Speaker 1: How you doing, everybody, Jeff Joey Acolong my broadcast partner
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer here on Bears All Access coming you Live
Speaker 1: from House Hall at PNC Studios. Were about you by
Speaker 1: Igs Energy. Another edition of the show as we wind
Speaker 1: down through the season, Tommy Now a week twelve with
Speaker 1: the Giants in on Sunday, and word that Mitchell Trubisky
Speaker 1: gonna try to give it a go. If he's cleared
Speaker 1: by the medical staff and he makes it through the
Speaker 1: week of practice, he'll be your starting quarterback on Sunday. Good.
Speaker 1: I'm all for him. I want to see Mitchell Trubisky
Speaker 1: full steam ahead. I want to see Matt n Aggie,
Speaker 1: you know, stay behind this offense and try to continue
Speaker 1: the development process of it. You know, they talk about
Speaker 1: the you know, the seven minutes of explosion two weeks
Speaker 1: ago against Detroit. Then I think he came out of
Speaker 1: the box hot this past weekend against the Rams. So
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta have you know, you gotta come
Speaker 1: out against the New York Giants, have a positive drive,
Speaker 1: get the momentum and the emotions and the stadium on
Speaker 1: behalf of the support of the sideline and just you know,
Speaker 1: take it from there could be opportunities to make a
Speaker 1: lot of big There'll be opportunities. The Giants give you opportunities.
Speaker 1: Teams have to in advantage of that. At NFL high
Speaker 1: twelve plays or forty yards or more than thirtieth in
Speaker 1: yards per completion this year, they're given up a lot
Speaker 1: of points. At least twenty seven points nine times, at
Speaker 1: least thirty one points six times. Those are bottom of
Speaker 1: the barrel in the NFL. But they still keep players
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on. But the point is you
Speaker 1: can find mismatches that if things are going well, Mitch
Speaker 1: and the receivers have to be in sync, and that's
Speaker 1: on them too. They got to run these routes, proper depth,
Speaker 1: proper execution of that stuff, and holding out of the
Speaker 1: football right. Priority number one is give Mitch the protection
Speaker 1: that he needs to locate the receivers and allow them
Speaker 1: to get in position, don't have to make a throw
Speaker 1: on a reaction of pressure. And you talk about they
Speaker 1: do have some star potential power on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of it, the guy closest to Mitchell Trubisky is Leonard Williams,
Speaker 1: their talented defensive linemen. So yeah, when you look for
Speaker 1: them to attack down field, make sure you get those
Speaker 1: guys blocked first, and then you know, distribute to football
Speaker 1: as efficially it was. You know, Anthony Miller got a
Speaker 1: lot more involved. Turbo Gabriel is still a fast option
Speaker 1: on the outside. And I think and still think, Allen
Speaker 1: Robinson is, you know, a solid number one who's got
Speaker 1: real good potential. And Jesper Horsted, the rookie how to Princeton,
Speaker 1: the undrafted wide receiver turn tight end. He's added about
Speaker 1: fifteen pounds, he says, he's been put on the active roster.
Speaker 1: That's been something in the works that's been happening here.
Speaker 1: He's been having very good practices as a scout team
Speaker 1: tight end, mimicking some of the offenses that the defense
Speaker 1: of the Bears is trying to stop. On a bright
Speaker 1: young guy. He did flash in the preseason. He definitely
Speaker 1: has good hands, got good range, got good wingspan, and
Speaker 1: he's a big body. The blocking he will come over
Speaker 1: time if he's capable of doing that in the long term. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, there was a question asked to Matt and
Speaker 1: n Aggey at the podium earlier this week about how
Speaker 1: the U tight end it helps all the other positions
Speaker 1: get involved, and so where where is horse that are
Speaker 1: gonna be? Is he gonna be at the Utah? Okay?
Speaker 1: So now if he can be an influence at that position,
Speaker 1: it's going to open up opportunities for everybody else. So
Speaker 1: that's what I like about it, because I still want
Speaker 1: to continue to develop and get Ben Bronner current a
Speaker 1: stance as much as I can allow him to see
Speaker 1: if he can really capture that tight end position with
Speaker 1: a couple more routes. But hey, anybody that's getting an
Speaker 1: opportunity at this stage of the season, they usually carry
Speaker 1: They usually bring some enthusiasm to the locker room at
Speaker 1: these guys that haven't been exposed to yet. So you know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm okay with it and everybody fighting for opportunities
Speaker 1: coming up in our show tonight, Nick Quiitkowski the Bears
Speaker 1: right now starting inside linebackerpared to the Rokuan Smith. Though
Speaker 1: he's a good guy to talk to and a perfect
Speaker 1: example of a guy that is versatile. The more you
Speaker 1: can do aspect is all about it with this guy
Speaker 1: that's on his name plate. He's an outstanding special teams
Speaker 1: player and a guy who can count on. And I'll
Speaker 1: be enjoyable to talk to him tonight. You know, I
Speaker 1: think the Bears are really fortunate to have a guy
Speaker 1: like Nick Kokowski because as much as I like Danny Trevathan,
Speaker 1: I have a lot of respect for him. But you know,
Speaker 1: when you listen to Roquan Smith and you listen to
Speaker 1: Nick talk, they're two really intelligent guys. They're two intelligent
Speaker 1: kids that study football and understand the game well. And
Speaker 1: I'm just saying this because Danny Dravathan is a little
Speaker 1: bit more experience than these guys, and he's older and
Speaker 1: he's got more NFL experience. But I do I like
Speaker 1: to see the last three weeks that Roquan has put together,
Speaker 1: and I like to see the last two weeks at
Speaker 1: Nick Watkowski's put together. He's flashing all over the field.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's vulnerable against the passing game like
Speaker 1: they were people were saying before he got his opportunity.
Speaker 1: So hey, Nick has shown some big things, whether it's
Speaker 1: the blitz against Dalvin Cook. He had a really good
Speaker 1: blitz against an offensive lineman against Detroit that he pushed
Speaker 1: him in the backfield. So I want to see more.
Speaker 1: I want to see more. He's got to come down
Speaker 1: in restless style. Yea, you know, say Qu's coming at you.
Speaker 1: He may not be a hundred with that right ankle sprain.
