Speaker 1: Hike and everybody and welcome into PNC Studios at hat
Speaker 1: Us Off for this week's edition of Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: It is brought to you by IGS Energy, Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: and a broadcast partner from news radio seven eighty and
Speaker 1: one oh five point NFWBBM mister Tom Fair Alumni Weekend. Tom.
Speaker 1: There's apparently a record number of alumni coming to the game.
Speaker 1: And by the way, we're going to be joined here
Speaker 1: by Nick Williams. He'll be coming up at just a
Speaker 1: short while from now. The Bears defensive lineman making an
Speaker 1: impact and we'll need to on Sunday against the Vikings.
Speaker 1: But at the bounce from the one hundred I think
Speaker 1: I think one hundred and thirty five alumni got to
Speaker 1: show up at the alumni dinner on Saturday, and they're
Speaker 1: all welcome to attend the game, and there's almost four
Speaker 1: hundred family and friends going to be there from these guys.
Speaker 1: So I think there's lingering impact from that hundred year
Speaker 1: celebration that we had during the middle of the summertime,
Speaker 1: and I think it's lingered a little bit with the
Speaker 1: modern day players and lingered with the alumni for sure.
Speaker 1: It was exciting to have an alumni outing after that event,
Speaker 1: and we had a record number show up, and again,
Speaker 1: you know, it's about being proud to be an a
Speaker 1: the Bears, and I think that's the key ingredient here.
Speaker 1: And when you see the special within the last couple
Speaker 1: weeks of Missus McCaskey and the three other heads of
Speaker 1: state in the NFL, it's another impressive portion of why
Speaker 1: you're proud to be an alumni here. Do you think
Speaker 1: the gathering at the one hundreds sparked in some of
Speaker 1: these guys that, you know what, I have this personal
Speaker 1: love affair with this football team because I poured my
Speaker 1: heart into it as a player, and now I'm really
Speaker 1: respecting what ther organization has done, what they're doing, how
Speaker 1: they've always been reaching out. Maybe I need to be
Speaker 1: a part of this a little more. I think it's
Speaker 1: the combination. There's a lot of quality people within the organization,
Speaker 1: both of the supporting staff and the players that you
Speaker 1: got to play with that you've really taken interest in
Speaker 1: their life and you create a friendship that's longer than
Speaker 1: just the time of period you played with the Bears.
Speaker 1: And when you get a chance to maybe come back
Speaker 1: and reintroduce to a moment even the guys that we
Speaker 1: have a chance to see that we broadcast careers and
Speaker 1: now you have a chance to socially talk to them
Speaker 1: a little bit easier because it's not pregame, it's not
Speaker 1: post game, it's not losing or winning. It's just about
Speaker 1: you know, family and how have you, how are you
Speaker 1: moving on and what it's taken place in your life now. Well,
Speaker 1: it's a perfect matchup because I have a feeling this
Speaker 1: is gonna be like the old NFC Central you played
Speaker 1: in Tom Black and Blue. Ball up your fist, put
Speaker 1: on your big boy pads kind of game. The weather's
Speaker 1: expected to be a little rainy. These teams, you know,
Speaker 1: the Vikings are clearly one of the best run teams
Speaker 1: in the league right now. Offensively, they'd like to stop
Speaker 1: the run. Bears are outstanding and stop on the run.
Speaker 1: They'd like to run the ball a little more. Do
Speaker 1: you get the sense that's going to be the case today?
Speaker 1: I do. I think it's gonna be like the old
Speaker 1: style game. You're talking about grass stains on the front
Speaker 1: of your uniform and on the back of your uniform.
Speaker 1: The cleat cleaners out there when they go for timeouts
Speaker 1: and putting a little extra air in your helmet, making
Speaker 1: sure you got your mouth guard. And but you know,
Speaker 1: the stadium of the Chicago Bears is taken on a
Speaker 1: different reputation than maybe just as much as a year ago,
Speaker 1: because I don't think team's really worried about coming in
Speaker 1: here in the noise effect of soldier fieldings have over
Speaker 1: the years, they've had a wealth time here, Yeah they have,
Speaker 1: but I think the last year it's taken on a
Speaker 1: whole different monster attitude. So now when teams come here
Speaker 1: and they talk about their ability to communicate on the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, there is real concern for it because
Speaker 1: how much the crowd has been inserting themselves. We have
Speaker 1: concern about that when the Bears go play the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings inside that terrarium, when they come to this outdoor
Speaker 1: stadium and you have a natural grass field and it's
Speaker 1: different to the specialists there because they just don't play
Speaker 1: outdoors that much. I do think that the Bear Stadium
Speaker 1: is a different weapon than it's been in the black.
Speaker 1: How can they work this place and no friends who
Speaker 1: like they did at the Thursday night I opened our
Speaker 1: first three series. It was deafening. The defense was feeding
Speaker 1: off it. They were ferocious, getting after Aaron Rodgers and
Speaker 1: the Packers, and then a couple of big place took
Speaker 1: the air out of the balloon. They lost it. How
Speaker 1: can they keep it in this game against the Vikings
Speaker 1: and start with that same kind of venom. If a
Speaker 1: big play does happen to them, then keep up the
Speaker 1: aggressiveness and the ferociousness that they did early in the game,
Speaker 1: because yeah, they're every quarterback in the league is going
Speaker 1: to have a big play against you. But how do
Speaker 1: you react to that? And I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the keys here is how can the defense rebound from,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe being exposed to a big play. But
Speaker 1: I also think this is an entirely different defense than
Speaker 1: the first time the Bears fans saw him at home.
Speaker 1: I think playing against the Green Bay Packers here, going
Speaker 1: on into the road twice, being able to develop more
Speaker 1: continuity between the first line of defense and the second line,
Speaker 1: and how they support each other, how the inside linebackers
Speaker 1: are playing, how learning about buster screen. He's as Clinton
Speaker 1: Dix for that matter. Yeah, they they put put it
Speaker 1: out there. We'd like three takeaways last week, so they
Speaker 1: got five so maybe they're gonna keep dangling that bait
Speaker 1: that that was from the coaching staff. They challenge these
Speaker 1: guys from matt On down to start taking the ball away.
