Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. Let's trying to slide out of
Speaker 1: a three game skid and four out of six when
Speaker 1: they great the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night football Soldier Field.
Speaker 1: They've had great success against them, the Vikings just four
Speaker 1: and sixteen of the last twenty trips in two thousand
Speaker 1: to Soldier Field and Mike Zimmer six and six as
Speaker 1: a head coach against the Bears. Good even everybody. I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Johnny Aclamer broadcast partner Tom There from News Radio
Speaker 1: seven eighty at one oh five point at FMWBBM. Welcome
Speaker 1: into the programmer, brought to you by IGS Energy, with
Speaker 1: our producer Tonight Julio ross Ass in the score studios.
Speaker 1: We got producers Jordan Tredup and Den really helping us
Speaker 1: out as well. Tom. How you doing and you know,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at this thing and a lot of questions
Speaker 1: today and on the news conferences, the zoom calls about
Speaker 1: getting things turned around immediately. Otherwise you're at a critical
Speaker 1: breaking point and you heard nothing of a positivity about
Speaker 1: where they're at, though, because if you look at it
Speaker 1: any other way, it could implode. But man, Naggie, Nick
Speaker 1: Foles being positive, Yeah, you know, I think Nick carries
Speaker 1: himself professionally and positively. But and that's something that could
Speaker 1: click at any moment. So if you take this football
Speaker 1: and you look at it on from the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball, and you just cure a couple of
Speaker 1: the problems that have been haunting them the last couple
Speaker 1: of weeks, it could be a completely different offensive team
Speaker 1: on the field. And I think when you're complimented by
Speaker 1: the defense and the type of power and showcase ability
Speaker 1: they have, I think this is the perfect opponent for
Speaker 1: the Bears the face on a Monday night in front
Speaker 1: of a national TV audience, Because if you're really gonna
Speaker 1: get this thing turned around and you're gonna get it
Speaker 1: back in a direction that people think that you have
Speaker 1: a team is capable of something, it's gonna be about
Speaker 1: beating the Minnesota Vikings convincingly on Monday Night Football, showing
Speaker 1: some growth on the offensive side of the ball, but
Speaker 1: show their devastating defense. Coming up on our program and
Speaker 1: moments at six ten, we joined by a local product,
Speaker 1: Pete Bursch. He is the longtime analyst of the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings and their radio networking. At six thirty, were joined
Speaker 1: by a defensive lineman, but Al Nichols. Also gonna hear
Speaker 1: from Cairo Santos tonight the Birthday Boy today, Tommy, He's
Speaker 1: celebrating his birthday. He'll be our feature on Game Day
Speaker 1: Live on Sunday morning at ten thirty on Fox thirty two.
Speaker 1: Shot Buddy Luke Canellis's let's handle some of the news
Speaker 1: of the day, tom So. Safety Dion Bush activated from
Speaker 1: the reserve COVID nineteen list. He's missed a couple of
Speaker 1: games this year, so I'm sure it shocked him that
Speaker 1: he could not play last week and then had to
Speaker 1: find his way back to Chicago by a car. The
Speaker 1: Bear set that up for him. So again, some of
Speaker 1: the issues that COVID nineteen is creating. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: it is amazing nowadays when you have to send a
Speaker 1: player home in a car by himself, so he doesn't
Speaker 1: infect the rest of his teammates. But it is a
Speaker 1: safety measure that you got to take in every one
Speaker 1: of these players and assistant coaches and position coaches, they
Speaker 1: all are in an understanding of that. So I think
Speaker 1: Deon Bush has showed up a lot this season, and
Speaker 1: I hope he gets an opportunity to get back on
Speaker 1: the field because you know, even last week, when you
Speaker 1: watch the punt team and you think of the flyers,
Speaker 1: you know Cordarrell Patterson is ever present, but it's always
Speaker 1: that fighting for attention on the other side. So if
Speaker 1: he does get back in there, I think it will
Speaker 1: be a positive for the defense and the special team,
Speaker 1: especially with Sheriff McManus. He didn't practice today because he's
Speaker 1: got an injury as well. A bunch of injuries on
Speaker 1: this team right now. Long guys, Yeah, long injury report.
Speaker 1: So Sherek injured his hand in the game. Also, I'm
Speaker 1: going to add that Dion it was not known that
Speaker 1: he had COVID. He was exposed to somebody outside the organization.
Speaker 1: Precautionary measure, Roy Robertson, Harris Tom. We had high hopes
Speaker 1: for a big year for Roy Rob. Restricted free agent,
Speaker 1: the Bears to reinvest it in this year, but he'll
Speaker 1: be a free agent after the season. He goes on
Speaker 1: injured reserve. Had shoulder surgery reportedly yesterday. Yes, well, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a weight room guy, he's a Jim rat. He's
Speaker 1: totally committed to what you got to do in the
Speaker 1: sport to try to, you know, extend your career. And
Speaker 1: so what Roy Rob has done in the early portions
Speaker 1: of his career about changing positions up and down, gaining weight,
Speaker 1: losing weight. Now he's kind of found a home as
Speaker 1: a defensive lineman. You know, I do think he's got
Speaker 1: a bright future in the NFL. But now the next
Speaker 1: couple months will be about rehab. So Sam Mustafer and
Speaker 1: Jason Spriggs both missing practice with knees today. Now, some
Speaker 1: of the popular thinking was that Spriggs, who's now off
Speaker 1: of the COVID list, might be able to come back
Speaker 1: to the offensive line and move in at right tackle.
Speaker 1: Reset the offensive line a little bit. Would you say
Speaker 1: that still up in the air. Well, No, I think
Speaker 1: if he's healthy, he's ready to play, you know, because
Speaker 1: he finished the game a couple of weeks ago when
Speaker 1: he did have an interruption for a couple of plays,
Speaker 1: and he came in and played pretty well. And then
Speaker 1: you can move or Shad Coward back to the left
Speaker 1: guard position and have a lot of your normal pieces
Speaker 1: in place. But I think the center position either Alex Barr,
Speaker 1: Sam Mustafer or I don't even know the status of
Speaker 1: Cody White here yet right he's still on the COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen reservelest. Same story for Lachavias Simmons. Rest days today
Speaker 1: for Jimmy Graham, Ackem Hicks and Danny Travathan, that's been normal.
