Speaker 1: Cut over that DJ more ensode touchdown touchdown pairs. I
Speaker 1: am Jeff, Joniya Litz is not Donnie got what was
Speaker 1: like playing for Coachy dig I don't want to answer
Speaker 1: any questions like that pressure coming is a big trouble.
Speaker 1: Donnie Goes Montes sweat Now. Bears et Cetera brought to
Speaker 1: you by Geico with the voices of the Bears, Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniac and Tom Thayer. A six straight loss stings a
Speaker 1: Bears team that had enough resolve and competitive spirit to
Speaker 1: rally on the road from sixteen down on Thanksgiving in
Speaker 1: Detroit to put in Musician a chance to at least
Speaker 1: tie the game and optimistically in a position to win
Speaker 1: the game, but it didn't turn out that way, and
Speaker 1: the Bears fall for the six consecutive time. This is
Speaker 1: episode sixteen of the Bears et Cetera podcast with Super
Speaker 1: Bowl winning Bears guard Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniyak, and
Speaker 1: we're brought to you by Geico.
Speaker 2: We're going to recap the game.
Speaker 1: But also look forward to the future with the inclusion
Speaker 1: now of Thomas Brown as the interim head coach and
Speaker 1: the dismissal of Matt Eberflus we heard from a couple
Speaker 1: of people today at Havis Hall. First and foremost President
Speaker 1: and CEO Kevin Warren and then Bears General manager Ryan
Speaker 1: Poles will hear from them, and also a one on
Speaker 1: one interview with Thomas Brown. Tom overall thoughts on what
Speaker 1: you heard today.
Speaker 3: I'm super encouraged by what I've heard by Thomas Brown.
Speaker 3: First of all, let me start there, because everything he
Speaker 3: said since the day he was introduced to us at
Speaker 3: the podium a couple of weeks ago, he he is
Speaker 3: followed through by what he said his plan of attack
Speaker 3: was for the game field and Caleb in the entire
Speaker 3: offense has fought hard till the end. They put up
Speaker 3: some big numbers and I expect and hope they continue
Speaker 3: to do so. When I think about Ryan Poles and
Speaker 3: Kevin Warre, and there's two guys that take some of
Speaker 3: the responsibility for what the Bears are going through right now,
Speaker 3: but their intentions to get this thing corrected turned around
Speaker 3: and off of the Bears fans exactly what they deserve.
Speaker 3: And Kevin Warren has got a rolodex of the experience
Speaker 3: in college football and pro football experiences that he can
Speaker 3: make the right decisions and learn from. And Ryan Poles
Speaker 3: has been around the game for a lifetime and probably
Speaker 3: has his sights set. I'm not putting thoughts into him,
Speaker 3: but it has a site set on how to correct
Speaker 3: this thing and get it turned around. So I don't
Speaker 3: think anybody is pulling in different directions. I think everybody
Speaker 3: is pulling in the right direction, in the same direction
Speaker 3: to get this corrected.
Speaker 1: And that includes the players here because obviously there's a
Speaker 1: lot of frustration. Some of it has been aired. It started,
Speaker 1: you know, back in September, frankly, but it really started
Speaker 1: to bubble up. And I think with this change, do
Speaker 1: you hope and see that everybody will be pulling on
Speaker 1: the same room.
Speaker 3: You know, Listen, man, the players have been answered, and
Speaker 3: the way the players have been answered, if there was
Speaker 3: frustration in the locker room that's been reported in postgame,
Speaker 3: then the quickest solution for the players is to make
Speaker 3: a change at the top. And that's what the Bears
Speaker 3: went and did. And so now it's up to the
Speaker 3: players to go out and play a brand of football
Speaker 3: that this coaching staff, this organization and the fans can
Speaker 3: be proud of. And so they and you know, in
Speaker 3: some respect the players have. They have fought to the end,
Speaker 3: and they have brought these games down to last possession,
Speaker 3: last play, last second. So now, with the influences of
Speaker 3: Thomas Brown and his staff, Eric Washington and his staff,
Speaker 3: Coach Tower, Coach High Tower, and the special teams, I
Speaker 3: expect a really exciting brand of football to wind this
Speaker 3: season up.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by Blue Crossing Blue Shield of
Speaker 1: Illinois right here at home, driving access toward healthier communities
Speaker 1: through it all, and we will listen in now to
Speaker 1: a couple of excerpts from that news conference on Monday
Speaker 1: at HALISAU President and CEO Kevin Warren and general manager
Speaker 1: Ryan Balls back to back here.