Speaker 1: You know. Frankly, you get a few of those against
Speaker 1: the Vikings, that would be outstanding. He's only thrown two interceptions,
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins only been sacked twice, but they fumbled a
Speaker 1: lot most fumbles in the league. They only lost two
Speaker 1: of them, but they fumbled eight times in the first
Speaker 1: three games. Is that inviting? It's gotta be, you know,
Speaker 1: because there's two fumbles that I can remember right now
Speaker 1: over the course of this early season, one by Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers and one by case Keenom last week. Both of
Speaker 1: the times the quarterback fumbled, but the ball fell right
Speaker 1: in front of them and they are able to drop
Speaker 1: on it. So I mean, there's a couple of opportunities
Speaker 1: that you have to create, and I think the Bears
Speaker 1: can do it because they can be disruptive at the
Speaker 1: point of the handoff, and that's you know, when you
Speaker 1: get a keym on a one on one, or you
Speaker 1: get a big push by Roy robertson Harris up, they
Speaker 1: can be disruptive and that is critical with Dovin Cook
Speaker 1: and now Bears did an unbelievable job against him last
Speaker 1: year twenty one for fifty. If you come out of
Speaker 1: the game at twenty one for fifty, you're winning. You're
Speaker 1: winning the game. But in order to do that, you
Speaker 1: can't let he hits it hard all the time. So
Speaker 1: but you make him stop or you get that penetration
Speaker 1: with the guys up front, and we don't know if
Speaker 1: a team's gonna play, it'll be game time decision, it'll
Speaker 1: be it's a huge piece obviously that puzzle. But if
Speaker 1: they get the penetration, you can get him to stop
Speaker 1: his feet and he doesn't have that kind of gear
Speaker 1: to get it up and going right away again, that
Speaker 1: would be to me the most critical thing at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Yeah, you know, as too as the
Speaker 1: responsibility of the Bears defensive lineman. If so Cline the
Speaker 1: guard is out, he's already on the injury port. They
Speaker 1: have a rookie center. The coded Dozier is the right guarden,
Speaker 1: right and they have a rookie center. So now right
Speaker 1: there spot of vulnerability. Now if the defensive lineman, if
Speaker 1: they can go up and do their job, better than
Speaker 1: anybody else. And that's what I mean. Occupying too offensive
Speaker 1: lineman at the line of scrimmage and don't get pushed off.
Speaker 1: I mentioned a little while ago about Danny Trevathan and
Speaker 1: Roquan Smith. They can run as well as anybody. They
Speaker 1: can tackle in the open field as well as anybody.
Speaker 1: So that defensive line can set that standard for those
Speaker 1: linebackers and allow him to run and be you know, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, heavy contact against m Dalvin Cook at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Now I do they immediately have the
Speaker 1: benefit of play action because of COO performance in the
Speaker 1: first three weeks, because that's their game. It's a Gary
Speaker 1: Kubiak influence. He is now the advisor offensively to this team,
Speaker 1: and it's his marks and his handprints are all over it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: how can you not, Because if you're going to go
Speaker 1: up to the line of scrimmage and Dalvin Cook is
Speaker 1: in the backfield and the quarterback is either directly behind
Speaker 1: the center on a shotgun position, everything's going to flow
Speaker 1: through the running back and then you got to read
Speaker 1: to the quarterback quickly. But a lot of times that read,
Speaker 1: that read is being done by the defensive lineman and
Speaker 1: how they're being blocked. They can read run pass immediately
Speaker 1: and then they're that changes their approach and just like
Speaker 1: the back end of the defense, they're gonna be reading
Speaker 1: everything through the offensive line to the head of the quarterback,
Speaker 1: to the running back. Conversely, the Vikings are good at
Speaker 1: stop on the run, but they're good at everything. It's
Speaker 1: a four to three and the two ends. Once they
Speaker 1: get you in third and long, and they've been very
Speaker 1: good at getting teams in that. They like to just
Speaker 1: let them loose and they are two of the best.
Speaker 1: And Neil Hunter and Everson Griffin when they're on, they're on.
Speaker 1: They've already combined for five sacks and a bunch of
Speaker 1: hits on the quarterback, a ton of pressures. You know,
Speaker 1: these are challenge guys. So how do you mute that
Speaker 1: a little bit? Well, how you mute that? You mute
Speaker 1: them with a good run game, maybe the screen game,
Speaker 1: and you know, getting some big chunks. So right there,
Speaker 1: you gave me a five minute description of what the
Speaker 1: defensive ends do well for the Minnesota Vikings and I
Speaker 1: and I agree with you, But what am I never
Speaker 1: gonna let them do? I'm never gonna let them do
Speaker 1: what they do well. So if I'm going to run
Speaker 1: the ball, it's going to be directly at them with force,
Speaker 1: with trapping, with cutting, from h backs, from tight ends
Speaker 1: to offensive linemen, from you know, to whoever can block
Speaker 1: these guys. And that's just that's the key is there
Speaker 1: is you never want to let those guys, you know, feel,
Speaker 1: you know, feel the covert zone where they're only doing
Speaker 1: what they're they really want to do and what they're
Speaker 1: good at. All Right, we got a lot more to
Speaker 1: discuss about this matchup. It's one of the intriguing ones
Speaker 1: in the National Football League here in Week four, a
Speaker 1: critical game when you think about it for the Bears,
Speaker 1: and it's been talked about by Matteggie will tell you
Speaker 1: about his approach when we come back, and coming up
Speaker 1: of the program, Nick Williams, the Bears defensive lineman, to
Speaker 1: join us as well. We're brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy with Paul's Oranger engineer and Dan Brilly our producer
Speaker 1: for Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniak, and this is Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome back to Bears
Speaker 1: All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy, a proud
Speaker 1: partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, and
Speaker 1: home warranty products to over one million customers across the country.
Speaker 1: Learn more about IGS Energy at igs dot com. Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniak Tom there with you from PNC Studios here at
Speaker 1: Hollis all getting ready for the vikings. And it was
Speaker 1: a little bit out of character time, I thought with
Speaker 1: Matt Neggee because Tuesday morning, big game. That's not typically
Speaker 1: what he does. Because you don't want a bit too
Speaker 1: much in one game. He feathered it out over the
Speaker 1: course of the week, muted out a little bit to
Speaker 1: the players. Didn't want to bang it over the head.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is, back to training camp,
Speaker 1: the importance of division home games was pounded into their head.
Speaker 1: You already lost one, a second one would make it
Speaker 1: very challenging in terms of winning a division. Doesn't mean
Speaker 1: you can't, but it is rare. It's rare if you
Speaker 1: lose two home games. And that's the weird math of
Speaker 1: the National Football League because you say that, but I'm
Speaker 1: always one hey after Thanksgiving, knocking on December's doors, when
Speaker 1: the cream rises and the team's being to separate. That's
Speaker 1: where I always look at it. I follow the lead
Speaker 1: of Bill Belichick. That's how Tom Brady and Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: think they don't worry about all that. But but you
Speaker 1: have to. You know, every single day you walk into
Speaker 1: the building, something's gonna happen that you don't know is
Speaker 1: gonna happen, whether it's with the Bears or around the league.
Speaker 1: So last night you sat there, I know you did.
Speaker 1: You're a football fan. You sat there and you watched
Speaker 1: that Green Bay Philadelphi. Told me there was no way
Speaker 1: the Philadelphi. I thought there was no way Philadelphia had
Speaker 1: a stance because they ran. They complained so much in
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks about their injuries, about you know,
Speaker 1: getting certain people back, about not being able to go
Speaker 1: out and have practices, just having walkthroughs and stuff. But
Speaker 1: maybe they you know, maybe they solved the puzzle. However,
Speaker 1: is when you go back there and you think about
Speaker 1: everything that this game means to the future of the Bears.