Speaker 1: A rob with a knee, roquand back mingo shoulder to
Speaker 1: Sean Gibson foot they were limited today. I don't think
Speaker 1: there's anything to worry about there, but a lot of
Speaker 1: conversation about David Montgomery Tom he's in the concussion protocol,
Speaker 1: that's in the league's hands. Frankly, when he gets cleared
Speaker 1: to return. Short of his return, you're hearing a lot
Speaker 1: of questions being asked about Lamar Miller because that's a
Speaker 1: veteran of note on the practice squad right now, a
Speaker 1: couple of one thousand yards seasons one in Miami, when
Speaker 1: Bill Lazier was there as an assistant and one in
Speaker 1: Houston when his current running back coach, Charles London coached
Speaker 1: him for two years. It is an intriguing option should
Speaker 1: something not be right with David Right. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of similarities to Lamar and to David Montgomery when you
Speaker 1: look at their body style, but there's a big difference
Speaker 1: with Ryan All. So I do think if they if
Speaker 1: David Montgomery is not able to answer the bell on
Speaker 1: Monday night, then I it's got to be a backfield
Speaker 1: that Ryan All. He really he I think the line
Speaker 1: starts behind him, and then you have Cordallard, Patterson, Lamar
Speaker 1: Miller and R Tavis Pierres. So there's a long list
Speaker 1: of guys. But to me, I'm still intrigued by what
Speaker 1: Ryan All could offer a team if he was offered
Speaker 1: a significant amount of snaps. Right not getting any carries,
Speaker 1: got a few pass catches, but we know he's a
Speaker 1: north south runner town We've always liked him. He does
Speaker 1: have breakaway ability as well. We'll continue to break things down.
Speaker 1: Look at the Minnesota Vikings, a team that has gone
Speaker 1: in the division and knocked off a couple of opponents.
Speaker 1: So They've got some juice right now. The two game
Speaker 1: winning Street coming to Soldier Field will break it down
Speaker 1: with Beat Bursach, the veteran analyst of the Vikkings Radio Network.
Speaker 1: It's all coming up next here on Bearzo Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy at Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy. Choose clean energy for your
Speaker 1: home at igs dot com because every good choice adds
Speaker 1: up to a better world. Bears and Vikings coming up
Speaker 1: Monday night, four twenty. The pre game seven twenty the
Speaker 1: kickoff on News Radio seven eighty and one h five
Speaker 1: point at FM w BBM with Tom Fair. I'm Jeff,
Speaker 1: Joniak and John by our good friend Pete Bursch, Provident
Speaker 1: Catholics finest a Golden Domer celebrating no doubt the uh.
Speaker 1: I guess, I mean we're calling it an upset right
Speaker 1: off Clemson, Pete, I don't know, I didn't, I don't
Speaker 1: know all they won. You guys, you guys are that
Speaker 1: that was fun? Man? That was fun. How you doing? Man?
Speaker 1: It was I'm good. So you guys do a three
Speaker 1: hour pre game whatever they're paying you, they should double it.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you that right now. As a blong three game,
Speaker 1: how do you keep fair from falling asleep for three
Speaker 1: hours before a game? I never sleep. That fact is true.
Speaker 1: He does not sleep. He's not he's not a hibernating.
Speaker 1: When I found out there weren't going to be fans
Speaker 1: in the stands and that we weren't going to be
Speaker 1: traveling now was the one thing I knew I was
Speaker 1: gonna miss was to see that big bald, beautiful head
Speaker 1: on the sidelines on TV before the game. I'm like,
Speaker 1: I don't get the seattlayer on the I did it
Speaker 1: just it just breaks a man's heart. That's that sounds
Speaker 1: like a broadcaster that has the leading rusher coming into
Speaker 1: soldier field. He wanted to spread those peacock feathers out
Speaker 1: and come around. Well, yeah, I don't know about Yeah,
Speaker 1: we do that. It's not just one guy on a
Speaker 1: team unfortunately. So we've you know, we've got our own issues,
Speaker 1: and which is why we're two games under five hundred.
Speaker 1: Well so what are they? What would be three and
Speaker 1: five right now? No? What are the issues? Oh? The issues? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, uh, hearing the names like Chris Boyd,
Speaker 1: Chris Jones or Harris in hand? Does that strike the
Speaker 1: fear and any wide receivers in the league. How about
Speaker 1: Jeff Gladdeney? How about that name? Oh well, he's a
Speaker 1: first round pick. Now he's actually glad of all of him. Gladden,
Speaker 1: he's been has been playing the best and uh, you know, defensively, uh,
Speaker 1: thank god that you know, Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris
Speaker 1: have been you know, our safeties and they've they've been
Speaker 1: around for the whole season. But we've had a bit
Speaker 1: of a bit of a revolving door at corner. We've
Speaker 1: we've seem to have settled down a little bit, not
Speaker 1: giving up as many big plays in the passing game,
Speaker 1: but we are giving up, you know, still giving up
Speaker 1: a lot of yards. And you know, your guy just
Speaker 1: threw the ball with forty five times in one game,
Speaker 1: so he said, a franchise record for most past attempt
Speaker 1: past attempts. So you know, it it looks like he's ready
Speaker 1: to go. Hey, Pete, when you lost all that veteran
Speaker 1: talent in the off season, was this expected of the
Speaker 1: defense this year that maybe they were going to live
Speaker 1: through some growing pains or did they think they they
Speaker 1: had the uh, the draft capital to be able to
Speaker 1: come in here and you know insert and play well.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you lose UM. You know, you
Speaker 1: lose Denil Hunter. I think that's that's kind of the
Speaker 1: big thing. You know, you had Everson Griffin, UM, but
Speaker 1: you had Denil Hunter. You didn't really you know, you
Speaker 1: wanted to get you know, you wanted to get Everson back.
Speaker 1: I don't think that was any anything personal or anything
Speaker 1: that you know like that there, but they just did
Speaker 1: weren't willing to I think pay what what Everson Griffin
Speaker 1: wanted to make. And so you know, losing one of
Speaker 1: the two makes sense. But then you have a you know,
Speaker 1: our nose tackle opted out because of the COVID and
Speaker 1: then you lose Denil Hunter to a neck injury. Now
Speaker 1: you're down three of your four starting defensive linemen UM
Speaker 1: and you know, so it's not it's not ideal. But
Speaker 1: fortunately we've we've done a decent job drafting at that position.
Speaker 1: So some of these young guys, some of these guys
Speaker 1: that you've never heard of, like Jalen Holmes or DJ
Speaker 1: Wannham or Jalil Johnson or Armand Watts. I mean you
Speaker 1: know a Fadia Dentibo is probably are you know, most
Speaker 1: experienced defensive lineman. I mean two and a half sacks,
Speaker 1: that's uh, you know, that's about it. When we lost
Speaker 1: Unique in Goackway during the trade, he was you know,
Speaker 1: he had five sacks. So he still leads the team
Speaker 1: even though he's been in Baltimore for a couple of weeks. Weeks.
Speaker 1: All right, So now let's you think what you said
Speaker 1: about your defense and the growing pains their face. And
Speaker 1: I guess the best the best help there is having
Speaker 1: a leading rusher. So if you stop, if you stop
Speaker 1: or able to contain Dalvin Cook, is the rest of
Speaker 1: the offense good enough to pick up the slack? You know?