Speaker 1: His production weighed down from early in the season, but
Speaker 1: with a bye week after a one yard thirteen carry
Speaker 1: game against the New York Jesschwitz. By the way, their
Speaker 1: defense is a lot better than people think, in one
Speaker 1: of the top statistical defenses. But that's got to sit
Speaker 1: in his crowd a little bit if he gets started early,
Speaker 1: and they will try it. There's no question what the
Speaker 1: plan will be against the Bears. Let me ask you
Speaker 1: this though, because we've seen it now in a couple
Speaker 1: of times throughout the season. You saw the injury to
Speaker 1: Akeem Hicks against the Raiders, and then what did the
Speaker 1: Raiders start doing? Start attacking Khalil so are now you
Speaker 1: saw what the Rams did this week when they really
Speaker 1: had an offensive line. They were uncertain up so they
Speaker 1: went to it one back. There was eight yards deep
Speaker 1: in the backfield. So my thinking, now, are they going
Speaker 1: to take Daniel Jones, who's an inexperienced rookie quarterback, put
Speaker 1: sae Quon Barkley eight yards in the backfield and allow
Speaker 1: him a little bit more exposure time before he hits
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage instead of coming out of a
Speaker 1: shotgun or four yards behind the line of scrimmage. It
Speaker 1: seems like everybody takes a little bit out of the
Speaker 1: last playbook that was successful against the Bears. Now I'm
Speaker 1: interested that they're going to do the same in that
Speaker 1: success department because it may release some stress from Daniel
Speaker 1: Job because the deal is here. You don't you know
Speaker 1: the book on the Bears right now until further No,
Speaker 1: you don't need to score a lot of points to
Speaker 1: beat them, right, So that's just it. They're they're satisfied
Speaker 1: with establishing the run a couple of play action passes.
Speaker 1: The defense has only given up very few points a game, obviously,
Speaker 1: seventeen or less. They've done it seven times this season.
Speaker 1: They're four and three. They were ten and oh last
Speaker 1: year with that, So yes, that that is the expectation.
Speaker 1: So they have two tight ends that are took the
Speaker 1: words right out of them. How they activated, you know,
Speaker 1: a couple of guys from the practice squad or whatnot.
Speaker 1: But Red Allison, who's an outstanding one of the best
Speaker 1: blocking tight ends in the League's he's banged up as
Speaker 1: well as Evan Ingram, but he's back at practicing with
Speaker 1: a sore left foot. That foot is was in a
Speaker 1: boot until this week, so he's one of the better playmakers,
Speaker 1: you know for the Giants, who've had a ton of
Speaker 1: injuries on offense. Their offensive line, though, also seems very
Speaker 1: susceptible on the tackles. On the edges. Tom Nate Soldiers
Speaker 1: given up sixteen and a half sacks in the last
Speaker 1: twenty six games is a New York Giant, and on
Speaker 1: the other side, Mike Rembers has given up four sacks
Speaker 1: this season. Both of them have combined I think for
Speaker 1: seven holding penalties. So the edges have not been great
Speaker 1: for well too. You know, they've had you talk about
Speaker 1: the interruption are the injuries that they've had at the
Speaker 1: offensive tackle position, and some guys got a little bit
Speaker 1: of experience. So now with the tight ends being injured,
Speaker 1: I'm going to see when they go to the big packages,
Speaker 1: is it gonna be two extra offensive lineman maybe a
Speaker 1: tight end and an offensive lineman when they go that
Speaker 1: big package against the Bear. So yeah, you know, I
Speaker 1: the Bears still have to be destructive against it because
Speaker 1: their offensive line has had injuries and they have a
Speaker 1: young quarterback who's thinking out there more than just reacting.
Speaker 1: Eric Smith, who made his NFL debut filling in it tackle,
Speaker 1: gave up three sacks against the Jets. So again, the
Speaker 1: tackles are an issue. But Daniel Jones, we were impressed
Speaker 1: with him in that preseason game and he has done
Speaker 1: nothing to dissuade us from thinking that he's going to
Speaker 1: be a long term answer there for the Giants. At quarterback,
Speaker 1: he is having trouble hanging out of the football with
Speaker 1: fumbles though yeah, should be well, that should be catting
Speaker 1: it for so is Jared Goff coming into the Bears game.
Speaker 1: How many fumbles he's had in consecutive games put him
Speaker 1: the back to throw much? But that's but now that's
Speaker 1: becomes a point of emphasis. I know that Daniel Jones
Speaker 1: has fumbling, but each week they are going to preach
Speaker 1: ball security. I've given up the second most quarterback hits
Speaker 1: in the league, two eighty one. So again, it's there
Speaker 1: on the table. Kalo's got twenty two. I think by
Speaker 1: himself it's right there on the table. One sack in
Speaker 1: the last six games, all right, that's top there. I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniak We're coming to you from PNC Studios here
Speaker 1: at Hattle Saw with Paul's Oranger engineer and Dan Burilliar producer.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy,
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Speaker 1: dot com. Jeff Joniac top there. We'll have to call
Speaker 1: the game against the Giant Sunday from Soldier Field. Pregame
Speaker 1: in nine, kickoff at noon before the schedule gets quite
Speaker 1: interesting and we never like to look ahead, but we're
Speaker 1: not playing, so we can't. We are afforded that opportunity.
Speaker 1: And it's a short week to Detroit with the Lions,
Speaker 1: and then you get the big boys for what looks
Speaker 1: like playoff teams in a row, Dallas, Green Bay, Kansas City, Minnesota.
Speaker 1: And that's your schedule right now. You're putting a really
Speaker 1: difficult position. Many people have already dismissed the notion of
Speaker 1: anything postseason, but you can't think that way as a player.
Speaker 1: Now now you're playing for a lot of different reason.
Speaker 1: You're playing for a lot of things right now. As
Speaker 1: a player, if you're in the same position, you'll ask
Speaker 1: five of six despite expectations, and now you're you're looking
Speaker 1: at what you're looking at down the barrel of the gun,
Speaker 1: so to speak. You know, that's the challenge of being
Speaker 1: a professional athlete because not everything is always going to
Speaker 1: come up roses. You're gonna face some obstacles throughout your career,
Speaker 1: and that's gonna be judgment day for you. Because as
Speaker 1: these coaches sit with these players, Jeff, in the meeting
Speaker 1: rooms and on the practice field, you can see effort
Speaker 1: on the practice field and you can evaluate mental effort
Speaker 1: in the classroom. So the first thing I want to
Speaker 1: do is talk to every position and you listen, Man,
Speaker 1: I need you all in. I need you all in
Speaker 1: like we're an undefeated football team getting ready for the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, because honestly, that's the only way you're going
Speaker 1: to improve. If you let at anybody drop their guard
Speaker 1: or or have a lack of efforted practice or the
Speaker 1: effort they put in meetings, Well, let me ask you this.
Speaker 1: The two guys that left the game do an injury
Speaker 1: practice now Wednesday. So Bobby Massy right and Mitchell Trubisky, right,
Speaker 1: So that tells me a lot me too. I The
Speaker 1: message being sent is these it's important to these players.
