Speaker 1: Welcome into the Bears Coaching Show with head coach Mattneggie,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Whipplease cepa's end consultant Jeff Jonahack
Speaker 1: with you into eight o'clock tonight here on news Radio
Speaker 1: one oh five nine WBBM. Thanks for joining us, everybody.
Speaker 1: Coach Naggie here until the bottom of the hour, and
Speaker 1: then Bears Vice president of player Engagement with Lamar Soup
Speaker 1: Campbell joins the program as he will talk about his
Speaker 1: role in the Bears family up here at Hotis Hall. Matt,
Speaker 1: Good evening. It's been a long time since that emotional
Speaker 1: twenty to nine win in Vegas on October tenth, and
Speaker 1: I think you and I spoke at that time. You
Speaker 1: felt it was going to be a landmark win for
Speaker 1: a lot of reasons, and what has happened since can
Speaker 1: be demoralizing to the entire building. A five game skid.
Speaker 1: You've been through this before, but every years different and unique.
Speaker 1: How are you and your staff attacking this one? And
Speaker 1: with a game already on Thursday in Detroit? Yeah, Jeff,
Speaker 1: You're right, it's you know, it's obviously never fun. And
Speaker 1: I did really feel like that point in that game
Speaker 1: in the locker room after that win in Vegas was
Speaker 1: definitely a special Momentum. All that said, you know, we
Speaker 1: put ourselves in a position of being three and seven
Speaker 1: and having two tough ended game losses like that. Um.
Speaker 1: But but what it does is it challenges UM. You know,
Speaker 1: each and every one of us in a lot of
Speaker 1: different ways. UM. We all can handle it different ways.
Speaker 1: And so UM the only thing that that we're allowed
Speaker 1: to do, or can do and want to do is,
Speaker 1: uh is continue to just get after it as a
Speaker 1: team and fight. And again, you know you've heard me
Speaker 1: say it for for many times. Is it takes that
Speaker 1: one win. And there's other teams right now that are
Speaker 1: on win streaks, and there's a few other teams that
Speaker 1: are on losing streaks. And it's how you handle that.
Speaker 1: And when you do get that one win, it can
Speaker 1: jump start you for different reasons and you never know
Speaker 1: how it goes. But you got to get that one win.
Speaker 1: And the last two games we just haven't finished. Um.
Speaker 1: And UH, it's it's everybody. It's collectively. It's not just
Speaker 1: the defense at the end, it's the offense at the beginning,
Speaker 1: in the middle, in other places, and it's all of
Speaker 1: us together, you know, special teams, coaches, everybody, and that's
Speaker 1: where we got to recover and get that win. You know,
Speaker 1: you make a good point about the beginning, the offense
Speaker 1: at the beginning, because it seems like that's been the
Speaker 1: struggle the offense and then they click in, but then
Speaker 1: the defense loses. It's mustard, it's frustrating. I'm sure it's
Speaker 1: frustrating to watch and see it unfold right before your eyes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know you brought it up earlier, you talked
Speaker 1: about Vegas. That was the difference of the Vegas game
Speaker 1: was we had all three phases playing complimentary football the
Speaker 1: last several weeks and during this losing streak, we haven't
Speaker 1: had that, and it's it's difficult, you know, to be
Speaker 1: able to match up with with all three phases and um,
Speaker 1: you know, so any way you look at it across
Speaker 1: the board for us is we talk about just do
Speaker 1: your one eleventh right. Everybody says that we talked about
Speaker 1: just make sure that you're doing what you can do
Speaker 1: to help help the team win. Coaches, players, everybody. So
Speaker 1: the one good thing for us is that it is
Speaker 1: a quick turnaround. It is a short week and so
Speaker 1: you're able to h The only thing you can do, Jeff,
Speaker 1: is move on to the Thanksgiving Day game against Detroit
Speaker 1: and a division opponent, and so our guys are going
Speaker 1: to be right for that. That is the story of
Speaker 1: the National Football League. I know, fans, and when you
Speaker 1: get asked a lot of questions about where the team
Speaker 1: is at, where you're at thinking, and you can't really,
Speaker 1: you don't have the luxury to dwell on what's happened.
Speaker 1: You only can look forward to fix because you have
Speaker 1: to stand before your team every week and we can
Speaker 1: sit here and you can take hits on what happened.
Speaker 1: As a head coach, you can, you know, look at
Speaker 1: things that went south at the worst possible times and
Speaker 1: everything that went into it. And that's really the rub
Speaker 1: of being a head coach and the CEO of the
Speaker 1: football team on Sundays or in this case, Thursday's, isn't
Speaker 1: it It is? And you know when the game ends
Speaker 1: yesterday and you know you have a short week, you're
Speaker 1: already kind of somewhat prepared with your staff of trying
Speaker 1: to stay a little bit ahead. But you have to
Speaker 1: be able to squeeze what you just squeeze. The video
Speaker 1: in of what you just did on tape on yesterday's game.
Speaker 1: But then you got to also, the only thing you
Speaker 1: can do in a short week is is move forward.