Speaker 1: I think that's that's the question that's going to get
Speaker 1: answered really Monday night. I mean, you know, Dalvin Cook,
Speaker 1: I was fortunate enough to grow up with watching Walter Payton,
Speaker 1: got to play against Barry Sanders, and then I called
Speaker 1: every game that Adrian Peterson played as a Minnesota Viking.
Speaker 1: And you know, Dalvin Cook is he I wouldn't put
Speaker 1: him in that, you know, that category of those three,
Speaker 1: but he's up there. He's very versatile running back, um,
Speaker 1: he lines up at wide receiver or catching the ball
Speaker 1: in the backfield. He's you know, he's very very good
Speaker 1: at that. He's also very good in protection, which not
Speaker 1: every running back is very good at. And I think
Speaker 1: what happens is is, you know, we struggle on third
Speaker 1: and long, and so when Dalvin's not getting three four
Speaker 1: yards a crack on first and second down, it puts
Speaker 1: us in a puts us in a tight spot. Now,
Speaker 1: justin Jefferson, our rookie wide receiver from LSU uh, he's lead.
Speaker 1: He leads a team with six twenty some yards were
Speaker 1: in receiving a big you know, a big play threat
Speaker 1: runs well after the catch, and then of course there's
Speaker 1: Adam Seelan and Kyle Rudolph and Herb Smith Junior. But
Speaker 1: you know, the games that we've won, we've kind of
Speaker 1: kept the ball out of the hands of Kirk Cousins,
Speaker 1: who you know was kind of interception happy in the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season. I mean, every loss we've had,
Speaker 1: he's thrown at least one interception. So keep him on
Speaker 1: the positive side of that. And as we make our
Speaker 1: way out of a minus six take give, you know,
Speaker 1: we're able to win a couple of football games, and
Speaker 1: I mean I kind of see it that way. I mean,
Speaker 1: you guys are gonna stop Dalvin and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: up to Kirk Cousins to throw a couple of deep
Speaker 1: balls or a couple of big plays down the field,
Speaker 1: kind of like what you saw last week against Tennessee.
Speaker 1: And you know, if we can do that, the Vikings
Speaker 1: have a good chance. If not, then it could be
Speaker 1: a long night because I don't know. If Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: can put up over one hundred yards on the ground
Speaker 1: against the front seven you guys have defensively, you know,
Speaker 1: then I think I'll hit a whole new level of
Speaker 1: respect for our offensive line, for c. J. Hamm Our fullback,
Speaker 1: you know, and you know, for Dalvin Cook himself. Pete Burst.
Speaker 1: It's our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: to score. This is Bears All Access with Tom There
Speaker 1: jeff jonihac Hey. Tell us a little bit more about
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson, because he is taking the league by storm,
Speaker 1: literally eighteen yards of grab blowing everybody away in terms
Speaker 1: of what he can do. I think his maturity level
Speaker 1: was very high coming into the league, much like our
Speaker 1: own Darnell Mooney he was a fifth round pick in
Speaker 1: getting a lot of attention just in a little bit
Speaker 1: that he's accomplished so far. But but this guy's the
Speaker 1: number one guy in the league in terms of yeah,
Speaker 1: what I mean, what an amazing draft class at the
Speaker 1: wide receiver position. It seems like every it seems like
Speaker 1: every twenty two years the Vikings get it right. Because
Speaker 1: about twenty two years ago, you know, we had we
Speaker 1: drafted Randy Moss, and then twenty two years before Randy Moss,
Speaker 1: we drafted a guy named Sammy White. You know, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: you have a couple of Laquon Treadwells, you know, sprinkled
Speaker 1: in there in between, which which really is good. But
Speaker 1: when you know, when we lose Stefan Diggs, what Stefan
Speaker 1: Diggs did is you know, his yards per reception last
Speaker 1: year were somewhere it was somewhere around eighteen and it
Speaker 1: went from ten ten yards per catch the year before
Speaker 1: to eighteen. And that was the biggest one, you know,
Speaker 1: one season jumped by any receiver in the NFL. So
Speaker 1: he was our deep thread. He was the guy that
Speaker 1: could get behind the off to get behind the defense.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, and Jefferson, had you know that was the
Speaker 1: big thing is can we get that big playability from him? Um?
Speaker 1: And and we have. It's been more run after the catch. However,
Speaker 1: it hasn't been forty fifty yard passes down the field.
Speaker 1: It's been you know, twenty fifteen, twenty yards and then
Speaker 1: letting him run. So Uh. He does do a great
Speaker 1: job of creating separation, which you know Laquon Treadwall, our
Speaker 1: other first round pick from a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: never really did. Um. He's been very yeah, very impressive
Speaker 1: wide receiver. Uh. He's learning the game. I mean that's
Speaker 1: and that's the big thing. He's mature enough to know
Speaker 1: that it's as much an art form as it is
Speaker 1: anything else. You can't just run a great forty, but
Speaker 1: you know, good hands and a great catch radius. He
Speaker 1: can come down with some you know, some of those
Speaker 1: passes that are tightly contested. And yeah, we're I mean,
Speaker 1: it's been a pleasure to watch this young man go
Speaker 1: about his business. Um. And you know, and Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: at the same time. You know, to me, those jack
Speaker 1: yard guys are are more dangerous and they get my
Speaker 1: attention because guys can there their possession receivers all around
Speaker 1: this league. But if the protection's not holding up against
Speaker 1: some of these better pass rushers in the league, you
Speaker 1: need guys that can do something with the ball after
Speaker 1: it's given to them and they create the separation to
Speaker 1: get there. And you know that's what makes defense is nervous. Yeah, no, absolutely,
Speaker 1: because you can you know. And the same thing with
Speaker 1: Dalvin Cook. I mean you when you're when you're a
Speaker 1: defensive coach and you have guys in the right spots,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's where the coaching ends and having
Speaker 1: to be a player begins. And if you have guys
Speaker 1: in the right spots and they still can't make the plays, um,
Speaker 1: you know that's what That's what keeps defensive coordinators up
Speaker 1: all night. You know. But Joniac, you guys know you
Speaker 1: haven't cut the grass in that stadium, the stadium in
Speaker 1: a park. You haven't cut that grass in like three weeks.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be ankle deep. And it's you know, it's
Speaker 1: just a smart thing to do. It's like that every
Speaker 1: year when we go there. Hey, let's hope, so I
Speaker 1: hope there's doug on snowstorm. You know, you gotta slow
Speaker 1: those guys down. Tommy, you know all about letting the
Speaker 1: grass rode along this flow. Those athletes down that come
Speaker 1: into South, what do you do. They don't even have
Speaker 1: grass there anymore. I mean when you went when you
Speaker 1: went there back in the archaic days, they did have
Speaker 1: natural grass. Yeah, I remember New Rockey would go out
Speaker 1: there on his track there and cut it himself. He
Speaker 1: would be out there mulling that he'd be pulling that
Speaker 1: nice and you know, nice and short for us and
Speaker 1: everything else. Yeah, when when you look at Adam Feeland
Speaker 1: and Justin Jefferson, but you look at the role that
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins has played in their career. Justin Jefferson barely
Speaker 1: has had a career, but he's got big numbers. Adam
Speaker 1: Feeland comes from what Minnesota state, comes out there, try
Speaker 1: out and now he's a you know, double digit per catch.
