Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
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Speaker 1: day and now well to Bears All Access, your all
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Speaker 1: Lite and Ford. And a great evening to everybody out there,
Speaker 1: and welcome into another edition to Bears All Access. Jeff
Speaker 1: johnny Ac along with Tom Thair and Jim Miller in
Speaker 1: Michigan and his home after a day on the air
Speaker 1: on Sirius x M NFL Radio, We're gonna hop right
Speaker 1: to it. We got our special guests ready to go,
Speaker 1: fired up and enjoying what was a crazy NBA trade deadline.
Speaker 1: I saw tweets all day from Alan or Robinson, the
Speaker 1: Bears veteran wide receiver, kind enough to join us here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access. Alan, good evening, how you doing.
Speaker 1: You love that NBA, don't you? I do? I do?
Speaker 1: I do? And thanks for having me. Know um, the
Speaker 1: NBA is funny, though basketball has a has a very
Speaker 1: deer place in my heart. You know, it's something that
Speaker 1: I played. I'm ever since I can remember, so, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I has a special place in my heart,
Speaker 1: you know. So it was fun being able to follow
Speaker 1: the NBA and you know, also not being in season.
Speaker 1: You know when I'm when I'm during season, normany focused
Speaker 1: so much on the NBA. But you know, being able
Speaker 1: just to wake up and look at the news and
Speaker 1: you know, actually be able to watch ESPN, you know,
Speaker 1: because I'm don't during season. You know, it's pretty it's
Speaker 1: pretty fun and exciting for me. What struck a chord
Speaker 1: with you today? With the league? Man? You know, I
Speaker 1: was actually a pretty uh pretty surprised and I see
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis traded, you know, Um again, I think there's
Speaker 1: so many different storylines that you see across the NBA.
Speaker 1: You know, you see guys being traded mid game. You
Speaker 1: see veteran guys being traded, you see young guys being traded.
Speaker 1: You see guys being traded three times and then being waves.
Speaker 1: You know, so it's a lot of It was a
Speaker 1: lot going on during this NBA trade deadline. Hey man,
Speaker 1: what about through your journey through free agency last year,
Speaker 1: did you have any of these conversations behind the scenes
Speaker 1: that players were recruiting you or it maybe even a
Speaker 1: coach was saying how well they've respected your ability. You know,
Speaker 1: you hear a lot of different things, you know, from
Speaker 1: from my agent, you know. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: you know, um, for me, especially with Chicago, you know,
Speaker 1: and by by me being close friends with Adrian Amish,
Speaker 1: you know, I had just kind of talked to him too,
Speaker 1: and I really got to feel like how Chicago was,
Speaker 1: you know, being able to talk to princes A Mukamara,
Speaker 1: you know, playing with him in Jacksonville, you know, being
Speaker 1: able to to talk to a couple of guys that
Speaker 1: I knew, you know about the city of Chicago, you know,
Speaker 1: and that was a big thing for me. Like I
Speaker 1: said before, Um, Chicago was one of the only teams
Speaker 1: that did kind of kind of have that benefit for me,
Speaker 1: you know, to be able to actually talk to some
Speaker 1: guys who are who are currently on a roster and
Speaker 1: who had been there and who had been in the
Speaker 1: city of Chicago. Well, Alan, Jim Miller, here is a
Speaker 1: pleasure talking to you down in Atlanta when you were
Speaker 1: with your your teammates and Tariko and join your that
Speaker 1: day on set, and just as you're reflecting you see
Speaker 1: that Super Bowl fifty three is in the books and
Speaker 1: just how close the Bears were as a football team.
Speaker 1: Why not us? Everybody always says, and why not the
Speaker 1: Bears in twenty nineteen. You know, um, I think we
Speaker 1: have all the time in the world to accomplish that,
Speaker 1: you know, um I think for us, you know, again
Speaker 1: starting to day one, Um, whenever we start and get
Speaker 1: back in April, you know, the number one goal and
Speaker 1: the first starting point for us is, yes, we do
Speaker 1: want to win a Super Bowl. Row. We know we
Speaker 1: have to start with, you know, winning the division, you know,
Speaker 1: and and again we're gonna have to sit back and watch.
Speaker 1: You know, it's gonna be some changes being done in
Speaker 1: the in the division. You know, probably some some small
Speaker 1: changes on our roster, just like just like everybody you know,
Speaker 1: and it's a it's a different team from from a
Speaker 1: year to year. You know, maybe be some small change,
Speaker 1: maybe some big changes, but it's a different team, you know.
Speaker 1: So once we still footing the facility, you know, once
Speaker 1: we return back, you know, we had to stay locked
Speaker 1: in on our goals and you know we got to
Speaker 1: work twice as hard as we do last season. Hey, Alan,
Speaker 1: what's different for you this offseason and where and how
Speaker 1: will you focus your time? Um, you know, for me,
Speaker 1: it's it's good, you know, being um, being healthy you
Speaker 1: know at this standpoint, and being able to being able
Speaker 1: to do some some things. You know. Um again, still
Speaker 1: still getting back to one hundred percent. You know, I
Speaker 1: was nursing an injury rifractured my ribs leading the season
Speaker 1: last year. You know, so just so just kind of
Speaker 1: kind of working through that, you know, and being able
Speaker 1: to have time to just kind of really work on
Speaker 1: all aspects of my body, you know, my joints and
Speaker 1: everything like day and really hone in onto certain specifics
Speaker 1: that I want to get accomplished this year as opposed
Speaker 1: to last year. You know, the main, folks, was just
Speaker 1: to get back to one hundred percent and get back
Speaker 1: on the field. Alan Robins and our guest here on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to
Speaker 1: score Jeff and Time and Jim Miller with you and
Speaker 1: Alan Robins and the Bears veteran wide receiver. I know
Speaker 1: you and I talked right after the end of the
Speaker 1: season in the locker room, and you had a big
Speaker 1: smile on your face. You have the loss hurt, but
Speaker 1: you were excited about just what you're alluding to here,
Speaker 1: to kind of reinvent the body a little bit, to
Speaker 1: have you know, full capacity, to get yourself exactly physically right,
Speaker 1: get you're all balanced up and ready to roll. Is
Speaker 1: that the underrated aspect of coming back from an injury,
Speaker 1: even a year and a half later. Almost definitely, you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's very underrated, you know, because once you
Speaker 1: get through that first year, that twelve month process around
Speaker 1: you know, thirteen and fourteen months, you know, at the
Speaker 1: same time, you're still playing catchup, you know, but your
Speaker 1: body is still it's still a little beat up, you know,
Speaker 1: from just the amount that it had to endure, you know,
Speaker 1: the recovery process. You know. So so now just to
Speaker 1: feel like I'm not playing catch up, you know, to
Speaker 1: be able to kind of set certain benchmarks that I
Speaker 1: want to set going into the season, and to be
Speaker 1: able to work my way up and you know and
Speaker 1: peak at the right time. You know, um going into
Speaker 1: the season is it's definitely big, you know, And like
Speaker 1: I said before, you know, being able to have all
Speaker 1: the time in the world to focus on some of
Speaker 1: the specifics that I want to focus on body wise,
Speaker 1: football wise and everything like that. You know, I think
Speaker 1: it's it's definitely going to benefit me a lot. And
Speaker 1: every guy is different. I know, some guys they feel
Speaker 1: like they get their explosion back two years after ACL surgery.