Speaker 1: That's it, and you gotta worry about today. And so
Speaker 1: you know today has been a busy day for our coaches,
Speaker 1: and you know here we are tonight and getting ready
Speaker 1: for tomorrow already. So the same for the players. The
Speaker 1: players have the physical game and lots of bumps and bruises,
Speaker 1: and so we got to be able to now be
Speaker 1: smart with how we handle these next forty eight hours
Speaker 1: before we take off and get to Detroit. You're constantly
Speaker 1: telling players to forget about what happened and move on
Speaker 1: to the next play within the course of a game.
Speaker 1: I know as a football fan of significance and myself,
Speaker 1: I'll lay in bed at night thinking about the what ifs.
Speaker 1: I have that luxury. You know, you go through everything
Speaker 1: you do not have that luxury either, But you're human,
Speaker 1: do you lay in bed thinking about the what ifs?
Speaker 1: Because yes, two games you couldn't close could have been
Speaker 1: a big difference at five and five going into this one,
Speaker 1: I'm thanksgiving against a winless ball club. But to what
Speaker 1: extent do you play the what ifs in your mind.
Speaker 1: Yeah you uh, I mean as a specific moments, like
Speaker 1: specific moments as as a coach you have you know,
Speaker 1: we all we all have those you all go through
Speaker 1: and we do it as well. And you think about
Speaker 1: certain plays, um and some some somebody might think of
Speaker 1: as completely different than somebody else. You know. The one
Speaker 1: that I look at that uh I think would have
Speaker 1: really changed the course of the game is was the
Speaker 1: third and one deep ball to to Mooney that he
Speaker 1: caught it just got his you know, just didn't get
Speaker 1: those two feet and bounds and the ball kind of
Speaker 1: drifted a little bit. So um, you know it's uh,
Speaker 1: that's that's not by no means the reason why we lost, obviously,
Speaker 1: but that was a that was a play right there
Speaker 1: where you just think, man if if we could have
Speaker 1: ended up completing that, what a big gainer. That would
Speaker 1: have been momentum shifter. And you know, instead we went
Speaker 1: to to the fourth and one, etc. So I mean
Speaker 1: that that's that's one play that that you think of.
Speaker 1: But there was a lot in that game for many
Speaker 1: different reasons, and you got to give credit to Baltimork.
Speaker 1: You gotta feel for guys like Roquan Smith and obviously
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn because they played their hearts out and then
Speaker 1: they have been all years, nothing new, but ro Quan
Speaker 1: played with a certain level of viciousness and Robert Quinn
Speaker 1: continues to be a comeback player that you're candidate, just
Speaker 1: exploding off the ball. He knew he could beat his
Speaker 1: man repeatedly on the left side. No disrespect to Alejandro Vieneueva,
Speaker 1: but that was a mismatch in favor of Robert Quinn,
Speaker 1: and you see the emotion they poured into it. Can
Speaker 1: those two guys alone on tape and I don't even
Speaker 1: know if you guys are gonna watch this tape with
Speaker 1: any kind of detail, but can can the rest of
Speaker 1: the teams say, Man, these guys are fighting. Man I
Speaker 1: need to I need to do this absolutely. I mean
Speaker 1: those guys you said that, there are guys that that
Speaker 1: fight every day and the part of that is that
Speaker 1: you see on game day is that they do it.
Speaker 1: They do it every day in practice, you know, and
Speaker 1: they do it. Every single rap that they have in
Speaker 1: practice is where you feel it and you see it,
Speaker 1: and then it transforms over onto game day and then
Speaker 1: they get results, they get production They are guys that
Speaker 1: worry about play by play. They just try to be
Speaker 1: impactful players. Their effort is, you know, a second to none,
Speaker 1: and it shows and are reflected in yesterday's game. Ravens
Speaker 1: bringing the house pressure comes hit as he throws down
Speaker 1: the field. He's got good one over the shoulder. Ten touchdowners.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show. It's brought to
Speaker 1: you by a Whippley CPAs and Consultants, a proud partner
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears. Learn more at Whippley dot com.
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac and Mattneggie here on Bears Coaches Show. You
Speaker 1: heard the Andy Dalton, the Marquis Goodwin touchdown. Break it
Speaker 1: all down for us from the fourth and eleven decision
Speaker 1: and just that play in general. Well, you know, you
Speaker 1: gotta give a ton of credit to the offensive line,
Speaker 1: to the tight ends and are running back to be
Speaker 1: able to create protection. So Andy has enough time. I
Speaker 1: mean that comes down to a split second to where
Speaker 1: you have to be able to get that throw off
Speaker 1: there and cover zero. Their their defensive back was about
Speaker 1: ten yards off and he knows that the ball's got
Speaker 1: to come out. And I thought that Marquise did a
Speaker 1: great job of setting him up, acting like he was
Speaker 1: going to kind of stop there at ten yards and
Speaker 1: then took off and Marquise is so fast and he
Speaker 1: put it up at just the right time with enough
Speaker 1: air and I'm sure that ball felt like it was
Speaker 1: in the air forever to Marquise, but he made a
Speaker 1: great catch, took it in for the score. And again,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a defense that we were prepared for.
Speaker 1: UM and I and the guys were, you know, awesome
Speaker 1: at executing it. That's his fifteen forty plus yard touchdown
Speaker 1: in his career. He's not been it's a seven year career.
