Speaker 1: Welcome in cub Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy, a
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Speaker 4: Your hosts Jeff chilliac aka the Mayor of Bearsville and
Speaker 4: is sidekick Tom the Surfmaster, Thayer.
Speaker 5: Pleasant Ganded and everybody, and welcome in as the Bears
Speaker 5: get ready to meet their arrivals, the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 5: meeting two ten, the most in NFL history, kicking off
Speaker 5: Sunday at Soldier Field between the home standing Bears and
Speaker 5: the Packers. NFC North Division play open for business, and
Speaker 5: so are we. With Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer.
Speaker 5: I'm Jeff Jonahak coming up. We visit with veteran safety
Speaker 5: Elijah Hicks in the ESPN studio spending the Dallas tonight
Speaker 5: Justin Pottinger. Thanks to our producers Dan Brially, Jordan Treda
Speaker 5: from the Bears, and the executive producer of the Bears
Speaker 5: Radio Network is Eric Strowski.
Speaker 6: Good evening, Tom lots to discuss Big Jeff.
Speaker 4: What a week to have a week, you know, when
Speaker 4: you think of everything that's going in and this week
Speaker 4: in terms of the division race, and you know, everything
Speaker 4: that we've been kind of waiting for for the this
Speaker 4: regular season, knowing at the start of the season the
Speaker 4: division wasn't going to start until the back half of
Speaker 4: the season.
Speaker 7: My excitement doesn't wane at all.
Speaker 4: I'm a little bit angst and I'm ready for Sunday
Speaker 4: to get here, all right.
Speaker 6: What makes what makes you anxious?
Speaker 4: Well, you talk about the number of the games inside
Speaker 4: this rivalry and how there's been It's been so up
Speaker 4: and down, and the Packers have been on the upside
Speaker 4: of this rivalry now for a little while, and it's
Speaker 4: time for the Bears to get back and control this rivalry.
Speaker 4: And I know everything that took place this week up
Speaker 4: at hallis Hall, but that doesn't it doesn't tarnish the
Speaker 4: fact that the Bears have to come out there and
Speaker 4: play their best game of the year. Again it's a
Speaker 4: really good football team and get inside this division race.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, and there is a lot of season
Speaker 5: left and no matter what's been going on, once they
Speaker 5: get between the white lines and all the cliches you
Speaker 5: want to use, you know, now you just got a
Speaker 5: man up, play football and be the best team that day.
Speaker 5: And sometimes the best team isn't good enough to get
Speaker 5: the win. But hopefully that'll be the case against the Packers,
Speaker 5: because a year ago they were three and six. This
Speaker 5: year there's six and three, But they were three and
Speaker 5: six and made it into the second round of the playoffs.
Speaker 6: There was another team that was three and six last
Speaker 6: year and now escaping me.
Speaker 5: But so the Bears are in a better shape than
Speaker 5: that at four and five, and now they control their
Speaker 5: own destiny, so to speak, because they got all the
Speaker 5: games in the division, so they just got to they
Speaker 5: got to pull together, pull on the same rope, and get.
Speaker 6: It done well.
Speaker 4: You know, there may be a lot of talk about
Speaker 4: the Bears offense going into this game, but I think
Speaker 4: the talks should be around the Bears defense because when
Speaker 4: you look at Jordan Love and he's got ten interceptions
Speaker 4: and fifteen touchdown passes, and you see how well this
Speaker 4: Bears defenses has been playing throughout the season, and they
Speaker 4: only gave up nineteen points last week. I think that
Speaker 4: the Bears have an opportunity, with the super supportive crowd.
Speaker 7: At home, to get back on the.
Speaker 4: Track of getting turnovers, take getting takeaways, and limiting the
Speaker 4: opponent's offense to limited amount of success.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: He did that last year too, three interceptions in the
Speaker 5: first half of the season, then one in the final
Speaker 5: nine games of the season, I believe. So, yeah, he's
Speaker 5: at ten right now, and that's inviting, And especially when
Speaker 5: you know the Bears had their hands on a couple
Speaker 5: of potential interceptions last week they didn't get them. Now's
Speaker 5: the time you got to make every play that comes
Speaker 5: your way. Again the whole every snap matters thing, but
Speaker 5: every opportunity to make a big play, you gotta make it.
Speaker 5: Either side of the ball can't be well, can't be dropped.
Speaker 5: Passes can't be dropped. Interceptions can't be a bunch of
Speaker 5: false starts to put you in down in distance trouble,
Speaker 5: because now you're just spinning your wheels in mud.
Speaker 4: Right, the offense has to play safe brand of football.
Speaker 4: And you talk and that's safe, I mean making sure
Speaker 4: they don't have any pre snap penalties, make sure they
Speaker 4: don't have any formation penalties, make sure everybody's on the
Speaker 4: same page assignment wise. And then you talk about the
Speaker 4: great interception by TJ. Edwards last week and that how
Speaker 4: much that meant to the team, the field position that
Speaker 4: gave the offense, and then you talked about the possible
Speaker 4: dropped interceptions. Those are every one of these little things
Speaker 4: that we talked about offense, defense, and special teams. They
Speaker 4: got to come out here and have their best performance
Speaker 4: over the year.
Speaker 5: So the latest injury report, First of all, Montese sweat back.
Speaker 5: I did run into him, talk to him briefly to
Speaker 5: this evening, and I says he's feeling a lot better.
Speaker 5: But yeah, these little nix and next that happened over
Speaker 5: the course of a season. It's been something he really
Speaker 5: hasn't dealt with much in his career.
Speaker 6: But an ankle.
Speaker 5: But back at practice today, Tevin Jenkins not and then
Speaker 5: limited Braxton Jones and Darnell Arnout right, So that's big
Speaker 5: news right there that I assume and I expect those
Speaker 5: two will be back at tackle.
Speaker 7: Well.
Speaker 4: They got a lot of recovery time until noon kickoff
Speaker 4: on Sunday, so they have to get as much treatment
Speaker 4: as they possibly can outside of the practice time, stay
Speaker 4: off their feet, make sure they're fresh and ready to
Speaker 4: go on Sunday. Because there are two key components of
Speaker 4: their offensive line that are needed, and when you talk
Speaker 4: to the return of Ryan Bates, I think it helps
Speaker 4: the interior of the offensive line. Whatever is going to
Speaker 4: happen with Tevin Jenkins, Matt Pryor if Darnell Right plays,
Speaker 4: can go back to his offensive guard spot. And when
Speaker 4: Matt Pryor was playing right guard, he and Darnell Right
Speaker 4: were starting to develop a good, big guy relationship over
Speaker 4: there on the right side, and I think that can
Speaker 4: help this offense tremendously.