Speaker 1: And for you, did you feel you got all that
Speaker 1: explosion backers? There are still work to be done in
Speaker 1: that area, and here you still lad the Bears and
Speaker 1: receiving in twenty eighteen. You know, it definitely still still
Speaker 1: work to be done. You know. But as of course
Speaker 1: of the season I went last year, you know, I did,
Speaker 1: I did start to feel that explosion, you know, coming back,
Speaker 1: you know about the game game five or six in
Speaker 1: the season, you know, I started to progress a lot,
Speaker 1: you know. And again I think, um, I think our
Speaker 1: training staff and our strength staff did a great job
Speaker 1: of you know, I'm also also just helping me throughout
Speaker 1: the course of the process of you know, um and
Speaker 1: still implementing plios throughout the course of the of the
Speaker 1: game weeks. You know, still sty're doing a lot of
Speaker 1: strengthen and work through the course of the game weeks,
Speaker 1: you know. And I thought it did a great job
Speaker 1: of just having a good plan for me. All season long.
Speaker 1: When it came to the week to week. Hey, Allen,
Speaker 1: it's about Matt Naggie. Did anything surprise you about him
Speaker 1: this year on or off the field? You know, from
Speaker 1: the unique things he does on the field with the
Speaker 1: personnel groupings including the defensive players, to the atmosphere after
Speaker 1: the games, anything surprised you about Matt? Nothing surprised me
Speaker 1: at all, you know, And definitely congratulations to coach na
Speaker 1: you know, if winning Coach of the Year, you know,
Speaker 1: I thought it was very very well deserved, you know,
Speaker 1: but nothing surprised me at all. You know, I think
Speaker 1: the biggest thing for me, um, you know, looking from
Speaker 1: the outside and you know, before actually being a part
Speaker 1: of this team, was that you know, I knew that
Speaker 1: that was something that he did very well to what's
Speaker 1: to move guys around, put guys in a certain position,
Speaker 1: you know, and and really cause different different havoc for defense.
Speaker 1: You know, I think whenever defenses don't know exactly where
Speaker 1: guys are lining up or have some wrinkles to their plane,
Speaker 1: you know, it's tough to kind of to kind of
Speaker 1: scheme for a lot of guys and not just scheming
Speaker 1: for guys, but you know, for the whole scheme and
Speaker 1: thing is hard for defensive coordinators to know exactly where
Speaker 1: guys are going to be at or or what's exactly
Speaker 1: going to be run from this, you know, So I knew.
Speaker 1: I knew when I did my little bit of research
Speaker 1: on on coachnag you know, before he got to Chicago.
Speaker 1: You know, I knew that that was a big part
Speaker 1: of his offense and now something that I want to
Speaker 1: be a part of. Alan Robinson, our guest here on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to scorer. It bears all
Speaker 1: access as the off season now moves into a different phase.
Speaker 1: You took in the Super Bowl, I assume I want
Speaker 1: to know what your takeaway is on that game and
Speaker 1: did you see yourself and your teammates playing in that
Speaker 1: game as it was unfolding, because it very much could
Speaker 1: have been that way for the Chicago Bears in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: The actual game and stuff, I did not see, um,
Speaker 1: but I am I definitely first saw us, you know,
Speaker 1: playing in that game. You know, just as far as
Speaker 1: as I was watching the rest of the playoffs and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, you know, just as far as certain
Speaker 1: players that were made you know, defensively and and and offensively.
Speaker 1: You know, I saw every guy in the locker room
Speaker 1: make those plays. You know. I saw guys um you know,
Speaker 1: certain throws that were made. I saw Mitch make you
Speaker 1: know certain catches that were made. I saw guys in
Speaker 1: our receiving room make you know certain certain runs and
Speaker 1: in certain um certain receiving yards being being gotten from
Speaker 1: the backfield. And I saw threetmake you know on same
Speaker 1: thing on defense. You know, I saw a lot of
Speaker 1: the plays being made, um that we made all year long.
Speaker 1: You know. So it's no doubt in my mind that
Speaker 1: that the Bears don't had the possibility and don't have
Speaker 1: the the locker room to be there in two thousan nineteen,
Speaker 1: well you mentioned and you guys played both teams. When
Speaker 1: you look at New England in the Rams, I guess,
Speaker 1: and this was everybody considered this the year of offense
Speaker 1: in the NFL where you're surprised at least at the score.
Speaker 1: It was so low scoring, and you faced both those defenses.
Speaker 1: I mean, did you think it was gonna have the
Speaker 1: edge that way in White leading the Patriots way? Um?
Speaker 1: I did not, you know, And again it's tough for
Speaker 1: me to say, because I can't see. I didn't see
Speaker 1: the game, you know, so when I did see the
Speaker 1: see the score and just kind of you know, I
Speaker 1: saw some of the saw some of the updates on
Speaker 1: my phone, you know, as far as the score and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, I wasn't this applies, you know, I
Speaker 1: have to sit back and watch the game. I know.
Speaker 1: I probably watched the game at some point in time
Speaker 1: this off season just to kind of see, you know,
Speaker 1: how the game went, you know. But I was definitely surprised,
Speaker 1: you know, um, um, New Englands is normally a pretty
Speaker 1: good team in the red zone, you know, so I
Speaker 1: don't know how many times they got to the resort
Speaker 1: or didn't, but I expected them to get there a
Speaker 1: little bit more. And defensively, I knew that, Um. I
Speaker 1: knew that New England was gonna try to keep the Rams,
Speaker 1: you know, out to end zone, to keep them kicking
Speaker 1: field goals, you know. So um, and again I thought
Speaker 1: the Rams had a pretty good offense to be able
Speaker 1: to get down there as well, you know. So, um,
Speaker 1: I didn't expect it to be that low score, and
Speaker 1: I thought they may get into a little bit of
Speaker 1: a of a field goal competition. Early on, but I
Speaker 1: thought the things may kind of settle out a little
Speaker 1: bit and you may see some guys get into the
Speaker 1: end zone. But yeah, I was really shocked by the score. Well, Alan,
Speaker 1: it may shock you to find this out, but you know,
Speaker 1: given what Jim just threw out there for you, the
Speaker 1: only snap of the game in the red zone was
Speaker 1: the New England touchdown run by Sony Michelle. That was
Speaker 1: it for the two teams. So one red zone snap
Speaker 1: in the game. Wow, Yeah, I would have I would
Speaker 1: have never guessed. I would have never guessed, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, That's that's a pretty uh, that's a
Speaker 1: pretty small field that those guys were playing on, you know,
Speaker 1: as far as need the team getting to the getting
Speaker 1: to the rizzo for except for on that on that possession,
Speaker 1: you know, that's a that's a that's an eighty yards field,
Speaker 1: you know. So those defense Credit to those defenses, I mean,
Speaker 1: they played they had to play lights out, you know,
Speaker 1: to be able to keep both teams really out of
Speaker 1: not only the rizzone, but I mean from the scoreboard,
Speaker 1: looks that they kept them pretty much out of field
Speaker 1: goal range as well, you know. So I mean, yes,
Speaker 1: that's us those defenses. Sure did, all right, all we
Speaker 1: appreciate you, man. I hope to talk to you throughout
Speaker 1: the offseason from time to time here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access and enjoy your evening. All right, Thank you, Allen,
Speaker 1: Thank you. Alan Robinson, Bears receiver, our guest here on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access. Jeff, Joni actimp there, Jim Miller coming
Speaker 1: back after this on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the
Speaker 1: score and welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy, your prompt partner of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: providing electricity, natural gas, and home warranty products to over
Speaker 1: a million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS
Speaker 1: Energy at igs dot com. Jeff and time in studio
Speaker 1: here in Chicago and in Michigan at his home. Jim
Speaker 1: Miller trio back together again another week of Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: We just listened to Alan Robinson. If you have any
Speaker 1: conversation you'd like to throw on the table here three one,
Speaker 1: two sixty four, sixty seven sixty seven. Adams da Zinsky
Speaker 1: is our producer tonight, helping us out as well. Any
Speaker 1: takeaways from Anna Robinson, Big time and Jim you know
Speaker 1: for me when Jim talked about the process of recovery
Speaker 1: and how long it takes. I think he got a
Speaker 1: reflection of his commitment to the game and how well
Speaker 1: he did one year into the process. But I still
Speaker 1: think there's so much left for Alan Robinson to achieve
Speaker 1: in this system. The smarter, the better, the more efficient
Speaker 1: that Mitchell Trubisky gets, the more opportunities that it's going
Speaker 1: to present for Alan Robinson because I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: win a lot of big guy battles against some of
Speaker 1: the dbs he's gonna play against. And when Matt last
Speaker 1: year talked about this offense being in a developmental stage
Speaker 1: like a freshman class, how quickly can you go from
Speaker 1: a freshman class offense to a graduate class offense within
Speaker 1: one year? Or is this gonna be a three year
Speaker 1: Matt keeps talking about, you know you killed it at
Speaker 1: one on one, now you're going to two o one, Right, Well, Jim,
Speaker 1: can you go from does it have to be one one,
Speaker 1: two one, three on one process for Mitch and Allen
Speaker 1: Robinson and the crew, or can you go from a
Speaker 1: freshman class level to maybe a junior senior class level. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it can be done as at an accelerated level.