Speaker 1: And then you look across the Bears and you see
Speaker 1: a rookie corner. What relationship is that the Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: and Adam Feelin or Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson that
Speaker 1: you think would be planned against a rookie corner and
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson Bears, Well, I would think they would want
Speaker 1: to get the veteran against them, Adam Feeland. I still
Speaker 1: think Cousins leans more the way of Adam Feeling, and
Speaker 1: the closer you get to the red zone and the
Speaker 1: shorter the field gets, the more he leans on Adam Feeland.
Speaker 1: Adam Feeland's seven touchdown receptions, uh, Jefferson has three, and
Speaker 1: a couple of those were big. One was for seventy
Speaker 1: one yard. So I still I still think Cousins wants
Speaker 1: to lean toward Adam Feeland. I would think smart thing
Speaker 1: would be to have if you can have Kyle Fuller, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, working on Adam Feeling and then let the
Speaker 1: young man, let the two rookies kind of battle it out.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think, uh, that o'coon, the rookie from
Speaker 1: Ohio State that played with Detroit. I think Jefferson got
Speaker 1: the best to him a couple a couple of times
Speaker 1: last week. But yeah, so that'll be, you know, that'll
Speaker 1: be that'll be a really good, be a good matchup.
Speaker 1: But I would try to keep the rookie on the
Speaker 1: rookie and then keep the keep the veterans, Kyle Fuller
Speaker 1: on Adam Feeling. When you when you look at a
Speaker 1: couple of guys, you know, Harrison Smith. He's the scariest
Speaker 1: defensive player that the Minnesota has, and they've had the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. He's very deceitful. He can hide,
Speaker 1: he can bait a quarterback into making a throw that
Speaker 1: he knows what area responsibility he has. He's not always
Speaker 1: going to line up or a good blitzer near the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Is he the guy that Zimmer or
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator this team has the most confidence in
Speaker 1: to not be a free lancer but kind of work
Speaker 1: the field the way he sees it. Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1: I mean Harrison Smith. And the thing about Harrison is
Speaker 1: he's so versatile. You know, he can if he walks
Speaker 1: down up to or walks down in the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: the you know, the offense has to respect that because
Speaker 1: he can u you know, he can defend the run
Speaker 1: very well. He can also blitz very well, so you know,
Speaker 1: sometimes you have a safety you know, maybe Anthony Harris
Speaker 1: when he comes down you just kind of look and say, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're just bluffing that way, because you know, as a coordinator,
Speaker 1: you only you know certain guys blitz better than others. Uh.
Speaker 1: The other guy, though, is Eric Kendricks. Eric Kendricks um
Speaker 1: leads his team and tackles by a belie forty. Um. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know got an interception last week, very very good
Speaker 1: past defending, uh linebacker. And I think between Harrison Smith
Speaker 1: and Eric Kendricks, you've got you know, those are the
Speaker 1: two veterans kind of down the middle of the defense
Speaker 1: that that Zimmer's really relying on. Zimmer's definitely simplified what
Speaker 1: the defense does from a coverage standpoint. Um, just because
Speaker 1: the youth at the cornerback position, they just don't have
Speaker 1: the you know, the awareness to you know, pattern read
Speaker 1: and pass things off and do those things. And so
Speaker 1: I think it's allowed are some of the shorter passing
Speaker 1: game to be more open, so to speak. But um,
Speaker 1: but Harrison Smith and Eric Kendricks are you know, are
Speaker 1: by far the two leaders on our defense and and
Speaker 1: you know Zimmer's relying on those two all the time.
Speaker 1: Pete versus our guests, the long time analyst for the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Vikings on a radio but also a former assistant
Speaker 1: that time. Do you remember Pete being an assistant coach
Speaker 1: with the Viking course, I mean I literally forgot that,
Speaker 1: And don't be offended. I just cannot. I don't remember
Speaker 1: that peaked. I know you're gonna get mad at me,
Speaker 1: but that's great because you know, you know, they fired me.
Speaker 1: They the Vikings have fired me like three times, and
Speaker 1: I keep coming back, you know what I mean. I
Speaker 1: don't even like to go over the building just because
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want him to realize I'm still around.
Speaker 1: It's charmed, you know. And then I did not realize
Speaker 1: this either because um, and again this is bad on me.
Speaker 1: But your grandfather, Bob was a college football player. What's that?
Speaker 1: My dad? Oh? Your dad? Okay, your dad, Michigan State
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys. What years on the original? He
Speaker 1: was on the original Dallas Cowboy team in nineteen sixty
Speaker 1: and played till sixty two where he hurt his knee,
Speaker 1: but he was on he was on the nation, the
Speaker 1: national champion, UH Michigan State team. UM. In the late fifties.
Speaker 1: He went to Argo High School. He was an argonaut
Speaker 1: back and graduated in fifty five. So you know, you know,
Speaker 1: Salt South suburb type and UM, yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 1: you know when you when when your dad has done something,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like when your dad's an account, and
Speaker 1: everyone's asking you're gonna be an account when you grow up.
Speaker 1: You're like, yeah, well my dad does. It should be
Speaker 1: pretty easy, you know what I mean, it kind of
Speaker 1: took it, kind of it kind of you know, put
Speaker 1: the luster off of all of it. But uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's still around eighty four, still lives down and down
Speaker 1: a new Onox and go down and see him as
Speaker 1: much as I can, and you know he's still he's
Speaker 1: still kicking very good. Well, shout out to Bob. Hopefully
Speaker 1: he's a Bears fan. You're not gonna answer that. Well,
Speaker 1: I was growing up. I mean, come on, and you
Speaker 1: know in eighty five, I'm you know I'm talking about
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Papa. Well, you know what, though, he
Speaker 1: played against the Bears in Wrigley Field. And I know
Speaker 1: you guys have a section in your in your book
Speaker 1: about their the Bears record when they played at Wrigley Field.