Speaker 1: So that's a that's a lot of math right there.
Speaker 1: Big plays and maybe more ahead from Marquise good Win
Speaker 1: with that Olympic speed. The difference on that one, he's
Speaker 1: tracking that ball. The Demere bird shot down the field.
Speaker 1: He's got to get to that spot. It was thrown
Speaker 1: to a Spidery's guy to go chase that ball down.
Speaker 1: What's harder for a receiver, the tracking or the chasing.
Speaker 1: They're both they're probably equivalent. You know. The first one,
Speaker 1: the Demere it was just just a little long with
Speaker 1: the throw and Demere pride wishes he's had just a
Speaker 1: little bit more. But I mean those are the ones
Speaker 1: where you know, you stay up at night the night
Speaker 1: before the game hoping to get that opportunity. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think we all felt it, oh man, you know again,
Speaker 1: knowing that they might go covers zero there and that
Speaker 1: the guys made a great job of you know, a
Speaker 1: throw and catch and it just missed it, so that
Speaker 1: luckily we had a second chance and on a big
Speaker 1: time play, like you said on fourth and eleven, to
Speaker 1: be able to take the lead. Your job is to
Speaker 1: win games, and your job is developing justin fields for
Speaker 1: now and in the future. So Andy Dutton comes on
Speaker 1: our postgame showing WBBM, and I said, man, you've been
Speaker 1: through a lot. How do you process at all? And
Speaker 1: he said this, I'm in a great place. And what
Speaker 1: a thing to say for a veteran. We know, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's competitive. We know he cannot feel great about the
Speaker 1: position he was put in coming here and how it's
Speaker 1: all transpired. But he goes out there and gets the
Speaker 1: team on the board, puts him a position to win
Speaker 1: on a moment's notice. You expect that from a better
Speaker 1: and that's why he's here. But you've got to know
Speaker 1: him better than we have. I guess you're not surprised
Speaker 1: by that answer. No, not at all. And I mean,
Speaker 1: if there's there's h for all of everybody, you know,
Speaker 1: all of us, myself included, and just for for everybody
Speaker 1: to be able to see in this business and um
Speaker 1: really just in life in general. The positivity that someone
Speaker 1: like Andy brings um to his position, to his role,
Speaker 1: him as a person. He's authentic, he's real when he
Speaker 1: says that, he means every bit of it. He isn't
Speaker 1: a great position, he's he understands, um why things happen
Speaker 1: and and everything. And then I think you know that
Speaker 1: when you handle things the right way, you do things
Speaker 1: the right way, you always talk about, you know, great
Speaker 1: things happen to great people. And yesterday it's unfortunate we
Speaker 1: didn't come out with a win, because Andy be the
Speaker 1: first to tell you that's the only thing that matters.
Speaker 1: At the same point in time, he really helped us
Speaker 1: and gave us a chance there in that situation to
Speaker 1: help us win that game. And and so um, you
Speaker 1: know that's why we're fortunate to have him on this team.
Speaker 1: And I just have a ton of respect for him.
Speaker 1: He may very well start for you on Thursday. We'll
Speaker 1: know more probably tomorrow. What's the status right now this
Speaker 1: evening of Justin Fields. Yeah, you know, you're right, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's getting an understanding of where he's at and
Speaker 1: you know he's definitely in some pain, and said, well,
Speaker 1: we'll continue to work through you know, how he feels,
Speaker 1: what the deal is that's going on with him from
Speaker 1: the injury standpoint with the ribs, and then really every
Speaker 1: every hour, every day that passes, we got to decide, Okay,
Speaker 1: where are you and that includes him, that includes us,
Speaker 1: that includes the doctors and trainers, and and decide what's
Speaker 1: best for him and for us. Have you ever had
Speaker 1: a rib injury as a player? I have not. I
Speaker 1: just had shoulder injuries, but I never did have talked
Speaker 1: to people that I've had it. And I know, you know,
Speaker 1: just like I said this morning, it's sometimes the simplicities
Speaker 1: of life that can hurt you, just with breathing and
Speaker 1: laying down and sleeping and those type of deals. So
Speaker 1: it sounds like it's never fun. Bang bang boom, boom.
Speaker 1: Two catches Jimmy Graham and then the bubble screen out
Speaker 1: to Darnell Mooney. Break that play down as well for
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton, because that really got the sideline jump and
Speaker 1: in emotion and Jimmy Graham's emotion was felt right away
Speaker 1: after that catch. That's what he brings. Your two veterans
Speaker 1: brought what they're supposed to bring in that situation without
Speaker 1: a doubt. I think it was interesting because you have
Speaker 1: that first play on first and ten where Andy comes
Speaker 1: back his first play and throws a nice ball to
Speaker 1: Jimmy who was physical at the top of the route,
Speaker 1: caught the ball, took a nice hit, protected the football,
Speaker 1: and then showed his emotion and his passion right that
Speaker 1: got the sideline going. Very next play, we come back
Speaker 1: on the RPL and we hit Mooney. But the best
Speaker 1: part of that play, other than Mooney's decisive running and speed,
Speaker 1: was the absolute perfect execution of the blocking. The tight
Speaker 1: ends out there are being able to do that, you know,
Speaker 1: just as we asked him to do, and that's what happens,
Speaker 1: you know, really really neat to see, and then for
Speaker 1: Mooney to score like that, we just felt like, you know, okay, great,
Speaker 1: we got a long play, not a twelve play drive,
Speaker 1: a two play series that went. However, many are sevent
Speaker 1: some yards. It was just really nice to have. You
Speaker 1: can feel the emotion on the sideline. Play clock to six,
Speaker 1: low snap, Huntley looking to throw steps up hit as
Speaker 1: these delivers pickups, click from behind, Hey brings him down
Speaker 1: in almost time. I hawk that ball out of there.