Speaker 1: They're just gonna be so much further ahead than that
Speaker 1: what they were, And especially for Alan Robinson. I mean
Speaker 1: think about in that interview he said he was just
Speaker 1: starting like playo metrics during the season to work on
Speaker 1: his explosion. He'll be much further ahead of the game
Speaker 1: just having his body prepared to play it. I do
Speaker 1: think they'll dive into the excess and knows what they
Speaker 1: covered is now in the bank, and now they just
Speaker 1: can keep on investing in new things that they're gonna
Speaker 1: introduce the players, and it'll be at a much more
Speaker 1: accelerated level. On top of that too, he can actually
Speaker 1: go and meet up with Mitch Drobiski and the other
Speaker 1: receivers and throw the ball around during the off season,
Speaker 1: you know, and get back into that sink. You know,
Speaker 1: their chemistry grew. I mean it kind of was. The
Speaker 1: exclamation point was the playoff game. Alan Robinson was very
Speaker 1: difficult to defend. The franchise postseason record ten for one
Speaker 1: forty three. He was very good in that game. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I think he lived up to everything we thought, just
Speaker 1: the body control and in all those things. He's a
Speaker 1: big target. He gets run after the catch. He can
Speaker 1: make the acrobatic plays down the sideline, and you know,
Speaker 1: when he got a receiver like that, sometimes it may
Speaker 1: be covered, but you're gonna let it, let it go.
Speaker 1: And I think Mitch he got that confidence in that
Speaker 1: trust as the season went along, just knowing that Alan
Speaker 1: Robinson is always going to be a positive ent to
Speaker 1: the end of the football Jeff play, Jeff and Tim
Speaker 1: and Jim Miller with you here on Bears All Access,
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy three one, two, six,
Speaker 1: four four sixty seven sixty seven to count him a zoo.
Speaker 1: Mike is on the line. Mike, how you doing tonight?
Speaker 1: Mike you there? Yep? How are y'all doing good? How
Speaker 1: are you doing good? Thank you? Frays can just go
Speaker 1: on to see what y'all think the Bears should do
Speaker 1: in their first pick in the draft. I know it's
Speaker 1: a little early, but still hankering for some football talk.
Speaker 1: So I got you, I got you. You can't. You
Speaker 1: can't get enough of it, that's for sure. I missed
Speaker 1: it already. I miss I missed it. Well. The thing
Speaker 1: about is all, you know. I have a couple of
Speaker 1: interesting questions. I'm glad Mike brought it up. So the
Speaker 1: combine is February twenty six, throughout the first couple days
Speaker 1: of March, right, Um, and then you have you know
Speaker 1: the four thinking about you know, the Bear. It just
Speaker 1: seems everybody that they're going to stay with the third
Speaker 1: round pick. So that's what you have to go to.
Speaker 1: There's no thinking of any trade opportunities for the Bear.
Speaker 1: Nobody hearing nothing. I'm just saying. So you know, as
Speaker 1: we sit here and talk about the draft months in advance,
Speaker 1: you know you still have to watch the combine and
Speaker 1: you're you're thinking, you know, how many you know, how
Speaker 1: many picks into the draft? Are you? Are you thinking here?
Speaker 1: Because you can't. There's no analytics that can have you
Speaker 1: prethink the process where the Bears are going to pick
Speaker 1: hit the round. Yeah, no exactly, but they'll have a
Speaker 1: pretty good idea of you know, who might be available
Speaker 1: and arrange Jim, that's how they work those boards. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean you're gonna keep going for best
Speaker 1: player available, aren't you, And and try and fill needs too,
Speaker 1: because there are still some and there are depth issues
Speaker 1: that you'd like to address. And you got a factor
Speaker 1: in free agency, which starts in the second week in March. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't think there'll be big players
Speaker 1: in free agency, but if I think there's a player
Speaker 1: who's a right fit, I think we saw last year
Speaker 1: just how aggressive Ryan Pace was. You know, just because
Speaker 1: they went out and signed a couple of receivers, it
Speaker 1: didn't preclude the Bears from drafting another wide receiver, as
Speaker 1: Anthony Miller was picked up. We know, like right now,
Speaker 1: if you just look at the Bears roster, you know
Speaker 1: they resigned Bobby Massey. Could offensive line be a targeted area?
Speaker 1: You'd think safety if they lose Adrian Amos in free agency,
Speaker 1: and I believe a couple of tight ends aren't resigned,
Speaker 1: you know what's gonna happen with Dion Sims and I
Speaker 1: believe Albroncker and those guys in Brown, I think we're
Speaker 1: out of contract right now. So tight end, you would
Speaker 1: lean there because I'm a I'm a big need guy.
Speaker 1: I think when the draft comes around. Every time when
Speaker 1: I look at a draft, after a team is selected,
Speaker 1: nine times out of ten, they're drafting for neat at
Speaker 1: a position that they didn't fill in free agency, and
Speaker 1: it becomes an area, another checkbox where they can fill
Speaker 1: out the entire roster. All right, Jim, we call. This
Speaker 1: is from Gurney. James wants to talk a little offense.
Speaker 1: How you doing tonight? Hey, fells really cool to be
Speaker 1: on the phone with you guys. Man so really quickly.
Speaker 1: I just want to see you guys hit the nail
Speaker 1: right on the head, really simple. This team next year
Speaker 1: is going to go as far as his offense goes.
Speaker 1: So we talked a little bit about going from one
Speaker 1: on one to two oh one. I think the two
Speaker 1: o one is just going to be coming in the
Speaker 1: training camp already knowing the terminology, so it might be
Speaker 1: a little bit easier to get the three oh one.
Speaker 1: So being twenty first, I steel if these guys got
Speaker 1: to be in the top twelve, if not the top ten,
Speaker 1: to make it for the playoffs. And nothing bad about Naggie.
Speaker 1: I love him, but I just hope his playoffs. His
Speaker 1: calling that playoff game, his game plan was kind of iffy,
Speaker 1: so hopefully he can grow too. But it's exciting. It's
Speaker 1: awesome to be on the phone with Big Tom and Jim.