Speaker 1: But yeah, he played against the Chicago Bears in Wrigley
Speaker 1: Field when the brick wall was right in the corner
Speaker 1: of the end zone. So that's that's how long ago
Speaker 1: we're talking now. Tom. The reason I said grandfather because
Speaker 1: I'm looking up Pete's son at the University of Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Is a linebacker there, a red shirt freshman. It says
Speaker 1: grandfather Bob Burstitch played college football at Michigan State in
Speaker 1: the NFL of the Dallas Cowboys. So my bad and
Speaker 1: a little how's how's young Pete doing? By the way,
Speaker 1: Oh oh, we call him, we call him repeat repeats
Speaker 1: doing great. You know he's he's Uh, it's been a goofy,
Speaker 1: big kind of a it's been a really crazy Big
Speaker 1: Ten season for those guys. And uh, you know, the
Speaker 1: Gophers didn't start out the way they wanted to. I
Speaker 1: think they have Iowa coming up, so to be a
Speaker 1: big be a good test, good test for them. But
Speaker 1: p J. Fleck is come from Western Michigan. He's done
Speaker 1: done a real good job. It's it's a complete lead.
Speaker 1: Different environment than the one I knew going to Notre
Speaker 1: Dame with Lou Holtz. You know, it's a complete a
Speaker 1: little and I'm sure it's a little different Atmospere than
Speaker 1: you know when Fayer was around. I mean, it's uh,
Speaker 1: it's all positivity, it's all uh, you know, it's a
Speaker 1: it's just a it's a different different animal, different kids.
Speaker 1: I guess I don't know the games. The game in
Speaker 1: that respect has changed a ton. So all right, Pete,
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're gonna let you go. We got blown
Speaker 1: Nichols coming up here in a moment, Bear's defensive lineman.
Speaker 1: Uh so you're not traveling, so we won't see you,
Speaker 1: but hopefully down the line we will and get together.
Speaker 1: Shortly we'll be calling them off the TV. I was
Speaker 1: gonna say, Tommy, the forty six zone, the bare front
Speaker 1: is still around and the Vikings are running the counter
Speaker 1: and power to it, which is the same thing that
Speaker 1: ended it and ended that front twenty five years ago.
Speaker 1: So it's old is new again. How about that? Well,
Speaker 1: you better have the right personnel to run that defense,
Speaker 1: because it's not something you're just gonna throw eleven defenders
Speaker 1: out there and say, okay, run this front or else. No,
Speaker 1: but you guys do have the right guys for sure.
Speaker 1: All right, Pete, thank you so much. You coming up
Speaker 1: next below Nichols have joined the program. This is Bears
Speaker 1: All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy. This segment of Bears All Access is brought
Speaker 1: to you by Microsoft Service and CDW Bele'll get it.
Speaker 1: Learn more at CDW dot com with Tom Thare, Jeff Jonahak.
Speaker 1: Getting Ready and you Ready for the Bears and Vikings
Speaker 1: on Monday Night Football, The Vikings coming to town with
Speaker 1: a two game winning streak and now join on the
Speaker 1: show by defensive lineman below Nichols Blow. Thanks for joining
Speaker 1: us tonight. How's everything going? Thank you, Jeff, appreciate it man,
Speaker 1: thanks for having me. Everything going good on this Huh
Speaker 1: yeah going good? Uh, little little extra time to get
Speaker 1: ready for the Vikings. Can't hurt when you guys are
Speaker 1: got a long injury list right now. I guess that's
Speaker 1: the mid season bumps and bruises. So how is your
Speaker 1: body holding up at this point this season? Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: my body's holding up good. I mean, you know, like
Speaker 1: kind of like you said, you know, as the season
Speaker 1: goes on, things start to show up, and you know
Speaker 1: you just gotta you know, jump on there early and
Speaker 1: attacking and treatment and just trying to make sure you
Speaker 1: stay on top of your body because you know, we
Speaker 1: plan on playing this thing all the way till pass
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, so you got to stay on top
Speaker 1: of your body. Hey, Bala. How you doing this? Tom Fair?
Speaker 1: Nice talking, Thanks for taking the time out. First and foremost, Hey,
Speaker 1: when when you think of a game this magnitude for
Speaker 1: the Bears divisional game, national TV audience and everybody knows
Speaker 1: about the Bears defense, do you guys feel that as
Speaker 1: a pressure or do you feel it as a positive? Uh?
Speaker 1: We uh? First of all, Hey, Tom, how you doing?
Speaker 1: Always good talking to you. Um, you know, we look
Speaker 1: at it as a as a positive. You know, we
Speaker 1: want to be the defense that people talk about. We
Speaker 1: want to be known to have a rocket defense, a
Speaker 1: defense that fly around and cause having and just make
Speaker 1: it hard on the opposing team. So we embrace things
Speaker 1: like that and we hold ourselves to that standard. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's ultimately, that's that's that's what you want from your defense.
Speaker 1: You know, when you look at yourself throughout the course
Speaker 1: of this season, you've played a variety of positions. Is
Speaker 1: Blile Nichols morphing out of the edge player that he
Speaker 1: is because you're playing inside so much? Or are you
Speaker 1: still an edge player but you're embracing the opportunity on
Speaker 1: the inside. I think I'm an edge player who's embracing
Speaker 1: the opportunity to play inside. I mean, you know, I
Speaker 1: just I look at it as a you know, opportunity
Speaker 1: for me to show that you know, I'm I'm a
Speaker 1: versus player and you know, an anywhere I can contribute
Speaker 1: on a football team. Um, you could put me there
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna make things happen. Um, you know that
Speaker 1: that's always been the type of player I looked at
Speaker 1: myself as and that that I always wanted to be
Speaker 1: just versus two. Um, you know, switch Army night type
Speaker 1: of guy. You can throw me in anywhere and then
Speaker 1: you know I'll still be productive. What's it like moving
Speaker 1: inside like that? What have you realized this year? Because
Speaker 1: you've played it before, but now such a consistent number
Speaker 1: of snaps there this year? What's it like in there
Speaker 1: for you in terms of exs and os and just
Speaker 1: how what kind of trash you gotta shift through? Yeah? Man,
Speaker 1: it's it's definitely different. Um, you know, my first two years,
Speaker 1: I will play it. Um, you know, I was more
Speaker 1: of a you know, a rotational guy come in. But
Speaker 1: you know, my my primary position was because a vent
Speaker 1: whereas this year, you know, most of my work come
Speaker 1: from then inside. It's definitely different. Things happen a lot
Speaker 1: faster when when you and they're playing those and U
Speaker 1: inside like that grinding and intransive um, things happen a
Speaker 1: lot faster. Doubles happened a lot faster. Um. You have
Speaker 1: to be more precise with your technique. It's no, it's
Speaker 1: not really any room for error because everything happens so
Speaker 1: much faster. And then whereas when you outside of end,
Speaker 1: you know you have time and space that may allow
Speaker 1: you to make up for you know, some technique issues.
