But do you think the Green Bay game
Speaker 1: still gives you a sense of reality? Because I'm talking
Speaker 1: to you. Got a team, you burst out of the scene.
Speaker 1: Mitchell Trubisky had the biggest game by a Bears quarterback
Speaker 1: since the forties. But you think there's always that, you know,
Speaker 1: thing lingering in the back room. The lingering thing for me,
Speaker 1: Felons is that they were one play away. I don't
Speaker 1: care what aspect of that game. You're one play away
Speaker 1: from being unbeaten. But Matt Neggie's looking at that that
Speaker 1: game will fuel something bigger down the road. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I mean I think the team grew definitely that that
Speaker 1: game at Green Bay. It was frustrating. Everybody's disappointed that week,
Speaker 1: but you know, being three in one right now, I
Speaker 1: mean that that game's long in the rear view mirror,
Speaker 1: and this team's thinking ahead. It's great bye week, get
Speaker 1: ready for Miami. It's to be like Green Bay going
Speaker 1: Oh my God, we got away with one. Because you
Speaker 1: think of where the Bears have become have come from
Speaker 1: since that game. They go into that game, you don't
Speaker 1: know how many reps ro Quan or Calil Mack are
Speaker 1: gonna play. What is their offering going to be? What
Speaker 1: is Aaron Lynch going to provide for you for missing
Speaker 1: the entire training camp? So they had so many question
Speaker 1: marks going into that game. They're not all answered, but
Speaker 1: I think the questions have gotten smaller. That game was
Speaker 1: so big. It reminded me it was Jake when Jay
Speaker 1: Cutler's first game of the year that he was up
Speaker 1: at Green Bay, and I just remember it was the
Speaker 1: anticipation that that game was huge, and his first snap
Speaker 1: was a fumble and just I mean they erased that regard.
Speaker 1: They lost the game, but they erased the whole era
Speaker 1: of that, that past and this team, and they continue
Speaker 1: to build each week. Four games in a row, four
Speaker 1: games opening drives have been very, very good for the Bears.
Speaker 1: Some led to touchdown, suns, led to field goals. But
Speaker 1: that process is intriguing to me, and it tells me
Speaker 1: a lot about what they're capable of, what Mitch's cap
Speaker 1: How do you guys look at that moving forward. You know,
Speaker 1: Jay used to bring out up with a lot during
Speaker 1: the eighty five season. You don't care if you win
Speaker 1: or lose the coin toss because the defense is so
Speaker 1: good that they're going to go out there and take
Speaker 1: a little starch out of your opponent immediately. But there's
Speaker 1: no better way than providing some starch in your team.
Speaker 1: If your offense goes out there, boom boom boom, goes
Speaker 1: down the field. And I think I feel that way
Speaker 1: going into the season. I don't care if they win
Speaker 1: or lose the coin toss, It doesn't matter. Right. They
Speaker 1: almost remind me of the Packers. You remember, it's just
Speaker 1: years passed how the Packers. I would if I was
Speaker 1: the Bears, I would never for a coin toss. I'd
Speaker 1: taken the ball all year long. Well, if you get
Speaker 1: a lead with this defense, right, I mean, yeah, you're
Speaker 1: you're you're giving them some ammunition, right. But you know, also,
Speaker 1: you know the kickoffs go and the ends. When they
Speaker 1: get the ball at the twenty five yard line, if
Speaker 1: they could can create a three and out, then you're
Speaker 1: talking about the Bears. Their fuel position is better than
Speaker 1: if they get kicked off too, because of the whole
Speaker 1: process of it. Right, No, you're right, Tom, you gave
Speaker 1: me a flashback then when we played. I liked our
Speaker 1: defense going out there because there was always we'd probably
Speaker 1: get pretty good field position. Right, and you already put
Speaker 1: some doubt in the opponent's mind if they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to deal with that defense being unleashed and be able
Speaker 1: to put their hand in the dirt and just picking
Speaker 1: their airs back. These are good options that we're talking about.
Speaker 1: This is stuff we haven't talked about getting. Hey, it's
Speaker 1: been you know, in a last decade. I believe there
Speaker 1: hasn't been a just two defenses. I believe the Broncos
Speaker 1: are one of them that as after one quarter of
Speaker 1: the season, they're in a top ten of almost every
Speaker 1: single defensive category, top five in many and leading in
Speaker 1: some very significant ones, including sacks. And I think that
Speaker 1: pass rush has just scratched in the surface. How do
Speaker 1: you guys feel about it? I agree? You know, I
Speaker 1: think back to last season, when you look at the
Speaker 1: conclusion of last season, the biggest profile defense out there
Speaker 1: was the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they went out there and
Speaker 1: two years ago they started gathering some pass rush, collecting
Speaker 1: first rounders, Yeah, collecting first rounders, getting a couple of
Speaker 1: free agents, making sure they make the right choices, and boom.
Speaker 1: Their defense now is the marquee defense of the lead still,
Speaker 1: I think, And then you see where it brought it
Speaker 1: to the AFC Championship game, correct, So I think when
Speaker 1: you think about the defense, where they're ultimately going to go,
Speaker 1: the continuous process of this offense getting better, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't think that anything's out of reach when you
Speaker 1: think about the future. This defense reminds me of it.
Speaker 1: Remember the I don't know if it was a Thursday
Speaker 1: night for you guys or a Monday night night out
Speaker 1: in San Francisco when Vic Fangio was a defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: and they came after the Bears quarterback five times. Yeah, Campbell,
Speaker 1: I think was the starting a quarterback. Was that the
Speaker 1: kaepernet games Chaperneck's career, But that defense that night was
Speaker 1: just ferocious. I remember that game and that's what this
Speaker 1: Bears defense reminds me of right now. And that was
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl team as the Mac impact not surprised you,
Speaker 1: but made you stop and think a little bit about
Speaker 1: just how great he is. Uh, definitely, yeah, it has.
Speaker 1: I mean going in to this two thousand eighteen season,
Speaker 1: I was thinking, I mean, where what's really the hope
Speaker 1: at the bar? Everybody's thinking, you know, the win loss
Speaker 1: are they're gonna win more in eight games or not?
Speaker 1: But then all of a sudden they signed Mac and
Speaker 1: boom that Green Bay game. It's just it's a different
Speaker 1: This is a legit Super Bowl contending team right now.