Speaker 4: And people will ask, what are we looking for in
Speaker 4: a head coach. We need an individual who has extremely
Speaker 4: high standards, who is tough, who is demanding, who's bright,
Speaker 4: who has attention to detail, who seeks and will win championships,
Speaker 4: who creates an environment of accountability, who's creative, who's intelligent,
Speaker 4: who's a decisive decision maker, and who will represent the
Speaker 4: city of Chicago, all of our fans this franchise in
Speaker 4: a manner that is well deserved. The other thing is
Speaker 4: that I found in my years in the National Football
Speaker 4: League that good players want to become great and great
Speaker 4: players want to become legendary. And the only way you
Speaker 4: make a good player great or a great player legendary
Speaker 4: is to create that environment of accountability and set standards
Speaker 4: that are extreme and demanding. And we will find that
Speaker 4: person to be able to lead our franchise. But we
Speaker 4: have to keep in mind that we have five regular
Speaker 4: season games left to play, one this weekend at San Francisco.
Speaker 4: We're going to do everything we possibly can, from ownership
Speaker 4: to Ryan myself, to the coaches, to staff, to our players,
Speaker 4: to coach Thomas Brown, that we support each other, we
Speaker 4: support our players, we could support all of our coaches
Speaker 4: George Brown to allow us to perform at the highest level.
Speaker 4: I am confident, I'm energized, I'm excited about this unique opportunity.
Speaker 4: We will get this right, and we'll be sitting up
Speaker 4: here in the future at some point in time and
Speaker 4: we'll look back onto this day and say, this was
Speaker 4: the day that really that we start pointing in the
Speaker 4: right direction to build the franchise that all of us
Speaker 4: know that we want to bill.
Speaker 5: But I want to thank coach e Buflus for his
Speaker 5: efforts in his dedication while he was here, But at
Speaker 5: the end of the day, we just came up short
Speaker 5: too many times.
Speaker 2: We had to make a change.
Speaker 5: As I reflect back two years ago, I was proud
Speaker 5: of the progress that we made from year one to
Speaker 5: year two, but disappointed we weren't being able to stay
Speaker 5: on that track in year three. In terms of Thomas Brown,
Speaker 5: I'm excited for him. We love his direct leadership, his command,
Speaker 5: and his confidence. I believe he has the traits to
Speaker 5: leave not only our team, but as well as our offense.
Speaker 5: I think the key thing to remember is it's not
Speaker 5: just him on the offensive side of the ball. There's
Speaker 5: some guys like Chris Beatty who have been very impactful
Speaker 5: over the last few weeks as we've seen our offense,
Speaker 5: especially our past game, continue to grow. So he'll lean
Speaker 5: on the people around him to continue to let our
Speaker 5: offense elevate and Thomas can continue to leave our football
Speaker 5: team as a head coach. I'm really excited about these
Speaker 5: next five weeks and the opportunity that we have, but
Speaker 5: I do think it's critical that we focus on San
Speaker 5: Francisco for the remainder of this week as we get
Speaker 5: prepared and get our football team prepared. I look forward
Speaker 5: to circling back in the near future to talk about
Speaker 5: the search as we put those plans together.
Speaker 1: The man might be in the building, Thomas Brown getting
Speaker 1: the opportunity for right now to be the interim head
Speaker 1: coach for the final five games of the season. Anything
Speaker 1: about Kevin and Ryan's comments there about what they're looking
Speaker 1: for and the type of person they're looking for.
Speaker 3: You know, first of all, they understand this is not
Speaker 3: the perfect case scenario for any professional football team. They
Speaker 3: have to do this with five games remaining. But I
Speaker 3: think when you have five games remaining, it's a nice
Speaker 3: time to evaluate what you have in the building. Is
Speaker 3: Thomas Brown possibly the right man for the job or
Speaker 3: do they have to go and investigate the other guys
Speaker 3: that they know in and around the league. I think
Speaker 3: it's a difficult question to answer as we sit here
Speaker 3: on Monday going into the San Francisco week, But I
Speaker 3: think they understand what the job ahead of them is
Speaker 3: all about and how it's how to make this organization
Speaker 3: the best organization it can possibly be.
Speaker 1: Have a new or gently used coat laying around, head
Speaker 1: to your local jewel asco until February tenth, and donate
Speaker 1: one of your new or gently used coach to the
Speaker 1: thirty sixth annual Chicago Bears Coat Drive help keep Chicagoans
Speaker 1: warm this winter. All right, the check in a status
Speaker 1: at hallis or one on one interview with interim head
Speaker 1: coach Thomas Brown. All Right, welcome first of all, And
Speaker 1: you know I say congratulations even though you know it's
Speaker 1: it's not the time for congratulations necessarily.
Speaker 2: Right, No, No, Yeah, it's hard. It's hard.
Speaker 6: Yeah, appreciate the opportunity for sure, except to get a
Speaker 6: responsibility that comes with this role and it challenge a hit.
Speaker 6: But as you mentioned before, the difficulty of it affecting
Speaker 6: people's lives. I mentioned before with a podium a minute ago,
Speaker 6: just how much I appreciate medievil Flus for give me
Speaker 6: an opportunity to be on their staff and then elevating
Speaker 6: me to the OC position. So I think it's tough
Speaker 6: anytime these situations come up. But got an opportunity, excited
Speaker 6: about the opportunity, and we'll go go go into attack more.
