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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: PANC Studios here in Hallisa, It's Bears All Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy with Tom Fair. I'm Jeff
Speaker 1: Johnny Act. Good to have you along. No player this week,
Speaker 1: Tom as they get back to work on Wednesday and
Speaker 1: get ready for the New Orleans Saints. But we're gonna
Speaker 1: take the availability that was provided to the media this
Speaker 1: week of all the assistant coaches on both sides of
Speaker 1: the ball, and it's always very revealing what you find out,
Speaker 1: and you heard some of them as well. Everybody's got
Speaker 1: very positive attitude at three and two headed into this
Speaker 1: week's seven matchup, and they all have freedom to talk.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think any of these coaches are
Speaker 1: trying to hold anything back. Do you have information you
Speaker 1: have questions and they're going to give you a solid answer.
Speaker 1: And so it is kind of refreshing that when we
Speaker 1: get to hear Matt Naggy on a regular basis, and
Speaker 1: he's willing to stand up there each week and answer
Speaker 1: every question that's asked of him, that you get a
Speaker 1: chance to hear from the assistant coaches a little bit
Speaker 1: because they're dealing emotionally, fundamentally physically with these guys on
Speaker 1: an everyday basis through meetings and throughout the practice field,
Speaker 1: so they deserve to be, you know, give us some answers. Also.
Speaker 1: Thoughts on Akim Hicks not able to return to at
Speaker 1: least week fifteen. He could practice a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: before if his elbow heals up in night. It's really unfortunate,
Speaker 1: you know, because the game takes such a toll on everybody,
Speaker 1: and he was in he was playing in the game.
Speaker 1: He had a little bit of knee soreness, but he's
Speaker 1: making plays up and down the line of scrimmage. His
Speaker 1: leadership that he's shown since he's been here, the improvement
Speaker 1: in his play that he's dedicated himself too since he's
Speaker 1: been here is why he's on the radar of being
Speaker 1: one of the top defensive linemen in the league. So
Speaker 1: it's really unfortunate that he's not playing. But I keep saying, Jeff,
Speaker 1: every time that a guy goes down, there's got to
Speaker 1: be a player that's sitting on the edge of his
Speaker 1: seat waiting for his opportunity. That's pretty much the theme
Speaker 1: from Bears defensive line coach Jay Rodgers when asked how
Speaker 1: a keen can be replaced, Well, I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: know if replaces the word. He's going to be with
Speaker 1: us throughout the game planning. He's gonna be with us
Speaker 1: on the game day, he's gonna be on the sidelines,
Speaker 1: all those kind of things. So you're gonna feel a
Speaker 1: presence of him on the sideline and everything that we do,
Speaker 1: you know, from here until whenever that is. Since the
Speaker 1: guys and Roy Rob nick Williams really do look to
Speaker 1: him for a lot, is that significant that he'll be
Speaker 1: that involved and to talk to these guys him. I
Speaker 1: think when you have a player like him, keeping him
Speaker 1: involved in everything that we do, just like he was
Speaker 1: going to be starting this game. He'll be a voice
Speaker 1: on the sideline, he'll be a voice in the classroom,
Speaker 1: he'll be a voice in everything we do, you know,
Speaker 1: and so his mentality he's been able to develop over
Speaker 1: the last few years, will he'll be here. It's not
Speaker 1: like we're losing this guy for the season and all
Speaker 1: those kind of things, and he goes off and and
Speaker 1: you know he's in a different town. He's going to
Speaker 1: be here. He's part of us. He's part of this
Speaker 1: Bears Families organization. Another level for he could return. He's
Speaker 1: a he's a young player, he's a second year player.
Speaker 1: So I would like to think that there's a more
Speaker 1: to grow from him. You know. Um, we'll see as
Speaker 1: time goes on how much he does grow. But again,
Speaker 1: he's still a young player. He's an ascending player, and
Speaker 1: I think he's can continue to get better and better
Speaker 1: as the years go on. What can you teach and
Speaker 1: work on? Dealing with the defensive line is so much
Speaker 1: about using your hands. You know. Obviously he'll have to
Speaker 1: protect that in some way, shape or form. You know,
Speaker 1: I broke the same hand in the springtime, so I
Speaker 1: know how it feels and what you can't can't do,
Speaker 1: but I don't. I don't played Deven's line now, so
Speaker 1: it's a little bit different. Um. You know, we're obviously
Speaker 1: working through that process. He had a practice the other day,
Speaker 1: did well in that practice, you know, hit some pads, um,
Speaker 1: got some good um, you know, movement with with players.
Speaker 1: But again we didn't have the pads on and so
Speaker 1: you don't know. But he's going to work through all
Speaker 1: those kinks this week and see how he has seen
Speaker 1: and before already got hurt from what did you see
Speaker 1: from him in the game actually kind of reflected some
Speaker 1: of the things you saw it in training. Kim Blau
Speaker 1: has always been a consistent football player. His football IQ
Speaker 1: is very high. He wants to be good. He practices hard,
Speaker 1: he prepares well. Um, all those things give you an
Speaker 1: opportunity to play well. And again, he's an ascending player.
Speaker 1: Will continue to get well because with all the god
Speaker 1: given ability that he has, he's utilizing all the things
Speaker 1: that are not physical in order to give him the
Speaker 1: best opportunity for success. And so he'll continue to get
Speaker 1: better because it's important to him. When the defense adds
Speaker 1: a player, for example, like Khalil mack or or covert
Speaker 1: a team, it lets him do things expand with the
Speaker 1: realm of the possible. When you lose somebody like a
Speaker 1: team and you have to discover these up and if
Speaker 1: you want to share what this maybe, but other things
Speaker 1: will be able to do without him. U you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know, We'll see. I remember last year when
Speaker 1: we lost Klomack for a couple of games. I think
Speaker 1: it was the Buffalo game, in the Jets game. I
Speaker 1: think that's right. I thought we had some guys who
Speaker 1: came in and filled in those shoes and did pretty well.
Speaker 1: You know, we expect the same thing the next guy up.
Speaker 1: Mentality is real. I mean, there's a reason why we
Speaker 1: build the roster the way we build it because we
Speaker 1: feel like we have good football players here. So you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't have a team for the Minnesota game. I
Speaker 1: thought we played pretty well in the Minnesota game. So
Speaker 1: it's all about understanding what your job is, what your
Speaker 1: role is, how to execute, how to execute under pressure,
Speaker 1: and doing what we do. You know, we're not asking
Speaker 1: anybody to go outside of the framework of the defense.
Speaker 1: We're not asking anybody to do something extra special. We're
Speaker 1: asking you to do your job because you're one eleventh
Speaker 1: of the defense. If you're a three technique supposed to
Speaker 1: play the guard, I want you to play the guard.