Speaker 1: Then you go out there, and when you go out
Speaker 1: there and you start looking what's happened around your division,
Speaker 1: it kind of changes things a little. Time you knock
Speaker 1: out the Vikings, you're three and one time for the
Speaker 1: division lead. You're going to London to take on the Raiders,
Speaker 1: albeit not as easy as everyone makes it seem. But
Speaker 1: if you come back from London after the bye week, again,
Speaker 1: you're putting you're getting ahead of the game a little
Speaker 1: bit here, I understand, but thinking ahead, if you were
Speaker 1: to say the Bears could be in that position, say
Speaker 1: say they could get to four and one going into
Speaker 1: that game that Soldier field out of the bye week,
Speaker 1: you're thinking, Okay, we took the deep breath, we got
Speaker 1: ourselves back on center. We're still growing, we still had
Speaker 1: a lot of offensive growth to make. That would be
Speaker 1: a dream scenario, but it's also what I expected. I
Speaker 1: really thought the Bears were this good of a ball
Speaker 1: team that would be better from the beginning of the season,
Speaker 1: that would be in this position, that they would either
Speaker 1: be undefeated at this point or go into the bye
Speaker 1: week with the loss. And I really didn't think they
Speaker 1: would have a loss. I was that confident in them.
Speaker 1: But but you know, you're right, this is a division game,
Speaker 1: it's at home. I think the crowd support for the
Speaker 1: Bears is gonna be I think it was as loud
Speaker 1: as it was last year. And you know, it's as
Speaker 1: much as a lot of the Bear a lot of
Speaker 1: people were turned not turned away, or just so dissatisfied
Speaker 1: with the degree by outcome. They're able to come back
Speaker 1: because they see the team getting better. It's not like
Speaker 1: they played, you know, like they have and they're just
Speaker 1: getting worse from there. I think they've showed incremental signs
Speaker 1: of improvement each week. Let's talking about the offense because
Speaker 1: they will not have Taylor Gabriel out with a concussion
Speaker 1: after his three touchdown performance. Uh, you know, he talked
Speaker 1: a lot about becoming more of a professional in this offseason,
Speaker 1: wanting to be more of a leader and getting that
Speaker 1: action anytime there's a connection between Mitch and any of
Speaker 1: his skill position players, that's a part of that growth.
Speaker 1: Like the continuity and the chemistry needs to continue to develop,
Speaker 1: because he may he cut three touchdowns in Washington, but
Speaker 1: he is very off. He was healthy. He may not
Speaker 1: have even got a target this week, because that's how
Speaker 1: Matt Nage rolls. Don't know who he's going to be,
Speaker 1: the guy that he's going to try and create the
Speaker 1: mismatches with against the Vikings, but the next man up philosophy.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe we see Riley Ridley. I don't know, Maybe
Speaker 1: he's activated. But Javon Wimms had a very good game
Speaker 1: in that week seventeen against the Vikings and showed what
Speaker 1: he's capable of doing if he gets an Outfude. If
Speaker 1: you know, if I knew I was going to bat
Speaker 1: and who was gonna be a rod Alan Robinson, Anthony
Speaker 1: Miller and Javon Wims, those who are going to be
Speaker 1: my three widest of the widest receivers and slot receiver,
Speaker 1: I'd be okay with that. I like what Taylor has
Speaker 1: offered since he's come here to the Bears. He gives
Speaker 1: you that element of speed, He's got right, great willingness
Speaker 1: to catch it in traffic and then he high pointed
Speaker 1: that football the other day with feet concentration. It was impressive.
Speaker 1: But I do see Anthony Miller wanting to have more
Speaker 1: responsibility given to him, so it could be challenging him
Speaker 1: to be a better player. Every time Javon Wims has
Speaker 1: gotten into a game, even last year in Minnesota at
Speaker 1: the end of the season, He's played well, He's got catches,
Speaker 1: he's a big body, so and everybody knows what Alan
Speaker 1: Robinson has been doing since the beginning of the year,
Speaker 1: So I'm confident. What they're going to bring on the
Speaker 1: connection between Mitch and Alan Robinson in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field. You know, that's that's an outstanding the vision
Speaker 1: that he has and the ability to shield defenders and
Speaker 1: make plays whether it be slants or hard in cuts
Speaker 1: or post patterns, that that is something to build on.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, in the past, every you know, every throw
Speaker 1: that Mitch has, every throw to a different wide receiver.
Speaker 1: It's it's a great building experience. And when you talk
Speaker 1: about Mitch, you know, we're gonna be talking about the
Speaker 1: word building in Mitch three years from now, four years,
Speaker 1: four years from now. And that's the way quarterback careers go.
Speaker 1: And you know, I try to bring up the equation
Speaker 1: of Steve Young's career and because I was parallel with
Speaker 1: him out of BYU through the USFL when he was
Speaker 1: in Tampa Bay onto the San Francisco forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: and if you wanted to judge his career in the
Speaker 1: first two years, you would have never heard of Steve Young.
Speaker 1: Then you think about Steve Young in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh,
Speaker 1: you're talking about a Hall of Famer. Look at lu
Speaker 1: Kur Cousins. He's eighty fourty six million dollars quarterback. Right
Speaker 1: He's sewing only sixty three passes this season. If it
Speaker 1: ferrets out over the course of the year, it'll be
Speaker 1: the fewest average per game throwing the ball in the NFL.
Speaker 1: This is a quarterback that the last four years, Tom
Speaker 1: has hit that somewhat magic number that everybody wants of
Speaker 1: four thousand yards passing. He well over fourth for four
Speaker 1: consecutive years. Right now, he just throw a lot of
Speaker 1: interceptions and they're trying to keep the ball out of
Speaker 1: his hands at the moment because they love their running game.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're trying to keep it out,
Speaker 1: but they're trying to minimize, you know, mistakes. And so
Speaker 1: your job has never done as a quarter back. You're
Speaker 1: constantly evolving in they're evolving to you look at you know,
Speaker 1: you look at Jamis Winston and Marcus Mariota. How much
Speaker 1: excitement there was about them and how they were going
Speaker 1: to be this then the other thing, and they were
Speaker 1: for and then they tear it off and now you
Speaker 1: don't know. And that is the quarterback position unless you're
Speaker 1: one of the greats. Well, you know, like Matt says
Speaker 1: he's worried. He's concerned about letters, not numbers, and that's
Speaker 1: all w's and so I mean, that's what you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to do, is when you're a team and you're developing,
Speaker 1: and you have a young guy like miss Trubisky, it
Speaker 1: is about being patient with his development because you're not
Speaker 1: going to claim a success or a failure within one
Speaker 1: week's you know, even last year after the Tampa game,
Speaker 1: it wasn't like all this problem solved, you know, onto
Speaker 1: bigger and better things now. All right, Tom there, Jeff,
Speaker 1: Joni Act. This is Bears All Access and it's brought
Speaker 1: to you by Igs Energy. One thing I want to
Speaker 1: say about the Vikings offense, because yes, it is run
Speaker 1: centric at the moment, but they could flip flip the
Speaker 1: script on you and make your play left handed, as
Speaker 1: they like to say, at any moment because they do
Speaker 1: have weapons. Stefan Diggs. If you thought guy has been
Speaker 1: targeted twelve times, he's caught six balls, two for big
Speaker 1: plays for touchdowns, doesn't mean he hasn't been open. They're
Speaker 1: just not targeting him at the moment. That guy could
Speaker 1: go off at any time, limiting the big play against
Speaker 1: this team with Adam feeling this guy, and you know,
Speaker 1: they get IRF Smith Junior involved with the first time,
Speaker 1: and he is almost like their third receiver right now.