Speaker 1: The way they're playing. I know it's the first core um,
Speaker 1: but I think, right, no, But I want to say
Speaker 1: before he jumps too far ahead, Hey, Vic Fangio has
Speaker 1: been five and old before in his league as a
Speaker 1: linebacker coach in New Orleans Saints nineteen ninety three. That
Speaker 1: was my last year in the league. We started five
Speaker 1: and oh we didn't make the playoffs. So I mean
Speaker 1: that's all given. But this is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 1: This is a solid core team, right. You know for
Speaker 1: Clil Mack, Cli Jay, Khalil Mack, Lawrence Taylor, what are
Speaker 1: the comparisons between them and what are like? Because I
Speaker 1: see Khalil Mackie comes out of a three point stance
Speaker 1: a lot more than the LT did. He earns leverage
Speaker 1: against these tall offensive tackles. Lawrence Taylor's playing against the
Speaker 1: sixty three and a half Jimbo cover. They're more eye
Speaker 1: to eye. Now you get these guys, Okay, we gotta
Speaker 1: have these offensive tackles that are nine feet tall, like
Speaker 1: DeMar N six nine. He got right underneath him. Right,
Speaker 1: he's relentless, right, I mean, that's that's what I see.
Speaker 1: I mean that he doesn't stop the other night, last
Speaker 1: week's game, when he when he knocked the force to fumble,
Speaker 1: and then the way he reacted after the ball when
Speaker 1: he rushed the quarterback tipped his hand ball sales in
Speaker 1: the air, Travathan intercepts, he gets it, gathers and starts running.
Speaker 1: Guess who's down there blocking for him? Right? Godill Mac Right.
Speaker 1: I mean that was a pretty good distance to hustle.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's almost like to remember the day when
Speaker 1: Erlaker was leading the block going down on every summer.
Speaker 1: Those guys fine too, fifty number. They turned right into
Speaker 1: offensive linemant. Yeah, I mean I tell you that that's
Speaker 1: the guy apparently does it at practice too. He he
Speaker 1: runs non stop at practice. Yeah, and he's showing everybody
Speaker 1: the way. It's amazing. He is an amazing athlete. He's
Speaker 1: his again. It's it's like relentless. It's um. He reminds
Speaker 1: me remember Pierce Hold. I mean he was an average athlete,
Speaker 1: but the guy was NonStop. Now you have Mac who's
Speaker 1: uh the probably the ultimate athlete out there in the field,
Speaker 1: who is not and you know the underray. I think
Speaker 1: he's outstanding and stop in the run too. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: because you can't just run it. You can't just decide
Speaker 1: to run it. You know, this is the funny thing
Speaker 1: about Khalil Mack. When you're playing at home and you
Speaker 1: can't hear the snap count, it slows the offensive tackle,
Speaker 1: and Clil gets an edge when he plays on the road.
Speaker 1: You can hear the snap count and he starts developing
Speaker 1: a familiarity with the rhythm of the count that he's
Speaker 1: playing against. So it's a double edged sword for him.
Speaker 1: He got a slow tackle out of his stance in
Speaker 1: Soldier Field, and then you got you fall into the
Speaker 1: rhythm of the count when you're on the road, So
Speaker 1: it's it's a double bad All right, We're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break where Jay Hilgenberg, the seventh time consecutive
Speaker 1: Pro bowler and his former teammate and close friend. I
Speaker 1: don't know how these two don't, you know, kill each
Speaker 1: other sometimes, but they don't They still like each other Dogs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe that's Tom there. I'm Jeff Jonahac and you're the
Speaker 1: sending to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to Bears all Access brought to you by IGS Energy,
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Speaker 1: igs dot com. Jeff jony Act, Tom Thair, and Jay
Speaker 1: Hilgenberg from wvbm's prem postgame coverage, which we will resume
Speaker 1: after the bye week in Miami against the Dolphins, we
Speaker 1: spent a lot of time talking about Khalil Mack. Let's
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time talking about Mitch Drobiski. Now
Speaker 1: seeing the growth over the course of the season is
Speaker 1: going to be as compelling as anything with the offense
Speaker 1: and Mitch at the center of it. Where did he
Speaker 1: grow in Week four? Confidence? You know, I think the
Speaker 1: better understanding he against that allows him to develop the
Speaker 1: confidence because you look at some of those throws that
Speaker 1: he made this week. He was being criticized for him
Speaker 1: two weeks previous to this, and now he's being complimented
Speaker 1: for throwing the ball into these tight windows. Other Alan
Speaker 1: rob Since touchdown to play before that to Taylor Gabriel
Speaker 1: the one nice pass the tree calling down the sideline.
Speaker 1: You know it is is that you see all these
Speaker 1: impressive fundamentals when you put a quarterback through drills at
Speaker 1: the combine and stuff, and he's capable of doing everything,
Speaker 1: But are you capable of doing everything? That why you're
Speaker 1: going through the process of thinking. And I think Mitch
Speaker 1: has kind of elevated himself to a level that he's
Speaker 1: being able to be a free He's more of a
Speaker 1: knower instead of a thinker, so he's able to be
Speaker 1: a better athlete doing it. Remember when Coach and A
Speaker 1: he was talking about he doesn't care about the interceptions
Speaker 1: and practice down and that's really what it is. A practice.
Speaker 1: Mitch brought it from practice to the field Sunday, and
Speaker 1: that's what you want to continue to see happen. It's
Speaker 1: not gonna happen every Sunday. He's gonna have his ups
Speaker 1: and downs, and everybody's gonna have to live with that.
Speaker 1: That's just the way the NFL is. But the demeanor
Speaker 1: is key, and I thought they were going talked about
Speaker 1: it this week. You know, his demeanor was different on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Neggie says it was different as well. He was very
Speaker 1: steady when they got the first couple of touchdown. He
Speaker 1: wanted more. He did not want to. He was riveted
Speaker 1: to being great that day, and he was. He took
Speaker 1: advantage of a secondary in turmoil, got a lot of
Speaker 1: open receivers. The offensive line was spectacular. You know, Matt
Speaker 1: stayed aggressive too in his play. Colleague, I want to
Speaker 1: get to that too, because Matt, I guess he said
Speaker 1: this year a couple of days ago, the offense he
Speaker 1: went more to the meat and potatoes of the offense.
Speaker 1: And so if that's the meat and potatoes, I can't
Speaker 1: wait to see the same. I think the big play
Speaker 1: was just him running the ball on that early RPO
Speaker 1: down the right side for twenty some yards. Okay, I
Speaker 1: got one long RPO keeper and then one long scramble.
Speaker 1: But tay, so hey, I'll take those. I'll take those
Speaker 1: two eyes. Yeah, it's nice to know he has that ability,
Speaker 1: and you can see in some of these quarterbacks out there,
Speaker 1: but it's more of you have a design run to him.
Speaker 1: That's when you start putting that fear in the defense.
Speaker 1: He is the ability I think. I think Mitchell's the
Speaker 1: most athletic quarterback the Bears have ever had. I don't
Speaker 1: think he's totally shown it at all, but he he
Speaker 1: looks good on the hoof. He can run three hundred
Speaker 1: ninety seven total net yards, the most since Jim Miller
Speaker 1: four oh seven in Week ten and ninety nine against Minnesota.