Speaker 1: What I don't want you to do is is feel
Speaker 1: like you got to make every play out there. It's
Speaker 1: got to be eleven as one mentality or upfront we
Speaker 1: talk about being four as one. If we do that,
Speaker 1: we'll be fine. And that's why this is such the
Speaker 1: greatest team games because takes all eleven guys to do things. Well.
Speaker 1: As your takeaway of your self scouting of your unit
Speaker 1: this by week, I thought, you know, there's always things
Speaker 1: you have to clean up. You know, there's only five
Speaker 1: games where you know we have to build from, so
Speaker 1: you got a small sample size. But there's a lot
Speaker 1: of positives, a lot of things we can clean up
Speaker 1: and try to get better as we go there. Anything
Speaker 1: about Nick Williams and Roy Robertson Harris that he didn't
Speaker 1: know that you learned about here in the first five,
Speaker 1: I would say I learned something different about them. I
Speaker 1: think what both of them did was take advantage of
Speaker 1: their opportunities. Nick played a considerable amount the last few
Speaker 1: weeks with guys being down. He took advantage of his
Speaker 1: opportunity and had production. Roy I've always felt like has
Speaker 1: had the ability is all about putting it together and
Speaker 1: then what you saw week one versus Green Bay and
Speaker 1: continue to grow into his own the last few weeks
Speaker 1: and he's starting to see more production from him. So
Speaker 1: it's a process. It's not an overnight thing with young players,
Speaker 1: and of course him being a three or fourth year player,
Speaker 1: it doesn't happen overnight, you know, talking about a guy
Speaker 1: who's transitioning from one position to the next, trying to
Speaker 1: learn the inside stuff. You know, I knew from experience
Speaker 1: that doesn't not just happen in one game. It happens
Speaker 1: over time and when it clicks, it's really awesome to watch.
Speaker 1: You know, Tom just listening that the biggest takeaway is
Speaker 1: the theme that remains for this entire defense. Eleven is
Speaker 1: one or if you're talking about a pass rush or
Speaker 1: a defensive line, four is one. So he doesn't want
Speaker 1: these guys to go out of their realm just to
Speaker 1: prove that they are a key Nicks And you're not
Speaker 1: going to be just be you right well that you know,
Speaker 1: that's the kind of the message here. You're not going
Speaker 1: to fold up your tents because there's been a player
Speaker 1: that's been injured and he's going to be out for
Speaker 1: a while. You know, when you put the the growth
Speaker 1: of Blow Nichols, you look at the growth ability of
Speaker 1: a guy like Rory Robertson Harris, you look at a
Speaker 1: guy who's dedicated a lifetime of getting the opportunity in
Speaker 1: Nick Williams. So every one of these guys, they have
Speaker 1: a different trade and a responsibility for why they're hair
Speaker 1: and they're not here because they were evaluated to be
Speaker 1: bad players. They were evaluated to be players that could
Speaker 1: come in here and contribute at an all pro or
Speaker 1: a really high level. So my expectations don't decrease at all.
Speaker 1: It's about making sure those players improve their play. If
Speaker 1: Blow Nichols is ready to return, what are the unique
Speaker 1: challenges And Jay did touch on it a little bit
Speaker 1: about him playing defensive line with a club on his hand.
Speaker 1: Jay mentioned that his defensive linemen are hand fighters, and
Speaker 1: you got to be able to use your hands confidently.
Speaker 1: If you're Blow Nichols, if you have some type of interruption,
Speaker 1: interruption and you're only a one handed player, offensive linemen
Speaker 1: can identify that immediately, and then I really think you're
Speaker 1: doing yourself a disservice because you can use the equal
Speaker 1: strength of these other guys that we've seen and they
Speaker 1: can be more damaging. Bears All Access with Tom Thare.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniac with engineer pauls ringing producer Dan Barelli.
Speaker 1: It's brought to you by IGS Energy. Where at p
Speaker 1: ANDC Studios, Here at Hatosa. Coming up next, we'll talk
Speaker 1: quarterbacks with Dave rack Going, the Bear's quarterback coach as
Speaker 1: the Bears prepare for the Saints on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, and home warranty
Speaker 1: products to over one million customers across the country. Learn
Speaker 1: more about IGS Energy at igs dot com. Jeff Joni Act,
Speaker 1: Tom Thair here at HATISAU at PNC Studios. And with
Speaker 1: the way the offensive line is going and the run
Speaker 1: game is going, you know it is in the big picture,
Speaker 1: not the biggest sample size yet to hit the bye week,
Speaker 1: but there was a lot of self scouting done and
Speaker 1: now the potential, just the potential of Mitch Rubisky, you know,
Speaker 1: coming back this week. The benefit of having those guys
Speaker 1: play better upfront and try to stay as mentally sharp
Speaker 1: as possible. The mistakes are killing them. They all admit it,
Speaker 1: and the run game could benefit, and so would Mitch
Speaker 1: and so would Chase Daniel even right, But it's all
Speaker 1: gotta be part of the big picture of making sure
Speaker 1: the whole offense is better, because I think if you
Speaker 1: minimalize and you say, okay, our run game is going
Speaker 1: to be so much better because we're determined to do it,
Speaker 1: then you should have done that week one. I do
Speaker 1: think it is a work in progress. And so a
Speaker 1: work in progress is the healthier Mitch is, the more
Speaker 1: threatening he can become in his running. Ability to the
Speaker 1: outside edge of any defense is going to open up
Speaker 1: susceptibility in the middle. And then the whole continuous development
Speaker 1: of the passing game and the weapons they have here,
Speaker 1: the Allen Robinsons and such, it's going to help whatever
Speaker 1: you want to do at the line of scrimmage. So
Speaker 1: it is a work in progress, and I think you know,
Speaker 1: every one of these guys recognize the continuous effort they need.
Speaker 1: Various quarterback coach David Going has consistently been very specific
Speaker 1: and open about his instruction of Mitch and of Chase
Speaker 1: Daniel and yesterday, was asked what he would tell fans
Speaker 1: and media about comparing development of Mitch Trubisky to other
Speaker 1: young quarterbacks in the league. Right now, though, the hardest thing,
Speaker 1: just being as as long as I have as a
Speaker 1: player now coach, is you get in the comparison game
Speaker 1: of how things work or how this guy's doing and
Speaker 1: compared to how this guy. Everybody has their own set
Speaker 1: of issues, good and bad. Right, you can start looking
Speaker 1: at quarterbacks drafted in the same class or the class
Speaker 1: below you, the class after you, and like, oh, this
Speaker 1: guy's here and this guy and again. And I've been
Speaker 1: around all different quarterback rooms. I've yet to see that
Speaker 1: help any quarterback started to get in the comparison game. Well,
Speaker 1: this guy through for four touchdowns last week, I need
Speaker 1: a throw for I've never seen that work. The guys
Speaker 1: that I've been around, or i've seen or I've had
Speaker 1: conversations with, who have really had a who stayed in
Speaker 1: this league a long time at a high level, right,
Speaker 1: there is no comparison to them. All they're trying to
Speaker 1: do is be the absolute best. Right. We had a
Speaker 1: few years ago a chance to pick Peyton's brain, right,
Speaker 1: and I've known Peyton for a long time, and again
Speaker 1: I hold him in high regard. You're talking about a
Speaker 1: guy who goes out and every single play matters right,
Speaker 1: every single game matter and he played every play every
Speaker 1: game like it was the last one he's gonna play. Right.