Speaker 1: He's at six two tight ends. He's not a big,
Speaker 1: thick guy an inline blocker, but can do it. This
Speaker 1: is a guy who can catch the football. So he's
Speaker 1: another guy to look out for in that play action game.
Speaker 1: And you know he's been around a long time and
Speaker 1: he's a big target and big targets are friendly to
Speaker 1: quarterbacks as Kyle Rudolph. So they got plenty to have
Speaker 1: you worry about, right I just the two interior receivers.
Speaker 1: When you talk about IRV Smith Junior and Kyle Rudolph,
Speaker 1: you're talking about losing the size matchup because I don't
Speaker 1: know if the Bears have two guys that can go
Speaker 1: up there and match up with Kyle Rudolph, who's six six.
Speaker 1: You know he's not going to be covered by Aaron Lynch.
Speaker 1: He's going to be covered by guys that have different responsibilities,
Speaker 1: just like Herb Smith, and he's a matchup nightmare. All Right,
Speaker 1: We'll talk more about the matchup between the Vikings and
Speaker 1: the Bears looking forward to its Sunday at Soldier Field.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have it for you, starting with a noon
Speaker 1: pre game and a three twenty five kickoff. Before it
Speaker 1: becomes a very interesting week, we'll delve into the London
Speaker 1: experience with Tom. I know he cannot wait to go
Speaker 1: to London to see the Bears and the Raiders. This
Speaker 1: is Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score Ay. Tomorrow's game against the Vikings is brought
Speaker 1: to you by the Bears proud partner Beggar's Pizza. Jeff
Speaker 1: Jony Act. Tom there. We'll be joined by Nick Williams,
Speaker 1: the Bears defensive lineman coming up, pauls Oranger engineer with
Speaker 1: Dan burreally helping us out as well from PNC Studios
Speaker 1: here at Hollis Hall. Brought to you by IGS Energy.
Speaker 1: So you got you get through this game, and let's
Speaker 1: just take a look at London a little bit, because
Speaker 1: you know things are gonna be rapidly moving after the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you get this. It's a weird week. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be it. You're gonna go off schedule a little bit.
Speaker 1: Everybody's used to it now in the league, has been
Speaker 1: going on for a long time. The Bears have been
Speaker 1: there once, and you're not a huge fan of it,
Speaker 1: just because of what the toll it might take on
Speaker 1: a guy as they travel six hours there and who
Speaker 1: knows how long back, because there's always this urgency to
Speaker 1: get there, but you know, now you're in foreign territory
Speaker 1: trying to get back. Remember the last time we went there,
Speaker 1: we stayed on the at the airport for quite some
Speaker 1: time waiting to take off, and it just lengthens the
Speaker 1: whole thing. It affects sleep patterns and whatever else may be.
Speaker 1: People may not think it's a big deal. I'll command
Speaker 1: it can't be that bad. Just put it in context.
Speaker 1: For a player like yourself, if you were in this position, well,
Speaker 1: you know, it's more of a business concern than it
Speaker 1: almost is a concern for the players because they want
Speaker 1: to amplify the brand and right, okay from you as
Speaker 1: a guy like you're starting right guard okay, Sunday in London,
Speaker 1: so you're gonna play the game three twenty five on Sunday.
Speaker 1: You're gonna you know, go through your postgame paces and
Speaker 1: get ready to try to put in a game plan
Speaker 1: against the team you're all familiar with. You haven't seen
Speaker 1: the Raiders in a couple of years. This group of
Speaker 1: guys that have not ever prepared for the Raiders. So
Speaker 1: now you're going to go on a short week, you're
Speaker 1: gonna leave here on Thursday. You're not going to have
Speaker 1: the normal amount of meetings and preparation to get ready
Speaker 1: for a team that you really don't know very well.
Speaker 1: So that's the one aspect of it. If you're a
Speaker 1: player and you're going in there and say something happens
Speaker 1: in the Minnesota game, then you're playing a guy or
Speaker 1: a couple of guys that don't have a great deal
Speaker 1: of experience, just like Oakland could possibly be doing that.
Speaker 1: And now that you're talking about it, kind of an
Speaker 1: interrupted approach to who, what position of these guys play,
Speaker 1: what does their importance and how does it fact around
Speaker 1: in the game planning offensive and offensively and defensively. And
Speaker 1: you've got to concern yourself with those and then just
Speaker 1: the fatigue of the travel there and the travel back.
Speaker 1: You know again, I played in London, I played in Germany,
Speaker 1: I played in Sweden, I played in Ireland. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've we've done them all. Did you like all of
Speaker 1: those excursions as a as a younger guy. First of all,
Speaker 1: the incentive and those trips as we did them during
Speaker 1: the preseason. So when we went to an international trip,
Speaker 1: yeah we didn't practice twice a day. We got to
Speaker 1: only practice once a day. So that was the big reward.
Speaker 1: So yeah, let's get out of Platteville. Let's go to
Speaker 1: whatever foreign country we were going to go into and
Speaker 1: only practice once. But now it's the regular season, it's different.
Speaker 1: The window, the hours, the time consumption, the fatigue is amplify.
Speaker 1: I just you know, you you're more aware of it.
Speaker 1: I know you have a kind of have a you're
Speaker 1: kind of a funny duddy. You know, I'm not you
Speaker 1: have a you have a bye game on the hey, listen,
Speaker 1: I know, go play, go play regular season games in Hawaii.
Speaker 1: People in the United States allowed the but let allow
Speaker 1: the budget there to get supported by the NFL. Are
Speaker 1: you gonna be in a good mood for once over there?
Speaker 1: Come on? Yeah, I'd have some fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the one thing is it isn't I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it. I think it's totally cool that we're
Speaker 1: gonna be calling a game and Tottenham Stadium brand new,
Speaker 1: no games ever been called there in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: It's just a different environment. It's it's it's cool. I
Speaker 1: like it. Well, I mean, but you don't like you
Speaker 1: have but you just don't like traveling like that either.
Speaker 1: You just you get cramped up. Yeah, you like you
Speaker 1: can't sleep, you're you know, you get well. You know,
Speaker 1: it's in football, you you get into um an itinerary
Speaker 1: week and you know whenever that you have to make adjustments.