Speaker 1: So yeah, the six touchdowns are sexy, obviously, but I
Speaker 1: thought it was interesting Sunday Night Football. They it was
Speaker 1: like one of the last games they highlighted when Pat
Speaker 1: Mahomes through his six and Week two man it was hey,
Speaker 1: headline city. You go look at any natch NAT national
Speaker 1: broadcasted h football game when they do the pre hype,
Speaker 1: there's not one Bear included in any of them. And
Speaker 1: all the national markets are gonna have to change soon.
Speaker 1: Well they'll change next year. I don't know if they've
Speaker 1: ever started. You're gonna well, you're not Kalio Mac. He's
Speaker 1: gotta be Kali the Star is rising. He was in
Speaker 1: Oaklandland's kind of a hidden market in this league. As
Speaker 1: great as that franchises, it doesn't have the media eccentric
Speaker 1: tob of the game that this city does. And nationally
Speaker 1: Chicago is huge if they're playing well. See, but you
Speaker 1: said the narrative the defense, it's mac It's not offense
Speaker 1: in Chicago, it's all about the defense. I would like
Speaker 1: to go back to see if they did any pre
Speaker 1: filming hype with Kleil Mack in a Raiders uniform and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden they had a garbage it
Speaker 1: all up. I'd be an interesting question to ask Mack
Speaker 1: because again, go watch, you know, go look at these
Speaker 1: pre hypes. No better respect this segment of Bears. All
Speaker 1: access is orchestrated. Buy CDW, CDW people who get it.
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac tamp there and Jay Hilgenberg with Paus rank
Speaker 1: or engineer and Dan BURRELLI, our producer working the gum
Speaker 1: light did go over there with his hat and everything. Well,
Speaker 1: he looks, really, he looks. He's got that side muscle
Speaker 1: going right. He's also the Hollis Hall Employee of the
Speaker 1: Year and that doesn't come easily. He literally like, I'm
Speaker 1: not Joe. He just blushed. He's blushings closer better than
Speaker 1: it to can, I guess. But yeah, so Bears defense,
Speaker 1: obviously we're talking about that. The offensive versatility will get
Speaker 1: into that, but I want to talk a little bit
Speaker 1: of a special team before we get to our next break,
Speaker 1: because Cody Parkey has proven to be a valuable asset
Speaker 1: nine out of ten of the field goal department on
Speaker 1: twelve of his extra points, and his kickoffs have been outstanding.
Speaker 1: We had Chris Tabron the Bears Coaches Show the other night.
Speaker 1: He said, it's not kickoff season yet, meaning the weather
Speaker 1: has turned yet, So that's when it will become interesting
Speaker 1: and teams are going to do more. Right now, they're
Speaker 1: just kicking out of the end zone. I think the
Speaker 1: same thing. You know, the kickers as much of a
Speaker 1: weapon as the punter, and as that wind and that
Speaker 1: weather deteriorates, and you'll be you're more familiar with the
Speaker 1: circumstances in Soldier field and you bring some of these
Speaker 1: teams that aren't or if you have to go. I
Speaker 1: think the Bears have two powerful legs that you know
Speaker 1: there are going to really gonna be able to help
Speaker 1: him go it on this say, I just think Chris
Speaker 1: Taver's an excellent special teams coach. So I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: all on board with what he does. What I like
Speaker 1: to Well, he's asked Patrick O'Donnell to change up his
Speaker 1: approach a little bit more into the hang time and
Speaker 1: also the direction as opposed to just banging it, and
Speaker 1: he does a great job. He's right now at that
Speaker 1: magical forty gross forty net. Uh. That's what you want
Speaker 1: in a punter of these days. So he's doing his job,
Speaker 1: and you know, the Bear's get a lot of punt
Speaker 1: returns because the defense is forcing three and out. So
Speaker 1: three Cohen's leading the league chairing the league leading punt returns.
Speaker 1: That's great. I mean that's not average yet, but he's second.
Speaker 1: But punt returns the actual punt returns, which creates field position, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, hey, the kickers are important when you're in
Speaker 1: close games. But I never wanted to be on a
Speaker 1: team where the punder and the kickers are the stars.
Speaker 1: Well they're not the stars, right, you think they have
Speaker 1: the stars? No, no, but I but I've been on
Speaker 1: it to my last year in the NFL with the
Speaker 1: Saints that that's Morton Anderson and uh, that's all ye
Speaker 1: that at one time snap more punts than one sees
Speaker 1: than that any other player in the history of the
Speaker 1: lay years. Why don't we have stats like that that
Speaker 1: should be in the NFL factor that I had multiple
Speaker 1: solo tackles that I used to Patrick Manley all the time. Chael, Patrick,
Speaker 1: why don't you go down to make you know how
Speaker 1: many tackles you got? He goes, oh, four or five?
Speaker 1: I had like ten or eleven my rookie year. I
Speaker 1: never told him we had an NFL record one hundred
Speaker 1: nineteen punts. Do you know how many total tackles you
Speaker 1: had in your special team's career? No, Okay, you should
Speaker 1: work on that stat that's for sure. All Right, we're
Speaker 1: gonna step away here segment number two in the books,
Speaker 1: we'll talk more with Jay Higgenberg and Tom there to
Speaker 1: the great offensive lineman in Bears history. As we break
Speaker 1: it down, Bears three and one on top of the division,
Speaker 1: awaiting Miami when they come out of the bye week.
Speaker 1: This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score, the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Network for cents. Inside the Bear, brought to
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Speaker 1: world of Bears football on It Off the Field every
Speaker 1: Sunday night at eleven o five on Box thirty two Chicago.
Speaker 1: I'll watch anytime at Chicago Bears dot Com or on
Speaker 1: the official Bears app. Jeff jonny Ack, along with Tom
Speaker 1: There and Jay Hilgenberg, our special guest this week on
Speaker 1: the Bears bye week. With the players off getting some
Speaker 1: relaxation in now hopefully year, it up mentally to stay
Speaker 1: in tune because of that big win. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Some people have said to me, I really wish they'd
Speaker 1: be playing. Others said, hey, this is probably a good thing.
Speaker 1: They're not too high because now they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: get refocused because they didn't play and they got this
Speaker 1: Dolphin team sitting down there with Adam Gase. Their offense
Speaker 1: has been struggling. But what do you guys sit on it?
Speaker 1: Does it matter to you on or off? I mean
Speaker 1: it is you can't have that answer all right, then
Speaker 1: it's perfect. I mean, so it's the perfect time to
Speaker 1: have the break. You're it's you're through four games, so
Speaker 1: you're off to a really good start. This week is
Speaker 1: always a time where if you look at the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: I think I'm sure. I'm sure the offensive coaches are
Speaker 1: probably forming up some type of game playing against the
Speaker 1: Bears defense, and the Bears defensive coaches are having a
Speaker 1: game play against the Bears offense to self scout themselves somehow.