Speaker 1: Today I started out in my notes, something kept just
Speaker 1: coming into my head. Remember the Ferris Buehler day off movie, right,
Speaker 1: like life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and
Speaker 1: look around once in a while.
Speaker 2: You could miss it. There's no question to you.
Speaker 1: I mean, in the last how many weeks, this is
Speaker 1: exactly what happened.
Speaker 2: Is that? Is that a relevant quote?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean it's been a ton of chat.
Speaker 6: I don't think anybody could have predicted this on their
Speaker 6: Bengo card at all. I definitely didn't even think about it.
Speaker 6: You know, from first, you know, having a chance to
Speaker 6: take over as the OC and having three games of
Speaker 6: call it and right after that, are you an opportunity
Speaker 6: to become the interim head coach? But what I've learned
Speaker 6: is God's plans always better than my plans, and so
Speaker 6: I just do the best job I can and whatever
Speaker 6: role I'm giving and maximize the opportunity for everybody that's
Speaker 6: around me.
Speaker 1: And I went back into an article just to few
Speaker 1: years back with the rams you never set out on
Speaker 1: a course to become an OC or head coach. He
Speaker 1: just wanted to get into this, I'm assuming to see
Speaker 1: if you even liked it, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, I mean to me, it was about having
Speaker 6: an opportunity. When Sean called me a few years ago
Speaker 6: about having a chance to come in and be the
Speaker 6: running backs coach. It was about owning that role, coming
Speaker 6: in and killing that interview to make his to make
Speaker 6: myself undeniable for that role.
Speaker 3: When I get that role, I want to be the.
Speaker 6: Best in the world at that position. So I just
Speaker 6: grind out my butt off every single day to put
Speaker 6: myself on a good spot. That had an opportunity the
Speaker 6: second year to be a promoted to assistant head coach
Speaker 6: by Shaw, which I was out of the blue, didn't
Speaker 6: even think about it, and so hearing some of the
Speaker 6: dialogue about what he thought about me with other guys
Speaker 6: who'd been in my role before thought about my future
Speaker 6: started to kind of open my brain a little bit
Speaker 6: more as far as possibilities. But it's always about the
Speaker 6: current work, work, the current job, and obviously applying myself
Speaker 6: to the best I can to my current role.
Speaker 1: What's it saying about you though, that other individuals that
Speaker 1: you respect see so much in.
Speaker 2: You that they are affording you these opportunities.
Speaker 3: That means a lot.
Speaker 6: I mean, I think being able to have an opportunity
Speaker 6: to be with some of the best in the game
Speaker 6: and learn from them has helped shape my career for sure,
Speaker 6: but also my overall goal is to create a pathway
Speaker 6: to light for those that are around me, to see
Speaker 6: opportunities and pursue them, know that it's possible, but also
Speaker 6: to be at my best for everybody around me every day.
Speaker 1: Thomas, In all my time almost thirty years with the organization,
Speaker 1: I've always felt okay, like the ultimate goal and maybe
Speaker 1: just it's the meathead fan in me, but it should
Speaker 1: reflect the city you play in personality of the team,
Speaker 1: which you've emphasized, the violent nature, the physical You know,
Speaker 1: you close your eyes and you think of the buckets
Speaker 1: era and the monsters in the midway. Do you envision
Speaker 1: that same thing the football thing that's not just defense,
Speaker 1: the attitude.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I've always had issues being on the office side
Speaker 6: of all my entire life out it's always viewed that
Speaker 6: offenses passed have been defensive physical. I don't understand that
Speaker 6: thought process at all because I fell in love with
Speaker 6: the game because of the vialid nature. I remember my mother,
Speaker 6: who was awesome, uh you know, wanted to keep away
Speaker 6: from football. My dad was kind of indifferent about it,
Speaker 6: and she let me start playing when I was eight
Speaker 6: years old. It's like a normal kid at eight years old.
Speaker 6: I walk out there the first day of PATS. My
Speaker 6: paths are too big, my helmets on sideways that are,
Speaker 6: you know, too big of a mouthpiece, and that we're
Speaker 6: doing the drill is probably illegal now, but bull and
Speaker 6: the ring it is.
Speaker 2: My first drill, no question.
Speaker 6: I got the I got the mess knocked out at me,
Speaker 6: and she starts gonna quit and I got up grinted
Speaker 6: ear to ear like, Okay, I see this is about
Speaker 6: and so I fell in love with the physical nature
Speaker 6: of it. I think about obviously being able to uh
Speaker 6: and endure the punishment, but it's also about dissing it out.
Speaker 6: So to me, it's kind of a non negostable. When
Speaker 6: it comes to how you play the football game, it's
Speaker 6: all three phases. Offense, defensive, special teams. This is a
Speaker 6: violent game and so legal leave right, not illegally, but legally.
Speaker 6: We got to execute that the right way down and
Speaker 6: down out.