Speaker 5: So one of the upsetting things is hearing that Jakwan
Speaker 5: Brisker is on an injured reserve, so he has not
Speaker 5: been able to return despite the hopes that he would
Speaker 5: and that he was. There was a whole bunch of concern,
Speaker 5: but in the end, you know, definite concern and not
Speaker 5: able to come back.
Speaker 4: I only want him to come back if he's ready
Speaker 4: and confident to come back. I'm looking out for Jakwan Brisker.
Speaker 4: I'm not looking out for the Chicago Bear slashed Jakwan Brisker.
Speaker 4: I'm looking out for Jaquan Brisker. He's a great young
Speaker 4: man and he has to do with everything is reasonably
Speaker 4: responsible for him in his future and make the best
Speaker 4: decision accordingly.
Speaker 5: So Thomas Brown will be the play callee. He'll be
Speaker 5: up in the booth, call in the place for the
Speaker 5: Bears offense. He's done it before, he did it last
Speaker 5: year with Carolina, and he met the media on Wednesday
Speaker 5: of this week, so let's listen in to some of
Speaker 5: what he had to say about his new role.
Speaker 8: George, Kevin Flus and also Ryn, forgive me the opportunity
Speaker 8: to lead this offense. Also want to thank Shane Walter
Speaker 8: Conky is lost in this transition of how to fix
Speaker 8: people and their families and their lives. Mitt Shane back
Speaker 8: in twenty twenty first working with the Rams and he
Speaker 8: was phenomenal to me and my family to help on
Speaker 8: boarders coming to the NFL, and so I just want
Speaker 8: to say thank you to him. But again it was
Speaker 8: just odds up moving forward. Excited about the opportunity. This
Speaker 8: will not be a one man show. I'm excited to
Speaker 8: kind of work and collaborate with our entire staff and
Speaker 8: our players to fix the problems that we do have.
Speaker 8: Had a great conversation yesterday with Caleb about my thoughts
Speaker 8: moving forward, issues to fix and had a phenomenal walkthrough
Speaker 8: guys were upbeat, moving around, being really detailed, so excited
Speaker 8: about practice. Here's what I said about fixing the problem.
Speaker 8: So it starts every day we walk in the building.
Speaker 8: What I said to the team today and to our
Speaker 8: office staff and players is two things you control when
Speaker 8: you walk in the building. It's your effort and your attitude.
Speaker 8: So it starts the first right, how we approach the
Speaker 8: meetings being detailed, being locked in and transferring that to
Speaker 8: the actual practice field, being in about the walk through,
Speaker 8: but also making practice as hard as humanly possible so
Speaker 8: the game can somewhat become easy year. So to me,
Speaker 8: that's gonna be our focus, what we're locked in on,
Speaker 8: and so understand that practice preparation always leads to game
Speaker 8: day execution.
Speaker 2: So that's our focus.
Speaker 9: What's the what's your philosophy on the type of voice
Speaker 9: you want to be for Caleb during games?
Speaker 8: Well, first and foremost, I'm always do myself, So I'm
Speaker 8: a pretty direct person. That's what I kind of told you.
Speaker 2: Mere say.
Speaker 8: We spoke for the first time, and I've obviously been
Speaker 8: around about being in the room the entire time, but
Speaker 8: just in different capacity. So but I think on game
Speaker 8: day when it comes to how you deliver information, to
Speaker 8: be solution oriented, to keep myself calm, also keep him
Speaker 8: calm as well, to kind of decompress it. In every
Speaker 8: single drive, we have to kind of look forward to
Speaker 8: what's coming the next drives.
Speaker 7: How do you bring creativity.
Speaker 2: Down to this album?
Speaker 8: I think at this point, when it comes to where
Speaker 8: we are in the season, you can't reinvent the whill.
Speaker 8: I'm not gonna try to do that at all. That'll
Speaker 8: be kind of sen us and aspiral going backwards in
Speaker 8: my opinion. But it's about being able to try to
Speaker 8: find the best ways to be affected without playmakers right,
Speaker 8: to be able to marry what we do from a
Speaker 8: formation and motion standpoint everything and then me starts upfront,
Speaker 8: starts with the run game, how we attack knock at
Speaker 8: forward mentality, and we build off of that.
Speaker 9: Thomas, what what do you think your quarterback does well
Speaker 9: and that you need to emphasize in your scheme.
Speaker 2: I think it does a lot well.
Speaker 8: I think when it comes to just natural ability from
Speaker 8: throwing the football is I think clearly and obvious. I
Speaker 8: think being able to understand how to get the ball
Speaker 8: of his hands as fast as possible when it comes
Speaker 8: to the constance we kind of just end up dolling up,
Speaker 8: but also being able to let him you just natural guy,
Speaker 8: give him a billion of times.
Speaker 2: When is when is relevant?
Speaker 8: Not every player, but when it comes to especially situational ball,
Speaker 8: third down, red zone and come alive with that.
Speaker 6: Did you what did you learn from last year?
Speaker 4: And I know they're not the exact same situation, but
Speaker 4: what do you learn about coaching up number one pick
Speaker 4: and everything that comes with it on the field and
Speaker 4: off the field, and the pressure.
Speaker 3: And all that.
Speaker 8: Yeah, again I get the question. These are two different
Speaker 8: players in ability and also mentality wise. Obviously enjoyed that time.
Speaker 8: I have a brance last year, great dude, great player.
Speaker 8: But these are different circumstances. But as far as the
Speaker 8: pressure goes right, pressure to me is a privilege that
Speaker 8: means people expect something positive from you. So I embraced that,
Speaker 8: excited about the opportunity to come with the territory at
Speaker 8: this job. And honestly, if you don't want that, you
Speaker 8: probably do something else.
Speaker 5: And so Thomas Brown at the forefront, he'll be analyzed
Speaker 5: and overall just your thought. I like his direct approach
Speaker 5: to everybody that I've talked to you say the same
Speaker 5: thing he tells you. He tells you upfront what he
Speaker 5: expects of you, and he's very direct.