Speaker 1: I love watching you guys play, and I just with
Speaker 1: no jet to say, having an awesome awesome week boy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thanks James, And I think what I'm looking at I
Speaker 1: want to see how you know, it was great what
Speaker 1: coach Nagi did coming in and he obviously was demanding
Speaker 1: of the players, and again they were evaluating him as
Speaker 1: much as you know he was evaluating them. And just
Speaker 1: you know how hard is in demanding. He's going to
Speaker 1: be of this football team. And I hope he is
Speaker 1: demanding and this team we talked about the maturity of it.
Speaker 1: I hope they're demanding of themselves to push themselves further
Speaker 1: beyond what they've already accomplished. And I think that has
Speaker 1: to be a shared vision by both. But I think
Speaker 1: the coach is the one who's got to put push
Speaker 1: the buttons to make it happen. I always say everybody
Speaker 1: says what comes player or first, player or the coach.
Speaker 1: I definitely think it's the coach. The coach comes first
Speaker 1: in order to make it happen. That's why Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: this one a six world championship. That coach knows how
Speaker 1: to push all the buttons to be demanding of the
Speaker 1: players and hold them accountable to reach the heights of
Speaker 1: the well. You know what the key here is is
Speaker 1: when you push all the coaches out of the locker
Speaker 1: room and you only have the players. The most important
Speaker 1: guy in that locker room, I believe is Mitchell Trubisky
Speaker 1: and I still think he pushes his buttons as much
Speaker 1: as he does any other player inside that locker room.
Speaker 1: And that's the key ingredient, Jim, because when you talk
Speaker 1: about the lengthy success of Belichick, you know, you got
Speaker 1: to see who's riding in a sidecar the whole time,
Speaker 1: and you know, I know that he's done good things
Speaker 1: with other quarterbacks who have stepped in for Brady in
Speaker 1: the moment of need, but Brady's the Super Bowl guy
Speaker 1: that you know is a lot hopefully going to develop
Speaker 1: into the relationship of Matt and Mitchell, and it has
Speaker 1: to leave that continuity. I mean, I'm glad to see
Speaker 1: offensive coaches are all remaining no one, but he's moving on.
Speaker 1: I just that chemistry is critical and you need it
Speaker 1: to grow and it doesn't just take a year or
Speaker 1: two and there will be hurdles still to climb. And
Speaker 1: this is for the whole offense. I mean, you got
Speaker 1: young guys, young skill position players, and an offensive line
Speaker 1: that is intact. That is it is going to take
Speaker 1: a big jump, and I believe Matt and I interviewed
Speaker 1: him after the honors night the other night, Jim, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure you did as well. He's got his duck
Speaker 1: center already. What the messaging will be for twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: You're still gonna be you, You're still gonna be obsessed,
Speaker 1: but there'll be new things to undress and to reveal
Speaker 1: to the players when they meet for the first time
Speaker 1: in April fifteenth or something like that, with the first
Speaker 1: team meeting. He gotta keep it fresh, and he does
Speaker 1: keep he keeps it exciting, and he keeps it fun,
Speaker 1: and he does keep it challenging. We see what kind
Speaker 1: of coach he is on the practice field during training camp,
Speaker 1: and that guy's fiery. Man. Well, I just think, you know,
Speaker 1: every year there's just the ebb and flows of the
Speaker 1: season here. You know, you get Khalil Mack. He unfortunately
Speaker 1: has the ankle injury. Then he's got to sit two games.
Speaker 1: And what Alan Robinson he missed, had to sit down
Speaker 1: a couple of games. And that's really what it is.
Speaker 1: How do you adjust through all those periods where some
Speaker 1: guys are banged up? You know, your team's a little
Speaker 1: beat up. Can you practice this hard? Can you push
Speaker 1: through it? And you know all the other things that
Speaker 1: could you know, potentially beat distractions for a team. You
Speaker 1: gotta deal with all that. And I thought he was
Speaker 1: masterful with how he did it and did it with
Speaker 1: ease and look good doing it. I mean, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: He definitely had the heartbeat and feel of his team
Speaker 1: and where they were each and every single week. What
Speaker 1: I like about Maddie doesn't have these pre made up
Speaker 1: messages that he's going to deliver. Deliver when he thinks
Speaker 1: the time is right. He talks about his messages have
Speaker 1: something to do with what that's something relevant in the moment,
Speaker 1: and so he's not putting any of these ideas or
Speaker 1: having these pre speeches given to these players that are
Speaker 1: smarter than just the agenda. Every week, Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 1: And that's the theme of the what's happening in the
Speaker 1: moment exactly, and the theme is it's a it's all
Speaker 1: I can't wait to hear it every week. I want
Speaker 1: I'm curious where it goes and sometimes be app sometimes predictable.
Speaker 1: That's time there. Ever, the Marketer right here with Jim
Speaker 1: Miller here on Bears Ow Access. Take your phone calls
Speaker 1: when we come back three one, two sixty seven sixty seven. Adams,
Speaker 1: Zinsky and Herb Lawrence our producers here tonight. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Everybody back back after this on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score and welcome back here to Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: Escape the cold and head to the Riyu Palace coasting
Speaker 1: Majarison Camcoon with your favorite Bears players, including Prince and Mukamar.
Speaker 1: I can already smell your son's screening Bille Nichols Plus
Speaker 1: Inside the Bears host Lawrence Greeden and Anthony Adams visit
Speaker 1: Apple Vacations dot Com Slash Bears to book today. I
Speaker 1: don't see now it's Jim. Do you see my I
Speaker 1: didn't say my name. I guess you've already admitted to it.
Speaker 1: I'm going it's hoping for no more beach mishaps. That's
Speaker 1: you know what you said there is I need to
Speaker 1: hear the story right away. Hey, listen, I'm basically Charlie Brown,
Speaker 1: So anything can happen. That's anything can happen kind of trip,
Speaker 1: that's for sure, But looking forward to it. It's some
Speaker 1: great Bears fans headed down there to Mexico. Be first
Speaker 1: time I've ever been to Mexico. Any advice, fellas, take
Speaker 1: your shirt off. Bottled water, Yeah, bottled water. You know.
Speaker 1: I Jim was Jim's big time. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: it's serious x M NFL radio, and he gets all
Speaker 1: the big guys. He sits down with Bill Belichick, he
Speaker 1: hits down with Tom Brady. So we're in the and Jim,
Speaker 1: you saw me there, I looked a little frazzled in
Speaker 1: the post Super Bowl media craze. They were very particular
Speaker 1: and how they were going to shuffle people in and
Speaker 1: out of the Patriots and uh, the the admentory interview rooms,
Speaker 1: and you couldn't go into the MVP room because once
Speaker 1: you go in to hear the Belichick and Brady press
Speaker 1: conferences and uh, Julian Edelman, you aren't allowed to leave.
Speaker 1: So you were stuck. So you whiske buy me and
Speaker 1: Tom Brady's on your hip pocket. I just I was like,
Speaker 1: he goes, hey, Jeff, how are things going? And I
Speaker 1: was just like kind of phased by it all. But uh,
Speaker 1: how how was Tom after that? He's great? You know,
Speaker 1: and I think he and Bill and it is once
Speaker 1: you're a patriot and a part of that team, in
Speaker 1: that organization, you're you're always a part of it. And
Speaker 1: they're they're always so gracious with their time. And Tom
Speaker 1: took a few minutes to join Serious x M NFL Radio,
Speaker 1: and you know, it is as true today is what
Speaker 1: he was as a teammate back in two thousand and four.