Speaker 1: And I was listening to an interview with Bobby Massey
Speaker 1: and he was talking about the role of Mitchell Chrubisky
Speaker 1: and how much confidence these guys have in him and
Speaker 1: his preparedness and his work ethic and his enthusiasm and
Speaker 1: being a teammate. I'm not sitting here trying to make
Speaker 1: any you know, these guys they are going to say that,
Speaker 1: but but but the veteran saying it, right. But these
Speaker 1: guys also they understand what's ahead of them too. And
Speaker 1: that's what I'm talking about. When you're being challenged as
Speaker 1: a professional, you're being challenged every everyday life, whether you're
Speaker 1: nine and oz or oz and nine. And if you
Speaker 1: if the game is important to you, you're going to
Speaker 1: reflect that to the coaches. And Eddie Panerosin points here
Speaker 1: at a premium right now. Every point matters. And so
Speaker 1: the two kicks he missed in a row, which is
Speaker 1: a little bit of a delineation that Mattneggie made on
Speaker 1: Wednesday during his news conference that they still have trusted him,
Speaker 1: but they got they got to work through this idea
Speaker 1: of missing two in a row. And and you look
Speaker 1: at it, he's only had eight kicks in the past
Speaker 1: six weeks. Eight field goals, right, forget about the extra points,
Speaker 1: that's a different animal. Got to make those. But he's
Speaker 1: missed a couple of those two. But is there anything
Speaker 1: to the idea He hasn't had a lot in the
Speaker 1: last six weeks and that get do that have some
Speaker 1: sort of impact on your mind as a young kicker?
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, because he made four of those eight.
Speaker 1: Only that right, But he's he's he's kicking thirty or
Speaker 1: forty a day in practice and he is going to
Speaker 1: Soldier Field. But there's a big time, right, there isn't.
Speaker 1: But that's when you have to have a self confidence
Speaker 1: about about you that no matter what the conditions are
Speaker 1: where you're kicking, that you this is what you've prepared
Speaker 1: your life for. And I keep reverting back because the
Speaker 1: first kickoff after they scored the touchdown, it was an
Speaker 1: under kick football with not very much hanging time, And
Speaker 1: didn't it make it to the end zone. Where is
Speaker 1: where is Eddie's confidence swing? Where is Eddie paneerro swinging
Speaker 1: it at equally the same whether he's kicking off or
Speaker 1: hitting field goals, Because that's what it has repetitiously. You
Speaker 1: got to be doing the same thing. You don't adjust
Speaker 1: as a kicker. You still come up there and you
Speaker 1: swing as efficiently as you can, just like a golfer.
Speaker 1: I mean, they don't change their swing, you know, they
Speaker 1: just change the distances. I brought this up to coach
Speaker 1: Naggie on Monday night. He did see and players didn't
Speaker 1: complain to him, but we heard from Mark Rody, our
Speaker 1: sideline reporter and reporter here on the score that players
Speaker 1: were not thrilled with the field and it was slick. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Could that have entered into his mind with his plant
Speaker 1: foot only if during his practice, because I was watching
Speaker 1: him kick right before kickoff. He was out there by
Speaker 1: himself kicking field goals and I think the last one
Speaker 1: he end up kicking was like forty five yards away
Speaker 1: and he was hitting it well, he wasn't. It wasn't where. Okay,
Speaker 1: my first four kicks my plant foot slipped. If that's
Speaker 1: the case, then go put in longer cleats in your heel,
Speaker 1: because you can change the length of the cleats by
Speaker 1: a quarter inch. That can give you more plant foot stability.
Speaker 1: But you know, I don't I don't think that was
Speaker 1: the issue. It's just that Eddie's got to go in
Speaker 1: there knowing that these guys believe in him and they
Speaker 1: want him to succeed, and then he has to go
Speaker 1: out there with that mental frame of mind that he's
Speaker 1: a confident kicker and he's gonna hold on to this
Speaker 1: job for a long time. Tom there, Jeff, Joni k
Speaker 1: with you on Bears All Access. Nick Krickkowski will be
Speaker 1: our guest tonight on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The
Speaker 1: scores the Bears prepare for the New York Giants. Let's
Speaker 1: talk Eddie Jackson, because in an effort to get him
Speaker 1: more involved, I mean, he wants the ball, you know,
Speaker 1: he wants to take the ball away. But playing him
Speaker 1: closer to the box, how do you like that transition
Speaker 1: for him? He was filling gaps, he was making plays
Speaker 1: behind the line of scrimmage. He obviously was a part
Speaker 1: of that forced fumble early in the game. How do
Speaker 1: you look at that, You know, Eddie's got good instincts
Speaker 1: at or near the line of scrimmage. He knows where
Speaker 1: he can penetrate, he knows how to read blocks, and
Speaker 1: he knows how to read play so quickly that if
Speaker 1: he's not going to make the play into the backfield,
Speaker 1: he can make it latterly. I don't hate it, but listen,
Speaker 1: how did we all get to know Eddie early in
Speaker 1: his career and the team deep? Right? But then can
Speaker 1: you I don't know how you can figure defensive back,
Speaker 1: you know, against different formations. Couldn't you put him in
Speaker 1: a position where he's more susceptible than those tip balls
Speaker 1: are protecting? Long so you so you can use the
Speaker 1: reactions like last year's Detroit interception. You can see it
Speaker 1: from where we are in the press box, how long
Speaker 1: he anticipated that interception. And so again, I don't hate
Speaker 1: him at or near the line of scrimmage, but I
Speaker 1: like him intercepting footballs. And in terms of the Bears front,
Speaker 1: because with Kilil Mack getting all that attention, we're still
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of one on one matchups that should
Speaker 1: be revealing a little bit more. In terms of quarterbacks
Speaker 1: are getting rid of the ball quicker no question about it.
Speaker 1: But do you get lulled to sleep a little bit
Speaker 1: when it's a steady ground game and you know you're
Speaker 1: going to be facing extra guys in the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage and then all of a sudden bam, you're in
Speaker 1: a pass rush mode. Yeah, but if you're when you're
Speaker 1: facing a steady ground game, if you can limit their
Speaker 1: success on first and second down, then you're guaranteed a
Speaker 1: big pass rush on third down. But when you're giving
Speaker 1: up big yards in first and second down verse the
Speaker 1: run game, you're not getting a realistic chance to rush
Speaker 1: the passer because if you're in third and three, they
Speaker 1: can do anything. They can run the ball as equally
Speaker 1: as effective as they can throw the ball. So now
Speaker 1: you're not in that sprinter's pass rushing stance that gives
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack a low body lean in a good shoulder
Speaker 1: lean and makes one on one blocks or two on
Speaker 1: one blocks that he can still get pressure. Now you're
Speaker 1: kind of inching off the line of scrimmage because if
Speaker 1: you blow a field, then they run the ball right
Speaker 1: right where the area you vacated. There is some edge
Speaker 1: protection going on. No question, you got to you got
Speaker 1: It's a gap. Yeah. But boy, I've been bringing this
Speaker 1: up to Neggie and Chuck Pogano, the frustration level of
Speaker 1: an elite pass rusher like that, it's gotta be in it. Oh,
Speaker 1: he's not gonna admit it. He's not gonna admit it
Speaker 1: publicly because you got to go out and play. But
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you how do you unlock this?