Speaker 4: Well, I like the second that that he says pressure
Speaker 4: is a privilege, and that is the truth for every
Speaker 4: single player and any professional sport because you've earned the
Speaker 4: opportunity to have pressure thrust upon you and your next
Speaker 4: step and your next goal. And then he's not here
Speaker 4: to reinvent the wheel. He's only here to take the
Speaker 4: offense that they've been inserting since the time he's got
Speaker 4: here and continue that process and that development. For Caleb,
Speaker 4: He's not bringing in a bunch of new material and
Speaker 4: ask can learner within a four day period. This is
Speaker 4: something that I think that he has an opportunity to
Speaker 4: just sharpen what they've been doing since they got here.
Speaker 5: In OTAs, it's the Bears offense. It's the Bears offense. Yeah,
Speaker 5: but it's the Bears offense. But it's how and when
Speaker 5: you call it what you're setting up for the third
Speaker 5: quarter that you run in the first quarter, it's how
Speaker 5: you adjust throughout the course of the game by what
Speaker 5: you're seeing defensively that is uniquely put together by a
Speaker 5: defense for the Bears and how they can attack it.
Speaker 5: And that's the beauty and the internal aspect of things
Speaker 5: that really will come to light one way or another
Speaker 5: from any play card and.
Speaker 4: Everything you said that will come to light on Sunday
Speaker 4: when they're actually in the game. But everything they're doing
Speaker 4: up until that point, up into Sunday is they're going
Speaker 4: out on the practice field and they're running through a
Speaker 4: practice and then they're going back into the meeting room.
Speaker 4: And those are the corrections that Thomas Brown can make
Speaker 4: for Caleb, or he can accentuate the things that Caleb
Speaker 4: is doing really well.
Speaker 5: Right now, all right, that's top there. I'm Jeff Jonniak.
Speaker 5: When we return, we'll hear from the quarterback coach, Carrie Joseph.
Speaker 5: The offense it's assistants were available to the Bears today
Speaker 5: at Hallis Hall. We'll get you set for Bears Packers
Speaker 5: here on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network,
Speaker 5: and welcome back everybody. This segment of Bears Weekly is
Speaker 5: brought to you by IGS Energy. Jeff and Tom with
Speaker 5: you as we get set for Bears Packers and the
Speaker 5: change and offensive coordinate are making the big news, not
Speaker 5: only here in Chicago, but around the NFL landscape, this
Speaker 5: has happened before. It happened last season with Buffalo as
Speaker 5: they moved to Joe Brady from Ken Dorsey and had
Speaker 5: it paid dividends. It paid dividends when Jim Caldwell with
Speaker 5: Baltimore years ago they went to a Super Bowl. So
Speaker 5: let's see where it takes us and what it might
Speaker 5: look like and more on the now and we'll get
Speaker 5: Tom's take on it afterwards. But Bears quarterback coach Carrie
Speaker 5: Joseph a part of this plan now as he continues
Speaker 5: to work with Caleb Williams.
Speaker 1: It's rhythm, you know, getting the ball out out of
Speaker 1: our hands, getting into the play maker's hands. You know, Hey,
Speaker 1: number one is open, Let's get it to him, you know,
Speaker 1: and we continue to talk about that, and uh and
Speaker 1: when we do that, now those plays become unsackable because
Speaker 1: the ball is out of our hands.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: We just continue to talk about that, continue to you know,
Speaker 1: talk about putting the eyes in the right place, having
Speaker 1: understanding what they're trying to do defensively, and then we
Speaker 1: can get the ball out.
Speaker 2: And that's the plan. Oh man, you're really gonna do
Speaker 2: that to me?
Speaker 6: I think that very well.
Speaker 1: Rams game. He did a great job Jacksonville. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not just him, it's just you know, the course
Speaker 1: of the game. You know, when you have you know,
Speaker 1: we got to be better overall. You know, we got
Speaker 1: a better run the ball that helps him. You know,
Speaker 1: we gotta be able to do that. We gotta be
Speaker 1: able to stay out of native place. We can't have penantis.
Speaker 1: All those things you know affect you know, the rhythm
Speaker 1: in the of the past game.
Speaker 2: So that's just it's a whole collector.
Speaker 1: It's not just Caleb, it's it's a it's all of
Speaker 1: us making sure that we hey still head of the chains.
Speaker 9: We'll just to interpret what you were saying a minute ago,
Speaker 9: is there I guess a habit for Ricky quarterback to
Speaker 9: kind of have his head swim a little bit, just
Speaker 9: because you've been through a lot throughout the course of
Speaker 9: a season and then it's a little bit cloudy.
Speaker 2: I won't say his head is swimming. It can happen
Speaker 2: to any quarterback.
Speaker 1: You know, if you know things are not going well,
Speaker 1: I don't care who you are. You get a hit
Speaker 1: a few times, you know, your eyes start to speed
Speaker 1: up a little bit. You start to feel people like
Speaker 1: you guys are around me, ladies around.
Speaker 2: Me right now? You know, I can see Ali over there,
Speaker 2: but I can still feel your presence.
Speaker 1: It happens to any quarterback, you know, and it's just
Speaker 1: how do you reset yourself? How do you reset yourself? Hey,
Speaker 1: let's go back to the basics. Let's go back to
Speaker 1: mastering the basic basics and every concept, you know, every play.
Speaker 2: That's what we are right now.
Speaker 4: What's that fide line between with him of you want
Speaker 4: to protect the football, you don't want to.
Speaker 2: Him to feel like you can't take chances? And how
Speaker 2: have you seen him kind of straddle that over the
Speaker 2: past few years?
Speaker 1: You know, I just try to always encourage, Hey, let's
Speaker 1: be aggressive. Let's be aggressive, would be smart, you know,
Speaker 1: Let's be aggressive, let's be smart. And that's the message
Speaker 1: that I've started from day one and I continue to deliver.
Speaker 1: So now, hey, let's pull the trigger. Let's be smart
Speaker 1: about it, but be aggressive. At the same time, I
Speaker 1: said that he's going to.
Speaker 10: Be upstairs, So how to let change these sideline communications
Speaker 10: which we unit.
Speaker 2: To heal with.
Speaker 1: So basically, you know, me, Thomas, Caleb, we all collaborate together,
Speaker 1: had we come to the sideline, you know, Chris is
Speaker 1: there also.
Speaker 2: Have we talk about the last drive? Boom?