Speaker 1: Treats everybody the same, and I think any player on
Speaker 1: that roster today would say the same thing. The guy's
Speaker 1: you know, he's just an amazing teammate to play with.
Speaker 1: Works extremely hard. You know, expects a lot out of
Speaker 1: his teammates, but they see how hard he works to
Speaker 1: get where he's at and to win games. And it
Speaker 1: truly is about winning with that organization. How many times
Speaker 1: you know here, I thought it was great Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: wins the six World Championship award. Right away, he's flattered
Speaker 1: to be with Papa Hallison and Curly Lambeaux with what
Speaker 1: they college because they accomplished six world Chain said even
Speaker 1: to be in their class, because I believe you know,
Speaker 1: growing up Bill Belichick watch a lot of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: But right away that was one of his first comments
Speaker 1: to be like, Hey, to be with those two guys
Speaker 1: is just really flattering. To be in the National Football
Speaker 1: League with those greats. Yeah. And you know, if I
Speaker 1: hear one more about how boring the game was, and
Speaker 1: I might pull my hair out, because I heard it
Speaker 1: today from one of the people here I work with,
Speaker 1: And to me, I love the strategy of it all.
Speaker 1: I love defense. I love running the football. I always will.
Speaker 1: It's in my blood. I just love it. And the
Speaker 1: strategy of the whole thing, how they came out and
Speaker 1: how they did. And you know, you sit there watching,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys watch it this way.
Speaker 1: I watch and think how the Bears are defending each
Speaker 1: of these teams or how they're attacking each of these
Speaker 1: teams too, because I felt they would have been extremely
Speaker 1: competitively be an interesting situation. I think the reflection of
Speaker 1: a lot of people to the Super Bowl is they're
Speaker 1: not really football fans that are watching the game because
Speaker 1: it's the Super Bowl. And then when you have that
Speaker 1: type of scoring, a little bit of sloppin us early
Speaker 1: in the game with the interception by Brady and stuff,
Speaker 1: that's their reflection of the game. But the true people
Speaker 1: that enjoy football for everything it can offer you, from
Speaker 1: the fifty point game in the regular season to this,
Speaker 1: you know game they score in the single digits. You know,
Speaker 1: there's a I just think the people that aren't really
Speaker 1: true football fans don't appreciate it as much is the
Speaker 1: high profile scoring games. And it's just the subtle adjustments.
Speaker 1: One for Bill Belichick and I brought it up on air,
Speaker 1: Danny Shelton basically didn't even dress the last month of
Speaker 1: the year for the preaching. I don't think he played,
Speaker 1: and here he had a big loss. Yeah, he had
Speaker 1: the big play in the game, and just those subtle adjustments.
Speaker 1: A lot of teams would go forty two nickel against
Speaker 1: the Rams. The Patriots ended up running like a fifty one.
Speaker 1: All they did. They had their nickel personnel, but they
Speaker 1: just walked one of their linebackers up on the line
Speaker 1: to just say, hey, we're set in the edge. Your
Speaker 1: outside zone run game is not going to be there,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna put it all on golf and I thought,
Speaker 1: and they just constantly mixed in their coverages from combo
Speaker 1: coverages to man to zone and that's why I think
Speaker 1: Jared Goff was just a step slow. And this thing
Speaker 1: from the Rams standpoint, when they don't run a lot
Speaker 1: of you know, twelve personnel. They were an eleven personnel team.
Speaker 1: They were over eighty percent and eleven personnel, and finally
Speaker 1: towards the end of the half and more towards the
Speaker 1: second half, they went to twelve to try and help
Speaker 1: out their run game a little bit. And it's just
Speaker 1: not who they are, and I think why they struggle
Speaker 1: in the game. But you're kind of right, yea, because
Speaker 1: I think it's how the game's branded now, or how
Speaker 1: they train fans. I think anybody under thirty, I just
Speaker 1: don't think really appreciate those those subtleties about defense. I
Speaker 1: think they're trained for offensive offense, high scoring, because that's
Speaker 1: how it's kind of been over the past couple especially
Speaker 1: from college to now, how the Pro pro game has
Speaker 1: gone a little bit more high scoring as well. So
Speaker 1: do you take some of that and use it against
Speaker 1: the Rams in twenty nineteen when you got to go
Speaker 1: out to South in California to play the Rams. Next
Speaker 1: year when you're the Bears. There's always a lesson to
Speaker 1: be learned from every time, you know, I want to
Speaker 1: give you an example, because after the Super Bowl. We
Speaker 1: played the Washington Redskins in the playoff, and for the
Speaker 1: entire season, the Washington Redskins played a defense where they
Speaker 1: had four down defensive linemen, then the linebackers and the
Speaker 1: defensive backs. Then we play them in a playoff game
Speaker 1: and all of sudden, they've played five man defensive line.
Speaker 1: And that's not what we are prepared for. And it's
Speaker 1: hard to make immediate adjustments against something you haven't seen
Speaker 1: all season, and then how you can construct your past
Speaker 1: protection where your vulnerabilities are gonna lie. And a lot
Speaker 1: of that was a factor and why we lost that
Speaker 1: game because we weren't ready for the for the completely
Speaker 1: different defensive style change that immediate. Well, you gotta be
Speaker 1: ready for anything, you know, and I know, but you know,
Speaker 1: it's interesting to talk about Mitch in this way, or
Speaker 1: or even the defense, you know, with Chuck Pogana coordinating it,
Speaker 1: and how subtly different things might be and how they'll
Speaker 1: be attacked after a year of tape on these guys
Speaker 1: and Khalil Mack settling in and all these other variables.
Speaker 1: Is that these guys haven't seen everything yet in their careers.
Speaker 1: The younger guys, you know, Mitch certainly has seen a lot,
Speaker 1: but he hasn't seen everything yet. Pat Mahomes hasn't seen
Speaker 1: everything yet. Deshaun Watson hasn't seen everything yet. Tom Brady
Speaker 1: has seen everything and beyond, so he's ready for anything.
Speaker 1: It's these younger quarterbacks and against these great defensive minds,
Speaker 1: and again a mindlike Belichick. You know, it wasn't too
Speaker 1: unsurprising to me that it was going to be a struggle.
Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily not going to eventually kick in at
Speaker 1: some point, and at times in that game, goff did
Speaker 1: catch a little rhythm and catch a little fire, and
Speaker 1: things could have been different the past that was knocked
Speaker 1: away by Mccording the end zone gonna been the touchdown,
Speaker 1: but I missed a field goal drop touchdown. So it's
Speaker 1: not like the Rams played poorly that poorly where they
Speaker 1: couldn't have won the game. I'm with you, and Wade
Speaker 1: was Brady is nine and three all time against Wade Phillips.
Speaker 1: But you want to know what Wade does in the games.
Speaker 1: Typically the averages he gets to Tom two times where
Speaker 1: he's able to sack him, and he's always averaged one turnover.
Speaker 1: How about the first drive the Patriots are going right
Speaker 1: down and Wade Phillips got him with what I call
Speaker 1: two trap the corners off and also that the snap
Speaker 1: of the ball, the corner comes up hard, guy goes
Speaker 1: to the safety position and that's what it is. Tom thought, oh,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be off coverage. I'll just throw it out
Speaker 1: there to the side and he got trapped. That's why
Speaker 1: they called two trap and they got the interception. I think.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were right there with what they did
Speaker 1: defensively as well, like you said, one red zone snap. Granted,
Speaker 1: the Patriots missed a field goal as well, but man,
Speaker 1: that was I thought it was just an awesome game
Speaker 1: to watch, just the cat and mouse of it all.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access. It's presented by Igs Energy, Jeff,
Speaker 1: Jonny Yank, and Tom There along with Jim Miller. Three one,
Speaker 1: two six four four sixty seven sixty seven. Let's go
Speaker 1: back to Matt Nagge winning Coach of the Year, just
Speaker 1: being at the honors night and watching them up there,
Speaker 1: except that quick to point out, it's not just my award.