Speaker 1: Download the Chicago Bears app to play our new predictor
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Speaker 1: coach Matt Naggie. Jeff jonah akerd one of the three
Speaker 1: and a half sacks of Robert Quinn. Heck of a job.
Speaker 1: Now leaning into the prep for the Detroit Lions Thursday
Speaker 1: at Ford Field. I had an opportunity to do a
Speaker 1: one on one interview with him for our Bears Game
Speaker 1: Day Live show, revealing just what he's all about. He's
Speaker 1: a simple country boy from North Carolina, but with great passion.
Speaker 1: He's lived through a lot, a near death experience with
Speaker 1: a tumor that he's played with his entire career and
Speaker 1: still emotional about that. I think it put a different
Speaker 1: spin on just because because of COVID, we haven't had
Speaker 1: a chance, fans haven't had a chance to get to
Speaker 1: know some of these players like you brought in. But boy,
Speaker 1: you have and Robert Quinn is certainly bouncing back in
Speaker 1: a very dramatic way with ten sacks and ten weeks
Speaker 1: of the season. He is and it's it's a really
Speaker 1: special story for him. It's great for him to be
Speaker 1: able to come back and show what he's all about.
Speaker 1: I know, you know last year was a frustrating year
Speaker 1: for him, but he's really really taking charge this year.
Speaker 1: And you know, he's just playing at such a high level.
Speaker 1: Like you said, he's he's a person that every day
Speaker 1: you walk by and you ask him how he's doing,
Speaker 1: he always just says, I'm breathing. You know, two word,
Speaker 1: I'm breathing. And he keeps life very simple, he keeps
Speaker 1: in his in perspective and I just have a ton
Speaker 1: of respect for how he yourself as a person in
Speaker 1: a player. All right, let's talk secondary because a time
Speaker 1: or two this season there have been communication breakdowns. You
Speaker 1: don't want them, I don't know, you don't expect them.
Speaker 1: I guess in clutch situations, but there were some more yesterday.
Speaker 1: Where's the fix on that? Especially on bunch sets. Bunch sets,
Speaker 1: everybody's got to know the responsibility from the jump. That's
Speaker 1: a difficult one in this league, and teams do a
Speaker 1: lot of damage on bunch sets as you know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, you know that's those are ways to take
Speaker 1: advantage of different coverages, and especially in that moment in
Speaker 1: the game, you want to make sure your communications spot
Speaker 1: on and that there's definitely no one that that's that
Speaker 1: wide open. So we gotta you know that that starts
Speaker 1: with me and making sure that these guys all understand
Speaker 1: the mentality of the communication process and then and then
Speaker 1: the execution part of it. So just just too big
Speaker 1: of a play there at that moment, put them down there,
Speaker 1: too close to be able to go ahead and get
Speaker 1: that touchdown. It's not in your DNA to just throw
Speaker 1: your hands up in the air and say, oh, well, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know how we're gonna fix this.
Speaker 1: I don't know what we're going to do. But coaches
Speaker 1: have to have answers two very difficult questions. Um, do
Speaker 1: you have some in your well you're gonna reach into
Speaker 1: to find a way here. Yeah, well, I mean it's
Speaker 1: it's been you know when you go through these these uh,
Speaker 1: when you when you go through losses like this, the
Speaker 1: only thing you can do is fight. You said, it's
Speaker 1: in your DNA. You either have or you don't. And
Speaker 1: if you have it, it's easy because you just keep fighting,
Speaker 1: you know, until one lands and one lands then then
Speaker 1: you try to hit you you haven't a second one
Speaker 1: that lands. And so if you don't have it and
Speaker 1: you quit, um, you know, you know who I am,
Speaker 1: and you know who our team is, and you know
Speaker 1: how we work as coaches and players, and um that
Speaker 1: that's what we will do. Uh and and that's the
Speaker 1: only thing, that's the only choice we have. So I'm
Speaker 1: you know, it is a quick turnaround and we're right
Speaker 1: back at and you know how to walk through today,
Speaker 1: have another short walk through tomorrow before you know, we're
Speaker 1: on the plane of Detroit. How do you handle team
Speaker 1: wide frustration? You could see it in your face, their
Speaker 1: faces when you stand before them team meetings. How do
Speaker 1: you especially with young guys, they could easily drift and veterans.
Speaker 1: Veterans can make business decisions, sure right, you just you
Speaker 1: just stay honest with every one of them. You're very honest.
Speaker 1: He's key. Um, that's the only that's the only thing
Speaker 1: that you know. These players they understand. They all know
Speaker 1: how hard they work. Um, we as coaches know and
Speaker 1: see how hard everybody works. And so when you're honest
Speaker 1: with them and you don't point fingers, you don't blame. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's it's a lot easier to go out to practice.