Speaker 1: You know, it's the relentlessness. It's got to be other
Speaker 1: guys capitalizing on them, relentlessly hitting Khalil mack with with
Speaker 1: two or more bodies someone you know. You know, when
Speaker 1: I look at the ability, the athleticism, the size and
Speaker 1: the strength of a guy like Roy rob and then
Speaker 1: he goes out in the first game of the year,
Speaker 1: it gets a sack against Aaron Rodgers, I expect a
Speaker 1: sack out of him every third game and maybe maybe
Speaker 1: multile you know, maybe back to back games. Um, So,
Speaker 1: these guys that are getting one on one opportunities, and
Speaker 1: some of the offensive lines, offensive lineman, they're playing against
Speaker 1: our backups, maybe multiple backups, so that you got to
Speaker 1: see these guys being able to capitalize. You know, when
Speaker 1: you look at the athleticism of a guy like Leonard
Speaker 1: Floyd he has it all. He's got quick feet in
Speaker 1: a small amount of space, He's got great length, he
Speaker 1: can be hazardous around the corner. He's a guy that
Speaker 1: when you talk about Khalil, you know at the start
Speaker 1: of the season, Oh, he'll have seventeen sacks, Leonard Floyd
Speaker 1: better follow you with ten because he's got some He's
Speaker 1: got some of the traits that team search for in
Speaker 1: that type of rusher. Nick Williams still remains You're leading
Speaker 1: sacker on the Bears with six As the Bears get
Speaker 1: ready to meet a Giants team that has some interior
Speaker 1: strength at guard with will Hernandez the left guard is outstanding.
Speaker 1: And you know they brought in Kevin Zeitler this year
Speaker 1: and he's a That's a good pair of guards right there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the question market center right now that you know there
Speaker 1: are a good pair of guards. But it's sometimes sae
Speaker 1: Quon Barkley when he's healthy and his elusiveness and his
Speaker 1: style playboll catching the ball and running the ball. He
Speaker 1: can make these offensive lineman look a shade better because
Speaker 1: he breaks so many tackles. All right, that's Tom there,
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniac. This is Bears All Access from PNC
Speaker 1: Studios here at Hattis Saw the Bears and Giants come
Speaker 1: up on Sunday. We brought to you by IGS Energy.
Speaker 1: Back with more after this on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy. Here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy The Score coming to you live from PNC
Speaker 1: Studios at Hallis Hall. Sunday's game against the New York
Speaker 1: Giants has brought to you by PNC, the official bank
Speaker 1: of the Bears. Good to have Nick Quickoski alongside. Thanks
Speaker 1: jonas Man. Thanks. Have you ever been on this show
Speaker 1: over the years? Yeah? Probably last year, maybe two years ago.
Speaker 1: It was one of the live shows. Oh right, yeah
Speaker 1: yeah yeah. So yeah, you're your guy that you've been
Speaker 1: around a while. But you know, the bright lights and
Speaker 1: all the attention not kind of your thing, isn't. No. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just like, you know, come to work and clock out. Boy,
Speaker 1: That's what you do, isn't it. Fl Is that down
Speaker 1: to a t? That that's blue collar roots somewhere there? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say so. Um, I don't know where it
Speaker 1: comes from. Probably a family, you know, Pittsburgh tie something
Speaker 1: somewhere around there. And you in your football life playing
Speaker 1: a high wide receiver and a safety in high school,
Speaker 1: when did your body make the transition to linebacker size? Um,
Speaker 1: it started to kind of when I got to college, right,
Speaker 1: I think I went to college. I was about two ten,
Speaker 1: maybe two or five to ten that area. Played safety.
Speaker 1: My freshman year I red shirted, and that second year
Speaker 1: is kind of that transition from my red shirt freshman
Speaker 1: year to my red shirt sophomore year or yeah, my
Speaker 1: true freshman year to my red shirt freshman year is
Speaker 1: when they you know, you need to put on some weight.
Speaker 1: So they said, you did nineteen reps at two twenty
Speaker 1: five at the combine. Could you still do that many
Speaker 1: or could you do more now? Because it's nothing like
Speaker 1: training for your combine after your senior year of football.
Speaker 1: But now that you've been around the NFL for a
Speaker 1: couple of years, where's your body gone? From that point?
Speaker 1: I feel like I could get around there. Yeah, town,
Speaker 1: he asked everybody that sits in here about their combine lifting.
Speaker 1: I think it's well, but it's two different. It's different,
Speaker 1: it's a different trains that, but I'm definitely I feel
Speaker 1: stronger than when I was coming out with stronger. It's like,
Speaker 1: I don't think I could have ever run as the
Speaker 1: forty like I did in the combine. I don't think
Speaker 1: I could have ever run a faster forty after the
Speaker 1: years that you get experienced in the NFL. And then
Speaker 1: I was seeing did you have a like a difference
Speaker 1: of your pro day the combine because it's I was
Speaker 1: reading about you and it said that you took the
Speaker 1: numbers from the combine and not the pro day. I
Speaker 1: was confused about it. Yeah, I actually didn't really test
Speaker 1: them my prod. I just did the drills, position drills,
Speaker 1: and I didn't retest anything. Yeah, because if these guys,
Speaker 1: if they're comfortable that that's their wheelhouse and they don't
Speaker 1: think they're going to really improve or in certain cases reduce,
Speaker 1: they'll they'll just rely on their numbers. But do do
Speaker 1: you recaugh teams tried to push you to do more
Speaker 1: on your pro day or do you used to have
Speaker 1: the final say on that. Um So I talked to
Speaker 1: my agent and we were happened. I wouldn't say happy,
Speaker 1: but satisfied with my numbers yea, and things that after
Speaker 1: going through them, I didn't think I was gonna prove
Speaker 1: drastically or a point where it'd be like, oh, he's yeah,
Speaker 1: make a difference. So I just lofted out and just
Speaker 1: the funny thing. They don't mean a dug on thing,
Speaker 1: you know. I think you know, when I came as
Speaker 1: a senior year in college, we had three combines we
Speaker 1: want to want to see I don't want to Detroit
Speaker 1: and want to tap a Bay and then it was done.
Speaker 1: Do you weren't going or all these other pro days?
Speaker 1: So I don't know if it'd be better just to
Speaker 1: do that in those types of increments where you still
Speaker 1: get the train for the combine type drills and then
Speaker 1: you know, instead of going having ten pro days or whatever.
Speaker 1: The worst part of that is then now you're you're
Speaker 1: put into a shoe box, right, Oh he's a four
Speaker 1: or five guy, he's a four seven guy, he's a
Speaker 1: whatever guy. But they forget about calculating the mental speed
Speaker 1: with you play, especially at the linebacker position. So whatever
Speaker 1: a guy's speed is, you know, sometimes it's it's relevant,
Speaker 1: sometimes it's not. I mean I think more often than not. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I was okay doked by a long time ago,
Speaker 1: and Mike Brown came in the league, and somebody said, hey,
Speaker 1: look at these tapes, and I was going with the quicker,
Speaker 1: faster guy. Here's the guy who was the better guy,
Speaker 1: a pro bowler, all pro and new angles, and so
Speaker 1: his mental speed and his ability to to find the
Speaker 1: ball through instincts. So in the in the locker room
Speaker 1: a little bit this week, you and Cody k State
Speaker 1: West Virginia big game this past week, any any kind
Speaker 1: of wagers play area. I know Cody's new money and stuff.