Speaker 1: And that's with family, with tickets, with being you know,
Speaker 1: being away from home for a few days for the
Speaker 1: single guys, and how they have to make sure that
Speaker 1: everything's coordinated. Um, you know, it's just it's just weird
Speaker 1: to attach all that to a regular season game. So
Speaker 1: a really good effort against the Vikings, a real feel
Speaker 1: good victory would certainly do well and serve them well
Speaker 1: to hop on that plane and go over the over
Speaker 1: the pond, so to speak. Yeah, I mean, hey, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's got to be your biggest focus weekend
Speaker 1: in a week out, whether you're playing the Oakland Raiders
Speaker 1: of the Minnesota Vikings, because if you go there and
Speaker 1: you don't have full concentration about just taking care of
Speaker 1: the business, this weekend and you're trying to think ahead,
Speaker 1: you're just going to get yourself in trouble. So go there,
Speaker 1: be prepared to play at three twenty five on Sunday,
Speaker 1: get the job done, and yeah, you know it'll it'll
Speaker 1: it'll make you know, getting on the plane a lot
Speaker 1: easier because Bears all Access. It's brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy, Jeff and Tom with you. Nick Williams joined
Speaker 1: the program coming up the Bears defensive lineman. As the
Speaker 1: Bears prepare for what is going to be a really
Speaker 1: rugged football game. In my opinion, looking at the offensive line,
Speaker 1: Tom Matt Nag didn't need to say many words. It
Speaker 1: was very brief, Right, we expect more, They expect more.
Speaker 1: How are you analyzing the performance thus far the offensive
Speaker 1: line through three games, and how can they work in
Speaker 1: tandem to get that run game percolating it. It's not
Speaker 1: just the backs, obviously, it's it's the offensive line and
Speaker 1: the other elements of it, from the tight ends helping
Speaker 1: out to the receivers blocking downfield. Well, you know, you
Speaker 1: can't have any imperfections in the exact timing and the
Speaker 1: way each plays choreographed because they're work to such a
Speaker 1: specific everybody's got to fit in perfectly, and it's really
Speaker 1: disruptive and hard to do that when you come away
Speaker 1: from stadiums like Denver in Washington. Yeah, you played the
Speaker 1: Green Bay game. That's the first game of the year,
Speaker 1: no preseason, and you know, you just have to have
Speaker 1: better organization, better timing, better understanding of how everybody's going
Speaker 1: to work together. And then when you get examples of
Speaker 1: it on tape, you have a chance to really improve
Speaker 1: yourselves because there's a lot more to talk about. There's
Speaker 1: a lot more examples up on the screen that you
Speaker 1: can make sure things are working more perfectly. And I
Speaker 1: think the longer this offensive line plays together, I think
Speaker 1: the better they're going to become. I didn't though they
Speaker 1: were five guys that are all starting in but in
Speaker 1: different spots. Is that still take some time? The continuity
Speaker 1: of that, Yeah, every year it does, you know, because
Speaker 1: you know the Montgomery Davis they see it completely different.
Speaker 1: Now you're not only working with the choreographists of the
Speaker 1: offensive line on the tight ends. How does that running
Speaker 1: back see it? How does he interpret how those blocks
Speaker 1: are going to float to the second level? And when
Speaker 1: I see James Daniels from week one to this week.
Speaker 1: He's a much better player at the end of this
Speaker 1: Washington game than he was at the start of the
Speaker 1: Green Bay game. Then when I look at runs by
Speaker 1: David Montgomery, I see David Montgomery how he can interpret
Speaker 1: how the play is going to unfold to the second
Speaker 1: level and then the running. My favorite play was he
Speaker 1: started out the twenty five yard or that was big
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, right part of the four minute
Speaker 1: offense that you like to tweak a little bit, but
Speaker 1: you know, just going down the line, you know you
Speaker 1: want to go point of attack, but you don't want
Speaker 1: to bang your head against the wall if it's clearly
Speaker 1: not going to be there. And he's like going through
Speaker 1: the gaps. He goes to the backside what they call
Speaker 1: the A gap and boom, twenty five yards right the vision, Well,
Speaker 1: that's that's an experienced vision right there for a rookie.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, the more of a reputation the Bears
Speaker 1: get to run the ball, well, the more you're going
Speaker 1: to see eight man fronts, and so that always means
Speaker 1: there's gonna be one extra tackler according to the blocker.
Speaker 1: So if you win the point of attack, then there's
Speaker 1: no decision that the decisions being blocked for you and
Speaker 1: made for you. But if you are willing to go
Speaker 1: to that backside cutback like Montgomery did, then you're going
Speaker 1: to take on that one tackler. But you should have
Speaker 1: an advantage. It should be a defensive back, it should
Speaker 1: be a guy that's trying to occupy a lot of space.
Speaker 1: So I just think the quicker, the running back can
Speaker 1: make the decisions along with the offensive line. Both segments
Speaker 1: are going to get better together. What's your opinion of
Speaker 1: the Bears screen game at the moment, because that's a
Speaker 1: deadly weapon, especially against a defense like the Vikings. I
Speaker 1: would think I think there when they run their quick
Speaker 1: screens that get out there immediately and they're not trying
Speaker 1: to be deceptive against the defense, They're just trying to
Speaker 1: get blockers in front of a ball carry. I think
Speaker 1: they've running them really efficiently. The receivers are doing a
Speaker 1: good job of blocking as well as the offensive line
Speaker 1: who are getting out there than downfield. Some of the
Speaker 1: deceptive screens I think across the board in the NFL,
Speaker 1: they're really being difficult to run. They take too long,
Speaker 1: they take too long, and the defensive linemen and linebackers
Speaker 1: are not dumb. They've seen him so many times now
Speaker 1: throughout the generations the NFL. As soon as they win
Speaker 1: something too easily, bam, they're thinking something different. I'm either
Speaker 1: getting trapped or they're screening away from me. And you know,
Speaker 1: defensive lineman, you got to give him credit because the
Speaker 1: more reps they see, whether it's against their own guys
Speaker 1: or anybody else, are getting ready to face, they got
Speaker 1: a better understanding of how those types of plays where
Speaker 1: you guys are good screen team, Yes, yeah, we are
Speaker 1: good decision We are good at screens because we ran
Speaker 1: the ball so well and there are so many guys
Speaker 1: that were concerned about stopping Walter Payton in the run
Speaker 1: as soon as he faked to the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: and then we are escaping out to the outside to
Speaker 1: get a block out there. People were chasing Walter, people
Speaker 1: were in the backfield. But Walter, you know, he's a
Speaker 1: great job of reading and running him. Yeah. When it's
Speaker 1: run nice and it's precise, boy, it's beautiful to watch,
Speaker 1: no question. Same thing as I love I love the
Speaker 1: tackle sweeps, I love the pulling sweeps. I love those.