Speaker 1: It's a lot easier to go out during game day
Speaker 1: and give it all you have. And that's what our
Speaker 1: guys have done. All right, let's talk Lions. They are
Speaker 1: a tough team. They have a coach that you got
Speaker 1: to know in the first meeting. They've had four games,
Speaker 1: they've held teams under twenty points, held the Browns at thirteen.
Speaker 1: They have a running back that's hot, they got a
Speaker 1: tight end. Don't know who the quarterback is going to be.
Speaker 1: What do you know about Tim Boyle? What do you
Speaker 1: know about the Lions right now? Yeah? Well, you're right.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're they're a team that you know. They
Speaker 1: play Cleveland yesterday and um and held them to a
Speaker 1: low amount of points. I think it's you know, with
Speaker 1: thirteen points, and so we understand that they're they're fighters.
Speaker 1: You know that from from coach Campbell and what he's
Speaker 1: all about. And he's teaching the same message. And it's
Speaker 1: not easy, you know, when you're when you're losing like that.
Speaker 1: But you watch their games and you see, I mean,
Speaker 1: you take the Steelers into overtime in a sloppy game
Speaker 1: and with rain and everything, but that's who they are
Speaker 1: and it doesn't matter, you know. In the NFL. You
Speaker 1: look yesterday and you see the Texans beat the Titans,
Speaker 1: you know, and it does not matter. So what we
Speaker 1: got to do is make sure we're locked in and
Speaker 1: we grow out there and just give it our all,
Speaker 1: all right, appreciate it, matco luck with the prep, Thanks Jefe.
Speaker 1: Single game Bears tickets aren't available. Cheer on the Monsters
Speaker 1: of the Midway live at Soldier Field this season. Visit
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears dot com slash tickets for more information. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to the Bears coaches showing. Because of the short week,
Speaker 1: no coordinator this week, but we got a great man
Speaker 1: in his own right, Lamar Soup. Campbell guy, I've gotten
Speaker 1: to know well over the years, the man we call Sup.
Speaker 1: You're still good with that now that you're a vice president. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I promised I would never change no matter how how
Speaker 1: much I had an opportunity to rise. So yeah, feel
Speaker 1: free to call me Jeff, and always good to be
Speaker 1: with you. Yeah, it's good to see you. And you
Speaker 1: did get a new title as vice president of Player Engagement.
Speaker 1: How significant is that for you given what you've started
Speaker 1: here several years ago and helping with the culture of
Speaker 1: the organization that goes well beyond what happens on the
Speaker 1: playing field. No, I think it's a great honor for me,
Speaker 1: definitely to be a vice president and the one of
Speaker 1: the founding franchise of the founding founding franchise of the
Speaker 1: NFL just sholds a confidence that my general manager and
Speaker 1: my head coach, our chairman George mccasky, our president Ted Phillips,
Speaker 1: believes in me. And it's just a great significant honor
Speaker 1: to me and my family, and I plan on making
Speaker 1: them bear as proud as I move forward. You know,
Speaker 1: as folks listen in and we've had John before, So
Speaker 1: what that player engagement means is all encompassing, and you
Speaker 1: could kind of crystallize and how it changes every day,
Speaker 1: let alone every season. Yeah, I mean I guess one
Speaker 1: of the best. I think what everyone learned coming off
Speaker 1: of COVID the last year and a half is a
Speaker 1: lot of Zoom meetings. So I'm probably in every ZOOM
Speaker 1: meeting in the building. That's one thing that that definitely
Speaker 1: upped up. But you look at the players that we have,
Speaker 1: the organization, where we have, and what we're looking to
Speaker 1: do moving forward. Not only does it encompass the players
Speaker 1: needs and their growth as people and men on and
Speaker 1: off the field, but also the over organizational needs and
Speaker 1: where we grow as a business as well as a
Speaker 1: franchise going into our next one hundred years. So you
Speaker 1: have a five game losing streak that impacts every corner
Speaker 1: and space of Hollis Hall. It affects the organization a
Speaker 1: very profound way. So when you deal one, I want
Speaker 1: the players you played this game at a high level
Speaker 1: as well for the Detroit Lions, you played at Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: You know the game. You are even able to relate
Speaker 1: to these guys in a very unique way. So what's
Speaker 1: your messaging Because it starts obviously with Matt Naggie, but
Speaker 1: then you could put your own spin out it as
Speaker 1: well for guys. Yeah, absolutely, I truly believe self awareness
Speaker 1: is the most powerful tool we have in our toolbox.
Speaker 1: So I believe every day, including myself looking into marriage,
Speaker 1: as well as the players, we have to own what's
Speaker 1: what's in front of us. You know, we look at
Speaker 1: a five game losing street. You know, no one is
Speaker 1: happy about that, But the importance of it is you
Speaker 1: have to get over that emotional hangover quickly and you
Speaker 1: have to continue to move forward. You have to continue
Speaker 1: to communicate, and you also have to continue to set
Speaker 1: the standard. You know, you can't manage the impressions of
Speaker 1: everyone else. You have to be the person that we
Speaker 1: brought you into b and as bears the organization to
Speaker 1: get the ship turned in the right direction. You know,
Speaker 1: do you have You know, like we're all fans, We're
Speaker 1: all fans of the game. So I just asked this
Speaker 1: to Matt on the Coaching Show before you came aboard here.