Speaker 1: He didn't take anything from him. No, no, I mean, honestly,
Speaker 1: that wasn't too confident in West Real. But we have
Speaker 1: in the past years. I don't know, we didn't. Isn't
Speaker 1: a mandatory though. If there's two college guys teams playing
Speaker 1: against each other, you gotta put something on it. It
Speaker 1: has been the past. This year, I don't know, we
Speaker 1: just didn't we usually do. I mean, I mean I
Speaker 1: definitely said some things after after the game now, but
Speaker 1: a right, nothing prior. You know, the guy that speaks
Speaker 1: a lot about his school is real Quinn. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, he gets that. He gets under time skin
Speaker 1: all the time about Georgian Notre Dame. He won't let
Speaker 1: you go. Yeah, you know what, I like it their
Speaker 1: fourth than the college rankings after last night and stuff.
Speaker 1: So you're watching much college football at all? Not really,
Speaker 1: I mean I do get into it's just when it's
Speaker 1: a schedule, it's hard to catch full games. But I
Speaker 1: mean I definitely keep up with it. Nick k Wikowski,
Speaker 1: our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score.
Speaker 1: How's it been going for you since transitioning back into
Speaker 1: a larger playing role. It's been good, um really, I
Speaker 1: mean as for me, I mean it's been you know,
Speaker 1: business as usual, preparation going throughout a week. I mean
Speaker 1: it's been pretty much the same. You know, has has
Speaker 1: your style changing? Now you're you're a young guy in
Speaker 1: the league. You've got two different defensive systems, you got
Speaker 1: two different position coaches. Um, Glenn Pires is a lot
Speaker 1: different than Mark de Leone. Are you know what are
Speaker 1: what are the differences between your two position coaches in
Speaker 1: this short NFL time? Um? I mean they both have
Speaker 1: kind of different, you know, ways of teaching certain things, um,
Speaker 1: but overall pretty similar. I mean definitely different personalities, different
Speaker 1: coaching styles. But you know, when it comes down to
Speaker 1: it actually teaching football, there's a lot of Larry as well. So, UM,
Speaker 1: you know, I think everybody I ever talked to about you,
Speaker 1: they always bring up the blitz against Dalvin Cook. But
Speaker 1: then you had one against an offensive lineman against Detroit
Speaker 1: a couple weeks ago that you did a really nice
Speaker 1: job running him over too. Is this is this something
Speaker 1: that you've always had inside you? Did you get a
Speaker 1: chance to blitz very much in college? Because I think
Speaker 1: Bears fans want to see you, you know, given that
Speaker 1: opportunity a little more. It really wasn't something I did
Speaker 1: in college. Um, we played a three three five stack.
Speaker 1: It wasn't too much just blitzing the linebackers. You know.
Speaker 1: It was pretty much read runner pass, either get downhill
Speaker 1: or drop back. I played different rules, so I did
Speaker 1: have a chance to blitz, but it wasn't anything like
Speaker 1: it is today. If you so, if three three five
Speaker 1: you've got three defensive line and three linebackers, do you
Speaker 1: get protected by the defensive line in that system? Or
Speaker 1: are there more free runners free blockers at you? Um,
Speaker 1: it depends which linebacker you're really at and obviously which
Speaker 1: way the ball is going, but there's usually a freebacker
Speaker 1: running through all the time. Okay, Nick, when you transitioned
Speaker 1: back now and filling in for Danny, was there a
Speaker 1: moment or a time where you developed chemistry again with
Speaker 1: You're not playing next to just you know, Danny, now
Speaker 1: you're playing next to real quand was there any of
Speaker 1: that or it was it just a seamless transition. It
Speaker 1: was pretty smooth transition. I mean we've practiced with each other, um,
Speaker 1: you know, since last year, and you know through my
Speaker 1: career here, I mean I played with a lot of
Speaker 1: different guys next to me. I think a lot of
Speaker 1: that chemistry comes, you know, in practice, you know, prior
Speaker 1: to game I mean there's definitely certain things you gotta
Speaker 1: work out on game day, but small things. I think
Speaker 1: most of it comes prior to the game day. In
Speaker 1: that in that Detroit game, he didn't have a long
Speaker 1: time alert that you were going to go in there
Speaker 1: and play and you were going to play for an
Speaker 1: extended period of time. And then probably most you're studying
Speaker 1: that week you did against Matthew Stafford. So now you're
Speaker 1: playing and there's a different quarterback in there. Was that
Speaker 1: a difficult to catch up too, or did he did
Speaker 1: you just get into the flow of whatever defense was
Speaker 1: called in the huddle. Yeah, it was like you said,
Speaker 1: the flow of things when Danny came off, I didn't
Speaker 1: like you said, I didn't know if it was one play,
Speaker 1: if he was just talkers. I didn't see the poo
Speaker 1: what happened? Right? Um, So I just kind of went
Speaker 1: in there and I didn't know if it was gonna
Speaker 1: be a series of play, you know, so it wants
Speaker 1: to flow. The game took over, you know, it's just playing.
Speaker 1: What great confidence though a coach could have and a
Speaker 1: guy who is in that You were in that situation
Speaker 1: for the Minnesota game obviously as well, and to count
Speaker 1: on you knowing you're going to be ready because a
Speaker 1: lot of guys, I mean, it's just human nature. I
Speaker 1: would think, um, I'm never getting in. That's that's when
Speaker 1: you get burned. But to know that you're ready one
Speaker 1: hundred percent of the time, I don't know what a
Speaker 1: better quality you could have for a guy. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I've been in that position before you in the past,
Speaker 1: where it's kind of short notes. You know, you never
Speaker 1: know what's gonna happen, you know, during a week, during
Speaker 1: a game, during a season. So it's one of those
Speaker 1: things like I wouldn't want to say I learned the
Speaker 1: hard way, but I mean I've been in those situations
Speaker 1: where we kind of get thrown out, thrown out there,
Speaker 1: and have you ever been bitten? Um, I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: say the hard way, but you know, did something catch
Speaker 1: you off guard? I'm just remember my like rookie year,
Speaker 1: I just you know, one I think I was inactive
Speaker 1: and then you know, the next game, I'm playing a
Speaker 1: lot more snaps And it was just a quick transition.
Speaker 1: I had no idea. It was just one week to
Speaker 1: the next. Now what's that? Do you always say you
Speaker 1: never get you never get it? Yeah, and and notice
Speaker 1: you're right right and never get a notification. You know,
Speaker 1: the communication device in your helmet? Is that beneficial to you?
Speaker 1: Can they can they give you more hints or clues
Speaker 1: other than just the defense the call? Um? I guess
Speaker 1: they could, but you know that whole the whole operation
Speaker 1: is kind of based on the offense, right, So it
Speaker 1: really depends on the speed they're going, because I think
Speaker 1: I think it cuts off at I want to say,
Speaker 1: ten seconds of the play clock. So I mean if
Speaker 1: they don't line up till after till late, I mean
Speaker 1: it cuts off, so you gotta get the call out.