Speaker 2: So how will that look on Sundays?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean hopefully it is started from day one.
Speaker 6: As far as being detailing our operation, it's how we
Speaker 6: break the huddle. It's about being disciplined with our snap
Speaker 6: counts on both sides of the ball and being able
Speaker 6: to be an attack of mentality. So I think it
Speaker 6: starts up front on both sides of lone of scrimmage,
Speaker 6: throw one hands at the point of contact on offense,
Speaker 6: defeating blocks up front on defense. Then also when it
Speaker 6: comes to our permanent blocking, our receivers being involved in
Speaker 6: legal violun blocks everyone tackles on our defense, so populations
Speaker 6: of the football, and also when it comes to our
Speaker 6: return units and our kicking units. So on a kicking game,
Speaker 6: it's about being able to have an attack of mentality
Speaker 6: right ball disruption and go attack of the ball carrier.
Speaker 6: When it comes to return units, it's about being able
Speaker 6: to create lanes for returners.
Speaker 1: So with this position right now, I've always said the
Speaker 1: last thing a head coach who's never been a head coach,
Speaker 1: last thing they do is they don't coach like there's
Speaker 1: so many things. So you're in any unique spot because
Speaker 1: you're also offensive coordinator and things have been going so
Speaker 1: well with you and Caleb, how do you make sure
Speaker 1: that you're still coaching yet you're also the head coach
Speaker 1: right now?
Speaker 6: I think you organize the right way. I think you
Speaker 6: also collaborate with the entire staff. Right, everyone is here
Speaker 6: for a reason. They're experts at their particular roles. It's
Speaker 6: about being able to be a manager, not a micro manager.
Speaker 6: So I'm not going to try to go micro manage
Speaker 6: Eric Washington defense, and I'm gonna go try to micro
Speaker 6: manage HT and special teams. I trusto's got to do
Speaker 6: their jobs, and so we'll communicate being the same page.
Speaker 6: As far as the plan of attack for the week,
Speaker 6: I'm gonna go coach ball. You know what I've been
Speaker 6: hard to do.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about Caleb because I've been looking
Speaker 1: at some of this stuff.
Speaker 2: Fourth quarter is the money time. Oh, this is it?
Speaker 1: Like this is how quarterbacks are valued.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, they got to they gotta do stuff well
Speaker 2: the but fourth quarter. So you're probably not aware of this.
Speaker 1: Maybe you are, but right now he's third in the
Speaker 1: NFL and fourth quarter passing yards. Okay, he's tight for
Speaker 1: second in touchdowns. This is the entirety of season. So
Speaker 1: I think what's happening here is significant not only for
Speaker 1: himself but for the football team. For others on the team.
Speaker 1: Hey we got a guy now, oh yeah, he can
Speaker 1: take us down the field. He's going to put us
Speaker 1: in a position to win a football game. And it's
Speaker 1: happened five different times already this season. It hasn't ultimately
Speaker 1: happened in terms of wins and losses, But do you
Speaker 1: see this as significant development the fourth quarters?
Speaker 3: No question.
Speaker 6: I think again, that's why he was drafted because he
Speaker 6: has a tremitiscibility. From a talent standpoint, he is super
Speaker 6: competitive and resilient. And I said this last week, and
Speaker 6: I actually stand by this. As good as he's played,
Speaker 6: he had to even scratch his surface with how good
Speaker 6: he can be. I believe that with every fiber of
Speaker 6: my being. I think being able to understand how to
Speaker 6: operate more effectively and more efficiently at times, but also
Speaker 6: we missed on some opportunities. We can do a better
Speaker 6: job of putting in better scenarios as a coaching staff standpoint,
Speaker 6: but it's every day that mentality of trying to figure
Speaker 6: out how to pursue excellence. I talked to him and
Speaker 6: everybody else about not being perfect, because perfection sounds great,
Speaker 6: unachievable on his earth. And so I can pick at
Speaker 6: every single play and say, what you didn't do perfectly,
Speaker 6: but you can be excellent always. So the goal for
Speaker 6: him and everybody else is to be excellent at what
Speaker 6: you do on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: Well, you were in the booth right next to me
Speaker 1: actually at Ford Field.
Speaker 2: I was told that his.
Speaker 1: Demeanor as he came out on the field of the
Speaker 1: second half was completely dialed in. Wanted to win that
Speaker 1: football game so bad, and the play showed it. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you heard that or if you saw
Speaker 1: that for your own eyes in the locker room. What's
Speaker 1: that also say about what's going on with this young
Speaker 1: man right now? Because you never know what you're gonna
Speaker 1: expect as a rookie.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it sell me.
Speaker 6: He doesn't flinch. He's a resilient player. And so I
Speaker 6: think we dug ourselves in a hole. Then I executed
Speaker 6: all in the first half. I think four three and outs,
Speaker 6: kept shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to
Speaker 6: some penalties, and to put ourselves behind.