Speaker 1: He wasn't saying, well if someone sold just through for
Speaker 1: three touchdowns last week in my draft class, man, I
Speaker 1: wonder how you know I got to compare to that.
Speaker 1: They're competing against themselves the best I've ever been around here.
Speaker 1: The standard is to themselves, not how other guys are playing. Now,
Speaker 1: I get trust me, I get how that could be
Speaker 1: a natural comparison to people outside this building. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that's not a legitimate guy's comparing how is this
Speaker 1: guy doing? Look how this guy's playing. At the end
Speaker 1: of the day, what we need from Mitchell, just like
Speaker 1: every player, is we need him to execute the game plan,
Speaker 1: the fundamentals the way we want them to at a
Speaker 1: high level. And once you become consistent in doing that right,
Speaker 1: and there is no magic timetable on that, but once
Speaker 1: you become consistent in doing that right, then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, a lot of the other things kind of
Speaker 1: take care of themselves in terms of how is this
Speaker 1: guy doing comparing because it doesn't matter. What matters is
Speaker 1: you going out and the job that's at you doing it.
Speaker 1: Getting into the other parts of it has never been constructive.
Speaker 1: So ever, so what signs do you see that convince
Speaker 1: you that the production is coming? Yeah? I think, well
Speaker 1: again you go off what he's done here. So I've
Speaker 1: had him right his rookie year, then into his second year,
Speaker 1: and now three games into his third year. Right, I
Speaker 1: think we can all at least say from his rookie year, right,
Speaker 1: he was into a situation where he wasn't the starter
Speaker 1: starting camp, he was the third string. All of a
Speaker 1: sudden way he went to second string, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, let's playing Minnesota and that he's out there. Right,
Speaker 1: So that was an eight to ten game development of
Speaker 1: where exactly we're gonna find Mitchell with really a part
Speaker 1: of the roster now that's no longer part of this team, right,
Speaker 1: receivers backs. Right, Then you get into his second year,
Speaker 1: and then obviously you have a situation where we bring
Speaker 1: a new head coach in and all of a sudden, right,
Speaker 1: he's learning a system. And I think we can all
Speaker 1: look at the fifteen games he played last year, right
Speaker 1: with the two that he missed, and say, all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, Man, there's games that Man, we want that improvement.
Speaker 1: But all of a sudden, if you look at a
Speaker 1: totality of the game right in different situations, I think
Speaker 1: we can all say that's a lot to build on.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of successful things that happened within situations
Speaker 1: of different games. And you're saying, okay, arrows pointing up
Speaker 1: in that situation. Well, then you get to twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: and again right, you have a three game sample size.
Speaker 1: So his last game he played right, I think, if
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, one of the higher completions in terms
Speaker 1: of his career. There was a red zone interception, right,
Speaker 1: I get that. There's also three touchdowns in which one
Speaker 1: was one of the best players I've ever seen the
Speaker 1: kid make, and Taylor Gabriel made one of the best
Speaker 1: catches I've ever seen a live in person. So again,
Speaker 1: that was nothing to do with man, that was a
Speaker 1: great design that kid made the play right in a
Speaker 1: situation in which Right helped us offensively in the first half.
Speaker 1: So when I look at all the games in which
Speaker 1: he's played, Right there's things that we can definitely get
Speaker 1: better at one hundred percent. I'm not sure any player
Speaker 1: or any coach that we're gonna say, there's the guys
Speaker 1: a finished product. But then you look at some of
Speaker 1: the things he did well, right two minute drives, right,
Speaker 1: the Eagles two minute drive playoff game right in a
Speaker 1: critical situation, gets us sound. I get it. We didn't
Speaker 1: end up winning the football game. Right. Then you look
Speaker 1: into twenty nineteen. Every year is different, I get it.
Speaker 1: But when I see this kid where he's come from
Speaker 1: to where I think he's going from two thousand when
Speaker 1: we drafted him for those games on which he played,
Speaker 1: and then where he is now from a maturity standpoint,
Speaker 1: from how he handles things to how he handles the
Speaker 1: game plan coming in each week, to how he even
Speaker 1: took the field Esja after an injury in which he's
Speaker 1: been out two weeks and we don't know how long,
Speaker 1: how much longer he is going to be out. All
Speaker 1: of a sudden, I'm sing, I'm seeing a guy growing up.
Speaker 1: I'm seeing a maturity. I'm seeing a guy becoming, you know,
Speaker 1: an older person. Twenty five. He's been in league when
Speaker 1: he was twenty two you're seeing those things again, are
Speaker 1: they measured in quarterback rating and all that? I don't know, Right, Obviously,
Speaker 1: the end goal is for a high successful production, and
Speaker 1: that's everybody's goal. Is Mitch good at drowning out I
Speaker 1: think more than anything else? Right, I mean, obviously, you guys,
Speaker 1: or he's with you guys every week, I don't we
Speaker 1: don't ever talk about what questions we're just ask and
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, right, I mean, when
Speaker 1: he steps in between the White Lions, he gets so
Speaker 1: sixteen minutes and maybe some more in overtime, but he
Speaker 1: gets so sixteen minutes to go prove and go play football.
Speaker 1: And again, it's not necessarily just like how I coach,
Speaker 1: it's not to prove anybody wrong. It's to prove yourself right, right,
Speaker 1: that you are ready to execute the game plan, you
Speaker 1: are ready to coach this week. It's not the other
Speaker 1: way where you're trying to prove the naysayers wrong. You're
Speaker 1: trying to prove the people yourself more importantly, that you
Speaker 1: are right, you are doing the right things. So again,
Speaker 1: you know, I know I kind of give you guys
Speaker 1: the same thing, but just I'm I guess I look
Speaker 1: at it from a wider lens, right, and again my
Speaker 1: lens if we want to scope and go down and
Speaker 1: go narrow. His last game, right, that's the last thing
Speaker 1: I can go off of is the Washington game with
Speaker 1: six naps in Minnesota, and he is, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: pointing in the right direction. That is typical over going man.