Speaker 1: There's not much time to get much more out. So
Speaker 1: and when you were in college, do they have the
Speaker 1: communication device in college? So is it unbelievable because all
Speaker 1: the memorization that you have to do in court in
Speaker 1: order to memorize every single defense called according to your
Speaker 1: hand signals or a player coming in. Now that maybe
Speaker 1: takes a little bit of that away from you. You
Speaker 1: can invest that study time in other areas. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: mean it's nice, you know, hearing the call that quick.
Speaker 1: I remember my college it was all hands signals and
Speaker 1: I mean it was tempo, a tempo so when you
Speaker 1: look over you could say, no, you line up. So
Speaker 1: I mean it's a lot quicker, quicker time to process.
Speaker 1: And you know teams now, I mean they play with
Speaker 1: a tempo which sometimes makes it difficult, but I will
Speaker 1: say it's a little bit slower than like a big
Speaker 1: twelve offense. Nick, when you arrived here in the National
Speaker 1: Football League and you were a you know, a pretty
Speaker 1: a pretty good round draft pick. But do you feel
Speaker 1: like sometimes people are surprised by your production because they say, oh, wow,
Speaker 1: you know, but you're not. So do you ever look
Speaker 1: at that with a wary eye and say, come on, man,
Speaker 1: I mean, I've been here a long time. I should
Speaker 1: be better. I should know my defense. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, you know you're you haven't been a consistent
Speaker 1: starter because those opportunities have been afforded to you. Um,
Speaker 1: I really don't pay too much stense into it, you know,
Speaker 1: I just kind of come go out and play, you know,
Speaker 1: let the outside kind of take care of itself. So
Speaker 1: you know the words, you're patient with the questions, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they absolutely absolutely, Uh, I mean it is what it is. Uh.
Speaker 1: I don't let anything. I mean just negativity, positivity. I mean,
Speaker 1: just kind of move on, you know, come to work,
Speaker 1: you know, play. Are you a social media guy? I'm not.
Speaker 1: That's the reason I'm in between. I am, but he
Speaker 1: doesn't media. This is what this is what I get
Speaker 1: mad at for you is I was just reading up
Speaker 1: about you and trying to learn things about you, and
Speaker 1: I start reading these fantasy reports about these guys. What
Speaker 1: a bunch of bologny, because you got these guys that
Speaker 1: are running writing the big business. I know it is,
Speaker 1: and I know it is. I get all that, But again,
Speaker 1: I feel disrespected for you because I don't like the
Speaker 1: stuff they write about a fantasy player in terms of
Speaker 1: you know, you're kind of taking the football out of
Speaker 1: it and you're only looking for small increments of points, right,
Speaker 1: But you got to take that in the proper vein too.
Speaker 1: It's not like a scouting report on you know, him
Speaker 1: and the game. It's for their individual fantasy teams in
Speaker 1: terms of points and stuff. You know, I guar to you,
Speaker 1: I know you, I know your personality. Yeah, I'm just saying, though,
Speaker 1: you gotta take fantasy football in the in the right vein.
Speaker 1: And how did you even, like, if you're not on
Speaker 1: social media, how do you find this stuff? I was
Speaker 1: reading different things about Nick and you brought up the
Speaker 1: headline there's I read these headlines and I and I
Speaker 1: don't feel a respect for Nick. And he's already given
Speaker 1: evidence of his preparedness both at an instance notice and
Speaker 1: when you're a starter and you get the time to
Speaker 1: prepare for your opponent. So yeah, and I'm not a
Speaker 1: fantasy football player, so I don't even know how they
Speaker 1: break that down. But I mean, for like receivers, running backs, quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: you know, that's that's where they get. You know, a
Speaker 1: lot of the attention usually they take just defensive unit
Speaker 1: as a whole, and this defensive unit continues to play
Speaker 1: with an edge and really tough to get a big
Speaker 1: play on and to score on despite everything else going
Speaker 1: on swirling around you guys as a unit. What are
Speaker 1: your discussions like about that? Like, what do you guys
Speaker 1: discuss about just knowing what's on your shoulders? Um? Really
Speaker 1: just you know, no matter what happens, play our defense. UM.
Speaker 1: Like you said, it's really hard to get a big play. UM,
Speaker 1: just limit those limit big plays. I mean, they can hurt,
Speaker 1: they can hurt the team, they can hurt they at
Speaker 1: least the scores. I mean that. And then for us persons,
Speaker 1: get turnovers, get off the field, get off on third down. Now,
Speaker 1: say that plays two most important things, third downs and
Speaker 1: turnovers and eliminating big plays. UM, So no matter what happens,
Speaker 1: take the field, and you know that's our goal, get
Speaker 1: off the field. You know, it seems like everybody in
Speaker 1: the linebacker, interior line inside linebacker, every all you guys
Speaker 1: are a little different. You know, there's no so when
Speaker 1: you are in that room before markets in there to
Speaker 1: lead the meeting, who who's leading the conversation amongst you guys. Uh,
Speaker 1: Danny is introvathing and then ro Roquin's always talking. Really
Speaker 1: but I would surprise a lot of folks. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean inside inside the linebacker room. Um, but I
Speaker 1: mean we're pretty closed groups. Football generated conversation or you
Speaker 1: guys having off like tangent conversation before it gets into
Speaker 1: the meetings. A little bit of both, yeah, depending on
Speaker 1: the day. Um, but we're a close group. So I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's all. It's all good conversations there. Right. I'm
Speaker 1: guessing you're one of the acquired to guests. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think sand bagging us. No. No, I mean,
Speaker 1: like I said, we're closed groups. I mean inside the room,
Speaker 1: we're all we're all talking. All right, We're gonna step
Speaker 1: away a couple of segments to go with Bears linebacker
Speaker 1: Nick Quiitkowsky with Tom There. I'm Jeff Joni Act. This
Speaker 1: is Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score. This segment of Bears All Access is brought
Speaker 1: to you by CDW. People to get it learn more
Speaker 1: at CDW dot com. Jeff Joni Act, Tom There with
Speaker 1: pauls Arrange or Engineer along with Dan Barelli and Nick
Speaker 1: Quiitkowski our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to Score Bears all access from P ANDC Studios here
Speaker 1: at hollisaw brought to you by IGS Energy. Good to
Speaker 1: have you alongside Nick. As this team has experienced losing,
Speaker 1: in some cases for the first time for young players
Speaker 1: who came in last year on this team or at
Speaker 1: experienced success elsewhere, you've had a bit of everything to
Speaker 1: deal with. Is that put you in a unique position
Speaker 1: in the locker room, so to speak, to try and
Speaker 1: keep everybody calm. Yeah. Absolutely, I mean I've been through it.
Speaker 1: You know, last year it was a special year for us, UM,
Speaker 1: but unfortunately, you know every year is not like that.