Speaker 1: They're really fatiguing though we are playing Tampa once and
Speaker 1: it was about one hundred degrees the first or second
Speaker 1: play of the game. We hope we went down. We
Speaker 1: had like a sixty three yard screen to Walter. It
Speaker 1: was so fatiguing it was hard to recover for a
Speaker 1: couple series. Really. That's Tom there. I'm Jeff Joni. This
Speaker 1: is Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Hey joined Bears,
Speaker 1: Karen advocate healthcare and raising funds for programs supporting Chicago
Speaker 1: area breast cancer patients and their families. Purchase your real
Speaker 1: Bears fans where pink shirts at Chicago Bears dot com
Speaker 1: slash pink and being around the organization for this long
Speaker 1: this is a great, great charity. Tom and we all
Speaker 1: have a closet full of these shirts over the years,
Speaker 1: So go and get yours with their long sleeves this year.
Speaker 1: But you're a sweater, so who'll probably cut them off.
Speaker 1: Nick Williams joining US Bears defensive lineman, kind enough to
Speaker 1: spend some time with us getting ready for the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 1: and good to have you on this team because Tom
Speaker 1: and I appreciate lunch bucket guys. I always point out
Speaker 1: the guys that bring their lunch bail and nothing's given.
Speaker 1: They gotta earn it. And the guys who take the
Speaker 1: journey the way you, you gotta earn it like nobody's
Speaker 1: given you anything. So congratulations on your success being here
Speaker 1: for a couple of years now and and already resonating
Speaker 1: in the locker room. Forget about what's happening on the
Speaker 1: field for a minute. But you're clearly important to the
Speaker 1: guys in your room and in the locker room. So
Speaker 1: how does a guy like yourself, who's bounced around a
Speaker 1: bit do that so quickly? I think it's just what
Speaker 1: Matt Naki talks about. Just being yourself. Just be you,
Speaker 1: you know, nothing, nothing more, nothing less. You know, guys
Speaker 1: kind of gravitate to uh other guys being real. You know,
Speaker 1: you can kind of pick up when a guy's like
Speaker 1: trying to do too much or be outside outside of itself.
Speaker 1: So I just be myself. And how is that? How?
Speaker 1: How would people how would you describe yourself then? To
Speaker 1: those who don't know you in the locker room. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm a fun, funny guy, you know, I bring some
Speaker 1: I'll bring some jokes out every once in a while,
Speaker 1: you know. And but I'm a guy that I can
Speaker 1: I can talk to anybody in the locker room, you know,
Speaker 1: all the way from Chase Daniel that's my guy, from
Speaker 1: kseyah As your teammates, all the way down to whoever
Speaker 1: whoever else is in the locker room. I could. I
Speaker 1: could speak to and talk to any anybody in the
Speaker 1: locker room. So that's when I kind of prided myself on.
Speaker 1: You know, you think your past experience or Kansas City, Miami, Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: all good football teams and good defensive tradition. But now
Speaker 1: you're here, You're making an impact after you couldn't make
Speaker 1: those teams. You're here making an impact on one of
Speaker 1: the best defenses in the league. Are you Are you
Speaker 1: surprised yourself or did you always know you had to
Speaker 1: sen you? No, I always I always knew I had
Speaker 1: had it in myself, you know. I always prepared like
Speaker 1: I was, like I was gonna start or if I
Speaker 1: was a starter, even though I was probably on the
Speaker 1: practice squad in Pittsburgh, in Kansas City, I was behind
Speaker 1: Done Terry Poe, Jay Howard, Alan Bailey. I was behind
Speaker 1: those guys. So you kind of get lost in the mix,
Speaker 1: lost in the shuffle, but I always stayed prepared and
Speaker 1: knew the type of player I was. So you play
Speaker 1: basketball till your senior year in high school? Correct? Yeah?
Speaker 1: If you would have continued playing basketball, Were you a
Speaker 1: good enough player to play at Samford SA M F
Speaker 1: O r D. Where you went to college to play football?
Speaker 1: Heck no, man, So what that's what That's kind of
Speaker 1: what I'm more interested in. Okay, if you were, you know,
Speaker 1: you played basketball up until that point. But now, Nick,
Speaker 1: I look at you. You're freaking huge, you got yoked up,
Speaker 1: you got arms the size of legs, and you transfer
Speaker 1: from basketball to playing football at Samford. How did all
Speaker 1: that click in for you? Man? I was just uh.
Speaker 1: I thought I was gonna be like six eight, and
Speaker 1: then uh my senior year. Going into my senior year,
Speaker 1: I just stopped growing and I was like. I looked
Speaker 1: at my dad and he was like, you better go
Speaker 1: out for the football team. So I went out for
Speaker 1: the football team. And most of my friends that I
Speaker 1: hung out with in high school played football. So I
Speaker 1: was like, man, I'm gonna go out for the football team,
Speaker 1: So go out for the football team. I had like
Speaker 1: a we played against Hoover High School. If you ever
Speaker 1: heard of him, the tour a day show. They used
Speaker 1: to come on MTV, so he played against them. I
Speaker 1: had like a pick six at d N and I
Speaker 1: was like, man, I guess I'm pretty good. And then
Speaker 1: Pat Sullivan recruited me out of Sandford. It was his
Speaker 1: first year at Sandford, going into his second year coaching
Speaker 1: UH Sanford. He recruited me and gaming scholarship and the
Speaker 1: rest is kind of hit. So if you thought you
Speaker 1: were going to be six eighte and your warrant, you
Speaker 1: grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. When you started playing football,
Speaker 1: did you think you're gone to Alabama? No, because that
Speaker 1: when I was coming up, when I was coming through
Speaker 1: high school, guys had started, um, guys are in high
Speaker 1: school started uh, they started committing to these big schools.
Speaker 1: But so when you got a guy that's just played
Speaker 1: a senior year. I got letters from all of the
Speaker 1: big schools South Carolina, Auburn, Oh, Miss, Alabama, and they
Speaker 1: just said they wish they would have had more film
Speaker 1: on me. But I got letters from yeah, yeah, they
Speaker 1: asked me to walk on And I was like no,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna just stay here in Sandford's in Birmingham where
Speaker 1: I grew up, while I was born and raised. So
Speaker 1: it was just a it was just a win win
Speaker 1: for me, you know, along everybody's journey into the league.
Speaker 1: And obviously I didn't play because I also thought I
Speaker 1: was gonna be six eight. I just wanted to get
Speaker 1: the five eight, which I never did. Okay, I'm five
Speaker 1: seven and a half and I'll take that half. But
Speaker 1: we hear no in our careers, right And I have
Speaker 1: a boss now that said no to me many years ago.
Speaker 1: You weren't you weren't ready. So in all these situations,
Speaker 1: with all these teams, you had to hear no. You know,
Speaker 1: you didn't make those teams for whatever reason. How much
Speaker 1: hurt were the nose or how much did they drive you?