Speaker 1: He is very very good explaining things in great detail
Speaker 1: about what quarterbacks go through. Given that he did play
Speaker 1: in this league as well, it helps. But he's got
Speaker 1: a very keen sense of where Mitch is at. And
Speaker 1: he does feel as he ended this thing with the
Speaker 1: arrow up because of how he played against Washington, the success,
Speaker 1: the difficult throws and again only six snaps against the
Speaker 1: Vikings before the injury. But the unfortunate aspect that now
Speaker 1: it's been several weeks, can you pick up where you
Speaker 1: left up? If he's able to go on Sunday, you know,
Speaker 1: you think of Dave were going. He talks about his
Speaker 1: own playing experience, other players that he played with, and
Speaker 1: different developments of offenses around the league for all quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: But you've got to think of the quarterbacks. They work
Speaker 1: in a small room. It's not like we were talking
Speaker 1: about the defensive line and you're talking about seven eight bodies.
Speaker 1: You look at the offensive line, nine or ten different
Speaker 1: bodies and Dave were gone. He's got great experience from
Speaker 1: his own development to other quarterbacks he's been able to
Speaker 1: work with, and how it all fits into the continuous
Speaker 1: development of Mitchell Trubisky. So again, this is a work
Speaker 1: in progress. This is a work in progress of a
Speaker 1: young man. So when you talk about before, what's going
Speaker 1: to help Mitch the most, his ability and his threat
Speaker 1: to run the ball to the outside, the help of
Speaker 1: the running game itself, and then the more used to
Speaker 1: get the ball out of your hands to get a downfield.
Speaker 1: This offense can be equally as threatening as we always
Speaker 1: imagine it to be. But it's the continuous growth process
Speaker 1: from the quarterback position that probably will have the biggest
Speaker 1: emphasis on the improvement of this offense. Just signing completions,
Speaker 1: that's what it always talks about, and I think that's
Speaker 1: as simple as you can make it. Finding completions I
Speaker 1: don't know or where they're at on the field, Move
Speaker 1: the chains and make things happen. Complete your passes at
Speaker 1: a high percentage rate and get in the red zone.
Speaker 1: The red zone has been something they have not had
Speaker 1: a lot of snaps in that'll change the scoreboard in
Speaker 1: a big way. We'll continue on in our next segment
Speaker 1: with Mike Fury, the Bears Receivers coach, as we get
Speaker 1: you set for Bears Saints. This is Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to Score. Sunday's game against the New Orleans
Speaker 1: Saints is brought to you by Hall of Fame partner
Speaker 1: Advocate Healthcare, the official healthcare partner of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: With Tom there, Jeff Joni, You're on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to Score. This is all Access brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy. Here from P and C Studios
Speaker 1: at Hallis Hall, where yesterday the assistant coaches were made
Speaker 1: available to the media. It's always a refreshing look and
Speaker 1: hearing different voice other than Matt Nagy at the podium
Speaker 1: so many days a week. These guys are living with
Speaker 1: these guys, and nobody's more energetic and more dialed in
Speaker 1: and more excitable than Mike Fury. He really appreciates the
Speaker 1: work of his crew. Tom and it's a room that
Speaker 1: not everybody can get on the field. I mean, you're
Speaker 1: not going to have six receivers all on the field
Speaker 1: that will you know, throughout the course of one game.
Speaker 1: So guys are trying to you know, fight through that
Speaker 1: and continue to practice hard and make themselves better. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's nice that they have a leader, a
Speaker 1: Bona fight number one and a guy like Alan Robinson
Speaker 1: because he seems like weekend and week out, you always
Speaker 1: have that starting point of a go to guy, and
Speaker 1: that can be Alan Robinson. And then you think about
Speaker 1: the difficulty of your development trying to develop rookies like
Speaker 1: Ridley and you're trying to make guys that are young
Speaker 1: in their career Javan hims to get better week in
Speaker 1: and week out. But then you also have guys like
Speaker 1: Tree Collin and Cordarrell Patterson because they're multiple players. They
Speaker 1: have to be in the running backs room and they
Speaker 1: have to be in the wide receiver room. Plus they
Speaker 1: have details on special teams that they have to be
Speaker 1: familiar with. So I think this is still probably become
Speaker 1: the most important position on the offense this early this season,
Speaker 1: and I think it can benefit the offense the most
Speaker 1: going down the season. Alan Robins in averaging twelve point
Speaker 1: two a catch twenty two first down so far through
Speaker 1: the first five games. Mike Terry and how he described
Speaker 1: the streak A Robin is in right now? How would
Speaker 1: you describe the stretch Alan Robins in his own right now? Well,
Speaker 1: I think he's just I think he's playing at a
Speaker 1: high level. And I think the most important thing is
Speaker 1: he's so consistent. You know, he's coming to work every
Speaker 1: week and every day he comes out and tries to
Speaker 1: get better. And I know he feels good. You know,
Speaker 1: he's one hundred percent from a physical standpoint. But I
Speaker 1: just think right now you're you're seeing who he is
Speaker 1: and uh and I think it's more consistent than what
Speaker 1: we really have seen ass And so obviously it's a
Speaker 1: lot of fun right now. He really does own the
Speaker 1: middle of the field when he's running those in cutting rounds.
Speaker 1: Why isn't it? Well, I think the biggest thing is
Speaker 1: is we we we before the season, we just kind
Speaker 1: of challenged, you know, one of his big things was,
Speaker 1: you know, you're you're gonna be a target. You know
Speaker 1: you're not always going to be open, but you got
Speaker 1: to be that consistent guy that win the balls throw
Speaker 1: when you're targeted. You know, you got to be one
Speaker 1: of those the lead wide receivers that when the ball
Speaker 1: comes your way, no matter what, you come down with it.
Speaker 1: And I think he's he's kind of takes some ownership
Speaker 1: of that. And you know, we talked about that a
Speaker 1: little bit last week and the bye week. You know,
Speaker 1: he sent me a statistic that it was a statistic
Speaker 1: that we you know, that's our goal for the season,
Speaker 1: and so, uh, he's really taking ownership of that, and
Speaker 1: he's done a great job. But right now he's just playing.
Speaker 1: You know, he's playing relentless. You know, he wants that
Speaker 1: football and he wants to help the team win, which
Speaker 1: is which is you know, a really neat character you know,
Speaker 1: characteristic that he has. And so but we gotta keep plugging.
Speaker 1: We got a long way to go. What kind of
Speaker 1: statistic are you you're talking about? Well, our goal was
Speaker 1: seventy to seventy five percent target to catch ratio was
Speaker 1: he's at his highest of a seventy three, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's seventy. Yeah, thanks, because he texts me that. I
Speaker 1: think I texted him like seventy two point eight. I
Speaker 1: think he text me back like seventy three points something.
Speaker 1: But uh, you know, our that was our goal, you know,
Speaker 1: like last year, at the end of the year, I
Speaker 1: think he was probably he was pushing probably in the
Speaker 1: low sixties and uh, and yet he was very productive.