Speaker 1: Then to me as a quarterback coach, get that information
Speaker 1: to him. You know, as we see the film, you
Speaker 1: know what adjustments we want to make what happened on
Speaker 1: that last drive? And then also I'm big at hey,
Speaker 1: what did you see? Because from the sideline and behind
Speaker 1: there it's different, you know, so I want to hear
Speaker 1: what he saw so we can all come together and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: look what the picture is showing. Think this way. You know,
Speaker 1: you got to have that conversation. You got to have
Speaker 1: that communication. So that's how we're planning working.
Speaker 2: I know, people away time.
Speaker 4: Quarterback development isn't always linear, and then sometimes there jumps.
Speaker 7: Jordan loves an example of that last year where the
Speaker 7: first half.
Speaker 2: Wasn't great and the second half was.
Speaker 3: Do you guys point matter point the other quarterbacks on
Speaker 3: the league to look what happened to them?
Speaker 1: I'm pointing to Killer Williams and the Chicago Bears. What
Speaker 1: can we do to make sure that we got him
Speaker 1: going in the right direction?
Speaker 2: That's our focus.
Speaker 1: You know, no disrespect to your question, but hey, let's
Speaker 1: because he's different you know, he's not Jordan's so I
Speaker 1: don't know what they did with him, but I know
Speaker 1: where we want to go as an offense, you know,
Speaker 1: collectively to help all of our guys, because we have
Speaker 1: a lot of talent and we got to get everybody involved.
Speaker 2: So we're putting a plan together for that.
Speaker 9: Thomas, what's the value of his presence in a week
Speaker 9: like this and a stretch on a body?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 2: You know what.
Speaker 1: He's authentic, you know, and you know, I love Shane
Speaker 1: and our prayers go up for him and his family.
Speaker 2: And I've been with him for four years. He's done
Speaker 2: a lot for me in my career. Uh.
Speaker 1: Just Thomas' approach, you know, And he's just Thomas is Thomas. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's gonna keep it real with you. He's gonna be
Speaker 1: straightforward with you, and he's gonna be honest. So you
Speaker 1: better take it and you roll with it and you
Speaker 1: respect it. And like I said, I've been on him
Speaker 1: for a few years now and he's never changed. So
Speaker 1: and I think him just coming taking the step forward
Speaker 1: and standing in front of the team and say, hey,
Speaker 1: this is how we're gonna roll with it, this is
Speaker 1: how we're gonna get it done from the meeting rooms
Speaker 1: to the practice field to the game and then we're
Speaker 1: gonna do it all over again.
Speaker 2: That's who he is. And uh, that's how we're gonna row.
Speaker 2: Doing too much at the line.
Speaker 4: Obviously, he's adept enough and smart enough to make a
Speaker 4: lot of changes to limbit is it.
Speaker 2: Has it been too much the past few weeks?
Speaker 1: Nah, I I wouldn't say that. I wouldn't say that
Speaker 1: Kelb is very smart. We just got to help our offense,
Speaker 1: like you said, to put us in a better situation,
Speaker 1: and we just gotta play better, you know, we just
Speaker 1: gotta play better collectively, and we just got to stay
Speaker 1: ahead of the change. NFL, you don't still ahead of
Speaker 1: the chains. It's hard, you know, it's hard.
Speaker 6: So you living as coaches at the line.
Speaker 2: He's making good decisions at the line.
Speaker 1: Uh, we gotta help him and like now just says,
Speaker 1: get the ball out of his hands, you know, slow
Speaker 1: his eyes down so he sees things a little bit better,
Speaker 1: wants to pla, wants post now, you know. But you know,
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage, things that we've asked him
Speaker 1: to do, he's done a great job with it.
Speaker 5: One week's success or two or whatever does not get
Speaker 5: guarantee the next week's success. But even the US coaches
Speaker 5: being al around a long time, when it's a sudden
Speaker 5: shift like this, are you even surprised at how quickly
Speaker 5: things can change?
Speaker 2: I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1: I've been around pro football a long time, you know,
Speaker 1: I've been through ups and downs. It's every day, every
Speaker 1: day you have to win. You have to win every day.
Speaker 1: You have to have a winning habit.
Speaker 2: It's the job.
Speaker 1: Is the professional we chose, and that's the commitment that
Speaker 1: you have to make. So I'm not surprised about it.
Speaker 1: Coaches are not surprised about it. You know, most players
Speaker 1: are not because you just you got to be great
Speaker 1: every day. Your best is required every day, playing and simple.
Speaker 5: You like the mentality of the team at the moment
Speaker 5: despite all of this, can you get a feel for it?
Speaker 1: I think this organization from top down, I think coach
Speaker 1: Flus has done a great job of the leadership. And
Speaker 1: you see how it trickles down because the team is
Speaker 1: still connected, and it starts top down, you know, respect
Speaker 1: to the top dollars on down from head coach and
Speaker 1: the players that have bought into it and everybody's still connected,
Speaker 1: everybody's still believing, and we're gonna show up Sunday and
Speaker 1: go play some football.
Speaker 5: All right, Tom, there's a lot like out of his
Speaker 5: mouth right there. I know you're bobbing your head because
Speaker 5: we're on zoom looking at each other. Fans can't see us,
Speaker 5: but listeners can't see us. But uh, there's a lot
Speaker 5: of what we've been thinking ourselves.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I think that you could have cut
Speaker 4: that interview after he answered rhythm, rhythm and timing. Rhythm
Speaker 4: and timing, because you know, last week on Bears Game
Speaker 4: Night Live, we gave an illustration about Keenan Allen and
Speaker 4: his receptions last week and how quickly the ball was
Speaker 4: efficiently out of the hand of Caleb Williams, and it
Speaker 4: wasn't an extended protection by the offensive line.
Speaker 7: It was rhythm and timing. And so if you include
Speaker 7: those same types of.
Speaker 4: Passes to DJ to Rome, to Cole to Gerald Everett,
Speaker 4: even DeAndre Swift and Rochean Johnson, that include rhythm and timing,
Speaker 4: and you take away all this thinking and your the impossible.
Speaker 4: I think you're going to have a much more efficiently
Speaker 4: run offense, a much more confident Caleb Williams, and so
Speaker 4: I think everything there is possible and it can be
Speaker 4: done with rhythm and timing.
Speaker 5: And I also like the approach of win every day. Uh,
Speaker 5: it's it's not Sunday, it's win every day.
Speaker 7: That's that's been a professional athlete.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like because you change the game plans week
Speaker 4: in and week out, and you can't be thinking about
Speaker 4: stuff from the Rams game. You got to be thinking
Speaker 4: about stuff for the Green Bay game.