Speaker 1: But as far as the players to arrest, um, I
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a nice to three and one
Speaker 1: ahead of the division. How long does that have? Perfect?
Speaker 1: You know, this was announced and the players knew that
Speaker 1: this one was going to be the schedule of this
Speaker 1: week for us in our generation, Jay, it was dangled
Speaker 1: out in front of us like a carrot. In front
Speaker 1: of course, if we went and played a crappy game
Speaker 1: before the bye week and then we practice the next
Speaker 1: week in pads in a physical approach to our days off.
Speaker 1: If we did anything good, we still had to practice.
Speaker 1: But maybe it was just in shorts and shoulder pads.
Speaker 1: So I mean it was. It wasn't like the consistency
Speaker 1: of saying, Okay, you guys, this is the way the schedule,
Speaker 1: this is our tinnerary. You can formulate a plan that
Speaker 1: you want. If you want to do something during the
Speaker 1: bye week, it's it's better for the players to understand
Speaker 1: that the coaches respect him enough, and then the coaches themselves,
Speaker 1: they don't have to be in the same room anymore
Speaker 1: to be scouting. You know, we all have our tablets
Speaker 1: and I can we can be in a conversation doing
Speaker 1: all that stuffy no. But you know, I agree for
Speaker 1: the players right now, take a little break physically, you know,
Speaker 1: take a rest your bodies for a few days and
Speaker 1: get ready to go. Then it's a big push. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's really not that it's such a short period of time. Now,
Speaker 1: you know, after this the Bears start up to the
Speaker 1: end of the season. Twelve weeks, right, twelve weeks. Hey,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a that's a little workout program. So
Speaker 1: let's commit to everybody. Everybody can think about it. It's
Speaker 1: for the next six are gonna be at home, so
Speaker 1: not the Miami game. But then after that you get
Speaker 1: a nice, nice chance to it really emphasize that home
Speaker 1: field and really thrive with it, and then you got
Speaker 1: a tough road beyond that. But I tell you what,
Speaker 1: I would have a different stance on this if the
Speaker 1: Bears were oh and four oh, I would have a
Speaker 1: completely different thought about the bye week, because I think
Speaker 1: you right now you can be a little bit more
Speaker 1: gracious to the effort that they've been giving since you know,
Speaker 1: some of these guys have been here since July fifteenth. Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: you know, so that's a pretty long stretch without a
Speaker 1: day on. So if they were an OW and for
Speaker 1: you want everybody out of here, you would have gone
Speaker 1: get out here a week. I mean, oh, I'd want them.
Speaker 1: I would want them. I would want him here at
Speaker 1: least a couple of days. And I would and they
Speaker 1: maybe it would be Tuesday and Wednesday or Wednesday Thursday,
Speaker 1: a really physical approach to practice. But you know, I
Speaker 1: think it's just uh. I think coach and Agi has
Speaker 1: done a great job with the attitude here. There's excitement here.
Speaker 1: I mean, these guys want to come to work. I
Speaker 1: feel and say, if you know, oh you know, here's
Speaker 1: a we get a week off. These guys want to work. Hey, Jay,
Speaker 1: we were at the alumni dinner. You were one of
Speaker 1: the one of the players that showed and met some
Speaker 1: of your old buddies and met different guys from different
Speaker 1: eras and so forth. But I had many guys, many
Speaker 1: guys coming up to me asking me about what's it
Speaker 1: like here now? Love listening to the games, love watching
Speaker 1: the games. You know, they live all over the place,
Speaker 1: right that That was fun for me. That was fun
Speaker 1: for me to just sit there and talk to these
Speaker 1: guys about Khalil Mack and about Traubisky and about you know,
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson, about Naggie. They're really engaged. Oh, there's no question.
Speaker 1: The Alumni weekend is always a special weekend. I've made
Speaker 1: it at the last like seven eight years in a row.
Speaker 1: So come you can't bring this guy well, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a busy guy. You know, say he needs his
Speaker 1: rest and preparation for the next day. But it's funny.
Speaker 1: You see a lot of guys you haven't seen in
Speaker 1: a long time. So Donell Wolford there, hadn't seen him
Speaker 1: in a while, so it was good to seeing him.
Speaker 1: Had dinner with Patrick Manley and his wife. You know,
Speaker 1: it's really amazing. It's getting a chance to talk to
Speaker 1: some of the alumni on the sideline and the positive
Speaker 1: beaming faces that you saw in these guys. Three or
Speaker 1: four months ago, we're at the club at Strawberry Creek
Speaker 1: Jay's golf Course in Kenosha, where we have the alumni
Speaker 1: golf outing. The narrative there was completely different than the
Speaker 1: conversations I was having Sunday because at the golf outing
Speaker 1: there's more apprehension and concern. There's more what is Trubisky
Speaker 1: really all about? Hey? Who is this naggy guy? And
Speaker 1: now you got a little bit of you unveiled a
Speaker 1: little bit of everything to these players, and man, in
Speaker 1: four months, you can kindly change the complete thinking process
Speaker 1: of the group of alumnis. And I see the whole thing.
Speaker 1: You know, the alumni, what they've done. You really hit
Speaker 1: it to meet Tom. What's evolving here is the team
Speaker 1: to the bearer? Is is coaching Aggie really evolving? This
Speaker 1: is a team game. I mean it isn't about Trubisky,
Speaker 1: you know what. That was the concern, you know during
Speaker 1: the summer, what what what can Mitch do? Now it's evolving.
Speaker 1: We saw what Mitch can do this past Sunday. It's there.
Speaker 1: You know, it's not gonna be like that every Sunday,
Speaker 1: but it's everybody around him. It's a team game. If
Speaker 1: everybody can raise their game to that level and just
Speaker 1: play team ball together, this team's unstoppable. It's the life
Speaker 1: of a young quarterback too. Yeah, it's gonna still be
Speaker 1: growing pains. You're gonna be up and down. It's the NFL,
Speaker 1: You're not. It's hey, you know, no one's ever played
Speaker 1: a perfect game. Tom got close a couple of times.
Speaker 1: But you know, you know it's funny. Is I think
Speaker 1: we brag a lot about this. You know, Dave or Growling,
Speaker 1: you play golf with him in the summertime, you play
Speaker 1: golf on the day that Vic got the whole one.
Speaker 1: But I think the supporting cast for Mitchell Trubisky is
Speaker 1: really impressive. When you talk about Dave or Growling, you
Speaker 1: talk with Mark Halfred's talk about Chase Daniel, everything that
Speaker 1: has been supportive to me, even Tyler Bray every all
Speaker 1: these guys that have supported the better of this team
Speaker 1: in the quarterback room, I think pay dividends. Mitch. That
Speaker 1: was funny the day up at Strawberry Creek we were
Speaker 1: playing golf with Vic Fangio. I was playing Vick and
Speaker 1: Dave ragone and he had his hole in one. It
Speaker 1: was the day of the draft. We went up there.