Speaker 2: The eight bow.
Speaker 6: But in that locker room, nobody flinched, nobody had their
Speaker 6: head down. We came in poised about with a plan
Speaker 6: of attack for the second half, how to make some
Speaker 6: adjustments that were solo adjustments, and it became un in
Speaker 6: the second half with.
Speaker 1: The work so great opportunity as well here now for
Speaker 1: Eric Washington to call plays. Did she uh think about
Speaker 1: the game like you do in terms of what you've
Speaker 1: learned about Eric.
Speaker 6: Yeah, my think as far as h you know, he's
Speaker 6: his own person, which is very important. I think as
Speaker 6: far as his approach and leadership traits, those guys respond.
Speaker 3: Well to him.
Speaker 6: I've had a chance, obviously to watch him all year
Speaker 6: in the media room, and he gets in front of
Speaker 6: the group, he has a captivating demeanor. Those guys are
Speaker 6: forced to kind of be engaged and respond to yeah,
Speaker 6: no quick, yes, that's the purpose of leadership, so to
Speaker 6: be able to I think about being engaging, not entertaining.
Speaker 6: My job was that didn't entertain you at all, But
Speaker 6: to be engaging and get you to understand what we're saying,
Speaker 6: how we're saying it so we can go execute the
Speaker 6: right way. And also it's you know, sometimes comes off
Speaker 6: as being motivating. My overall goal is like to motivate
Speaker 6: you though, to inspire you to be the best you
Speaker 6: can be. You know, motivation comes and goes at where
Speaker 6: is off at times, But I want to be long
Speaker 6: lasting when it comes to what we say being intentional,
Speaker 6: but also most importantly about the action because talk is cheap.
Speaker 6: Everybody has a mouth and they use it at times,
Speaker 6: but it's about the action we apply every single day.
Speaker 1: You've also given a great opportunity here for Chris Beatty.
Speaker 1: I'm really impressed with his also communication skills and demeanor.
Speaker 1: What can you tell us about what this means to
Speaker 1: him and how he looks.
Speaker 2: At this situation.
Speaker 3: So it's an awesome opportunity for him, you know.
Speaker 6: So I had a chance to work with Chris Beatty
Speaker 6: back in twenty fourteen. So I was hired to be
Speaker 6: the runner bass coach at University of Wisconsin. He was
Speaker 6: a receivers coach and so having a chance to be
Speaker 6: around him at a relatively young coach age I was.
Speaker 3: That was my third job in coaching.
Speaker 6: I was at Tennessee, Chattanooga, first at Marshall, then Wisconsin,
Speaker 6: and so to have a send to be around him,
Speaker 6: observe how it runs, his meeting room, his approach to
Speaker 6: the game, the mental capacity he had as far as
Speaker 6: how to communicate in game adjustments was one of the
Speaker 6: best I've been around, and even as far as when
Speaker 6: it comes to clock management and how to manage games.
Speaker 6: Because he was a former high school head coach, and
Speaker 6: one thing he said to me a long time ago
Speaker 6: is that like it doesn't matter for his high school,
Speaker 6: cause the NFL the clock of the clock, and so
Speaker 6: his understanding and expertise in the air is gonna be
Speaker 6: big for me moving forward. So excited for the opportunity
Speaker 6: for excited to provide it for and ready to keep
Speaker 6: walking together.
Speaker 1: All right, our final minute, we always do a little
Speaker 1: sneak peak forty nine ers. We know so much about
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers. Oh yeah from that tree. Obviously,
Speaker 1: not sure what their injury situation is, but just first
Speaker 1: and foremost what you're walking into because it's a team
Speaker 1: fighting for their playoff life as well, and a physical
Speaker 1: team with a lot of weapons on both sides of
Speaker 1: the ball.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean hostile environment. Their fan base does a
Speaker 6: great job of showing up and being allowed to obviously
Speaker 6: witness that for three years being in LA. They kind
Speaker 6: of built this roster with a lot of depth to
Speaker 6: be able to withstand injuries and also have a next
Speaker 6: man up type mentality. And all these guys are drafted
Speaker 6: the same way, with the same kind of build, same
Speaker 6: mode and kind of being attacking. So we have to
Speaker 6: be ready and prepare for the opportunity to meet that
Speaker 6: challenge to be effective and be resilient with it. They
Speaker 6: also do have great playmakers on both sides of the ball, right,
Speaker 6: So being able to understand how to form a plan
Speaker 6: of attack to be able to throw these guys off
Speaker 6: and also for us on offense is about how do
Speaker 6: we for the sea of doubt in the mind of
Speaker 6: Fraiir Warner because he is one of the best in
Speaker 6: the game, because a great job of communicating, getting guys
Speaker 6: lined up, diagnosed in play. So try to dangle some
Speaker 6: cares in front of his odds to see if you'll
Speaker 6: go bite. But these guys are really tough, so excited
Speaker 6: about the opportunity to challenge and our guys be ready.