Speaker 1: And did you agree with the nose in any of
Speaker 1: those cases? You never want to agree with the nose,
Speaker 1: uh some one, I mean, like some of the nose
Speaker 1: you kind of know, like, hey, maybe maybe it wasn't
Speaker 1: my time. Maybe I'm not I'm not kind of ready,
Speaker 1: But I never get down. I never got down and
Speaker 1: out about hearing no being cut here, cut there. I
Speaker 1: just kind of pressed on forward. You know, I'm a
Speaker 1: huge believer, so I never I never got down and
Speaker 1: out about Hey man, Pittsburgh doesn't want you. Hey, Kansas
Speaker 1: City doesn't want you. Hey, Miami doesn't want you. So
Speaker 1: you kind of like and a normal guy would kind
Speaker 1: of be like, oh crap, Like maybe I need to
Speaker 1: go find like a regular job, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So I just kind of I just kind of worked
Speaker 1: it in my head, Hey man, this is going to
Speaker 1: work out because I'm because I'm working too hard, Like
Speaker 1: I'm working too hard an offseason, I'm putting into work,
Speaker 1: and it just takes it just takes that right team,
Speaker 1: right opportunitial did well. You know, we see you know,
Speaker 1: we see the HBO special. We see the moment some
Speaker 1: guys that hey, you know, thank you worked really hard.
Speaker 1: Really you know, we'll give you a good recommendation. Did
Speaker 1: you ever have the time to ask what you didn't
Speaker 1: have that they were looking for, what you needed to
Speaker 1: work on? Or does that conversation not happen in the
Speaker 1: National Football League? No, it happens all the time. I
Speaker 1: tell you, they tell you what you need to what
Speaker 1: you need to work on. Uh, they was there anything
Speaker 1: that resonated you. You're laughing, so something must have made
Speaker 1: your la. Yeah, like you don't have to name names.
Speaker 1: But like I remember remember one team telling me I'm
Speaker 1: not a good name names. I remember one team telling
Speaker 1: me that my football IQ wasn't high enough. It was
Speaker 1: kind of it was kind of low. And I was
Speaker 1: just like okay. And then I had another team tell
Speaker 1: me you got to you gotta learn how to play
Speaker 1: the run, and I was like okay. And then another
Speaker 1: team told me you gotta learn how to brush the passer.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, I'm like, hold on, hold on, hold on,
Speaker 1: hold on. So when I start hearing the kind of
Speaker 1: mixed reviews from teams, I started saying to myself, Okay,
Speaker 1: it might not be me. It might just be that
Speaker 1: it's just not my time, you know, And I can
Speaker 1: accept that, you know. So I'm gonna just putting keep
Speaker 1: putting in the work. Be a lunch pill guy, you know,
Speaker 1: bring my heart had to work, and just put in
Speaker 1: the work every single day, day in and day out,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna pay off at some point. You know.
Speaker 1: You go to the last defensive snap of the Washington
Speaker 1: Redskins game, you come to the line of scrimmage and
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna run a stunt with Khalil Mack. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it free. It works out perfectly. In all the descriptions
Speaker 1: of what you just said about people told you you
Speaker 1: couldn't do, you kind of put them on to display
Speaker 1: when you do run an organized stunt with a guy
Speaker 1: that you know results in a sack. Yeah, that play
Speaker 1: was just uh, it was just It's just kind of
Speaker 1: cemented all all of my work, you know, and we
Speaker 1: still it's it's still early in the season and we
Speaker 1: still got a lot to go. We still got a
Speaker 1: lot to do, especially in this division. But it kind
Speaker 1: of it was I was kind of lost in the moment.
Speaker 1: I was telling I was telling everybody, you know, all
Speaker 1: the hard work he put up to to get to
Speaker 1: even be on the field with Khalil Mack. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of it's kind of cool how he gives
Speaker 1: himself up for for your behalf. He can he can
Speaker 1: give himself. I know I missed that, I missed the sack.
Speaker 1: I missed a sack. I think, uh, I think Prince
Speaker 1: got Prince got like a hand to the phase. It
Speaker 1: would have been, it would have been called, but I
Speaker 1: missed it and Khalil got it. So I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: you kind of old me one. Let me, let's let's
Speaker 1: run a little etive it. Give it all right. I'm
Speaker 1: sitting here is our first conversation with Nick uh since
Speaker 1: you're and there's a there's somebody that he's just the
Speaker 1: striking reason wants too. We'll tell you who I think
Speaker 1: it is when we come back. This is Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy the Scar. Hey be sure to stop
Speaker 1: by the Middle Light Ultimate Tailgate before Tomorrow's game against
Speaker 1: the Vikings, located at the Field Museum. The Ultimate Tailgate,
Speaker 1: free for fans of all ages, in a great place
Speaker 1: to stop for food and drinks before heading into the game.
Speaker 1: Nick Williams with us here in our final a few
Speaker 1: moments bears all Access brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: Here at P ANDC Studios that had a song with
Speaker 1: Tom Thair. I'm Jeff Jonny ex so before the brag.
Speaker 1: I'm sitting here watching him talk you guys, wearing a
Speaker 1: baseball cap. He's got a sweatshirt on, but it's it's
Speaker 1: his facial expressions. Is anyone ever said they remind you
Speaker 1: a little bit of Michael straighthand now you know, the
Speaker 1: teeth look a little different, I'll say that, but you
Speaker 1: have a striking reselets to Michael straighthand and my way
Speaker 1: off base just the way well you're laughing and stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm telling yea, I don't. I don't have the fingers
Speaker 1: to be Michael Strahan. Yeah up, but I've never heard
Speaker 1: that before. Take that one to the locker room. John
Speaker 1: thinks you looked like straight end if he plays like
Speaker 1: straighthand that great boy. Right. Yeah, you know, I was
Speaker 1: thinking about your nick because you're twenty nine year old
Speaker 1: and the average age of the Bears is twenty five
Speaker 1: years old. Do you feel young because you don't have
Speaker 1: you know, just you know, you haven't beat up a
Speaker 1: lot throughout your career. You're a fresh body, got a
Speaker 1: lot of big future ahead of you. But you are
Speaker 1: twenty nine and these guys are twenty five. Do you
Speaker 1: seem old in there? No? I don't know, I really don't.
Speaker 1: I guess it's just it's just my mindset, you know.
Speaker 1: It's just like you said, I haven't been beat down
Speaker 1: for I came to leave when I was twenty three,
Speaker 1: so I haven't been beat down for seven straight years.
Speaker 1: I missed a year in twenty seventeen, so the football
Speaker 1: is still still coming to me. I still got a
Speaker 1: lot of football left in me. So that year, you miss, man,
Speaker 1: what was going on with yourself? And how did you?