Speaker 7: And then when this.
Speaker 4: Game is over, you got to start thinking about stuff
Speaker 4: for the next game plan.
Speaker 7: So it is about winning every day.
Speaker 5: Nine points a game since the bye week, lowest in
Speaker 5: the NFL over the last three games. Caleb, no interceptions.
Speaker 5: That's big, especially with the Packers, Vikings and Lions all
Speaker 5: in the offing here because they all take the ball
Speaker 5: away and sack the quarterback. Unfortunately no touchdowns either, and
Speaker 5: those eighteen sacks and that all has to get cleared
Speaker 5: up and has to start right now with the division
Speaker 5: getting underway. We'll continue our conversation on the Bears from
Speaker 5: a defensive perspective. Safety Elijah Hicks, who has come in
Speaker 5: for the injured Jakwon Brisker and has done a nice job,
Speaker 5: and it looks like he'll continue to be in that
Speaker 5: role for the rest of this season.
Speaker 6: That's Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniack.
Speaker 5: This is Bears Weekly out he ESPN one thousand and
Speaker 5: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 7: Segment to Bears.
Speaker 6: Weekly brought to you by CDW people to get it.
Speaker 6: Welcome back to Bears.
Speaker 5: Weekly out of ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio
Speaker 5: Network with Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniyak, and our guest
Speaker 5: this week is Bear Safety Elijah Hicks, Big number twenty two.
Speaker 5: Getting ready for the rivalry, getting ready with the Packers.
Speaker 5: Let's start there because you've already experienced some of them
Speaker 5: haven't gone to Bears way just yet. But you're talking
Speaker 5: about a guy over there on the other side of
Speaker 5: the screen, Tom's on zoom with us, that had a
Speaker 5: lot of success against the Packers in his day. But
Speaker 5: the rivalrygis simmers.
Speaker 6: Like good broth, you know, how about for you in
Speaker 6: your early years.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I always love when there's a good rivalry going on.
Speaker 11: It's an opportunity to, you know, show out for the fans.
Speaker 11: We know how much it means for them. But on
Speaker 11: the day to day I mean, I think it's important
Speaker 11: to stick to your process and have a good process.
Speaker 3: So whether it's a.
Speaker 11: Really important game like a rivalry game, or whether it's
Speaker 11: you know, Detroit or someone else, we have the same approach.
Speaker 3: So I think your routine is very important.
Speaker 5: You're a southern California kid. Did you get up for
Speaker 5: a reason high school? And at Cal? We know what
Speaker 5: the Cal Stanford games or like was that Did that
Speaker 5: give you extra oomph?
Speaker 11: I would say, like, you definitely feel the extra vibes
Speaker 11: and energy throughout the week, especially because how the fans
Speaker 11: show out all the media attention that it gets. So
Speaker 11: it's always and then it's always more a physical game
Speaker 11: when you know it's a rivalry game. So you definitely
Speaker 11: got to have your chin shot, buckle, douve, and ready
Speaker 11: to go.
Speaker 4: Elijah brought up the fact that you went to Cal.
Speaker 4: But I was looking at the list of colleges that
Speaker 4: you chose Cal from and I went to Notre Dame
Speaker 4: and I noticed one of them was Notre Dame. What
Speaker 4: was the difference maker for you to go to Cal?
Speaker 4: Do you want to stay close to home or did
Speaker 4: they Was it a better football offering than the other schools.
Speaker 11: So I was committed to Notre Dame as well. So
Speaker 11: that was the first school I was committee too. I'm
Speaker 11: not gonna lie. Yeah, I wanted to stay close to home,
Speaker 11: but cal was for further, far enough for me to
Speaker 11: be able to still have that distance. My family's still
Speaker 11: able to come to games and enjoy them, you know,
Speaker 11: in the off season and stuff like that. But I
Speaker 11: was definitely a committee to Nordre Dame at one point.
Speaker 6: Well, we have some similarities.
Speaker 4: I grew up in this area and I went to
Speaker 4: Notre Dame because it was far enough away, but it
Speaker 4: was still close to home for my family. And I
Speaker 4: played a lot of different positions in my college years.
Speaker 4: When you talk about converting from a corner to a safety,
Speaker 4: you know, there's not a lot of guys that have
Speaker 4: the willingness to do that because it's a different physical
Speaker 4: approach to the position.
Speaker 7: Than play in corner.
Speaker 4: So when that was introduced to you, were you accepted
Speaker 4: of it immediately or did you have to give it
Speaker 4: some thought.
Speaker 11: So one of my good teammates at the time, Cameron
Speaker 11: buying Them, who is the starting safety for the Vikings.
Speaker 11: We both were corners at college. Most of our years.
Speaker 11: So he got drafted the year before me, and they
Speaker 11: converted him from corner to safety, and I saw that
Speaker 11: transition and I talked to him like every day, and
Speaker 11: I was I was just listening to him and how
Speaker 11: that transition was, and he embraced it. And and because
Speaker 11: I seen him go through that process and we both
Speaker 11: were very physical corners, so I was like, you know what,
Speaker 11: I could do it too, and so yeah, I was
Speaker 11: just fully embraced it. I just want to play at
Speaker 11: the next level. I'm one of those guys wherever you
Speaker 11: need me to be, I'm gonna do my job and
Speaker 11: I'm embrace it.
Speaker 3: So that's how I got.
Speaker 4: Is the vision of the position the same as a corner,
Speaker 4: because I you know, you're you guys are involved in
Speaker 4: coverage nowadays, but you're also involved in near the line
Speaker 4: of scrimmage type of linebacker play. So does corner skills
Speaker 4: transfer to safety skills and make you a better safety
Speaker 4: because you have the athleticism to play the position in
Speaker 4: the first place.
Speaker 11: I think it definitely helps when he comes to covering
Speaker 11: tight ends and or you know, being.
Speaker 3: Flexible to be able to do cover tight ends or slots.
Speaker 11: But safety definitely is a lot more like I would
Speaker 11: say a leadership position where you have to communicate with
Speaker 11: you know, linebackers and the corners. So you got to
Speaker 11: be able to, you know, retain a lot of information,
Speaker 11: be able to be a clear communicator, and you got
Speaker 11: to really know what the defense is calling and where
Speaker 11: everyone is because you got to be the one to
Speaker 11: help people get lined up.
Speaker 5: Elijah Hickson Yes here on Bears Weekly on the ESPN
Speaker 5: one thousand of the Bears Readio network.