Speaker 1: Vic hits, yeah, he hits four, number four hits a
Speaker 1: hole in one, and um, Dave rack goes, oh, man,
Speaker 1: how are we gonna live with Vic? Now and so?
Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, I didn't ask
Speaker 1: Vic any football questions until we got to seventeen. I go, hey, Vick,
Speaker 1: who do you like in the draft? He goes, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, George's linebacker is pretty good. That's only he said.
Speaker 1: And later that night when they drafted Michael Vick a
Speaker 1: hole in one and you get your guy in the draft,
Speaker 1: all on the same day. Pretty nice day. Oh and then,
Speaker 1: by the way, a couple of months down the road,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get you killed El Mac as well. So
Speaker 1: have fun with that, have fun coming up. You know,
Speaker 1: it hasn't changed Vic's disposition. He is still a salary
Speaker 1: I made I made him laugh. I made him laugh
Speaker 1: on the coach to show a few weeks back, because
Speaker 1: you know, you get a guy, no, when you get
Speaker 1: a guy like Mac, you know, it makes even the coaches.
Speaker 1: You know, we haven't even talked about that part. Well.
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is more exciting is from the
Speaker 1: broadcast booth the other day there's a lady holding a
Speaker 1: woman holding up a signs. She turned around and showed
Speaker 1: and said, thank you raiders. I think. I think it
Speaker 1: was funny because I mean, of all the different numbers
Speaker 1: in the great bare history, seeing all the jerseys, then
Speaker 1: that she's got to think. I'm still they doubted I
Speaker 1: got to touch. I heard a story from an insider
Speaker 1: in the NFL world, and it's a I really believe
Speaker 1: it because this guy's been in the NFL forever. He
Speaker 1: told me that Mark Davis did not have the cash
Speaker 1: to be able to pay for that deal because they
Speaker 1: had people pull out of the stadium deal. That they
Speaker 1: do have a financial issue over right, And I'm surprised,
Speaker 1: you know, having Brutons getting all the heat for it.
Speaker 1: Someone call from the West Coast and telling you the
Speaker 1: reason behind it. But again it's Khalil Mack is the story.
Speaker 1: But lack of funding for the Raiders. I think he's
Speaker 1: really going to enjoy this place too. I think he's
Speaker 1: already having a great deal of fun. It is weird
Speaker 1: being plopped into a team as it gets ready for
Speaker 1: the regular season. You don't know anybody. You've been in
Speaker 1: one place your whole career. You've lived it obviously too.
Speaker 1: But and Tom did too when he went down to Miami.
Speaker 1: How does it? How does that feel? When you parachuted
Speaker 1: into a team, good batter otherwise in a locked room
Speaker 1: that you know, you don't know anybody. You may know
Speaker 1: some acquaintances. Well, I mean he Max the man though, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's kind of stay in Chicago loves him. So yeah,
Speaker 1: he understood. But what's it like. It's it's different, It's different.
Speaker 1: I remember when I went to Cleveland, m I flew down,
Speaker 1: met the team down at Tampa, and on the way back,
Speaker 1: even getting on the airplane, it's like, everybody have those
Speaker 1: regular seats and it's like, oh, you know, where do
Speaker 1: you sit? You know what to take anybody's seats. So
Speaker 1: it's it's there's a little adjustment. It was different for
Speaker 1: me in Miami. Senior already got the first choice of everything,
Speaker 1: and so I was the second player, a second oldest
Speaker 1: player on the team, next to Marino. And so Dan
Speaker 1: pointed out, he goes, look, he gets iriorady, and even
Speaker 1: you're a newbie from taping tables two seats. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: no one we were losers. Dan ran the show. He
Speaker 1: ran the show there so, but he also gave respect
Speaker 1: to the guys that have already paid there too. You know,
Speaker 1: the only guy that ever similar to Clail Mack and
Speaker 1: our career has been Reggie White when he went to
Speaker 1: when he went to Green Bay, Because here's a guy that,
Speaker 1: no matter what they had on the team, he came
Speaker 1: in as the elder statesman, superstar, most productive guy, most
Speaker 1: important guy in your locker room. Day one. That's time there,
Speaker 1: Jay Hilgenberg, Jeff Joniac. We will continue after this break
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Thank you
Speaker 1: to Jay Hilgenbert for joining us today. Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: Ruth's Chris would like to have this. Have you have
Speaker 1: this one hundred dollars gift card to enjoy one of
Speaker 1: their Chicago That Area steakhouses, Ruth's Chris. This is how
Speaker 1: it's done. So Jay, here you go, and we expect
Speaker 1: you to take us to dinner. Has he taken us
Speaker 1: to dinner? No, I don't ever taken dinner. I've been
Speaker 1: I've been to the seafood place with you guys, But
Speaker 1: I don't think he picked up the tab. You know,
Speaker 1: the night before the night before the Super Bowl. I
Speaker 1: think it was the night before, two nights before I
Speaker 1: was eating and Ruth Chris had started in New Orleans,
Speaker 1: and so I was there with my old college girlfriend
Speaker 1: and the waitress took her order and I said, Okay,
Speaker 1: I want a porterhouse for two, and then she left
Speaker 1: because she said I was ordered for both of us,
Speaker 1: and I go, that's just for me and all the
Speaker 1: other sides and everything. So haven't gone there and eating
Speaker 1: the stuff. You know, Tom and I, uh, we're we've
Speaker 1: been on the silver screen. You have you know, you
Speaker 1: know about this story Nebraska, the Moving Nebraska. No, yeah,
Speaker 1: the Moving Nebraska came out. It did get nominated for
Speaker 1: an Academy Award, and everybody kept saying, hey, got Best
Speaker 1: Supporting Actress that year. You know, hey, you guys are
Speaker 1: on that Western sports movie. What is it you guys
Speaker 1: about the old guy? You guys going It's about a
Speaker 1: guy that's kind of losing his mind and he thought
Speaker 1: that he won the ten million dollars sweep Steaks Steak,
Speaker 1: but but they send that to everybody. He was going
Speaker 1: to get his money somehow, someway. Anyway, the long story
Speaker 1: boring is that at one point in the movie and
Speaker 1: I almost fell over when I I didn't believe anybody,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, you hear our broadcast and
Speaker 1: we're talking and they're not showing it. It's against the
Speaker 1: Lions and Devin Aroma Shadu caught a touchdown from Jay
Speaker 1: Cutler and I'm going bananas, and then he's got to
Speaker 1: read for Ruth Chris Steakhouse in there. Wait, so I'm waiting.