Speaker 1: You know? It's almost a good lesson to tell kids
Speaker 1: how they can keep the belief within themselves because you
Speaker 1: went from basketball to football and then football year out
Speaker 1: of year. Yeah. Uh well that year that year, man,
Speaker 1: it was kind of I had got cut by the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins and I worked out. I actually worked out
Speaker 1: with the Bears probably like a week four of the
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen season, and they just didn't have a They
Speaker 1: just didn't have a roster spot for me. I think
Speaker 1: they picked up a Mike Purcelle on the defensive line's
Speaker 1: practice squad. I didn't have any eligibility left. So then
Speaker 1: the next the next two weeks went by. Then I
Speaker 1: had to workout with the Falcons, and I thought I
Speaker 1: was about to sign with the Falcons. They had kept
Speaker 1: me an extra day and I was like, Okay, that's great,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be I'm gonna be close to home, you know,
Speaker 1: close home. So that didn't work out. They had to
Speaker 1: bring in a wide receiver because Muhammas and Knew went down.
Speaker 1: And then I was just working out. I just stayed
Speaker 1: in Birmingham. I just worked out the rest of the year.
Speaker 1: And then this scout hit me up from the Bears
Speaker 1: City if you know, City hit me up from the
Speaker 1: Bears and said, hey, do you want to you want
Speaker 1: to come in for a tryout at the voluntary workout
Speaker 1: like voluntary mini camp. So I came in and then
Speaker 1: they saw me and then the rest is history. It's
Speaker 1: just crazy, is the craziest story. And I was back
Speaker 1: with coach Naggy. I had known him from Kansas City,
Speaker 1: so it was just a great fit. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: it's the NFL rosters during the regular season, they're a puzzle.
Speaker 1: I mean, just like you said, I mean, Bradley Sualt
Speaker 1: gets released last week with the knowledgies coming back, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's just you do have to trust sometimes. And
Speaker 1: I know it's probably hard when you know you've been
Speaker 1: dealt with as many opportunities and still not able to
Speaker 1: land spots with these teams that your trust level probably
Speaker 1: is not that high. But I think I think you
Speaker 1: can trust this organization the way Ryan Pace runs the
Speaker 1: show here and the way Matt Naggi is forthright and
Speaker 1: very transparent. Yes, they're very They're very transparent, you know. Uh,
Speaker 1: day one, they tell you what they expect from you,
Speaker 1: and they don't expect anything less. And you can only
Speaker 1: you can only ask that much of a of a
Speaker 1: head coach of a of a GM. You know. I
Speaker 1: just owe I owe everything to these guys for bringing
Speaker 1: me in off the street and having a belief in me.
Speaker 1: Uh TV and go out and put the put the
Speaker 1: sea on my on my helmet. H that's my guy,
Speaker 1: super tight. That's what he says. That's my guy. That's
Speaker 1: my guy, man, that's my guy from dat man. It
Speaker 1: was the first. It was the first, uh the first
Speaker 1: mini camp and uh, I think somebody somebody came up
Speaker 1: and said, hey, should we uh should we sign this guy?
Speaker 1: I was laying on my tryout and uh during mini
Speaker 1: camp and they were they were like they came up
Speaker 1: to a chem and said, hey, should we sign this guy?
Speaker 1: And the keem said hell yeah, do you see his triceps?
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, okay, I can get it. I
Speaker 1: can get down with this. And that's been my that's
Speaker 1: been my guy. Ever since I've been here. You know,
Speaker 1: you figure you're an ex basketball player, your position coach
Speaker 1: is an ex college quarterback, and you're playing on it.
Speaker 1: You're playing up and down the line of scrimmage. So
Speaker 1: the first teams you're at or you kind of wanted
Speaker 1: to mention all because it seemed like since you've been
Speaker 1: with the Bears, you've expanded your game from tackle the
Speaker 1: tackle and every position in between. Yes, when I was
Speaker 1: with when I was with Pittsburgh, I came in primarily
Speaker 1: as a defensive end in a in a true three four,
Speaker 1: you know, the old Pittsburgh defense with Dick lebo right,
Speaker 1: you know. And I couldn't and I was a defense
Speaker 1: and I wasn't heavy enough to play and host tackle
Speaker 1: because they had the year before I got there, they
Speaker 1: had Casey Hampton, and then the year I was there,
Speaker 1: they had Al Woods and Steve McClinton. Now Steve mcclinton's
Speaker 1: at the Jets. But there were some big guys. It
Speaker 1: was three thirty plus and I was about I was
Speaker 1: about three three or eight. It'd have been a good
Speaker 1: outside linebacker. James Harris and Lamar Woolley was pretty heavy.
Speaker 1: But I won't put his weight out there. But uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like this defense just uh
Speaker 1: fits me well. I can play every position on a
Speaker 1: D line and I mean it works out. Jay gets
Speaker 1: at you, guys. Jay Rogers your position coach. I think
Speaker 1: from a position change. I think he is, you know,
Speaker 1: really engaging coach for you guys to improve on your techniques.
Speaker 1: He really, he really is. He's a really engaged coach.
Speaker 1: You know. He tells you where you need to be,
Speaker 1: what you need to do, what you need to know
Speaker 1: going into a game. You know, we're always prepared with
Speaker 1: the exits and os, and we're all always prepared with
Speaker 1: a plan. We have a plan in place to execute
Speaker 1: and play well. Two quick questions, then we gotta fly.
Speaker 1: What's he unlocked in your game? If anything yet? And
Speaker 1: then give us a quick sneak peek here of the
Speaker 1: Vikes on tomorrow. What he's unlocked in my game? I
Speaker 1: would say, just to belief in myself. You know, he's
Speaker 1: a he's a really good coach. He actually puts me
Speaker 1: out there on the field in situations and he has
Speaker 1: that trust in me. And when a coach trusts you,
Speaker 1: especially an individual coach trust you disguise the limit for
Speaker 1: that player. You know, he's willing to run through a
Speaker 1: wall for him. So how about the bikes, man, the Vikes,
Speaker 1: I mean we stretch run game in the cup back right? Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook, I mean he's a he's a really dynamic player.
Speaker 1: But in between the tackles, we have to handle our business.
Speaker 1: And it's a black and Blue league, Black and Blue Division,
Speaker 1: rookie center, first starting left guard. Come on, my good.
Speaker 1: We can't wait, man, we can't wait. It's gonna it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a good it's gonna be a great game,
Speaker 1: and we need to start fast. And uh, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a must win for us, especially to send a
Speaker 1: send a signal to the division that we're here. Well,
Speaker 1: we wish you great luck tomorrow and great to stay
Speaker 1: here in Chicago for a long time. Hey, we come
Speaker 1: back and join us sometime. We'll do. Yeah. Get Joe,
Speaker 1: that was awesome. You're you're good, dude. Good to talk
Speaker 1: to you. All right, that's gonna wrap up our show
Speaker 1: for Tom Thair, Big Nick Williams, I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks
Speaker 1: to Pauls arranging Dan Bailly. This is Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the Score. We'll talk to you on the
Speaker 1: radio starting at noon on Sunday from Soldier Field. Our
Speaker 1: pregame show kickoff at three twenty five. Join us on
Speaker 1: News Radio seven eighty one or five point nine f
Speaker 1: w BBM. That'll do it here on Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score,