Speaker 1: You know, they don't have the luxury of the what
Speaker 1: if game. You know, you can sit there and keep
Speaker 1: your eyes open at night and not sleep about it.
Speaker 1: But as players, I'm certain while you know, as a
Speaker 1: defensive player you're taught and it's ingreding you. It's the
Speaker 1: next play mentality, right, you gotta flush it. But after
Speaker 1: a game and they have time to ponder, do they
Speaker 1: come to you with those what ifs? Man, if I
Speaker 1: would have done this, man? And then how do you
Speaker 1: coach them? Yeah? Absolutely. You know one of the things
Speaker 1: that I've learned is time is a thief and when
Speaker 1: it takes, it keeps right. So we have we have
Speaker 1: opportunities every day. You know, I play for the Detroit Lines.
Speaker 1: We have a chance to go and play in front
Speaker 1: of the entire country this Thursday, and I know how
Speaker 1: Lines organization runs. They're going to be prepared this week.
Speaker 1: They play on Thanksgiving every year, they have a three
Speaker 1: game schedule, and we have to decide right now on
Speaker 1: our Thursday what we want to be as a football
Speaker 1: club going there. So it's always about seeds in those moments.
Speaker 1: You have to have that next play mentality. You have
Speaker 1: to have the mettle four to two to move on
Speaker 1: to the next one. And you know, smooth seas never
Speaker 1: made a skill sell them. So you know we've have
Speaker 1: we have we have to get back on the right track.
Speaker 1: We've learned from our mistakes. We have to continue to
Speaker 1: move forward and own it and continue to get better.
Speaker 1: Outs we continue the rest of the season. You gotta
Speaker 1: lay that one on me again. Time is a thief.
Speaker 1: Give me one more time. That's a beauty when it takes,
Speaker 1: it keeps. Wow. I love that. I'm gonna ponder that
Speaker 1: one all day long because time is not something I
Speaker 1: have a lot out of the ponders. So I gotta
Speaker 1: get to work as well as you guys do. All Right,
Speaker 1: you got some guys that are dealing with some really
Speaker 1: significant interruptions in their play. And the first guy my
Speaker 1: heart is really heavy for is Tarik Cohen. He's not
Speaker 1: been able to get back active on the field from
Speaker 1: a significant recovery from last year's ACL He is vibrant,
Speaker 1: he's full of energy, he's always got a smile on
Speaker 1: his face when he's around. The fellas have not spoken
Speaker 1: to him directly since that injury because of the COVID situation.
Speaker 1: But where is he at mentally and does he come
Speaker 1: to you to try to navigate this because as we
Speaker 1: know what players with injuries, it's a lonely journey on
Speaker 1: that recovery. Yeah, you know, I think Jeff, being a
Speaker 1: formal player, you know, I think I think you understanding
Speaker 1: that experience is not only you know, transactional, but also transferable.
Speaker 1: When I want to speak with Tarik, you know, I
Speaker 1: know what those injuries feel like. Reek was part of
Speaker 1: my first rookie class. Only three of us remain of
Speaker 1: that rookie class, myself, Torek, and Eddie Jackson. So relationship
Speaker 1: is strong and he's in as good as places he
Speaker 1: can be. Right, everybody heals a little bit differently, but
Speaker 1: the energy he brings he's still to reak. You love
Speaker 1: that about him. I'm looking forward to getting him back
Speaker 1: on the field. But the conversations are deep. You know.
Speaker 1: You have to understand that when you're mentally injured, when
Speaker 1: you're injured on your knee, it becomes a mental injury, right,
Speaker 1: just as much mental as it is physical. Right. So
Speaker 1: to seat him in that positive space makes me feel
Speaker 1: better and better that he's going to get back on
Speaker 1: track as soon as possible. And that's really where it
Speaker 1: starts mentally. If you say you can, you will, not
Speaker 1: only that, dealing with his own personal tragedy as well.
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely, And I think that's what some people don't
Speaker 1: understand is that a lot of people see the product
Speaker 1: on Sundays, right and as a servant leader here with
Speaker 1: the Bears. You know, I know that there's not a
Speaker 1: one size off it's approach to supporting our players. Every
Speaker 1: player is going to have different things that affect them
Speaker 1: in different ways. And our Chicago fan base a lot
Speaker 1: of time sees what happens on Sunday, but Monday through
Speaker 1: Saturday really the most critical days of the week. Four
Speaker 1: player mentally, physically and emotionally. So the way he's been
Speaker 1: able to handle that, continue to be a phenomenal team teammate,
Speaker 1: continue to grow to be a phenomenal man. Did a
Speaker 1: great job last week, you know, supporting his community and
Speaker 1: giving back. I think that speaks to the character of
Speaker 1: when we drafted Tarik and the character of the man
Speaker 1: he will be when he gets back healthy and helps
Speaker 1: with my ball games. You know, you talk about that
Speaker 1: rookie class that you are a part of as well.