Speaker 1: So for example, if you take a wrong step or
Speaker 1: you know or or or you know you gaining ground,
Speaker 1: you have time to to to react to the block
Speaker 1: that the tackle giving you because you have space and
Speaker 1: you know it's it's a lot of area to cover,
Speaker 1: whereas you know inside it's not like that. It was
Speaker 1: definitely different. But I love the challenge. I've always been
Speaker 1: that type of way, and you know, I look forward
Speaker 1: to it. Hey blah when you look at you know,
Speaker 1: last week when we are listening to the Zoom conferences
Speaker 1: by the coaches, a lot of them were talking about
Speaker 1: how you have to where they want you position when
Speaker 1: you're tackling Derrick Henry. How is tackling Derrick Henry different
Speaker 1: than tackling Dalvin Cook. Yeah. Well, you know Derrick Henry,
Speaker 1: you know, everybody knows he's a lot bigger, um. Definitely
Speaker 1: a physical guy. Um. So like with him, if you
Speaker 1: notice a lot of tackles when people attack him high,
Speaker 1: he breaks them because he has the upper body strength
Speaker 1: and you know he has the power and he runs
Speaker 1: hard enough to be able to break those type of tackles, um,
Speaker 1: you know. Whereas if you tackle him low and you
Speaker 1: wrap up his ankles, it's it's kind of hard for
Speaker 1: anybody to run when your ankles is wrapped up. It
Speaker 1: don't matter how big you are. So, you know, a
Speaker 1: guy like him, you know, you gotta at tackle more low,
Speaker 1: be a lot more fundamentally sound and your technique and
Speaker 1: tackle on it. Whereas Dalvin Cook, he's the type of
Speaker 1: guy you know it's kind of hard to get a
Speaker 1: hand on him in the first place. You know, he's
Speaker 1: so good at change of direction, uh, you know, playing
Speaker 1: off one foot, moving the opposite weight, cutting it back, um,
Speaker 1: you know, and he creates space. Uh, he's very good
Speaker 1: at getting one on one situations with different people. Want
Speaker 1: to feel, whether it be line in corners safety. He's
Speaker 1: very good at doing things like that. So, you know,
Speaker 1: two totally different types of runners. Um and the way
Speaker 1: you attack those runners are totally different. But but Dalvin
Speaker 1: also has that ability to be able to break tackle.
Speaker 1: So you know, we just gotta wrap up, you know,
Speaker 1: and we know how to tackle. We practice it on
Speaker 1: a daily at practice. So we just got to stick
Speaker 1: to our technique. We gotta do we do it. We'll
Speaker 1: be fine. Hey, last week, the Bears fans were introduced
Speaker 1: to Big Dan mcculler's snubber seventy five? Do you feel
Speaker 1: small when you stand next to him? Six seven, three
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty two pounds? Now, when you put him
Speaker 1: on the outside and they put you on the outside,
Speaker 1: there's still a lot of space being taken up. But
Speaker 1: I mean, does he seem as massive to you? Is
Speaker 1: when I watch him out there on the field. You
Speaker 1: know what's funny one thing about Vick Dad, he said,
Speaker 1: he's what six seven, three hundred and city two pounds? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he is every bit of six seven and three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty two pounds. That's that's the thing. But but
Speaker 1: but has the athletic ability to be able to move
Speaker 1: and do things that a person that big shouldn't do. Um,
Speaker 1: So it's crazy because he's he's one of the people
Speaker 1: you look at. He actually looked makes a team look small,
Speaker 1: So you know that that'd be kind of funny sometimes
Speaker 1: if I'm out there with both of them and I'm
Speaker 1: looking at both of them, I'm like, you know, King,
Speaker 1: he kind of got you, bro. He look looked like
Speaker 1: you need to hit the weight room a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know, messing around winning and stuff like that. But uh,
Speaker 1: he's came in and done an unbelievable job for uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he came in, he played really good football
Speaker 1: on last Sunday, So you know, I'm excited to see
Speaker 1: him continue to get his opportunities and to see what
Speaker 1: he does with it. Yeah, it's been interesting. But aw
Speaker 1: Nichols our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: the Score. This is Bears All Access with Tom There
Speaker 1: and Jeff Jonaiac, brought to you by IGS Energy. Because
Speaker 1: you gotta give it to the personnel department, they've done
Speaker 1: some good things in this tough time to find players
Speaker 1: because teams are sucking guys up because there's protocol. It
Speaker 1: takes time to get him on the roster. If you're
Speaker 1: gonna have, you know, a concern with either COVID or
Speaker 1: an injury, you got to really have guys on the pipeline.
Speaker 1: But here they bring in Daniel mccullar six years or
Speaker 1: the Steelers on a very rugged defense, a very good defense.
Speaker 1: That's a Steeler type of guy right there. You got
Speaker 1: Mario Edwards Junior. He's come in and giving you some
Speaker 1: pass rush very and Brent Urban last year. So it's
Speaker 1: been very good in terms of adding depth to that
Speaker 1: defensive line because you guys all can't take every snap.
Speaker 1: The best defensive lines are the ones that stay fresh
Speaker 1: and can rotate. Do you still feel fresh because of
Speaker 1: those guys here in twenty twenty, Yeah, you know, I do.
Speaker 1: It allows me to feel like you know, or anybody
Speaker 1: on our team and on our d line in general.
Speaker 1: It makes us feel like we don't have to be
Speaker 1: out there every play, you know, you know, dog tired,
Speaker 1: fighting through it um because we have guys that can
Speaker 1: rotate in and there's no drop off in the game,
Speaker 1: you know, and these guys who come in and still
Speaker 1: play at a high level. So you know, as as
Speaker 1: as a defensive line, that's that's very important. Like you said,
Speaker 1: like the good defense lines are are the ones that
Speaker 1: you know, rotate and you know, keeps guys, keep fresh
Speaker 1: guys on the field and stuff like that. So you
Speaker 1: know that that that's been huge for us. And you
Speaker 1: know it takes a lot of pressure off of you
Speaker 1: as a player because you know, naturally as a player,
Speaker 1: you never really want to come out of the game,
Speaker 1: uh and feel like you know things are going to
Speaker 1: drop off. But we've never had that issue, so it
Speaker 1: makes things easier. You know, you out there for a
Speaker 1: few plays, you know your little gas, you know, let
Speaker 1: another guy come in and just know he gonna come
Speaker 1: in and do a great job too, and you know
Speaker 1: it's no job off. So that that's what you want.
Speaker 1: That's a championship defensive line right there. Hey Bloll. You
Speaker 1: know when they talk about the relationships in terms of
Speaker 1: football quarterback, receiver, running back, offensive line, the relationship between
Speaker 1: you and Robert Quinn, I think it has It has
Speaker 1: had a real effect. You guys run stunts really well together.