Speaker 1: I'm waiting. Now I'm looking for the I just I'm
Speaker 1: watching those credits come after the movie. Not a lick, nothing,
Speaker 1: no mention of us at all. And I forgot the
Speaker 1: lead actor in that movie. But he's from the Chicago
Speaker 1: are there are many Laura Dern's dad, Yeah, Bruce Dern. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So then so the Super Bowls in New York that year,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, I get a pr flat caused, man, hey,
Speaker 1: would you like the interview Bruce Dern. He's gonna, he's
Speaker 1: gonna you know, he's a New York Giants fan or
Speaker 1: I don't know what it was, but you know he's
Speaker 1: in New York. I go, yeah, I'd like to ask
Speaker 1: him a couple questions. I'd like to ask him. Where
Speaker 1: was the permission for Tom and I and the Bear
Speaker 1: WBBM to get the credits in the movie for Nebraska? Nope? Nothing,
Speaker 1: never heard back. If that's not a George Costanza where
Speaker 1: he's gonna go out and seek out da exactly right.
Speaker 1: That that is a total who's this guy? Right? Right?
Speaker 1: Right right right? Okay, Well it was a good movie,
Speaker 1: though it made me laugh. Back to the matter at hand.
Speaker 1: Here on Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy,
Speaker 1: with Tom There and Jay Hikmer, this what happens when
Speaker 1: you're with close friends, you know you, you forget where
Speaker 1: you are a little bit. We're just having a football
Speaker 1: conversation and this is what it's like being with you guys.
Speaker 1: And it's been that way for my twenty two years
Speaker 1: with you guys, and Jay when you came aboard in
Speaker 1: two thousand and one. Is that this is the stories.
Speaker 1: The stories are endless. When you guys talk about your
Speaker 1: football careers, it's just not the eighty five Bears, that's easy,
Speaker 1: but it goes deeper than that. You guys are always
Speaker 1: talking about your your days and from youth football on up.
Speaker 1: So in the end, as I now turn this a
Speaker 1: little bit, what and who was the most significant impactful
Speaker 1: football person in your lives? I'm gonna start with you,
Speaker 1: because Jay, you got the Hilgenberg family is a great note,
Speaker 1: But out of that Hilgenberg family, you gotta pick one.
Speaker 1: You cannot say everyone. Who's the one that got you
Speaker 1: mentally and physically and spiritually ready to play the game
Speaker 1: of football at any level of your professional And it
Speaker 1: can't be any amateur. Oh, it can be a family.
Speaker 1: Who is it? Who is it? There's got to be
Speaker 1: the one who is the one? Well and for you,
Speaker 1: I know that's difficult if you need to think about it,
Speaker 1: but you're about to pick one. No, Hey, my my
Speaker 1: dad was you know, first team All American center in
Speaker 1: nineteen UM fifty three. He's eighty seven years old now.
Speaker 1: My uncle played sixteen years in the NFL, started four
Speaker 1: Super Bowls. My older brother was All Big ten, two
Speaker 1: time captain of Iowa football team. My younger brother played
Speaker 1: ten years in the NFL. So I mean it's tough. Well,
Speaker 1: I think the one story that I remember but is
Speaker 1: I was a sophomore in high school went down to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl in New Orleans. It was the Vikings
Speaker 1: versus the Steelers and went to the hotel and Wally
Speaker 1: Wally Hilgenberg. My uncle was not in his room, and
Speaker 1: I went knocking on the door and his roommate was
Speaker 1: Alan Page. I was a sophomore in high school and
Speaker 1: I sat there and talked to Alan for about a
Speaker 1: half an hour waiting for Wally to show up, and
Speaker 1: he never came up. And then my rookie year as
Speaker 1: an undrafted free agent coming here to the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: was Alan Page last year and that's who I practiced
Speaker 1: against them every single day my rookie year, and he
Speaker 1: worked with me. He made me get my stance. He goes,
Speaker 1: I don't want to read if it's a run or
Speaker 1: a pass. And he told me, he goes here, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do this to your hands so you can't get
Speaker 1: a hold of my inside of my chest. And so
Speaker 1: I mean he worked with me. Nuts. Okay, that's a
Speaker 1: great story. Alan Page is the most respected man, one
Speaker 1: of the most respected men inside or outside of football.
Speaker 1: Who is it for you? It's gotta be just one Well,
Speaker 1: if you know, for me, it was when they I
Speaker 1: wasn't surrounded by sports and football like Jay was. And
Speaker 1: the more you hear the stories, the more unbelievable it is,
Speaker 1: especially because we're surrounded by football. But there was a
Speaker 1: guy in Joliet that was starting the pop Warner Division
Speaker 1: in Joliet, and his name was Rocky Carnegie, and he
Speaker 1: came over to our house knowing that we had two
Speaker 1: sons in the family, my brother being the older brother.
Speaker 1: And when they started that Pop Warner that's what got
Speaker 1: us introduced to football. But then they my brother took
Speaker 1: a snapshot for the newspaper, him and a guy named
Speaker 1: Teddy Mattchak. Teddy was the quarterback and Rick was the center,
Speaker 1: and they took a picture saying we're starting a Pop
Speaker 1: Warner football league over at Pershing Grade School. And it
Speaker 1: was his introduction. But then it's my mom, because my
Speaker 1: mom drove me to practice every day, and I always
Speaker 1: tell the story that my first two years of practice,
Speaker 1: I cried every day every day on the way to
Speaker 1: practice because that's such a baby. And she would say,
Speaker 1: you'll stop crying when you see her friends, You'll stop.
Speaker 1: And that's the way. If it wasn't for her perseverance,
Speaker 1: I would have been, you know, sitting my mom and
Speaker 1: dad's basement. No. I started crying that because it finally
Speaker 1: paid off. But again, you know, it's different because you
Speaker 1: hear the stories from you. Jay was telling the story
Speaker 1: about once how um Howard Cosell was walking to the
Speaker 1: hotel to do an interview and Wally threw a garbage
Speaker 1: can of water on him. Same super Bowl Yeah, same,
Speaker 1: So yeah what Wally loved. He loved that story. Um yeah,
Speaker 1: dumped that. He was like just to be a smart act.
Speaker 1: It was their distaste for Howard combination, all about all about. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Wally used to say, the two paced slip down over
Speaker 1: his head and and and Howard cose Hill has really
Speaker 1: pissed him, and it just goes, how do you expect
Speaker 1: to ever win a Super Bowl when you act like this?
Speaker 1: That's the thing about it is, you know, because we
Speaker 1: what we know a football is because from our time
Speaker 1: in football until now, when you hear Jay's history in football,
Speaker 1: you hear names. He showed me an autograph book once
Speaker 1: of the players he met in his lifetime, and it's
Speaker 1: it's the most impressive display of professionals, yes, of autographs
Speaker 1: of the history of the game you'll ever see. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean as a kid, I used to write into
Speaker 1: like all the NFL teams and asks you know for
Speaker 1: like you, Oh yeah, you wrote to them autographs and pictures. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're one of those kids. Interesting, So I still I
Speaker 1: have all the pictures and all the autographs and every Really,
Speaker 1: what's the most significant one you ever got? Oh? I
Speaker 1: don't know what's the one We looked at the forgetting me.