Speaker 6: Did that move change your life? In many ways?
Speaker 5: It gave you a different trajectory to be drafted as
Speaker 5: a safety and to be grown here over the last
Speaker 5: three years. But did that decision change your life?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 11: I did, And I think it is a more natural
Speaker 11: position for me someone who is you know, I like
Speaker 11: to look at myself at someone's.
Speaker 3: Smart, smart player on the field.
Speaker 11: I like to use my brain to help me be
Speaker 11: a couple of steps ahead, and so being able to
Speaker 11: use that and anticipate, Okay, this tight ends off, he
Speaker 11: looks like he's gonna walk back, and it's just a
Speaker 11: game within the game. At safety, you could play that
Speaker 11: a lot more.
Speaker 5: Oftentimes, young players, especially undrafted or late rounders, they don't
Speaker 5: get a lot of chance to get on the field.
Speaker 5: But coach Iberflus believes in playing his rookies. And did
Speaker 5: that benefit you to get in fifteen games, no matter
Speaker 5: how you got in your rookie season, to help grow
Speaker 5: who you are right now?
Speaker 11: Yeah, And I think it's important, like no matter who
Speaker 11: you are, whether you're a late round guy or undrafted,
Speaker 11: to have a good process and have a good work ethic,
Speaker 11: and you know, show the coaches that you know what
Speaker 11: you're doing out there and making plays in practice, because
Speaker 11: really the game, the games are just a glorified practice.
Speaker 11: More people watching, but when you look at the film
Speaker 11: and they're they're doing the same thing that we do
Speaker 11: throughout the week.
Speaker 4: So Kevin Bayard has got a world of experience, and
Speaker 4: you think about the different things that he's gone through,
Speaker 4: the different quarterbacks and offenses and everything he's faced. Do
Speaker 4: you ever pick his brain about maybe what he's thinking
Speaker 4: while you're watching tape of the next opponent, or what
Speaker 4: you're seeing in the middle of a game, or just
Speaker 4: take advantage of, you know, all of his experiences.
Speaker 11: One thousand percent. He has so much information. He's been
Speaker 11: through it a lot. One of my favorite questions to
Speaker 11: ask him at the beginning of the week is like,
Speaker 11: what you see from these guys, what are you going
Speaker 11: to into this game thinking about based off the film
Speaker 11: you watched, And he shares that with me, and I
Speaker 11: usually share that with him, and I always like how
Speaker 11: he his mindset when it comes to approaching the game.
Speaker 4: You know, the Bears have had great weather conditions throughout
Speaker 4: this season, and the field this past Sunday was as
Speaker 4: perfect as you can get in in November. So as
Speaker 4: I was watching the Detroit Green Bay tape, I was
Speaker 4: kind of taken into account the conditions that they were
Speaker 4: playing in because it was so rainy and the field
Speaker 4: was so wet. Do you have to kind of find
Speaker 4: yourself watching a game that has better field conditions to
Speaker 4: understand what their offense is capable of being? Because as
Speaker 4: an ex offensive lineman, I kind of look at the
Speaker 4: defense and what they're what you're doing on offense, but
Speaker 4: what they're offering you on defense.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that plays into it, plays a part in it.
Speaker 11: But I think at the end of the day, like
Speaker 11: when I was watching that game, you know, the score was,
Speaker 11: it was a big score difference, and so you got
Speaker 11: to see, you know, what do they like to do
Speaker 11: when when they in gotta pass situations, So you get
Speaker 11: a understanding of, you know, the play caller, how the
Speaker 11: guys run their routes, even the mindset of the guys
Speaker 11: when they're down. So you still could get a lot
Speaker 11: out of it, regardless of I think the weather conditions.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Elijah Hicks, our guest here on ESPN one thousand
Speaker 5: of the Bears Radio Network, that secondary has been loud
Speaker 5: since the season began. I always felt that it was
Speaker 5: the heartbeat of the team. Honestly, you guys are deep.
Speaker 5: A lot of everybody can play in that secondary and
Speaker 5: were ready stewarding, ready seward. I gotta make it the
Speaker 5: proper pronunciation there, Uh, Terrell Smith, you got tar various,
Speaker 5: Gelen Jones, Josh Blackwell yourself? Have you given you guys
Speaker 5: behind closed doors? Do you guys have a name for yourselves?
Speaker 5: You labeled the unit?
Speaker 3: Well, you actually have not.
Speaker 11: But we're really big on communicating our goals and we're
Speaker 11: really big on understanding like we want to be the best,
Speaker 11: and so regardless of what your role is and whether
Speaker 11: it's some special teams or or defense, it's like when
Speaker 11: you out there when this secondary is on the field.
Speaker 11: We need to show out and we all support each
Speaker 11: other in that and we always talking about being the
Speaker 11: best every day.
Speaker 6: What is your analysis of the Packers right now?
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think their offense, you know, they come from
Speaker 11: the Rams tree, so we see a lot of similarities
Speaker 11: on film now and they have some you know, talented
Speaker 11: guys at receiver, they got some speed guys, they got a.
Speaker 3: Decent running back.
Speaker 11: So it's exciting for a secondary like us who you know,
Speaker 11: last couple of weeks, we haven't saw you know, too
Speaker 11: many deep perceiving cores and so this is an opportunity
Speaker 11: for us to you know, show what we can do.
Speaker 11: We can have a stamp on the game, hopefully get
Speaker 11: a lot of turnovers. That's always on our mind. So
Speaker 11: the ball is gonna be in the air. We see
Speaker 11: the stats of how many turnovers the quarterback has had,
Speaker 11: you know, within the six games he's played fully, So
Speaker 11: we're excited about that and we just.
Speaker 3: Want to get our hands on the ball.
Speaker 6: Yeah, set your GPS to ball, have hawk mode this weekend?
Speaker 11: Yeah right, how important that is when you get the
Speaker 11: ball and how it correlates to win.
Speaker 3: So you know, it's crazy.
Speaker 4: Elijah when you think of the beginning of the season,
Speaker 4: you look at that seventeen game stretch and you go, wow,
Speaker 4: this is you know, a four or five month road
Speaker 4: that we're on, and you think of where you're at
Speaker 4: now and how many division games.
Speaker 2: You have left.
Speaker 4: It's almost like kind of re energizing the excitement for
Speaker 4: you guys, knowing that everything that you can accomplish is
Speaker 4: still ahead of you with all the division games starting
Speaker 4: with Green Bay on Sunday, So that's got to be
Speaker 4: an exciting added element to your season. I in my
Speaker 4: forty years as a broadcaster and player, I've never been
Speaker 4: through it like this.