Speaker 1: Well, good luck with the week. Thank he's going to
Speaker 1: be fun. Appreciation again, Thanks.
Speaker 2: For your time. Thank you Tom.
Speaker 1: What I love about hearing Emmy he doesn't mince words.
Speaker 1: He's very direct. You get a feel for what he wants.
Speaker 1: He's not going to be. That's not a flexibility like
Speaker 1: this is what I'm gonna want. This is how it's
Speaker 1: going to be.
Speaker 2: You're in, You're in. If you're not you're not, like
Speaker 2: I think it's that straightforward.
Speaker 3: Do you agree? One hundred percent? And he's proven himself
Speaker 3: since the very first time he's ever been to the
Speaker 3: podium as the new offensive coordinator, because he had some
Speaker 3: strong words about how he's going to get this thing
Speaker 3: turned around and the improvement he expects on every one
Speaker 3: of these guys as highly paid professional athletes. And I
Speaker 3: think he's proven that to everybody. He knows what he's
Speaker 3: saying from the headset to the field to the quarterback.
Speaker 3: Now he's going to be on the field talking to
Speaker 3: the quarterback. So Thomas Brown, I'm super encouraged by what
Speaker 3: he's been able to do in the short amount of time.
Speaker 3: And there's no biggest bigger asset for the Chicago Bears
Speaker 3: than Caleb Williams. And you have to make sure that
Speaker 3: you keep him on the same work ethic work ethic
Speaker 3: expectations from now until the end of the season.
Speaker 1: I also, I know you there's a quote that you
Speaker 1: like from from Thomas today, and you know these are
Speaker 1: these are words that only an NFL former NFL player
Speaker 1: can appreciate, right, Like you know exactly where you're going here.
Speaker 3: Right, I'm here to and I'm not here to entertain,
Speaker 3: I'm here to engage. And I love that. I absolutely
Speaker 3: love that, because you know, you're not looking for a
Speaker 3: coach to sit up there and tell jokes or do
Speaker 3: magic tricks. Wednesday morning at the team meeting, You're up
Speaker 3: there to listen to the head coach tell you what
Speaker 3: the plan of attack is for that day and then
Speaker 3: what it's going to be like Thursday, Friday, Saturday leading
Speaker 3: up to the game. But I'm only interested to hear
Speaker 3: what he has to stay in front of the entire
Speaker 3: team Wednesday morning because you think, in that moment in
Speaker 3: the history of his process of getting ready to be
Speaker 3: a coach, the first time he's going to address a
Speaker 3: professional football team as the head coach, and now you
Speaker 3: have to have those words that resonate in the minds
Speaker 3: of the defenders as well as you have been able
Speaker 3: to get into the mind of the offensive players.
Speaker 1: Tastes like Miller Time, Celebrate Responsibly, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: ninety six cavalies and three point two carbs per twelve ounces.
Speaker 1: I just I love the fact that, as Jaw has said,
Speaker 1: he wants a very violent, physical football team in all
Speaker 1: three phases, Tommy gotta have.
Speaker 3: It's that's football, you know. And again that's why you
Speaker 3: get paid a handsome salary when you choose the professional
Speaker 3: football for a living, because it is about the physical
Speaker 3: nature of the game, and I'm encouraged that Thomas Brown
Speaker 3: brings that up regularly.
Speaker 1: All Right, let's talk Caleb Williams and the impact Thomas
Speaker 1: has had on him. He's really shined in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter near missus several obviously, but spreading the ball around.
Speaker 1: Target totals are going way up for DJ Moore and
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen now DJ each with five touchdown
Speaker 1: passes co Comet being used. They're still running the ball.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of things we like about what's
Speaker 1: going on here, But in terms of being clutch and
Speaker 1: playing that fourth quarter role, the numbers for Caleb are
Speaker 1: really high. Mentioned him in the interview with Thomas Brown.
Speaker 1: You have a different twist on it, though, and I
Speaker 1: think it's it's the right twist.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, listen, I'm super encouraged by what Caleb
Speaker 3: Williams has been able to do during the portions of
Speaker 3: the most difficult part of a football game. And those
Speaker 3: closing moments and how he not only protects the football,
Speaker 3: but he gets profit out of every one of his throws.
Speaker 3: But if Caleb can do that in the first if
Speaker 3: Caleb in the entire Chicago Bears team can do that
Speaker 3: in the first and second quarter and put up those
Speaker 3: types of numbers, you're really going to increase the advantage
Speaker 3: of the attack of your defense because now you compliment
Speaker 3: that good fourth quarter play by good quality point scoring
Speaker 3: first and second play. Now, all of a sudden, you've
Speaker 3: got pass rushers, you have guys that have the ability
Speaker 3: to attack the line of scrimmage. You have a chance
Speaker 3: to be a more aggressive defense when you have guys
Speaker 3: like Kyler Gordon or Kevin Byard or all the other
Speaker 3: guys that can blitz from diff different levels. So let's
Speaker 3: have that fourth quarter continue, but let's have some of
Speaker 3: that happen in the first and second quarter, and you're
Speaker 3: going to see a much more aggressive team.