Speaker 1: The defensive back coach that still coaching, the old coach
Speaker 1: that played for the line Tom More No, no, oh
Speaker 1: um um Dick, not his players picture but Tom Moore. Um.
Speaker 1: Actually Tom Moore story. They honored the nineteen fifty eight
Speaker 1: Iowa Rolls Bowl team last weekend in Iowa City and
Speaker 1: my dad was coach coach on that team and Tom
Speaker 1: Moore was there also. And last year when we played Arizona,
Speaker 1: I went and sat on the bench with Tom Moore,
Speaker 1: introduced myself through the Hilgenbergs and he goes, sit down here.
Speaker 1: I mean those are in Valbue. And you get the opportunity. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you get to the stadium early, so you can run
Speaker 1: into a lot of folks. Your one degree of separation
Speaker 1: from just about everybody in the National Football League or USFL,
Speaker 1: certainly among coaches. And how gratifying is it to this
Speaker 1: day to be able to just sit and talk football
Speaker 1: with the guys who coached and played the game. Well,
Speaker 1: you guys, you know it's neat for me is just
Speaker 1: real quick. This past weekend in Tampa Bay, they had
Speaker 1: a guy, Jack Sitchy. I played with his dad in
Speaker 1: Notre Dame. So I went and sought him out through Bobby,
Speaker 1: through the trainer in Tampa because I just wanted to
Speaker 1: meet him. I just wanted to do some and tell
Speaker 1: him about the impact his dad had on me. His
Speaker 1: dad recruited me at Notre Dame and he's one of
Speaker 1: the reasons I went there. And I just said, to
Speaker 1: you know, congratulate your dad. Your dad was a heck
Speaker 1: of a football player, because I don't know how many
Speaker 1: people tell him that his dad was. That's great because
Speaker 1: Tom Moore came up to me and said that to
Speaker 1: me years ago. How my how my father helped him
Speaker 1: so much his freshman year at Iowa. So that's one
Speaker 1: of the legendary offensive line coaches in the NFL history.
Speaker 1: No Tom Moore, the Joe Moore, Tom Moore more, the
Speaker 1: the white haired off Yeah yeah, okay, okay, okay, okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's iowahaw guy. Yeah what did he play? He was
Speaker 1: a quarterback I believe at Iowa. Very good. Athan's great
Speaker 1: history with all you guys, sobelieve it's a lot of
Speaker 1: years of conversation and experience, that's for certain. All Right,
Speaker 1: one more segment with Jay Hilgenberg and Tim There along
Speaker 1: with Paus Ranker engineering Dan Bally, our producer. This is
Speaker 1: Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Hey,
Speaker 1: thanks for listening, everybody. That's our final segment tonight on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access presented by IGS Energy with Tom There
Speaker 1: and Jay Hugenberg. I'm Jeff Joniak Bears three and one
Speaker 1: of the bye week, and we can start looking now
Speaker 1: at some detail on where we'd like to see things
Speaker 1: go now from this point the season, As Jay said,
Speaker 1: it's a quick twelve games. It won't feel that way.
Speaker 1: And to me, things don't really get going. And most
Speaker 1: coaches will tell you the season really begins after Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: So let's get the Thanksgiving. Let's get the Thanksgiving. How
Speaker 1: do they get the Thanksgiving to be relevant? And how
Speaker 1: does this translate into wins here in this stretching games
Speaker 1: coming up? I mean, I think they got to be
Speaker 1: mentally prepared as soon as they get back, because as
Speaker 1: much as you kind of thought about this bye week
Speaker 1: early in the regular season. Oh, let's just get there now, Jeff.
Speaker 1: You got no more bye week, you got no more
Speaker 1: open windows, you got noons starts up and down the line.
Speaker 1: You got a Thursday game on Thanksgiving. You could be
Speaker 1: there's a good chance that you're gonna be a good
Speaker 1: enough team at the end of the season. You possibly
Speaker 1: could get one flex. So now you got to say
Speaker 1: versatile in those terms. But this isn't something that you
Speaker 1: can say, Okay, we'll take a game to warm up.
Speaker 1: You got you gotta be rock and roll ready when
Speaker 1: you go to Miami, right, Yeah, we're familiar with Adam
Speaker 1: Gais here in Chicago. He's gonna have a He's gonna
Speaker 1: try to run the ball and be physical, play it
Speaker 1: tight to the vest, and have it to keep it
Speaker 1: close to down to the fourth quarter. And I don't
Speaker 1: I know time you talked about last week at the
Speaker 1: end of the game about possibly the heat down in Miami.
Speaker 1: You played your last year down there, so that could
Speaker 1: be something that that um could really hit this team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: at the noon start, one o'clock start in the East Coast, Well,
Speaker 1: you think of one are the most taxable positions out there,
Speaker 1: so it'll be the offensive line, It'll be the four
Speaker 1: defensive backs, five defensive backs because they play so many five,
Speaker 1: four and five wide receiver sets in the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: Those are the guys that are guaranteed to be in
Speaker 1: there every single play, right, and it can be it
Speaker 1: can have it a toll on those and and that
Speaker 1: heat can be a factor. I know what I know
Speaker 1: what I know because you bring it up almost any
Speaker 1: time the schedule comes out. Okay, I'm worried about tamp
Speaker 1: I'm worried about Miami. You're about what you do. I think,
Speaker 1: what what's hot for you? Uh, what's what's hot for me? Is?
Speaker 1: I mean if you got blazing sun that's in the eighties,
Speaker 1: and you what colored jerseys do they wear that Miami?
Speaker 1: And so if you're going down there and you're in
Speaker 1: blue jerseys, you got on a blue helmet and that
Speaker 1: that all that heat has started to absorb, and then
Speaker 1: the pads you're wearing. I remember Jay, I stood up
Speaker 1: once at halftime either tamper Miami, and Jay says, I've
Speaker 1: never seen a person's sweat as much as you. And
Speaker 1: then I stood up and there's actual puddle underneath me
Speaker 1: inside my check. I've never seen a guy, but that's him.
Speaker 1: I've never seen a guy sweat, right, I've never seen
Speaker 1: a guy have to change their shoes at halftime. Shoes
Speaker 1: the shoes, the shoes were what and you could actually
Speaker 1: you could seem right coming on. So I do I
Speaker 1: think about the heat, and you know, Jay doesn't sweat,
Speaker 1: so it didn't know it's probably you know, maybe that's
Speaker 1: the reason they gave James Daniels a few reps this
Speaker 1: past weekend too, for the offensive line to get him
Speaker 1: in the game down at Miami. What'd you see? I
Speaker 1: like what I've seen out of James since he's got here.