Speaker 1: He did give a lot of credit to his coaching staff,
Speaker 1: and that coaching staff really impressed us this year. They're
Speaker 1: they're outstanding teachers. Yes, we get a bunch of new
Speaker 1: defensive guys that we're gonna learn, We're gonna learn what
Speaker 1: they're all about. But they are are veterans for the
Speaker 1: most part, veteran experience and successful wherever they've been. That that,
Speaker 1: to me is also one of the underrated untold stories
Speaker 1: is just how prepared, and you brought it up a
Speaker 1: thousand times time, how prepared this team was for every
Speaker 1: possible scenario and for every potential player that had to
Speaker 1: get down the field and be asked to make a play. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of It's kind of funny because
Speaker 1: we had a lot of questions that came up during
Speaker 1: training camp, like why aren't these guys playing this is
Speaker 1: a new system, why are they Is this the right
Speaker 1: decisions for these guys? And I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the things that benefited the football team is that everybody
Speaker 1: was prepared when their number was called, whether it was
Speaker 1: for a long period of time like James Daniels, or
Speaker 1: it was just for I'm a Sherik grmanis coming in
Speaker 1: there and doing the drive Nickel, right, you know, all
Speaker 1: the guys DeAndre Houston, Carson had to show up at
Speaker 1: a certain time. All right, We're gonna take a break
Speaker 1: here in three one two sixty four, four sixty seven
Speaker 1: sixty seven Adams Dzinski or Lawrence our producers Jim Miller
Speaker 1: in Michigan, Jeff and Tim here in Chicago on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy to score. Hey, This weekend Inside
Speaker 1: the Bears, Cody white Hair and Charles Leno Junior the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowlers tour Universal Orlando Resort. They're gonna hang with
Speaker 1: t Rex and Transformers. Sounds like Tom's Weekends Inside the
Speaker 1: Bears A Saturdays at six pm on CWD fifty Chicago
Speaker 1: and Sundays at ten thirty five pm on Fox thirty
Speaker 1: two Chicago. You can also want show segments online at
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears dot com or on the Chicago Bears official app.
Speaker 1: Anytime I didn't add live that they wrote that in there. Tom,
Speaker 1: that's dab really for you, Thanks to Big Executive producer
Speaker 1: in Jordan tread up. Anyway back with you here on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy. Three
Speaker 1: one two six four four sixty seven sixty seven. Going
Speaker 1: to look at the Bear. We had Alam Robinson out
Speaker 1: earlier today. We probably should have got into the rest
Speaker 1: of the receiving corps a little bit. You know, we'll
Speaker 1: be doing this throughout the off season and it'll go fast.
Speaker 1: We'll start, we'll do these position evaluations in these groups.
Speaker 1: But that receiver position is critically important to that next
Speaker 1: step for the offense. These guys are veterans, but everybody
Speaker 1: learned it at once, so they don't know all the
Speaker 1: ins and outs yet, either of even though they've been
Speaker 1: in the league in a while. But he's he's your guy,
Speaker 1: Adam Alan Robinson, your guy. I want to see more
Speaker 1: red zone opportunities for him because he's a red zone
Speaker 1: touchdown machine when he gets going. Bulk of his touchdowns
Speaker 1: have been in the red zone. And then you got
Speaker 1: Taylor Gabriel had one game with touchdowns two against an
Speaker 1: Aponomy the Miami game. But you know that guy, if
Speaker 1: you get that, get that game breaking going on. Jim
Speaker 1: and Jim and Tom and n Wims, the development of
Speaker 1: Anthony Miller to take that next step and really learn
Speaker 1: how to play the game, and Javon Wims getting opportunities,
Speaker 1: you know, all everything that you're talking about. That receiver position.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, doing cross talk with Mac
Speaker 1: and Perks. They asked me what's my biggest concern of offense,
Speaker 1: And to me, it's tight end because I'm a little
Speaker 1: nervous of the you know, the experience. Well, I'm a
Speaker 1: little nervous because Adam Sheheen has got to be able
Speaker 1: to have a healthy offseason where he develops a little
Speaker 1: you know, a little bit of strength and little power durability,
Speaker 1: is able to stay on the field and become the
Speaker 1: weapon that he's capable of being downfield. And I still
Speaker 1: think there's a lot for Trey Burton, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't think he's really scratched the surface of what he
Speaker 1: should be included in this offense when you see the
Speaker 1: results of other players at the same style position. So
Speaker 1: all the receivers were talking about it's where my biggest
Speaker 1: concern for the whole offense is the tight end position. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, and I brought it up, you know,
Speaker 1: because they could probably you know, if they move on
Speaker 1: from Dion Sims, you'd like think Adam Adam Sheheen is
Speaker 1: going to get more opportunities as an inline blocker, you know,
Speaker 1: all the stuff that kind of Grinkowski does, he does inline,
Speaker 1: they can put him outside, flex him outside the numbers.
Speaker 1: All those type of things we have, we kind of
Speaker 1: have yet to see that materialize. For Adam Sheheen. We
Speaker 1: know he's got a ton of talent, there's no doubt
Speaker 1: about that, but he has the foot injury early that
Speaker 1: has the step back from from that standpoint, and I
Speaker 1: think for Anthony Miller as well. For him, you know,
Speaker 1: now he's got the shoulder surgery. Hopefully he can heal
Speaker 1: up and accelerate his curve because I think he is
Speaker 1: capable of so much more. With what he was going
Speaker 1: to bring the offer, I expected him to have a
Speaker 1: bigger impact this year they did. He still played and
Speaker 1: showed his toughness and all those things and made great plays.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that that he didn't, but I think
Speaker 1: he's capable of much more, and I think that shoulder
Speaker 1: really was a setback for him personally. Yeah, and back
Speaker 1: to Sheheen, though, you know, you see everything that you'd
Speaker 1: want right you see it right there. So third year
Speaker 1: usually a takeoff year if you're going to really start
Speaker 1: to make an impact in the league, you know, with
Speaker 1: another offseason of weight training. Like you said, Tom, what
Speaker 1: difference does that make for you to both of you
Speaker 1: guys can weigh in on this one. And what areas
Speaker 1: are we talking about? Legs, lower body, everything, the whole
Speaker 1: structure of your human body. You know, it's like Clyde
Speaker 1: Emrick always says, you can't shoot a cannon from a canoe,
Speaker 1: So that means your legs have to be equally as
Speaker 1: important as your upper body. And it is an overall
Speaker 1: overall structure for him. And he is an athlete and
Speaker 1: he needs the athleticism. So they do a lot of
Speaker 1: counter training to help a guy like Adam Sheheen. And
Speaker 1: you know, when you see what Gronkowski was able to
Speaker 1: contribute in the blocking area and the laid portion of
Speaker 1: the season, there's a significant amount of strength and technique
Speaker 1: that goes along with that. So, I mean Adam shines
Speaker 1: still has full development ahead of him. It's probably a
Speaker 1: little premature to, you know, say, oh, you know, he
Speaker 1: doesn't have the ability. He's got all the abilities in
Speaker 1: the world. The only thing I don't want to see
Speaker 1: him do as I don't want to see him get
Speaker 1: a shovel pass again because I just think he is
Speaker 1: too big, he's too tall, he's too noticeable. When he's
Speaker 1: in motion, and um, I just think that's something for
Speaker 1: Trey Burton, Allen Robinson, Tariq Colin, Taylor Gabriel, those types
Speaker 1: of players. Yeah. Again, he's from Ashland College, so you
Speaker 1: know this offense is is pretty complicated what he's running
Speaker 1: right now. You know, it's a new system. They just
Speaker 1: have to learn. I think he's gonna be a lot better.