Speaker 1: Are you impressed by the two hundred and thirty two
Speaker 1: straight passers without an interception for a rookie quarterback.
Speaker 3: Well, it's just incredible because he knows what he's seeing
Speaker 3: and he's putting the ball on the right spot for
Speaker 3: the receivers that he's throwing to. You just think of
Speaker 3: the one to Keenan Allen where he scrabbled outside the pocket,
Speaker 3: knew exactly where the line of scrimmage was, was able
Speaker 3: to deliver a pass low and outside where only the
Speaker 3: receiver could touch it. So it's those types of accuracies
Speaker 3: according to where the defensive backs are. It's the accuracies
Speaker 3: when he knows what the coverage is and he has
Speaker 3: to fit it into a tight window, making sure that
Speaker 3: everybody is equally involved. When you talk about Keenan and
Speaker 3: dj in Rome and Cole and anybody else who can
Speaker 3: touch the football. So I mean he's maturing right in
Speaker 3: front of our right in front of our eyes.
Speaker 1: Good new Chicago United Airlines getting brand new planes with
Speaker 1: all the bells and whistles like Bluetooth connectivity screens at
Speaker 1: every seat in room for everyone's rollerbag. United proud to
Speaker 1: fly the Chicago Bears and you too. Let's talk defense
Speaker 1: in Eric Washington. What's his twist on what they've done
Speaker 1: so far this year? Which includes a lot of interesting statistics. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the red zone takeaways tied for first in the league
Speaker 1: with five. That Tyreek Stevens and head on the ball,
Speaker 1: and Jamier Gibbs was masterful.
Speaker 2: That was another one.
Speaker 1: The Bears are a plus ten turnover ratio, number three
Speaker 1: in the NFL. They're tied for six then takeaways with
Speaker 1: nineteen and over the last two weeks, Tom the Bears
Speaker 1: number one third down defensively twenty two conversions over the.
Speaker 2: Past few weeks.
Speaker 1: I don't have the exact range, but I know it's
Speaker 1: two or three, but these are all significant.
Speaker 3: Listen, Eric Washington has a lot of respect in that
Speaker 3: locker room, whether you're talking to offense, defense or special team.
Speaker 3: Eric Washington has a ton of respect from every guy
Speaker 3: that's on that defense, and I think he has a
Speaker 3: great understanding of what this defense is able to accomplish.
Speaker 3: You see the results. As you said in the ren Zone.
Speaker 3: One of the stigious defenses in the league. And that's
Speaker 3: why Caleb has been able to be great in the
Speaker 3: fourth quarter because the defense has kept the opponent out
Speaker 3: of the offense. But now here's Eric. He's going to
Speaker 3: address the defense on Wednesday morning. As the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 3: He's going to be calling all the plays from the
Speaker 3: first quarter to the fourth quarter. He understands what his commitment, obligations,
Speaker 3: and opportunity is. And listen, We've watched Eric grow up
Speaker 3: in the NFL from a young assistant coach to now
Speaker 3: a defensive coordinator, and everything he's been able to accomplish
Speaker 3: has earned and I think that he has the respect
Speaker 3: of all the guys.
Speaker 1: Time now with the guy go brings you more football
Speaker 1: stat of the day. One other Caleb note against the
Speaker 1: division so five touchdowns, no picks, his quarterback rating above
Speaker 1: ninety five against the Packers, Vikings and Detroit. That's also
Speaker 1: very encouraging because those defenses are good.
Speaker 3: That's going to say. You know, these defenses in the
Speaker 3: NFC Central, they got to they have a lot NSC North,
Speaker 3: they have a lot of reputation of being good, solid defenses,
Speaker 3: you know. And what he's been able to do, either
Speaker 3: in the hot, most hostile environment that he's played in
Speaker 3: this year in Detroit or get against one of the
Speaker 3: most aggressive defensive coordinators in Minnesota, Caleb has done an
Speaker 3: unbelievable job and he's had this team in a position
Speaker 3: to win the games at the end of each one
Speaker 3: of them. And that's why I'm still so excited to
Speaker 3: see what this final five games brings for him Bears fans.
Speaker 1: Steinhoffels is a probud partner of the Chicago Bears. This
Speaker 1: Bear season, the Steinhoffls is partnering with Special Spaces Illinois
Speaker 1: to create dream bedrooms for children battling cancer. For every
Speaker 1: false start caused by the Bears defense during a home game,
Speaker 1: Steinhoffles will donate one thousand dollars to Special Spaces Illinois
Speaker 1: shop in store and online at Steinhoffels dot com. I
Speaker 1: mentioned false starts by the opposition. That's one thing that
Speaker 1: Thomas did discuss. You know, the pre snap Yeah, post
Speaker 1: snap penalties, got to clean them up.