Speaker 1: It's a reminder to every player that walks through that building,
Speaker 1: through the doors that this is a quick turnover league,
Speaker 1: isn't it. Absolutely you share that message with these guys,
Speaker 1: Do you share that absolutely? Absolutely? You know time is
Speaker 1: limited in this game. You're always a play away from
Speaker 1: potentially never playing again, and you know every day we
Speaker 1: have a thousand five to seven hundred thousand decisions that
Speaker 1: we make every day, right, and every day you have
Speaker 1: four or five that are going to be pivotal to
Speaker 1: your future. Right. So I always try to make sure
Speaker 1: that the guys understand. You know, if I get you
Speaker 1: to think about it once, you got a chance, but
Speaker 1: I get you to think about it twice, you're probably
Speaker 1: going to make the right choice. And if I can
Speaker 1: get you to think about it three times, you're definitely
Speaker 1: going to make the right choice. Right. So, whether it's
Speaker 1: it's watching film, whether it's taking care of your body,
Speaker 1: what it's learning how to be a pro. You know,
Speaker 1: one thing that I've learned is that when you become
Speaker 1: a pro, a lot of it is unlearning a lot
Speaker 1: of things you learned before you got here, because something
Speaker 1: you don't translate to the collegiate level to the pro level,
Speaker 1: and you have to unlearn those things and be willing
Speaker 1: to absorable a new thing that are going to make
Speaker 1: you a pro for a long time. So when I
Speaker 1: look at guys in my locker room that are ten
Speaker 1: plus years and I look at a DHC, a Deando
Speaker 1: Houston cars, When I look at guys that have paid
Speaker 1: their dudes and now coming up and showing plays. Look
Speaker 1: at how those guys operate, pick their brain and understand
Speaker 1: that you have to continue to elevate your knowledge and
Speaker 1: understanding of the game and have a humility and a
Speaker 1: confidence to that as well. All right, two guys are
Speaker 1: each end of the spectrum. Tevin Jenkins, a high draft pick,
Speaker 1: moved up to get him second round pick, big expectations,
Speaker 1: hasn't made the field yet because of injury. And then
Speaker 1: you got Kalil Mack first time ever on IR. The
Speaker 1: the ying and yang of that, the the issues that
Speaker 1: are involved with that. Because we know how competitive Khalil is.
Speaker 1: There is no way that man wants to be on IR.
Speaker 1: And we don't know Tevin as well just yet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I think you look at those things the spectrum.
Speaker 1: You look at what Khalil was able to accomplish once
Speaker 1: he's been here, and you look at Teva, who hasn't
Speaker 1: had a chance to really step on the field and
Speaker 1: improve himself there, you know, but the way he's been
Speaker 1: in the locker room, I think at this point you
Speaker 1: look at the character. You know, you look at the
Speaker 1: draft every year and you want talent. You want guys
Speaker 1: that are four too. You want guys that can bench,
Speaker 1: you want guys that can do all those things physically.
Speaker 1: When you look at the core of a football team,
Speaker 1: ultimately is always going to come down to the character
Speaker 1: of the guys. So you look at their character, their
Speaker 1: mental preparation, how much they love the game of football.
Speaker 1: It doesn't become rocket science when you look at how
Speaker 1: these guys are handling the things and troubles that I
Speaker 1: put in front of them, and how they affect their teammates,
Speaker 1: because you can bring a teammate up by watching another
Speaker 1: teammate struggle in a way that they handle it. You
Speaker 1: know a lot of players in the locker room, Jeff,
Speaker 1: we learned through osmosis. A player may not necessarily talk
Speaker 1: to me when I was a rookie, but I watched him,
Speaker 1: and I watched out how guys went about their careers.
Speaker 1: I watched how they handle themselves off the field. I
Speaker 1: watched how they handle themselves in film and in the
Speaker 1: training rooms. And even though they may not have spoken
Speaker 1: to me day in and day out, we're learning through osmosis.
Speaker 1: So when you have character guys in the locker room
Speaker 1: like that, and guys are watching how they're moving around
Speaker 1: the building. I think that pays you dividends. On Sunday,
Speaker 1: back on the Bears Coaches Show, Jeff Johnny act with
Speaker 1: Bears Vice President of Player Engagement, Lamar Sup Campbell soup back.
Speaker 1: Can listen to you talk for hours. You got a
Speaker 1: lot to you here, So let's let's do some quick hitters.
Speaker 1: Obviously you help players with a variety of issues personal, professional.
Speaker 1: What have you learned about yourself during this whole time
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of teams going on. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I think no. I walk into every day and I
Speaker 1: pride myself that to learn from them as much as
Speaker 1: I hope that they learn from me. Right, and listen
Speaker 1: to what my guys are saying. You know, a lot
Speaker 1: of people communicate, a very few people connect, right, And
Speaker 1: it's about connecting. You can speak, you can speak, but
Speaker 1: all you're really connecting with the guys that you're speaking with,
Speaker 1: you know, every day, and understand that the small wins counts.
Speaker 1: And I think learning about myself is that I have
Speaker 1: to continue to be a sponge, right, you can you
Speaker 1: can never get stagnant in this game. We have a
Speaker 1: lot of things that will affect the game long term.