Speaker 1: But it's just important, you know, things happen at the
Speaker 1: end of the year. You know, just keep that same
Speaker 1: mentality and you know, keep it going week after week
Speaker 1: and you know, don't let a record or anything outside
Speaker 1: you know, let it let that fall off. What have
Speaker 1: you learned from both situations that you are using now
Speaker 1: as a skill or tool? Um, pretty much just what
Speaker 1: I just said, just finish out the year, no matter
Speaker 1: what happens. I mean, not personally. In one of my positions.
Speaker 1: But I mean, I've seen it where you know, teams
Speaker 1: sneak in the playoffs because you know, things around the
Speaker 1: league happen. So you can only control what you can control.
Speaker 1: So just keep going. Who do you locker next to you?
Speaker 1: Because you know, back in our day we lockered wherever
Speaker 1: we wanted to, and we are a locker and with
Speaker 1: all the offensive linemen together, blah blah blah, And I
Speaker 1: know that you guys are situated because if a defensive
Speaker 1: players next to an offensive player, I think that's a
Speaker 1: good thing to increase the volume of conversation in terms
Speaker 1: of the team, not necessarily just defensive offense. Yeah so
Speaker 1: I'm next to Buster Screen and Stephen Denmark. Oh so
Speaker 1: you got a couple of defensive players. Yeah. Interesting because
Speaker 1: I you know, it's it's interesting how the conversation flows
Speaker 1: because when you have some of the elder states and
Speaker 1: that our offensive defense, I think that's that's beneficial for
Speaker 1: the team to have those conversation and make sure everybody's
Speaker 1: still pushing explain, explain the impact of that, because I
Speaker 1: think that there's a lot of topics that can be discussed.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of both sides of the story. How okay,
Speaker 1: if you have two senior leaders, I think, and you
Speaker 1: have a volume of conversation, those two guys can stretch
Speaker 1: out and talk to every one of the young guys
Speaker 1: either in their position or other guys in the locker room,
Speaker 1: and they keep positive momentum. You never want that negative
Speaker 1: conversation to infiltrate the locker room because no matter what
Speaker 1: you're going through last season or this season, man, once
Speaker 1: you shut those locker room doors, it's just you guys,
Speaker 1: and I think you can have beneficial conversation in the
Speaker 1: way this locker room was set up. Yeah. Absolutely. I
Speaker 1: mean young guys coming in first year, first year being
Speaker 1: on a team, you know, that's experiencing highs and lows. Um.
Speaker 1: It's I want to say, it's tough to deal with,
Speaker 1: but I mean it's different. So you know, just keep
Speaker 1: that positive mentality, and you know you don't want it
Speaker 1: to be negative ever, because you know it's at the
Speaker 1: end of the day coming you're coming in every day.
Speaker 1: You want to well, I mean, you can't have a
Speaker 1: negative attitude in your preparation for next week, no matter
Speaker 1: what happened in the past. Nick Kokowski's got to prepare
Speaker 1: like every one of your responsibilities, including special teams. Did
Speaker 1: you play special teams in college? I did not, because
Speaker 1: all you stars, No, none of these stars play special teams.
Speaker 1: But he's right, that's what I'm saying. That's what that's
Speaker 1: what you know. The eye opening tackle the other night
Speaker 1: on it was the punt team. It was a punk coverage.
Speaker 1: But the other hits that you've had throughout the course
Speaker 1: of the year. You had a huge block, didn't you.
Speaker 1: Didn't you have a huge block earlier this year too? Yea, yeah,
Speaker 1: just you just love playing football. Yeah, absolutely. I mean
Speaker 1: I think my freshman year of college I played some
Speaker 1: special teams, but after that it was just straight defense.
Speaker 1: Any think Shaq you but for example, Cordelle Patterson's playing
Speaker 1: special teams, not not as a returner. You know, he's
Speaker 1: a guy, I mean just running down on gunner. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's impressed, he's impressed us all. You know, he does
Speaker 1: everything from returning to trying to go block a punt,
Speaker 1: and it's impressive. It's impressive to watch. I think that's
Speaker 1: what's equally impressive about Sherrick McManus, because you talk about
Speaker 1: a guy that's made a career on special teams and
Speaker 1: he's excelled at every one of his opportunities he's asked for.
Speaker 1: You know, he's equally as threatening as a flyer two
Speaker 1: down there, and I think that's kind of fun, you
Speaker 1: know when they do have to punt to watch those
Speaker 1: guys and either if they're going to be challenged by
Speaker 1: two protectors or one, they're still down there. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean checks a guy that I've kind of looked to
Speaker 1: for i mean, advice on special teams from my first
Speaker 1: year here. I mean, he's a guy that's played multipositions
Speaker 1: on special teams and like you said, excelled at them all.
Speaker 1: So the punch that Sheriff had in the Raiders game,
Speaker 1: have you ever found yourself in a position shouldn't now
Speaker 1: since you've kind of become aware of that technique where
Speaker 1: you can isolate on the football or do you see
Speaker 1: it or or do you not even think about it
Speaker 1: because it's a blur, um I have found. I mean
Speaker 1: it is usually a blur. But there are times I
Speaker 1: look back like I should have punched the ball, and
Speaker 1: there's times I've also I've gone for it. You know,
Speaker 1: it just doesn't come out right. But usually it is
Speaker 1: a blur and you kind of realize that afterwards when
Speaker 1: you intercepted the pass, do you think of a guy
Speaker 1: like Brian or Lacker who had so many or Dick
Speaker 1: butt gets back in the day and think, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: this is not the easiest thing in the world. Even
Speaker 1: though you played safety and receiver to swipe a pass
Speaker 1: playing that position, because it can come up on you quick,
Speaker 1: you have a great appreciation for it. Yeah. Absolutely, I
Speaker 1: mean that was my first one, my first creamer step,
Speaker 1: so I was pretty exciting for myself. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's your closer line of scrimmage, so they come
Speaker 1: out quick d huddle call or quarterback reaction by you
Speaker 1: to make that interception. Because the wide receivers out to
Speaker 1: your left, you kind of drop ac and get out
Speaker 1: in the flat and he throws the ball. A little
Speaker 1: bit of both I mean he I mean he stayed
Speaker 1: on the receiver. I mean he took the snap looked,
Speaker 1: so it was kind of a more of a reaction.
Speaker 1: Did you have any like meeting reminders during the course
Speaker 1: of the week. Okay, this formation, this down and distance alert,
Speaker 1: that's kind of a general formation, you know, get everyone
Speaker 1: at one side of the ball, and you know, kind
Speaker 1: of isolate one receiver to one side. So it was
Speaker 1: one of those things that I've experienced in the past
Speaker 1: where they've done that. All right, we're gonna take another
Speaker 1: break with Nick Quikowski a couple of more minutes to
Speaker 1: go with the Bears Lionbacker here on Bears All Access
Speaker 1: with Tom Thare, Jeff joni Acc on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy The Score. Hey Bears fans, get out of
Speaker 1: the cold and hit the beach in Cabo San Lucas,
Speaker 1: Mexico with your favorite Bears players. Inside the Bears host
Speaker 1: Laurence Greeden and Spice Adams and Apple Vacations this March.
Speaker 1: Visit Apple Vacations dot com, Slash Bears from more info.