Speaker 7: So how do you feel about that part?
Speaker 11: It feels good knowing that, you know, we've took some ls,
Speaker 11: but we got this division ahead of us, and we're
Speaker 11: fully capable of, you know, making plays and getting these wins.
Speaker 11: So it's gonna be important to just you know, come
Speaker 11: together and take it one week at a.
Speaker 3: Time, all right.
Speaker 5: Last thing, I know, you started an Intercept Poverty foundation
Speaker 5: back in college, which was amazing that you had the
Speaker 5: foresight and the desire to do that. You came from
Speaker 5: humble beginnings. It wasn't easy, and you just wanted to
Speaker 5: give back. Is that still up and running? Do you
Speaker 5: do stuff here in Chicago? And why is giving back
Speaker 5: so important to you? The man that it built probably
Speaker 5: is why. The answer is yeah. I mean I went
Speaker 5: through a lot growing up. I have a great family,
Speaker 5: my mom and dad. They were always helping me in school,
Speaker 5: helping at field trips. My dad was giving back to
Speaker 5: a lot of kids on my youth football team, whether
Speaker 5: they didn't have someone to sleep or they needed extra
Speaker 5: shoes and stuff. Even though we didn't have a lot,
Speaker 5: I seen my dad and my mom giving back to
Speaker 5: people in the So during COVID is when I started
Speaker 5: Intercept Poverty Foundation, and I was just trying to help.
Speaker 5: You know, a lot of people struggling and who could
Speaker 5: use a couple extra dollars for food. So I took
Speaker 5: I took my matter into my own hands and got
Speaker 5: people around me who could help me create it. And Yeah,
Speaker 5: we was able to raise a lot of money over
Speaker 5: like close to seventy thousand, almost one hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 5: worth of food and emergency grants for.
Speaker 3: Students in need at cal Bersley.
Speaker 11: While we're still doing things in the community, We're rebranding
Speaker 11: and stuff like that, but stay tuned.
Speaker 6: I like it. I like it helping the community.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Nice, You're a great dude, great football player. Enjoy enjoy
Speaker 5: the conversation. And that's been too long since we got
Speaker 5: together and got you on our show.
Speaker 6: So appreciate your time. Good luck this weekend. Appreciate that's
Speaker 6: Bear safety.
Speaker 5: Elijah Hicks, Tom and I returned with a preview of
Speaker 5: the Packers next on ESPN one thousand of the Bears
Speaker 5: Radio Network. Avenue or gently used coke laying around well
Speaker 5: ahead of your local Jewel Lasco until February tenth, and
Speaker 5: donate one of your new or gently used coachs to
Speaker 5: the thirty sixth annual Chicago Bears Coat Drive.
Speaker 6: Help keep Chicagoans warm this winter.
Speaker 5: Oh, it's going to be toasty and Soldier Field on
Speaker 5: Sunday for Bears Packers. What a matchup as they come
Speaker 5: to town as the Bears are getting them off the
Speaker 5: bye week. Tom, they are owing their last three off
Speaker 5: the bye week the Packers. I don't know if you
Speaker 5: care about those statistics on the road, I should say
Speaker 5: on the.
Speaker 4: Road, Well, I know it's fifty nine degrees for a
Speaker 4: high on Sunday, So I'm excited about.
Speaker 7: The great conditions at this part.
Speaker 4: Of the NFL football season, and I expect the crowd
Speaker 4: to be in a fury just to be excited about
Speaker 4: the opportunity of being there, being loud and trying to
Speaker 4: make their offense as dysfunctional as possible, in trying to
Speaker 4: get on the bandwagon to the Bears offense and see
Speaker 4: what changes Thomas Brown is going to bring. Talk about
Speaker 4: timing and efficiency and that's what I think everybody wants
Speaker 4: to see out of Caleb Williams.
Speaker 5: And defense will be a major discussion point about the
Speaker 5: run game because the Packers are going to run the football.
Speaker 5: More on that now from Coach Washington, the Bears defensive coordinator.
Speaker 10: Our guys are excited. We've had a couple of really
Speaker 10: good days of preparation. They're focused, and I'm looking forward
Speaker 10: to what we'll do.
Speaker 12: I'll take you talk about Jacob's looking different than last year.
Speaker 12: How does that show up to you and what do
Speaker 12: you account for?
Speaker 10: Just to change the direction in the quickness, very shifty,
Speaker 10: the burst is there, the confidence is there, and so
Speaker 10: I think the last couple of years, I think he
Speaker 10: was finding his way back, finding his footing. But now
Speaker 10: we're seeing the all pro Pro Bowl caliber player that
Speaker 10: we've seen from him previously. The confidence is there. He's
Speaker 10: very quick, hitting the holes, downhill, physical, I mean, he's
Speaker 10: not looking to avoid anyone. So it's what we've seen
Speaker 10: previous to the injury that he incurred.
Speaker 13: You guys are preparing for Jordan Love. But how impressive
Speaker 13: was what the Packers were able to do running the
Speaker 13: football without him at the beginning of the season and
Speaker 13: just their ability to go almost one dimensional and have
Speaker 13: success with them.
Speaker 10: Well, they've got two backs, two runners behind him that
Speaker 10: are almost identical. They're they're clones, if you will, same
Speaker 10: type of traits and makeup strong players, downhill runners, and
Speaker 10: so he's a bonus with what he can do. He's
Speaker 10: a Pro Bowl caliber player, but they've really stocked that
Speaker 10: position with runners who can replicate what they'd like to
Speaker 10: do with their rushing attacks.
Speaker 4: With Jan Reeve, what are some of the things that
Speaker 4: he doesn't stresses you guys on somebody.
Speaker 10: Who just an unbelievable target, really good target, a really
Speaker 10: good catch radius. And the one thing about all of
Speaker 10: these skilled players is their tenacity and ability to block
Speaker 10: at the point of attack and away from the point
Speaker 10: of attack, and so he's no different. We just have
Speaker 10: to do a really good job of getting off blocks
Speaker 10: and just making sure that we control their passing attack.