Speaker 1: And I'm with Tom, you know, he's he's got to
Speaker 1: get in the weight room, get stronger, and hey, no
Speaker 1: one's stopping you're from going out and hitting the sled.
Speaker 1: How about that time that'll get his blocking up the
Speaker 1: bar and where it needs to be. So go push
Speaker 1: the sled a little bit. They'll get your legs and
Speaker 1: hip strong. I agree, there's there's always those tools out
Speaker 1: in the practice field that you know. I think someone
Speaker 1: you know, when we are talking maybe to Charles Leno,
Speaker 1: how he was bragging about how James Daniels was willing
Speaker 1: to stay on the practice field after practice in his
Speaker 1: pads and continue to do work out there. I think,
Speaker 1: if you're a young guy and you're as dedicated as
Speaker 1: what the Bears expect you to be, you gotta do that.
Speaker 1: You're willing to do that on your own. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: it's a locker room full of guys that love the game,
Speaker 1: So I'm not gonna have a hard time getting these
Speaker 1: guys to work. This is a situation that obviously Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace has looked to enhance and one guys that love
Speaker 1: the game, and it is all about you know that
Speaker 1: guy next to you and the overall goals of the team,
Speaker 1: the mission statement, so to speak. And I think they're
Speaker 1: in a really good place that way. So when guys
Speaker 1: are coming in, even the young guys are going to
Speaker 1: be able to say, this is how we do it here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I saw that there was a stat that the NFL
Speaker 1: is getting even younger, and here the Bears went from
Speaker 1: one of the oldest rosters to one of the youngest rosters.
Speaker 1: But yet again, I think it is it's identifying the
Speaker 1: right right players with the right character and the right traits.
Speaker 1: Because as young as this team is, they display a
Speaker 1: level of maturity. You know, because you could argue, I mean,
Speaker 1: those teams even a few years ago they had veteran
Speaker 1: players on it. But yet I consider this team more
Speaker 1: more mature. For the twenty eighteen Bears didn't say a
Speaker 1: team three years ago of the Chicago Bears. They're much
Speaker 1: more mature about going about their business. Yes, and I
Speaker 1: would agree with that. I mean, these guys that have
Speaker 1: been here in their past, they had great talent and whatnot,
Speaker 1: but sometimes the agendas weren't online. And that's that's the
Speaker 1: worst part of a talented team. If you got a
Speaker 1: talented team and the agenda isn't right, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: win right. You know too, They made a good decision
Speaker 1: and when that all started with the weight room at
Speaker 1: the beginning, because you have to create a positive atmosphere
Speaker 1: in a position and create these guys and putting a
Speaker 1: position of confidence through the gains they make them there,
Speaker 1: and I think it's important from that portion to start
Speaker 1: the season. It is if you're lining up to play
Speaker 1: a playoff or Super Bowl game three one, two, sty
Speaker 1: four sixty seven, sixty seven. Time to hop on. In
Speaker 1: our final fifteen minutes of tonight's show, We're off at
Speaker 1: seven o'clock, Jeff Joni Act tomp There and Jim Miller
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access look a little bit to the
Speaker 1: combine here in a couple of weeks, Fellas and Jim,
Speaker 1: you're I know you're already doing an extensive research on that.
Speaker 1: I'm just getting started on that part of it, the process.
Speaker 1: But I was kind of blown away today when it
Speaker 1: was listed how many Combine invites came from only a
Speaker 1: select group of schools for out of twenty four programs. Right,
Speaker 1: one hundred eighty four of the three hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: seven invites are from twenty four schools. Yeah, now, I
Speaker 1: think maybe I shouldn't be surprised at that, but it
Speaker 1: kind of took me by surprise. Is this one shocking?
Speaker 1: Clumpson and Alabama have the most. That's not they're double
Speaker 1: digit for for both of those schools. But yeah, and
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's a part of it, you know.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's tough, and there are some guys
Speaker 1: that aren't even getting invited, you know, due to some
Speaker 1: off the field issues, and we know about that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's all about the power five. I think
Speaker 1: everybody understands that. Right now. You'll get some select guy,
Speaker 1: select guys excuse me, from from smaller schools, but to
Speaker 1: get those will be what I think there's a total
Speaker 1: of three hundred and thirty normally that pretty much get
Speaker 1: the invites to go to the combine, and you know
Speaker 1: you're lucky even if you know some of the guys
Speaker 1: that get elected, like say an extra arm for the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks when you're throwing to the receivers. Some select guys
Speaker 1: around the country will get invites for that just hoping
Speaker 1: to get a look, but will not be in the
Speaker 1: actual workouts competing with the quarterbacks. So you know, it's
Speaker 1: you got to make the most of it. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just another piece to the puzzle. Players take it,
Speaker 1: should take it seriously. I know it's a lot of
Speaker 1: it's canned answers and things like that, but I thought
Speaker 1: it was interesting down at the Senior Bowl that every
Speaker 1: GM that I talked to is like, no, it's really
Speaker 1: not about making the player comfortable in the interview. They
Speaker 1: want you uncomfortable and put a player in an uncomfortable
Speaker 1: position because that's a lot of times where you're going
Speaker 1: to be in a game and so, and they feel
Speaker 1: it's pretty easy now even though all these players are
Speaker 1: are pretty much coached heading in there that they get
Speaker 1: all the information that they need because you can always
Speaker 1: throw a curveball that can maybe a solid player. Let
Speaker 1: me give you, guys, both a area because it's going
Speaker 1: to come up for the first time in the history
Speaker 1: of your lives. Okay the history, Yeah, in the history
Speaker 1: of your lives. So I'm going to give you a
Speaker 1: guy that is a flash in the pan at the combine,
Speaker 1: you know, numbers, looks interesting, looks good in shorts and stuff.
Speaker 1: And then I'm gonna give you a guy that's in
Speaker 1: the Alliance Football League that really looks good in pads
Speaker 1: on tape, in full contact of actual football where you're
Speaker 1: gonna go with it because never in the scouting of
Speaker 1: the NFL has ever been that type of process of scouting. Now,
Speaker 1: what are you thinking about a kid that's running this
Speaker 1: in college with no experience? What about NFL Europe when
Speaker 1: we had NFL Europe. I mean, guys made rosters that way, right,
Speaker 1: But I think there's more exposure to direct us soil
Speaker 1: opportunity of NFL coaches that are trying to develop talent
Speaker 1: for opportunities when you when the season ends in April
Speaker 1: and they can go right into it. Let's pick it
Speaker 1: up on the other side of this break, we'll pick
Speaker 1: up that conversation. Tom thare the conversation starter right there
Speaker 1: with Jim Miller. I'm Jeff Joniack on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the score. Can Tom fare with you? Michael
Speaker 1: wasn't on it says bred right here three one, two,
Speaker 1: sixty seven, sixty seven, and we'd bring in Jim Miller
Speaker 1: as well. All picking up after the commercial break, Tom
Speaker 1: brought up the idea of possibly pulling guys off the
Speaker 1: Alliance of American Football, which gets started on the weekend.