Speaker 1: You know, he kind of took that first week to
Speaker 1: get acclimated to the speed of interior offense and defensive
Speaker 1: line play, and then he started showing signs of versatility.
Speaker 1: I think he's a well schooled center and he's got
Speaker 1: the ability and the body size to play guard. I
Speaker 1: think he's got an incredible upside in front of him,
Speaker 1: and I think you kind of give the luxury to
Speaker 1: the Bears that look, if anybody else is a can
Speaker 1: transfer to a different position and make us stronger and
Speaker 1: put James where he's the most comfortable and confident I
Speaker 1: think they have that luxury. I think you know Harry
Speaker 1: Heastad again, it's almost like Chris Tabor and this whole
Speaker 1: coaching staff. It's an excellent coaching staff. We're familiar with
Speaker 1: Harry here. And James is a good player. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be needed this season. I mean, the five guys in
Speaker 1: there that are starting, I think you're doing a great
Speaker 1: job so far. And it's just the one thing I
Speaker 1: think they need to work on and to look at,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure they will somehow. Let's get Jordan Howard
Speaker 1: going a little bit better, and that's Tom's big thing too,
Speaker 1: and he will be needed. He will be needed on
Speaker 1: the weather turns. He'll be needed period. I mean, if
Speaker 1: this team is going to continue to have the defense
Speaker 1: play like it's it has been in a dominant way
Speaker 1: and your offense is getting a job done, you're gonna
Speaker 1: you're gonna need different elements of the of the running
Speaker 1: game to at different stages of the game to become
Speaker 1: a factor. Right if It's gonna be interesting, because if
Speaker 1: Mitchell continues to have big games like this, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be easy to get Jordan Howard going. But Jordan Howard,
Speaker 1: if they if he can get going like this early
Speaker 1: in the game. Jordan Howard's a type of guy they'll
Speaker 1: be at the end of or the middle of the
Speaker 1: third quarter to the fourth quarter. He could take over
Speaker 1: the game. And then also, now you're creating fatigue against
Speaker 1: your opponent rather than being tired out yourself, which it
Speaker 1: seemed like that that was the kind of the game
Speaker 1: plan it looked like this past week because treat Colon
Speaker 1: had so many reps in that first half and so hey,
Speaker 1: it worked well. Yeah, big runs and big catches by
Speaker 1: Cohen and uh, you know you're looking back. Yeah, explosives explosives,
Speaker 1: spears had tens. What's explosive? Is it twenty? Some say
Speaker 1: twenty five twenty. They keep stats down to twenty, you
Speaker 1: know at the staff book that they always put out
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. I always, man, those
Speaker 1: things were impressive at this path. Yeah, you know, I
Speaker 1: thought it was also impressive. We haven't talked about it enough,
Speaker 1: given no prince of Mukamara and having a rookie in
Speaker 1: there in Tolliver, and you got you know, packages with
Speaker 1: Sherrick and Bryce Callahan has been playing very well off
Speaker 1: the nickel. If we could just stay healthy he's really
Speaker 1: elevating his game, sending the tone a little bit. Take
Speaker 1: two weeks in a row behind the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: If you go back and you look at the very
Speaker 1: first play of the game by Bryce Callahan. So they're
Speaker 1: gonna run a quick screen to the left hand side
Speaker 1: of the offense, so they got um Evans is supposed
Speaker 1: to go out and block him, and he gets a
Speaker 1: lazy stance and now Bryce beats him off field. Now
Speaker 1: they're sending the left tackle out who's blocked first force,
Speaker 1: which would be Callahan. Callahan gets so fast so by
Speaker 1: him quickly that the offensive lineman can't block Mels is
Speaker 1: going to be illegal. Evans misses him and he makes
Speaker 1: a tackle for no gain. It's an incredible play of
Speaker 1: just being able to anticipate and follow through by Bryce Callahan.
Speaker 1: What I was impressed with was the tackling because you
Speaker 1: couldn't get beat deep, right. You know, it's very easy
Speaker 1: to get beat deep by Tampa because of the variety
Speaker 1: of weapons and so forth. But the pressure was good.
Speaker 1: And then you marry that with yeah, okay, if they're
Speaker 1: gonna catch it in front of you, put him down,
Speaker 1: and everybody was put down The longest play was the
Speaker 1: DeShawn Jackson forty eight yard or on that crossing route
Speaker 1: down that. You know, it was a deep ball from Fits,
Speaker 1: but the tackling was superb. Right. No, I come in
Speaker 1: on the post game. How physical that those defensive backs
Speaker 1: are this year, I've been mentioning almost every coach on
Speaker 1: the staff ed Don Hotell is doing a great job
Speaker 1: back there. Yes, he's an outstanding secondary coach. He doesn't
Speaker 1: mince words with the guys, right, he's very thorough. I
Speaker 1: mean we talk about it too. He has the teaching
Speaker 1: has been great. Yeah, he has a lot of questions
Speaker 1: on the golf course, so he's always asking me which way,
Speaker 1: which way the green breaks? You gonna go? Which thing
Speaker 1: of the Ryder Cup? You know, I'm not a big
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup guy. It's just because they're these guys attitude
Speaker 1: and everything that they change that. You know, they're jumping around,
Speaker 1: cheering and raw raw raw. You know when they're out
Speaker 1: there playing professionally, why don't they if that works better,
Speaker 1: why don't they have the same attitude? That's interesting. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's us against the world, though, Jay, shouldn't that means something? Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: a little bit. No, no, it always is. All right. Well,
Speaker 1: we appreciate your time, Jake, coming out of this by
Speaker 1: a week. We enjoyed the storytelling, that's for sure, and
Speaker 1: U probed you a little bit, but we we love
Speaker 1: having you. You can hear Jay Higgenberg on WBBM pregame
Speaker 1: and post game. He've been doing a long time now
Speaker 1: with Jim Schwantz and Ron Gleason. You guys are a
Speaker 1: good trio. And uh, we get out of the way
Speaker 1: for you guys for a little bit in the pre
Speaker 1: and post game, and you guys have a good time.
Speaker 1: Tom Hey, final thoughts, Well, go on to Miami. You
Speaker 1: know the Bears has got to keep this rolling. I
Speaker 1: know there's a big, you know, big open window here,
Speaker 1: but oh, I and Tom should pick out the restaurant
Speaker 1: down Miami. Is an old team down there, seven minutes
Speaker 1: from the hotel. All right, that's gonna wrap us up
Speaker 1: four top there and Jay Hilgenberg, I'm Jeff Johnny Act.
Speaker 1: Thanks pause ranked Dan Burrelli and his staff at six
Speaker 1: seventy to score. Have a great night, Bears. Dulphin's coming
Speaker 1: up after next week. They'll get back to practice on Monday.
Speaker 1: Go Bears. Here in three and one and Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Thanks
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