Speaker 1: He brings in a great deal of experience and just
Speaker 1: talking football and getting to know Robert Quinn. What can
Speaker 1: you teach us about him that we haven't had a
Speaker 1: chance to go face to face with him because of
Speaker 1: the strange times we're in and you know, how how
Speaker 1: would do you and he talked football together? Oh? Man,
Speaker 1: it's It's. One thing I love about Rob is Rob
Speaker 1: is a very selfless person. Um. I mean like literally,
Speaker 1: he's a dude who will you know, sacrifice his game
Speaker 1: for you to happen with the game. You know a
Speaker 1: lot of the times when we out there and me
Speaker 1: and Rob we have every chemistry year. I mean we
Speaker 1: you know, we talk a lot in the locker room
Speaker 1: and me and Rob really been able to develop that
Speaker 1: relationship with each other. But you know, one thing that
Speaker 1: you know people might not know about Robbers he's a
Speaker 1: very selfless person. Like he's all in a team guy.
Speaker 1: You know, he's everything you can ask for in a teammate. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, and a lot of our success has happened
Speaker 1: just because of our the chemistry we've been able to
Speaker 1: build and that you know, he you know a lot
Speaker 1: of times he'll he'll tell me just go, just go
Speaker 1: and I'll play off for you. And that's just an
Speaker 1: example of him being selfless, you know. And and uh
Speaker 1: and I do the same to him. Man, I feel
Speaker 1: like that's why things have been able to have been
Speaker 1: so impactful between us. Well, led do your sack. Last
Speaker 1: week you got a couple of a couple of close
Speaker 1: calls on safeties. Man, you almost got there. But it's
Speaker 1: been a good start. One last thing for me will
Speaker 1: let you go so much appreciate it. Your draft class.
Speaker 1: There are six guys are still on the roster and
Speaker 1: contributing significantly. It's turning into a very potentially impactful draft class. Uh.
Speaker 1: And you guys are all tight and role quant Smith
Speaker 1: is leading way right now on your view of it
Speaker 1: as you watch the tape, because he gotta watch what
Speaker 1: he's doing by you can't. You don't advise in the back. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can't see everything he's doing behind you when you
Speaker 1: get your hand down and rushing or stop on the run.
Speaker 1: Just how far he's grown here in twenty twenty. No, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know I see it though, um and I and
Speaker 1: and I tell Roquan like a lot, I'd be like, bro, man,
Speaker 1: you're playing, you playing some really special football right now
Speaker 1: because you know obviously you know, I don't see anything
Speaker 1: in a game because like like you said, he's playing
Speaker 1: behind me. But when I cut that film on after
Speaker 1: the game off. Oh man, I see I see all
Speaker 1: type of all type of freakish things that he does. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the blend, the speed, power, tenacity, all that
Speaker 1: type of stuff. It's it's like it's like it's it's
Speaker 1: crazy to see. And uh, you know, I tell him
Speaker 1: like it's funny because I did the tend to see
Speaker 1: game to him, I said, Bro, you know you played
Speaker 1: played you played great football this game. You know it
Speaker 1: was Tims. You've seen him coming downhill, meet the fullback
Speaker 1: in in in the hole and then still finding a
Speaker 1: way to get to the running back. Like it's crazy.
Speaker 1: Like I mean, just seeing his growth, just seeing the
Speaker 1: speed that he plays at day in and day out.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know he's one of those guys you
Speaker 1: know you'd be honored to play with. Yeah, well let's
Speaker 1: let's hope it's a long career for both the Event
Speaker 1: and Bears Colors. So Bill Out, we so much appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You're wonderful. Got to talk to you and thank you
Speaker 1: so much. Good luck on Monday night. Appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me, you know, always a pleasure, pleasure,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you guys are taking the time of
Speaker 1: damn me tonight very well. Thank you so much. Bloud
Speaker 1: Nichols our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: the score coming up. We'll here from Cairo Santosh. This
Speaker 1: is his birthday today. He's on a hot streak twelve
Speaker 1: straight field goals for the Bears. Here from him coming
Speaker 1: up next here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy to score. Hey Bears fans, It's important
Speaker 1: to stay connected now more than ever, and at Motorola,
Speaker 1: we love making that possible. With the new razor, you
Speaker 1: can enjoy staying connected a little bit more. It's a phone,
Speaker 1: it's an accessory, it's an icon reinvented. Hello Moto Jeff,
Speaker 1: Johnny act Tom there or a delightful guy. Bala Nichols
Speaker 1: is Tommy. I have guys like that on a team,
Speaker 1: and he's been that way since his rookie year. You've
Speaker 1: seen him being a media contributor. But the development of
Speaker 1: his personality, of his team concept, of his development, it's
Speaker 1: it's really impressive when you get a chance to talk
Speaker 1: to these guys over a couple year period. You know,
Speaker 1: I mentioned that draft class too, because again six of
Speaker 1: the guys, Kylie Fits the only guy not on the
Speaker 1: roster and every one of those guys, James Daniels excluded
Speaker 1: at the moment because he's on injured reserve, but there's
Speaker 1: a promise for him. Uh, joey Ya Boney booney Way
Speaker 1: one of the core special teams players, Balah Roquan, I
Speaker 1: mean it's a it's a it's a good draft class
Speaker 1: that is still contributed. Anthony Miller obviously, and and Javon Wims.
Speaker 1: Oh I hope, I'm I hope they're only scratching the surface,
Speaker 1: every one of those guys that you mentioned. And I
Speaker 1: hope that a guy like Anthony Miller hasn't even started
Speaker 1: the scratch the surface yet because he's got so much.
Speaker 1: But when you look at Rokuan and where what he's
Speaker 1: considered doing in the league and how respected he is,
Speaker 1: and blal Nichols playing sensors rookie year, and you know,
Speaker 1: if joe l Ea booney Way gets his opportunity to
Speaker 1: play that he's super productive. Because you know, when you
Speaker 1: talk about these guys that are sitting there waiting for
Speaker 1: when their opportunity is presented, you know, guys like Joel.
Speaker 1: You know they're gonna be They're gonna be expected to
Speaker 1: be able to do a lot since they've had time
Speaker 1: to develop. Here all right, Tom coming up on Sunday,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have an interview on our Bears Game Day
Speaker 1: Live show Bears player profile. I'm Cairo Santos. Here's a
Speaker 1: portion of it. What a journey it's been for the
Speaker 1: Brazilian name. It was the love for soccer that has
Speaker 1: gotten me. That's where I'm at right now. Growing up
Speaker 1: in Brazil, all the other kids that I was around,
Speaker 1: we dream being a professional athlete, but specifically a soccer player.
Speaker 1: So that was my life ever since my parents told
Speaker 1: me could stand up. They gave me a ball and
Speaker 1: I would kick it around the house, kick it, you know,
Speaker 1: over the walls of our house, and go to the neighbor.