Speaker 1: But uh, that that's the challenge. That was our goal
Speaker 1: going into this season was to make sure that he
Speaker 1: was in that elite category of seventy to seventy five
Speaker 1: percent target to catch ratio. And and like I said,
Speaker 1: after five weeks, you know, we see where he's at,
Speaker 1: and um, and that's a that's a it's been pretty
Speaker 1: neat to see him do that. And uh, but he's
Speaker 1: got to continue to do that here in the next
Speaker 1: our stretch in Taylor Gabriel. Obviously the unfortunate aspect of
Speaker 1: going into concussion protocol, But where where was he about
Speaker 1: to go at that point? Can he pick up where
Speaker 1: he left him? Yeah? I think he can. I think
Speaker 1: it was all his attitude. You know, I think he's uh,
Speaker 1: his attitude has been tremendous over the past you know,
Speaker 1: four or five months, trying to kind of understanding that
Speaker 1: he didn't have to come here and be somebody that
Speaker 1: you know that he that he was trying to be.
Speaker 1: You know, he could just come here and just be
Speaker 1: be himself and learn how to play. We didn't ask
Speaker 1: him to become Superman, but just come in here and
Speaker 1: make plays and and uh, you know, be a be
Speaker 1: a reliable source for us. And so he's done that,
Speaker 1: and I think in the off season he's worked his
Speaker 1: tail off and kind of had that confidence that he's
Speaker 1: going to be a role player, that he's gonna be
Speaker 1: a big contributor to this offense. And he put himself
Speaker 1: in that position. And then I think the production obviously
Speaker 1: showed what he's been working on. And so I don't
Speaker 1: think it has anything to do with him sitting out
Speaker 1: for a week or two with his you know, with
Speaker 1: the with the concussion, But I think it's been more
Speaker 1: of I think he's going to be able to come
Speaker 1: back and adapt quickly because of what where he's put
Speaker 1: himself before he got hurt. And so I think he'll
Speaker 1: be just he'll step right back in there and we'll
Speaker 1: keep rolling. What are you asking of Anthony Miller right now? Uh,
Speaker 1: just keep keep being consistent. I think, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the inconsistency is still there at times, but yet the
Speaker 1: consistency of him lining up being where he's supposed to
Speaker 1: be making plays now when the ball stone his way.
Speaker 1: I think that stuff is starting to work and starting
Speaker 1: to happen, and so it's just continue to continue to grow.
Speaker 1: I mean, again, we're a year and a half in,
Speaker 1: not even a year and a half end. You're in
Speaker 1: the NFL season, where normally a wide receiver three or
Speaker 1: four years in is when you start coming you know,
Speaker 1: you start getting comfortable, you start understanding about you know
Speaker 1: the game and how to play the game. But uh,
Speaker 1: for a year and a half in right now, where
Speaker 1: he's at, where we've tried to push him to become
Speaker 1: where he's at right now compared to where he was,
Speaker 1: I know he's proud of himself, and I think it's
Speaker 1: it's helped him. It's it's kind of uh pushed him
Speaker 1: a little bit to continue and and but he's just
Speaker 1: we just got to keep working on that consistency. I
Speaker 1: don't have to sit there and worry about him getting
Speaker 1: lined up, nor does he you know he's gotten lined up. Uh,
Speaker 1: you knows he's doing what we're asking him to do.
Speaker 1: He's communicating with our guys right now with a rob
Speaker 1: and the guy's out there, but who's on who's off
Speaker 1: the ball. All that stuff is development and Obviously the
Speaker 1: big play that he made on the sideline where you know,
Speaker 1: giving him a chance, that stuff started showing up. We
Speaker 1: haven't really seen that since the Denver preseason game last
Speaker 1: year when he made a big catch on the sideline
Speaker 1: in the preseason, and so that stuff is, uh, you're
Speaker 1: starting to see it in practice, you're starting to see
Speaker 1: it in games. And so, uh, he's done everything we've
Speaker 1: asked him to do. He's been everywhere we've asked him
Speaker 1: to be in a game, and so that's been neat
Speaker 1: and said, now we just we keep growing and keep
Speaker 1: getting more consistent and hopefully get him some opportunities. Riley,
Speaker 1: really is the day coming when you'll get a crack
Speaker 1: at it? And how has he been practice? You know what,
Speaker 1: he's been great. I think he's he's understanding the NFL
Speaker 1: and what it's like to have, you know, to be
Speaker 1: patient and wait for your opportunity. We all know that
Speaker 1: you can't go in the game with four or five
Speaker 1: whiteouts and have them all play. It's just it's not
Speaker 1: healthy for a player to go in and say, okay,
Speaker 1: now you're out, Now you're back in, and go back
Speaker 1: in and come back out. It's just the flow of
Speaker 1: the game has to happen when you're you're seeing everything playing,
Speaker 1: you know, playing and play out. And so that's the
Speaker 1: hardest thing about coaching. You know, you want to get
Speaker 1: these guys in, you want to get these guys into play,
Speaker 1: and you want to get him to have experience. But
Speaker 1: on the other hand, it's it's part of the game.
Speaker 1: You know, as a player, you don't want to come out,
Speaker 1: you want to feel the game. You have to stay
Speaker 1: in the game. And so Riley's done a great job,
Speaker 1: is starting to understand his role. He's come to practice
Speaker 1: every week and he's working his tail off, he's listening
Speaker 1: in meetings. I know he's ready, but I can't tell you,
Speaker 1: and he can't tell you when when that opportunity is
Speaker 1: going to present itself. But I think he'll be ready
Speaker 1: when it happens. Everybody wants to see Anthony Miller explode.
Speaker 1: He had high expectations when he came here. I loved
Speaker 1: his college tape, love what he did last year before
Speaker 1: his injury and working through the injury. And you know,
Speaker 1: Mike Feery feels that he is doing everything that's asked.
Speaker 1: As you just heard in that interview from the media,
Speaker 1: just a couple of days ago. I handled most of
Speaker 1: those questions. But boy, if he could take this now
Speaker 1: final eleven games and really compliment Alan Robinson, Taylor Gabriel
Speaker 1: and the rest of the offense, that'd be huge for
Speaker 1: this Bears team. Yeah, you know, he's got to develop
Speaker 1: a relationship with the quarterback position, because any great receiver
Speaker 1: out there is going the first thing they're going to
Speaker 1: do is compliment their relationship, being on the same page,
Speaker 1: having the same rhythm as the quarterback has. And so
Speaker 1: I think that's going to be important in the development
Speaker 1: of Anthony Miller. He's got this skills, he's got the excitement,
Speaker 1: he's got the toughness to catch it over the middle.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna be about precisely putting the ball into
Speaker 1: an area that he's going to be able to catch
Speaker 1: it and continue on his playmaker route. I think when
Speaker 1: you look at the pass and you look at some
Speaker 1: throws behind them or some difficult attempted catches, that's when
Speaker 1: he becomes frustrated with himself. So it is about that
Speaker 1: pattern that the quarterback and Anthony Miller on the same page.
Speaker 1: I feel for a guy like Riley Ridley a little bit.
Speaker 1: You know, he's got a lot of bodies in front
Speaker 1: of him. But the day will come, The day will come,
Speaker 1: he'll get his opportunity. I think he's an outstanding runner already.