Speaker 1: Jeff joni Ac and Tom Thare with you here on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio. On that trip
Speaker 1: every year, I do not I've gone on last couple
Speaker 1: of years. Have you gone yet? Night, Yeah, Nick, on
Speaker 1: one of those I don't make those decisions. Guy, I
Speaker 1: bet he is. If I was invited, I want to
Speaker 1: say last year, but they told me like a week
Speaker 1: before I guess I was replacement, that it wouldn't shock
Speaker 1: me Uh, what's your favorite play in the National Football
Speaker 1: League so far? I mean that's too broad, too big. Yeah,
Speaker 1: favorite hit, favorite play because less time talked about when
Speaker 1: you rolled over Dalvin Cook. It's still talked about in
Speaker 1: our booth whatever, every pregame, Jim Schwantz, Jay Hi, they
Speaker 1: even have said it's the best play of the year
Speaker 1: so far. Um, there's just something about a linebacker in
Speaker 1: Chicago with the kind of mentality you play with and
Speaker 1: what we've seen in the players before you or with
Speaker 1: you on this team. But those big hits, it makes
Speaker 1: you jump out of your seat when I'm calling the game.
Speaker 1: Even last week there was an open field form tackle,
Speaker 1: perfectly rapping and it gets you excited. It's those simple
Speaker 1: things that all about technique and fundamentals. But why do
Speaker 1: you think that is Why do you think that's what
Speaker 1: gets people going around here? Um? I think it's just
Speaker 1: the history, you know, watching guys in the past do
Speaker 1: the same thing. You know, anytime you can get a play,
Speaker 1: a tech for lost and a big play, I mean,
Speaker 1: especially in certain situations, I mean it's just exciting. It's
Speaker 1: exciting for the game. I mean it's exciting for a
Speaker 1: defensive team and then everyone who's watching. You know, Jeff
Speaker 1: brought up the word form fundamental fitting tackle. I didn't
Speaker 1: say that, but I did, and it is true. But
Speaker 1: now you look at a weapon like Barkley because he
Speaker 1: doesn't give you a big tackle target and he's got leverage.
Speaker 1: He's a low guy. What type of emphasis do you
Speaker 1: think about yourself? Not something you're here in meetings, but
Speaker 1: what you're telling yourself to be prepared for. I mean,
Speaker 1: just what you said, I mean, guy gets low doesn't
Speaker 1: give you much to hit For myself, you know, it's
Speaker 1: just be conservative but also aggress at the same time.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, don't make the right decision. You know,
Speaker 1: don't just stow yourself at him. Um, you know he's
Speaker 1: a guy that's gonna break tackles, gonna get low. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, take angles and you know he's a guy
Speaker 1: that has big playabilities. So know your help is as well. Um.
Speaker 1: What I mean by that is, if you're he's coming
Speaker 1: out of the backfield, you know you have a safety
Speaker 1: behind you to your left. You know, don't just run
Speaker 1: out and get outside him. Let him cut back on
Speaker 1: you without help, because he has a guy he's gonna
Speaker 1: break tackles, he's gonna get by him, and he's just
Speaker 1: he's a good player. I remember what a Keem Hicks
Speaker 1: said last year. You can feel him as a player.
Speaker 1: He's a he's a rookie coming in and just the
Speaker 1: strength on that guy is well documented and his explot
Speaker 1: but you can feel him when you hit him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there are guys like that that, even though you're a
Speaker 1: hard hitting linebacker, you could feel them and just how
Speaker 1: strong they are. Um, I can't really say anyone specifically,
Speaker 1: but I mean there's definitely guys out there that you
Speaker 1: can definitely feel when you hit. Um. You know, when
Speaker 1: you you get a full running start and you hit someone,
Speaker 1: they don't really move and you can feel it. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's definitely It's definitely happened me before UM. And there
Speaker 1: are there's guys all around the league like that. I
Speaker 1: mean there's guys that have I've faced, you know, I'll
Speaker 1: throughout my football career college. I mean, I mean even
Speaker 1: high school are like that. You know, I believe that
Speaker 1: if you hit the guy harder than he hits you,
Speaker 1: you you really don't feel it. So on that punt
Speaker 1: tackle that you made the other night, did you even
Speaker 1: feel the impact or were you going so quick with
Speaker 1: no hesitation that you kind of tackle right through the
Speaker 1: feeling of it. Yeah, I didn't really feel it. I
Speaker 1: mean I had the momentum, you know, coming down coverage
Speaker 1: and he was I'm not saying still, but he was
Speaker 1: not moving forward very fast, So I really didn't feel
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it was a big hint. I watched
Speaker 1: it after, right, it was a big hit. Kind of
Speaker 1: lit up the stadium at that point because there were
Speaker 1: more Barrass fans than there were Rams fans there and
Speaker 1: you could hear the reaction in the appreciation of a
Speaker 1: big hit like that. So is this team gets ready
Speaker 1: for the Giants and knowing you know, it's still the
Speaker 1: same mentality, the one game and the time mentality. And
Speaker 1: is it easy to do or is it a challenge
Speaker 1: to do for you guys right now? Um, I think
Speaker 1: it's easy for us. I mean we've kind of been
Speaker 1: talking about the past couple of weeks, and I mean
Speaker 1: it's you can't you can't really look past the game
Speaker 1: right now. I mean every game is different for us. Um.
Speaker 1: You just gotta go in and prepare like it's our
Speaker 1: last one, UM, and you just take each one week
Speaker 1: by week and just let the thing, let the games
Speaker 1: fall where they may. Because you're now starting again and
Speaker 1: the fact that you did, do you have a greater
Speaker 1: appreciation for every snap you get? Oh? Absolutely, m I
Speaker 1: mean that comes from other things as well. I mean
Speaker 1: just talking to Danny, you know, yeah, get people injury wise.
Speaker 1: I mean I've been insisting where I've been injured. Um,
Speaker 1: you really never know when your season can be over,
Speaker 1: something could happen, so you really have to have appreciation
Speaker 1: for every snap you take. How's he mentally dealing with this?
Speaker 1: He's good, you know, he's a positive guy. Um. You
Speaker 1: know he talks to us every day in football wise,
Speaker 1: so he's doing well. That's the guy you don't need
Speaker 1: to worry about me And dialed in Danny Trevithan. So
Speaker 1: he's not going on IR it appears, so hopefully he
Speaker 1: can come back for the Bears as well. Well, we're
Speaker 1: out of time. Thank you so much for spending the
Speaker 1: time with us and joining us here on Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: Hope you'll join us again sometime soon. Nick Quikowski our
Speaker 1: guest tonight. That's gonna wrap us up for time. I'm
Speaker 1: thare pause Ring and Dan Burrel engineers. I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 1: Good to talk to you. We'll talk to you on
Speaker 1: the radio nine am pregame noon kickoff on WBBM on
Speaker 1: Sunday with Tom Thare, Ron, Jim and Jay and the Boys.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniak. That'll be it here from Chicago's Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy to score. Goodnight,