Speaker 3: Focus. It's better concentration and practice, getting to play into
Speaker 3: the huddle a little bit quicker, in making sure that
Speaker 3: Caleb has the time to say all the terminology he
Speaker 3: needs to say in the allotted amount of time. That
Speaker 3: when the offensive line turns and runs towards the line
Speaker 3: of scrimmage, that information is solidified in their head. They
Speaker 3: know what the snap count is and then they got
Speaker 3: to become the most explosive team they can possibly be.
Speaker 3: But those details he talked about, it's part of the
Speaker 3: weekly preparation and just something that has to filter to
Speaker 3: the game.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk to forty nine ers Tom a
Speaker 1: little sneak peek ahead of the Levin Stadium in Santa Clara.
Speaker 1: They are a good football team, they're just not winning
Speaker 1: their games at the moment. So they're struggling in a
Speaker 1: very competitive NFC West right now. But a massive injury
Speaker 1: so can't go through them all. Don't even know who's
Speaker 1: going to be available, but two of their biggest names
Speaker 1: may not be, and that being Nick Bosa on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball and Christian McCaffrey on the
Speaker 1: offensesive side of the ball. I'm not sure where Trent
Speaker 1: Williams is either on the offensive line, but plenty to
Speaker 1: worry about. But what is your take on this forty
Speaker 1: nine er bunch right now?
Speaker 3: You have to if you're on offense, defense, or special teams,
Speaker 3: you just have to be concerned about how they line
Speaker 3: up and what your assignment is. You can't really worry
Speaker 3: about who's there and who's not there. When this stadium
Speaker 3: opened up, the Bears went there unexpectedly and won the
Speaker 3: game because that was a big accomplishment. So that's what
Speaker 3: the Bears have to do, is just know you're a system,
Speaker 3: You're a system of checks and balances, know your assignments,
Speaker 3: do the little things that Thomas Brown talked about making
Speaker 3: sure you know this snap count. Forget the pre snap
Speaker 3: penalties and post snap penalties. And if you play a
Speaker 3: super clean brand of football from start to finish, you'll
Speaker 3: walk out of that stadium Sunday night to get on
Speaker 3: the plane as a winner.
Speaker 1: George Kitto easily without Christian McCaffrey, easily their best weapon.
Speaker 3: George Kittle their best weapon.
Speaker 2: Don't you agree? You are? You? Are you taking this?
Speaker 3: I think when you feed a young, hungry running back
Speaker 3: like Mason, and if McCaffrey's not there, I worry about
Speaker 3: guys like that too, because they're trying to work their
Speaker 3: way up the ladder to earn that opportunity to be
Speaker 3: considered a mainstay in the backfield. The Mason's done a
Speaker 3: nice job when his number is called. But yes, Kittle
Speaker 3: is a weapon because he's instrumental in the blocking on
Speaker 3: that offensive line, especially in the exterior of that offense
Speaker 3: where they have a tendency to run a lot. George
Speaker 3: Kittle is a really good tight end wide receiver combination.
Speaker 3: He can line up a little bit of everywhere he
Speaker 3: runs really good routes and has really good hands. So yeah,
Speaker 3: George Kittle, he's one of the best tight ends in
Speaker 3: the NFL. And uh, well, we'll see you know how
Speaker 3: the Bears take care of them come Sunday night.
Speaker 1: All right, coming up on our Thursday podcast, episode one seventeen,
Speaker 1: we will get into the forty nine ers a little
Speaker 1: deeper and hopefully get some insight from one of our
Speaker 1: good friends out there in San Francisco. I'm gonna say yet,
Speaker 1: not guaranteed yet, but hopefully we'll be recommiserating with one
Speaker 1: of our good buddies, Tommy.
Speaker 3: Hey, you know, it's fun to talk football, you know
Speaker 3: about you know, two competitive teams that are about to play,
Speaker 3: you know, not asking for any secrets, just talking about
Speaker 3: where each team is at this point.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears.
Speaker 1: All right, lastly, I'm glad it's a road game too.
Speaker 1: I feel there's a little.
Speaker 2: Bonding going on.
Speaker 1: Got to get get reacquainted with some new voices and
Speaker 1: go out there, hang out together for a night and
Speaker 1: go go take care of business.
Speaker 3: I just wish it was a shorter flight.
Speaker 2: Hey, it's not about us It's about the game.
Speaker 3: I know, you know. Like I said, daytime temperature sixty
Speaker 3: four degrees for a high, so it's probably gonna be
Speaker 3: about fifty five and a kickoff natural grass. These guys
Speaker 3: are going to be.
Speaker 1: Flying around special thanks to Bear's interim head coach Thomas
Speaker 1: Brown for his debut role in Our Bears, Etc.
Speaker 2: Podcast. For Tom, theare I'm Jeff Jonahan. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Everybody, please subscribe now the Bears Official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Bear Down, Everybody,