Speaker 1: You have these players that are sitting there in the
Speaker 1: back of their mind telling these other players without saying
Speaker 1: anything verbally, don't get hurt, because as soon as my
Speaker 1: opportunity comes, I'm not going to leave the field. And
Speaker 1: I really do think Ridley with his bloodline, from what
Speaker 1: we've been able to see out of him in the
Speaker 1: practice field, he's got her high upside, and so does
Speaker 1: Javon Wims. I like the way he's approached this twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen season as well. We'll continue on with more on
Speaker 1: the Bears and Think You're the Saints. We'll listen to
Speaker 1: Ted Moniquino on Leonard Floyd and more on the outside
Speaker 1: linebackers here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score.
Speaker 1: Joint Bears Care and Advocate Healthcare and Racy funds for
Speaker 1: programs supporting Chicago area breast cancer patients in their families.
Speaker 1: Purchaser Real Bears fans wear pink shirt at Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: dot Com Slash Pink Jeff Joni Actom there Bears and
Speaker 1: Saints on Sunday a Soldier field at three twenty five.
Speaker 1: The play of the defense, obviously, I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: come in a little angry about the way they played
Speaker 1: against the Raiders in London and the performances of Khalil
Speaker 1: Mack and Leonard Floyd, especially Tom without a chem Hicks
Speaker 1: to me as paramount. Now in the next eleven weeks, yeah, well, well,
Speaker 1: the whole focus of attention of pass protection is going
Speaker 1: to start with Kalil Mack. Before it used to have
Speaker 1: to go through a chem Hicks to Khalil Mack. Now
Speaker 1: when you see the direction of protection, as much as
Speaker 1: they want to point out the backside linebacker, they're going
Speaker 1: to be looking at Khalil Mack. What what's the good
Speaker 1: thing about that? It's going to open up opportunities on
Speaker 1: the backside for that defensive linement that has a one
Speaker 1: on one or even a guy like Leonard Floyd. So
Speaker 1: you have to turn a negative into a positive. And
Speaker 1: the positive is still Khalil Mack. He still is going
Speaker 1: to get all the attention you want. But again, those
Speaker 1: other guys that are going to be able to capitalize
Speaker 1: on that opportunity. It could even be a backside second
Speaker 1: level linebacker that maybe you'll be open to more blitz opportunity.
Speaker 1: It could even be, as we're going to learn here
Speaker 1: from from coach Monachino, that Leonard Floyd and Khalil macould
Speaker 1: be on the field Aaron Lynch playing inside sometimes and
Speaker 1: that was the case a couple of weeks ago. Leonard
Speaker 1: Floyd can also play on the inside. We've seen it
Speaker 1: before in his past. So I don't think that you're
Speaker 1: gonna lose any versatility of the defense because the Keem's
Speaker 1: not going to be here, but you're got to see
Speaker 1: production out of the one on one defender. Sometimes the
Speaker 1: stat sheet doesn't tell the whost story, and that may
Speaker 1: be the case with Leonard Floyd Dead two Sex and
Speaker 1: the opener against Green Bay outside linebacker. Coach Ted Monakeino
Speaker 1: on his play since then, what he's been doing since
Speaker 1: the and is continuing to work on his craft every day,
Speaker 1: and what he's been doing since then is continue to
Speaker 1: study the protectors he's going against every day. I will
Speaker 1: tell you that Leonard Floyd has not he hasn't lost
Speaker 1: an ounce of confidence. He's really close to making a
Speaker 1: ton of plays and he continues to work at it.
Speaker 1: I don't think saying he had two sacks in the
Speaker 1: first game and has done nothing since his a fair
Speaker 1: assessment of what he's done, because I've never coached to
Speaker 1: Sam like Leonard Floyd. Leonard Floyd has done a great
Speaker 1: job of setting edges. He's done a great job of
Speaker 1: affecting the passing game and coverage. He's done a great
Speaker 1: job of knocking guys back into the launch point. We
Speaker 1: just got to figure out ways to get him clear
Speaker 1: and get him to finish as a rusher. And he's
Speaker 1: completely focused and intent on doing that. He's the right
Speaker 1: guy for it. We saw Aaron over the nose with
Speaker 1: a hand in the dirt a couple of weeks back
Speaker 1: when Nicky was first down. I would assume maybe we're
Speaker 1: going to see that again. How can you help him
Speaker 1: be better equipped, you know, to perform if he isn't
Speaker 1: that role. It's the same process across the front, So
Speaker 1: whoever they line up across from, we'll know that player
Speaker 1: really well. These are the things he struggles with, These
Speaker 1: are the things that we want to stay away from.
Speaker 1: When this has been the plan all along with Aaron,
Speaker 1: can we find ways to move him around in the
Speaker 1: defense where we can take advantage of the big, athletic,
Speaker 1: explosive man that maybe shows up in a different spot
Speaker 1: than they're used to seeing him. So as we evolve,
Speaker 1: this is something that you may see more and more
Speaker 1: of this week's plan. Our third down plan isn't in yet,
Speaker 1: so it's really hard to tell what we're going to
Speaker 1: be come you know, by Friday afternoon, we'll know it.
Speaker 1: But I will tell you he's not afraid to go
Speaker 1: in there and rush against any of them. And even
Speaker 1: though we have to speed his clock up a little bit,
Speaker 1: it happens faster inside than it does outside because usually
Speaker 1: it's your second and a half or third step before
Speaker 1: I've had to make contact with a protector when I'm outside. Inside,
Speaker 1: it's within half a second at least. It may be
Speaker 1: faster than what has struck you about the way different
Speaker 1: opponents have approached Kopeland. Well, I think that the more
Speaker 1: tape gets out there, the more people realize not only
Speaker 1: do we have to tend to him and no worry
Speaker 1: where he is every snap, we have to scheme him.
Speaker 1: We have to make sure that he can't wreck the game,
Speaker 1: because if they don't he potentially can wreck every game
Speaker 1: to plays because he's that kind of a guy. But um,
Speaker 1: it's this is standard stuff when you've got a rare guy.
Speaker 1: This is what they do, and we've got to come
Speaker 1: up as a staff. I have to come up with
Speaker 1: a better way to get him freed up and get
Speaker 1: him to make some plays. Um. Not a shock at
Speaker 1: all though, especially you know with what Oakland did they
Speaker 1: do that anyway, So it doesn't surprise me as the
Speaker 1: three guys like, yeah about that, Yeah, a special do
Speaker 1: the rare guys as you refer to them, do they
Speaker 1: ever reach a level of frustration within the framework of
Speaker 1: a game. I mean, you can clearly make a guess
Speaker 1: that that was a frustrating experience for the man. They
Speaker 1: do get frustrated, Um, but what they becomes more and
Speaker 1: more determined, They become better students, They learn to study more.
Speaker 1: Here's here's the three or four things that I can do.