Speaker 1: And would you weigh that versus what your concerns are
Speaker 1: in the draft You're always gonna want they're coinciding, they'll
Speaker 1: you know, because being in the USFOLO is a little
Speaker 1: bit different. That's the league that you are committed to. Here,
Speaker 1: it's a possibility of developmenting these guys for NFL opportunities, right,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Well, well there's I mean just even look
Speaker 1: at the two teams in the Super Bowl just how
Speaker 1: they were built. You know, I think twenty three guys
Speaker 1: out of the out of the fifty three for the
Speaker 1: New England Patriots were guys outside of that building that
Speaker 1: they targeted. You know, whether it's street free agents, undrafted
Speaker 1: free agents, those type of guys that Bill Belichick we're
Speaker 1: we'll get and think of all the trades. I mean,
Speaker 1: think of Danny Shelton. I mean, that's a former first
Speaker 1: round flameout for the Cleveland Browns ends up playing big
Speaker 1: for the New England Patriots. And that was a player
Speaker 1: that was brought on via trade. Saying could be said
Speaker 1: for the Rams. I mean, look at all the traded
Speaker 1: players or other guys that they brought in from Brandon
Speaker 1: Cooks who was traded twice from New Orleans to New
Speaker 1: England then traded to the Rams. Or you bring on
Speaker 1: a free agent like him Dominicansu, former first round pick,
Speaker 1: a keep to lead they acquired instances, goes on and
Speaker 1: on and on and how those teams are built. So
Speaker 1: I think you scour everything from street free agents, undrafted
Speaker 1: free agents, because nine times out of ten, those guys
Speaker 1: are going to be huge contributor as well. Think about
Speaker 1: the starting center as a rookie for the Patriots, David Andrews.
Speaker 1: Now he's going on like his fourth year. That guy
Speaker 1: was an undrafted free agent starting center for the New
Speaker 1: England Patriots over the past four seasons. Gonna be creative.
Speaker 1: They already got three Canadian Football League players on their
Speaker 1: roster now to reserve the futures deal, So it would
Speaker 1: as I'm trying to get ready for the draft. Now
Speaker 1: you get so enamored with first and second round, right,
Speaker 1: but now you know that that's not likely to be
Speaker 1: the case unless they do something crazy. But guys are
Speaker 1: gonna fall out of the first, to fall out of
Speaker 1: the second, maybe into your lap a little bit. Just
Speaker 1: from my own analysis, it's it's such a hard thing
Speaker 1: to do to start now picking through guys would be third, fourth,
Speaker 1: fifth round guys that you need to be on your roster.
Speaker 1: And you wonder if how a general manager handles that. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what, a general manager is gonna be able
Speaker 1: to handle it because they're a little bit more secure
Speaker 1: in the in the football team that they have right now.
Speaker 1: It's not like they're at the bottom of the barrel
Speaker 1: trying to pick their way up back to the top.
Speaker 1: All they need to do is pick and choose a
Speaker 1: couple of pieces to come onto this football team that
Speaker 1: was talented at the end of the season. So it's
Speaker 1: not they're very fortunate that are not in a desperate scenario. Yeah, again,
Speaker 1: you kind of tend to trust I know you're you're
Speaker 1: gonna have your Shara Misses but just look at you know,
Speaker 1: Jordan Howard there's a fifth round pick out of out
Speaker 1: of Indiana. You know, you look at too, you know
Speaker 1: other guys, Eddie Jackson, there's a fourth round pick that
Speaker 1: they selected out of Alabama. You know, these guys have
Speaker 1: been impactful player. How about Isaiah Irving, you know that
Speaker 1: guy's a college free agent. Or even Kylie Fitz who
Speaker 1: gonna fall ho about Blow Nichols fifth round pick of
Speaker 1: the Bears. So you know it's in the wheelhouse. You
Speaker 1: know when you're selected in the third, fourth, and in
Speaker 1: fifth rounds and and you know you trust and have
Speaker 1: faith that Ryan Pace has hit out some of those
Speaker 1: picks because they've been huge contributors that he's picked up
Speaker 1: in the draft. Yeah, it's it's a common theme that
Speaker 1: these guys are a life bloody your football team as
Speaker 1: you build over the course of the time. You know,
Speaker 1: you only gonna have so many first round picks, and
Speaker 1: those we know are fifty fifty bet most of the time. Right,
Speaker 1: you know, you got Jimbo and Keith van Horne were
Speaker 1: both first rounders, and then you got Boards and that
Speaker 1: converted defensive lineman Jay and undrafted free agent and me
Speaker 1: a fourth rounder from the USFL. So now the thought
Speaker 1: about that, So the offensive line coming back intact, everybody's
Speaker 1: sign seal ready to go as they begin their second
Speaker 1: year in this system. But guys like Kyle Long and
Speaker 1: Leno and Massey have played together for a while here
Speaker 1: now Cody three years as well. How do you approach
Speaker 1: that next phase as you begin the process as a
Speaker 1: veteran offensive line? Where do you get better every day
Speaker 1: at this point? Like, how does that work now versus
Speaker 1: when they first started offensive defensive lineman. There's so much
Speaker 1: specific fundamentals and techniques in which you need to sharpen
Speaker 1: every single day, no matter how long you play the game.
Speaker 1: So just positive reinforcement from your position coach is the
Speaker 1: most important thing for every one of these guys. I
Speaker 1: think Rogers on the defensive line side of the ball,
Speaker 1: he has these guys go through these drills each and
Speaker 1: every day, no matter if you're not good enough, you're
Speaker 1: you're good enough to do the drills again, and I
Speaker 1: just think you can um you know, just continues to
Speaker 1: sharpen it and add an element to this offensive line
Speaker 1: that they haven't had this consistency for a while. And
Speaker 1: you got to believe for Harry heastand I don't know
Speaker 1: what techniques or drills that he used utilize. I'm sure
Speaker 1: there were some new things even for the older players
Speaker 1: that they could pick up. Certainly a lot of it
Speaker 1: was probably new for James Daniels just being a second
Speaker 1: round pick and how he was able to come in
Speaker 1: and perform. So I think he's going to continue to
Speaker 1: get better. But I think even for those veterans, it
Speaker 1: was you know, some probably new things that have approached
Speaker 1: them that haven't become rope memory in terms of the techniques,
Speaker 1: and I would think they'll be better with James. Two,
Speaker 1: I still think you need to investigate is he best
Speaker 1: fit for guard or could he be a dominant Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl center? And I think it's unique that Cody has
Speaker 1: the ability to move anywhere. But I still think there
Speaker 1: needs to be a decision made what's best fit for
Speaker 1: James and his longevity here in the NFL. All right,
Speaker 1: well real quick before we take off, here is the
Speaker 1: alliance going to work? Jim? Yeah, I think it'll work.
Speaker 1: They're already you know, they got the games. They'll be
Speaker 1: broadcasted that you can hear them on serious X NFL
Speaker 1: radio and you'll see them on TV as well, and
Speaker 1: as Tom said, a lot of it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: pecking ground for a lot of NFL teams that will
Speaker 1: be scouting those that league for the players that are there.
Speaker 1: And coach Stoop's back in business in the XFL, which
Speaker 1: is spring at twenty twenty, so you'll be hearing a
Speaker 1: lot of big name coaches that imagine finding their way
Speaker 1: back on the sidelines in the NFL. That's gonna wrap
Speaker 1: us up for tonight for Jim Miller and Top there
Speaker 1: and our guest Adam Robinson. Thanks for listening everybody. Thanks
Speaker 1: as always to Adam Zinski and Herblawrence, our producers. Have
Speaker 1: a great night, everybody. This is Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy the Score. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears
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