Speaker 1: So that was me up until high school when I
Speaker 1: was really developing the skills and trying to pursue that
Speaker 1: dream that in Brazil, as competitive as soccer is there,
Speaker 1: I wasn't getting the exposure that I was looking forward
Speaker 1: to make it to another level, so I looked elsewhere
Speaker 1: in the United States. My dad, before becoming a pilot,
Speaker 1: he got his pilot licencestant in Florida before meeting my
Speaker 1: mom and all that story. So he was my whole life.
Speaker 1: He would we would fly to the United States and
Speaker 1: he would tell me how how great it was living
Speaker 1: here and getting an education. So that was a goal
Speaker 1: of mine to be an exchanged to it when I
Speaker 1: got to the right age. So something my dad convinced
Speaker 1: me to do when I was fifteen years old, and
Speaker 1: so looked at a Florida because of the weather similar
Speaker 1: to Brazil, and started going with soccer. And one thing
Speaker 1: led to another. My buddies had me kicking a football
Speaker 1: because I couldn't throw a spiral, and so I said,
Speaker 1: just kick it, and he went four houses down the
Speaker 1: neighborhood and it said, that's equivalent of a sixty yard
Speaker 1: field goal. And they talked to me in the next
Speaker 1: day after school, talking to the football coach and get
Speaker 1: me a tryout. And I could hit a fifty yard
Speaker 1: or that first day and he said, you're playing Friday.
Speaker 1: You're on a team, aren't You're proud of that journey, yes,
Speaker 1: And I still feel like I'm living a dream. You know.
Speaker 1: I pinched myself and it's been seven years and I
Speaker 1: can't believe I've made it this far, and it's always
Speaker 1: one year after the other. Just keep pursuing a bigger goal,
Speaker 1: a bigger objective, and I just want to keep going
Speaker 1: farther and farther into this dream because you never know
Speaker 1: one of the last, your last time kicking the ball.
Speaker 1: And we've known how far it is too well, how
Speaker 1: difficult it is to get to where we are right now.
Speaker 1: So very few in the world that have this opportunity,
Speaker 1: So every opportunity doesn't matter how much success I've had.
Speaker 1: It's another day in the NFL and a great franchise
Speaker 1: like the Chicago Bears's, you know, one of those moments
Speaker 1: that you have to just step back, just take a
Speaker 1: deep breath and look around, how you know, Like I said, no,
Speaker 1: I'm proud of it and fortunate to be able to
Speaker 1: live my dream. What is your celebrity like in Brazil?
Speaker 1: You know, I've been fortunate to know being the first
Speaker 1: um Brazilian born player to to make in the NFL
Speaker 1: as fast and as big as football has grown in Brazil,
Speaker 1: and I was able to the moment I back in
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen that I entered the league. Un till now
Speaker 1: I think I was an influence to spike that growth.
Speaker 1: It's something that I think gave him me a platform
Speaker 1: to be an idol. Like I looked at the Ronaldinho's
Speaker 1: the name ours Um, the Cocks, all those guys in
Speaker 1: Brazilian soccer. Yeah, some great names in the soccer world
Speaker 1: if you're soccer enthusiast. But you know, think about it.
Speaker 1: He is helping in a great way a bunch of
Speaker 1: young kids who want to become just like him in
Speaker 1: the name of football. Eage Tom a long way away. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you know it's the reflection of his work ethic.
Speaker 1: You know, Jeff, you've been around the NFL now, you've
Speaker 1: been around professional sports for your almost your whole adult life,
Speaker 1: and you've never seen a lazy guy being able to
Speaker 1: accomplish a lot in any type of career. And when
Speaker 1: he talks about his work ethic as a young kid
Speaker 1: and through the soccer program, and then the constant dreams
Speaker 1: of having a better opportunity to have higher competition, I
Speaker 1: think every single guy that's successful in a professional career,
Speaker 1: it's about their work ethic. And I think cairos I
Speaker 1: and I tease kickers a lot, but his determination the
Speaker 1: success he's been able to have this year. The road's
Speaker 1: never easy, so I admire what he's been able to accomplis. Yeh,
Speaker 1: he's sound a streak at twelve straight, Tommy, he made
Speaker 1: all his extra points, but I don't want to jinx it, obviously,
Speaker 1: because they need every point on this team that is
Speaker 1: struggling the fine points, and if it's a kicker that's
Speaker 1: getting it done consistently, that's at least one. Forgive the
Speaker 1: pun foot in the right direction. Top there, and I'll
Speaker 1: be back for one more segment. This is Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. The
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Network presents Inside the Bears, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Verizon and Anthony Adams and Laurens Greed and cover
Speaker 1: the world of Bears footfall on and off the field
Speaker 1: every Sunday night, eleven h five m on Box thirty
Speaker 1: two Chicago, or watch anytime at Chicago Bears dot Com
Speaker 1: around the Bears official app. Tom we got about a
Speaker 1: minute and a half shout out. Tony Medland, the longtime
Speaker 1: Bears equipment manager, got the thirty second annual Coat Drive
Speaker 1: cooking starting this weekend through February twenty seven, time new
Speaker 1: and gently used coats donated at eighty five designated locations
Speaker 1: at jewel oscos through at Chicagoland area. He does good work,
Speaker 1: does he not. Oh, it's one of the greatest events
Speaker 1: ever created on behalf of the Bears. And it started
Speaker 1: when I was an actual player, So that tells you
Speaker 1: how long it's been going on. And when they get
Speaker 1: up there, and it's not a plea to the people,
Speaker 1: it's just a question, Hey, if you have some extra
Speaker 1: jackets lying around, we have all these sites where you
Speaker 1: can drop them off and then we can distribute to
Speaker 1: them the people in need during the winter. I love
Speaker 1: this event every year, all right. In addition to Cairo's birthday,
Speaker 1: Lance Briggs, a guy who covered every snap of his
Speaker 1: NFL career, seven time pro bowler, a birthday boy today.
Speaker 1: In thirty seconds, give me your best Lance Briggs memory.
Speaker 1: Just his you know, his initial reaction. You talk about
Speaker 1: a lot of guys that play, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: textbook robot type football that wasn't Lance. I know the
Speaker 1: coaches didn't always love it, but his reaction and his
Speaker 1: understanding and his speed and his desire and his willingness
Speaker 1: to hit I just like when it was in motion,
Speaker 1: because you know, Lance was a freelance, very good football player.
Speaker 1: All right, Tom, we'll talk to you Monday night. Bears
Speaker 1: and Vikings. Thanks to Julio Rosas, also to our entire
Speaker 1: broadcast crew and you for listening. Thanks to our guests
Speaker 1: to Night Beat BERSA Jambal Nichols, Colts and Titans. Coming
Speaker 1: up next on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score.
Speaker 1: Good night, Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network
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