Speaker 1: And they when they try to tend to me this way.
Speaker 1: But they do get frustrated. You know, Leonard's frustrated. You
Speaker 1: know you mentioned it right. He had two sacks. In
Speaker 1: the first one he hadn't had any any sense Well
Speaker 1: that frustration leads to growth, and those guys are studying
Speaker 1: like crazy, and they're trying to figure out and we're
Speaker 1: trying to figure out, as the staff ways to get
Speaker 1: them clean at the end of the down, How would
Speaker 1: you suspect that a great player like he Keane does
Speaker 1: demand double teams and lots of attention as well impact
Speaker 1: those two guys will It will have an impact. I
Speaker 1: will tell you though, The roster is built in such
Speaker 1: a way that the remaining players that will be active
Speaker 1: on game day, they'll pull that rope. And if it
Speaker 1: takes us four players to make three really good ones
Speaker 1: by using them the right way situationally, that's exactly what
Speaker 1: we'll do. So I don't have a concern about those
Speaker 1: inside guys. I know that Jay's probably answering the same
Speaker 1: questions now, and I know he doesn't. I've got a
Speaker 1: ton of confidence in Nick and then Balal and then
Speaker 1: Roy and all the guys that are going to be
Speaker 1: playing in there. How have you found Khalil too? Like
Speaker 1: that Elking game is a perfect example. Take the coaching
Speaker 1: when you have great players. You know, I know he's
Speaker 1: humble and all that, and he's coachable, but how does
Speaker 1: he take the coaching very specific points of something like that.
Speaker 1: He has absolutely no problem with it. He wants that.
Speaker 1: He is that guy that will ask the right question
Speaker 1: in a meeting. He'll say, you know, how, how do
Speaker 1: you see this? What's the best way for me to
Speaker 1: go about defeating this? And so he and I will
Speaker 1: go to work on it together. I see a guy
Speaker 1: that as a mature man, that is a football player.
Speaker 1: From the top of his head to the bottom of
Speaker 1: his shoes, all he wants to do is help us win.
Speaker 1: And he's going to study, and he's gonna work, and
Speaker 1: he's going to practice, and he's going to prepare, and
Speaker 1: he's going to be as clean and healthy as he
Speaker 1: can become Sunday. So when we when we do get
Speaker 1: a chance for to go out there against the Saints,
Speaker 1: he's going to be full speed. I felt it very
Speaker 1: interesting there, you know, when I asked Monachino about you know,
Speaker 1: can a player of greatness like Khalil mac get frustrated
Speaker 1: over the course of a game or you look at
Speaker 1: the case of von Miller and Denverly and then the
Speaker 1: season not getting his sacks. You know, because teams are
Speaker 1: targeting you, but they're used to it, you would think, right,
Speaker 1: But he's such a coachable player that the little things
Speaker 1: he asks for that's the key to me. He's not
Speaker 1: too big to think I can't learn something new every
Speaker 1: single day, right, you know, fundamentally techniques. We see how
Speaker 1: hard he works every day in practice. The thing about
Speaker 1: it is that's most rewarding to a player that's going
Speaker 1: to start grabbing the attention as the other guy's capitalizing
Speaker 1: on it. Because if I'm gonna put my body through this,
Speaker 1: then somebody better make a play. It's similar to Eddie Goldman.
Speaker 1: On the inside. You're gonna get abused every single play
Speaker 1: by an offensive guard from your right and your left.
Speaker 1: You want to see the linebacker behind you capitalize on
Speaker 1: that opportunity. I'm gonna hold up too, offensive lineman, you
Speaker 1: gon't make the play. It's the same thing with Khalil.
Speaker 1: He's a mature player. He's good enough to still win
Speaker 1: the plays. But other guys again have to step up.
Speaker 1: I mean a tight ends really are there going to
Speaker 1: be that are gonna be even if they have chipping
Speaker 1: help deal with him. I mean, the Raiders did a
Speaker 1: really good job. I'm not gonna lie, but you know
Speaker 1: he's in. That's a rare situation where you're gonna find
Speaker 1: it tight and it's going to be able to even
Speaker 1: with help deal with him. Well, listen, as long as
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack is in the NFL, there's he's gonna create
Speaker 1: a lot of sleepless nights for any offensive blockers that
Speaker 1: have to contend with them. So, I mean, that's gonna
Speaker 1: that's gonna be the route that he's gonna that's gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, follow him throughout his whole career. Is how
Speaker 1: many bodies are going to be sent at him? All Right?
Speaker 1: Coming up next, we're gonna dig into the offensive line
Speaker 1: Tom's expertise as the Bears meet the Saint Sunday at
Speaker 1: Soldier Field. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score.
Speaker 1: May be sure to stop by the middle of Light
Speaker 1: Ultimate Tailgate before the next game coming up on Sunday.
Speaker 1: The tailgate opens at one pm through one hour postgame.
Speaker 1: Located at the Field Museum. Ultimate Tailgate free for fans
Speaker 1: of all ages and a great place to stop for
Speaker 1: food and drinks before heading into the game. This is
Speaker 1: Bears All Access, brought to you by IG Energy. Here
Speaker 1: at PNC studios that have a saw top there. Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniac with you as we look at the offensive line,
Speaker 1: what's your review to the first five I've got to say,
Speaker 1: I'm a little just disappointed in the stats that the
Speaker 1: Bears running game has provided for their offense up into
Speaker 1: this point. I'm a little frustrated in the fact that
Speaker 1: I want, I thought that this was going to be
Speaker 1: the strength position of the Bears going into this season,
Speaker 1: and it would be the leader of the offense of
Speaker 1: why they are going to why they are going to
Speaker 1: be doing so well at this point. But you had injuries,
Speaker 1: you had position changes, You've had some lack of production
Speaker 1: from the running game, trying to get a new running
Speaker 1: back acclimated to what your system is all about, and
Speaker 1: those types of things they got to improve. And you know,
Speaker 1: you know, even if an offensive line up into this
Speaker 1: point it played a perfect game, they're never going to
Speaker 1: be judged perfectly. It's always going to be about how
Speaker 1: much better can you be the next week? And that
Speaker 1: was the task of Harry heastand during the bye week,
Speaker 1: the self scout that you often hear so much of.
Speaker 1: I was asked yesterday with the media available to talk
Speaker 1: to the assistance the old line coach on a week
Speaker 1: of review of the first five games and how simple
Speaker 1: are the corrections? Well, I think the biggest thing that
Speaker 1: stuck out to me was just and we were kind
Speaker 1: of taking turns, you know, and making a mistake that
Speaker 1: that her really hurt the production in the play. So
Speaker 1: that's what we really focused on, is dialing in and
Speaker 1: zero in on the details of getting five guys and
Speaker 1: in our case, to be doing exactly what we need
Speaker 1: done with detail and to try to improve it. But
Speaker 1: that's what stuck out. Harry is a coach. How difficult
Speaker 1: is it for you to see Kyle's season end the way?