Speaker 13: Is there a challenge in keeping your players on the
Speaker 13: defensive side focused in lockdown with everything else that's gone
Speaker 13: on in the building in the last seventy two hours.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 10: And one of the things that I've been consistent in
Speaker 10: terms of describing the men that I work with as
Speaker 10: their character, and that doesn't just show up when everything
Speaker 10: is going well. It shows up in times when things
Speaker 10: aren't going exactly the way you need them to. And
Speaker 10: I've gotten to know that and got I've really gotten
Speaker 10: to a point where I can appreciate that going all
Speaker 10: the way back to the point we first started working together.
Speaker 12: But you were in a situation last year in Buffalo
Speaker 12: where there was a mi's EAVENM coordinator change on the
Speaker 12: other side of the ball.
Speaker 2: What did you observe.
Speaker 12: About how that changed things for that group at their
Speaker 12: offensive team as a whole when you went through that
Speaker 12: last year.
Speaker 10: Yeah, what I observed is that, you know, one of
Speaker 10: the things that I had to do as a as
Speaker 10: a coach on that staff and that situation is just
Speaker 10: make sure that I kept the guys, our players focused,
Speaker 10: staff focused, and that we continue to reach for a
Speaker 10: higher performance, a higher level of performance and execution. And
Speaker 10: that's what we did then and that's what we'll continue
Speaker 10: to do now.
Speaker 5: Steady steering the ship. Coach Eric Washington. Tommy says the
Speaker 5: right thing every week. He is never takes a thing
Speaker 5: for granted, always worried about what's next and what has
Speaker 5: to be done, and states the objectives quite clearly.
Speaker 4: Right you listen, every one of these guys have to
Speaker 4: think about their own responsibility, what type of technique and
Speaker 4: fundamentals they're going to use once the ball is snapped.
Speaker 4: There's no lingering thoughts on the back of their mind
Speaker 4: of what this team has been going through in the last.
Speaker 7: Couple of weeks or even this week. It's about the
Speaker 7: defensive lineman.
Speaker 4: Trying to earn their helmets over the line of scrimmage
Speaker 4: so they control the Packers running game, and then when
Speaker 4: the Packers decided to throw the ball, they got to
Speaker 4: get their pass rushers.
Speaker 7: Into the area of Jordan Love.
Speaker 4: You know, that's the basics of what the Bears defense
Speaker 4: has been doing early in the season, and that that's
Speaker 4: what they have to continue to do at this stage
Speaker 4: of the season.
Speaker 6: He's an explosive dude.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he is.
Speaker 4: He you know, he kind of burst on the seed
Speaker 4: when Watson has been injured so frequently that somebody else
Speaker 4: had to step up to the plate. And oh yeah,
Speaker 4: you got to step up to the plate while you're
Speaker 4: introducing a new quarterback to the system. So it's kind
Speaker 4: of these two guys have grown together. It's not like
Speaker 4: there's a big separation in NFL time of performance between them.
Speaker 6: And what's your opinion of the tight end craft.
Speaker 4: You know, he's got five touchdowns, He's their go to guy.
Speaker 4: He can make a big catch for four yards and
Speaker 4: turn it into fourteen yards. I think there's a lot
Speaker 4: of similarities between what he and Cole are capable of
Speaker 4: doing for their offense. But when he was drafted last year,
Speaker 4: he was brought into the mix to kind of bring
Speaker 4: that Nike's and that next tight end that they've been
Speaker 4: missing for a couple of years inside that offense.
Speaker 6: He had drafted a couple of Musgrave too, right, Grave
Speaker 6: he's rud Yeah.
Speaker 7: But again, that tight end position.
Speaker 4: You know, they had been missing that for a couple seasons,
Speaker 4: and so they've been really to grow and develop into
Speaker 4: this offense.
Speaker 5: One nugget before the break, lowest passer rating allowed by
Speaker 5: Corners this season.
Speaker 6: She's not surprise anybody.
Speaker 5: According to the Next Gen Stets, the NFL Stats Service,
Speaker 5: it's Jalen Johnson with a forty one point eight rating.
Speaker 5: He has not given up a touchdown pass this year
Speaker 5: and continues to be a lockdown. He'll need to be
Speaker 5: on Sunday against the Packers. Our final segment coming up
Speaker 5: next here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 5: the Bears Radio Network. This segment of Bears Weekly brought
Speaker 5: to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit athletical dot com
Speaker 5: to request in clinic or virtual deployment. It's start feeling
Speaker 5: better tomorrow, Jeff and Tom at our final moments here
Speaker 5: on Bears Weekly ahead of the Division open are almost
Speaker 5: like a brand new season getting underway. Tom, I know
Speaker 5: that sounds ridiculous. And speaking of ridiculous, Devin Hester gets
Speaker 5: his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring at halftime. So
Speaker 5: I'll head out there and do what you did for
Speaker 5: your good buddy and and teammate Steve McMichael.
Speaker 6: So that'll be a buzz in the stadium.
Speaker 5: But am I off does it feel like a fresh
Speaker 5: slate air ready to begin a new season?
Speaker 6: Kind of a.
Speaker 4: Little bit, for so many reasons for the coaching change
Speaker 4: that they had earlier this week, for the fact that
Speaker 4: this is an opening up the division games that the
Speaker 4: Bears fans have been waiting for since the season started.
Speaker 4: They've showed some they've showed some displays that they can
Speaker 4: play good offensive football and good defensive football. But now
Speaker 4: it's the time of the year where Thomas Brown has
Speaker 4: to help them put it all together. And so I'm
Speaker 4: excited for what's going to happen on Sunday.
Speaker 5: Yeah, couple of key things. A couple guys. You got
Speaker 5: block as always, right. You can't stop talking about Kenny Clark,
Speaker 5: who does not have a sack this year. Rashan Gary,
Speaker 5: who leads them in pressures with twenty eight keep the
Speaker 5: ball away from Xavier McKinney, Jay Alexander could be a
Speaker 5: pain at the cornerback position. And Keshawn Nixon, who's their nickel,
Speaker 5: is an excellent return man, so.
Speaker 6: It can't let him hurt you either.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, all those are key components of the
Speaker 4: Green Bay Packers. But I want to see the key
Speaker 4: components of the Chicago Bears light up the scoreboard and
Speaker 4: light up the defensive part of the field.
Speaker 5: All right, top see at noon twelve oh two of
Speaker 5: the kickoff Bears and Packers right here on ESPN one thousand.
Speaker 5: That's going to do it for us, thanks to our
Speaker 5: guest Elijah Hicks and all our producers blecken ub data
Speaker 5: our next.
Speaker 6: Have a great night, everybody,