Speaker 1: We have college athletes getting ready to come into the
Speaker 1: NFL that are going to be nil athletes. You have
Speaker 1: a young that could be a millionaire coming into my
Speaker 1: locker room. How does that affect us on the scouting side?
Speaker 1: How does that affect his character? You know the old
Speaker 1: same money makes you who you really are? Is he
Speaker 1: the same type of player that we're looking at? Then
Speaker 1: it also understands you're going to have a marketing director
Speaker 1: that's going to be affecting these players when they're eighteen
Speaker 1: years old, sow does How does that affect college choices?
Speaker 1: How does that affect pro choices? So understanding that in
Speaker 1: this role to be highly educated and understanding what the
Speaker 1: new trends are, it's very vital for me to be
Speaker 1: successful and make sure I'm helping the organization anyway that
Speaker 1: I can. I'm sure some of that's already leaked into
Speaker 1: this twenty twenty one class with Justin Fields being such
Speaker 1: a high, high caliber athlete and a draw. So have
Speaker 1: you already had to manage some of that? Absolutely? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I'm a Justin you know, coming out Ohio State. You
Speaker 1: know it's phenomenal. We all know his store. We all
Speaker 1: know where he's been for us this year. But I
Speaker 1: think it's a prayer to have to know that Justin's
Speaker 1: still a young man. You know, Justin still have to
Speaker 1: grow as a person, who still has to grow as
Speaker 1: a player. And I think not only myself with the
Speaker 1: organization has full confidence and making sure that we're providing
Speaker 1: a platform for him to be nothing but successful while
Speaker 1: he's a Chicago Bear. Now it's time to look ahead.
Speaker 1: Brought to you by Bette Rivers, the official sports book
Speaker 1: partner of the Bears. It's almost a matter of convenience
Speaker 1: that you are a former Detroit Lion, the first team
Speaker 1: that the Lions ever hosted on Thanksgiving in nineteen thirty
Speaker 1: four with the Bears in the inaugural game. And you know,
Speaker 1: you're an undrafted free agent and you meet it in
Speaker 1: the Lion's organization five years there. What does it mean
Speaker 1: to you they had to Detroit this Thanksgiving? No, it
Speaker 1: it means a lot a lot of history there. You know,
Speaker 1: as I said, I got there as a free agent,
Speaker 1: came into camp with nothing to lose, and it was
Speaker 1: blessed to make that roster as a special teams guy.
Speaker 1: And I think if you look at the way that
Speaker 1: I was able to break into the league understanding the
Speaker 1: importance of the little things. Right. I was not the fastest,
Speaker 1: I was not the biggest, but the understanding of the
Speaker 1: work ethic and I think I'll try to take that
Speaker 1: throughout my entire career. So having an opportunity to go
Speaker 1: back to Detroit where my career started, where I was
Speaker 1: able to actually be a starter when we opened up
Speaker 1: for field is always nostalgic to me. They're going to
Speaker 1: be a prepared football team. We had to be prepared
Speaker 1: as well. But it's a big game for them. You know,
Speaker 1: we weren't a great team when I was there at Detroit.
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving was our super Bowl game a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: and I believe they're going to go on with that
Speaker 1: mentality this year, especially because they haven't had a win
Speaker 1: yet this season. Yeah, that's always a pressure moment, you know,
Speaker 1: for both teams actually in this case, But Soup, we
Speaker 1: could do a whole hour with you because you know,
Speaker 1: you just scratch my curiosity on the nil stuff, because
Speaker 1: that is going to be a big, big topic. We
Speaker 1: could do a whole show just on that because there's
Speaker 1: a lot of positives. But there is potentially built in
Speaker 1: negatives with that one as well. My last question, then
Speaker 1: we gotta let you go give me a short answer
Speaker 1: if you can. You've done a lot here in a
Speaker 1: short time, no question about it. You've polished up and
Speaker 1: really become a significant part of this organization. What would
Speaker 1: you like to accomplish next? Um BO for the city
Speaker 1: of Chicago. I mean, that's my goal every year. I
Speaker 1: have my vision board in front of me every year
Speaker 1: and a Super Bowl trophy is in the middle of it,
Speaker 1: and my goal is to bring a championship to the
Speaker 1: city of Chicago. That's what I would definitely like to
Speaker 1: accomplish next. And I'm gonna put my effort into that
Speaker 1: as much as I can more and forward you and DHC.
Speaker 1: Dhc's got a vision board too since he was a
Speaker 1: little guy something to shoot for soup. It was a
Speaker 1: wonderful conversation. I hope to have you on again. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Always a pleasure. Jeff, Thanks again, I'll see you soon.
Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for tonight's show. Thanks to our
Speaker 1: producers Dan Burrelli, Jordan Trudop, Andy Gersher, and Keith Johnson
Speaker 1: for head coach Matteggie and Vice President of Player Engagement
Speaker 1: Lamar Campbell. I'm Jeff Joniac Bears Lions, Thursday, Thanksgiving Morning
Speaker 1: at eight thirty with a pregame eleven thirty the kickoff.
Speaker 1: This has been The Bears Coaches Show and News Radio
Speaker 1: one oh five nine w BBM. Good night, everybody,