Speaker 1: It's unfortunate, you know, as kind of coaches talked about it,
Speaker 1: and you know, you have a guy with you know,
Speaker 1: all that talent and excitement, loves the game, and it's
Speaker 1: just weren't able to hold up. So it's unfortunate. What's
Speaker 1: the hardest part of having a conversations and just knowing
Speaker 1: that at the end of the road for the season.
Speaker 1: Those are never easy for any player, But I think
Speaker 1: they all know that it's not you know, it doesn't
Speaker 1: go on forever, you know, so, but no, there's nothing
Speaker 1: easy about that, or where have you seen James in
Speaker 1: these you know from me we talked to you ran
Speaker 1: after the first game and then since then there's kind
Speaker 1: of a few games in between where it were. Have
Speaker 1: you seen kind of his progress? Yeah, he's he's improvenum
Speaker 1: Like any young player, it's day to day, you know,
Speaker 1: and learning on a job and experiencing the things you
Speaker 1: experience as a player. There's no substitute for being out
Speaker 1: on that game field with the lights on and everything's
Speaker 1: got to get done, you know. So each time he's
Speaker 1: out there, he's learning and getting better. Has there been
Speaker 1: any kind of acclamation for him? Just the speed? I
Speaker 1: mean obviously center was the position in college, but just
Speaker 1: the difference of NFL defensive lineman from that spot. Has
Speaker 1: that taken some time for him to No. I think
Speaker 1: it's just you know, getting back to the the consistency
Speaker 1: of he starts everything, you know, More than the speed,
Speaker 1: it's just the operation as a center. What is your
Speaker 1: best option in terms of what player that will Yeah,
Speaker 1: Like like coach said, you know, we've got three guys
Speaker 1: that we've experienced with Ted Larson and two younger guys
Speaker 1: in Rashot and Alex and will work through that. What
Speaker 1: can a couple of snaps played against Minnesota, he played
Speaker 1: more in a couple Well, right, for your own confidence, Well, well,
Speaker 1: it's good for him, you know, because he's been on
Speaker 1: the field and you know, we can look back and
Speaker 1: and watch plays where he block eyes, you know, and
Speaker 1: did a good job, and we can look at it
Speaker 1: and say, here's where you got to get better and
Speaker 1: here's the things that you learned as you went through it.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it was great for him to be on
Speaker 1: the field there. You guys worked him as a tackle,
Speaker 1: but what shrads do you look about him as a guard? Well,
Speaker 1: he just his He's a tough guy. He plays very
Speaker 1: very hard. It's super important to him, very prideful. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's very determined to keep his guy
Speaker 1: from making a play. And that's a that's a big
Speaker 1: part of this when you see Charles and penalty issues
Speaker 1: in the first five years through that. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I uh, did you guys watch the game last night? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know. So I'm not going to be critical the officials,
Speaker 1: but some of them are phantoms, honestly, god. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's had he had a couple that or were clearly penalties,
Speaker 1: but as many as the number that he's had, you know,
Speaker 1: so I know it's it's just gonna Yeah, it was
Speaker 1: a point of emphasis for them to start out the
Speaker 1: season doing it, and then they were calling them all
Speaker 1: over the place and they packed off. And I can't
Speaker 1: win commenting on that. But he'll be fine. Yeah, you're
Speaker 1: okay with where He'll be fine. He works too hard,
Speaker 1: he's very prideful. He comes every day to get better.
Speaker 1: It's if it was a if it if it wasn't
Speaker 1: happening because he was being lazy or not given effort
Speaker 1: and sloppy, that'd be different. But it's it's the opposite.
Speaker 1: Are the hands of the face penalties that have been
Speaker 1: called against him almost more frustrating than some of the
Speaker 1: holding ones, just because that that seems like such a
Speaker 1: point of emphasis. Yeah, I mean here the guys like
Speaker 1: those guys don't seem to get it as far. I mean,
Speaker 1: people's heads are moving, you go like this and yeah,
Speaker 1: suddenly you know, um, And I think what I read
Speaker 1: this morning, one of the things that it was important
Speaker 1: about it is that it stays there and that it's
Speaker 1: you know, kind of an active getting an edge by
Speaker 1: doing it, and so we just want to prevent that.
Speaker 1: Tim Ben hands are the pace penalties obviously in prime
Speaker 1: focus given what the NFL said yesterday, they made a
Speaker 1: mistake on the second one. I'd trade flowers from a
Speaker 1: defensive perspective, but it's also hurt the offensive line in
Speaker 1: Charles Leno this year. Yeah, you know, that's why you
Speaker 1: go over there and you have positive reinforcements of your
Speaker 1: techniques and fundamentals on a daily basis. And when you
Speaker 1: become susceptible to start raising your hands into the hand
Speaker 1: up into the face mask in the face, it's all
Speaker 1: about you just bending here. It's simple. It's about having
Speaker 1: a better kneebend, have a better aiming point, have a
Speaker 1: better target in terms of what you're looking at before
Speaker 1: the play ever starts. So it's something that it's got
Speaker 1: to be corrected because players can fall into bad habits
Speaker 1: that haunt themselves throughout their whole career. All right, let's
Speaker 1: have a minute here to talk about the Saints. What
Speaker 1: do you worry about when you see a Saints team
Speaker 1: coming in? You know the defense, Either defense is really
Speaker 1: playing well. They have a shutdown corner, they have a
Speaker 1: defensive line that runs really well sideline, the sideline. They
Speaker 1: have big, thick bodies on the interior that don't allow
Speaker 1: you a lot of interior running room. So it's kind
Speaker 1: of funny that we're not talking that I don't I'm
Speaker 1: not immediately drawn to the offense, and I probably maybe
Speaker 1: if Drew Brees was guaranteed to be there. But I've
Speaker 1: really impressed what the defense is doing for New Orleans. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Saints defense with nine sacks, three takeaways past three weeks,
Speaker 1: and they do shut down the run. They've been very
Speaker 1: good at that offensively though. It's Kimara and Michael Thomas, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: it is. And you know, you're kind of playing up
Speaker 1: to the ability of Teddy Bridgewater at this point. He's
Speaker 1: a quarterback that's been in the system a little while.
Speaker 1: He understands how to be effective at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: If he can keep him in the pocket and have
Speaker 1: him make decision throws, that's when you're susceptible to creating
Speaker 1: a mistake by him. All right, that's gonna do it
Speaker 1: for this week's Bears All Access show. Appreciate you being
Speaker 1: alongside Tom there and myself, Jeff Jonny Acco paus Ranger
Speaker 1: engineer and Dan burreally our producer Bears Saint Sunday at
Speaker 1: Soldier Field on News Radio seven eighty and one or
Speaker 1: five point ATWBBM three twenty five to kickoff. Have a
Speaker 1: good night, everybody. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on
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