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Speaker 3: There, It's Bears Browns and thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3: A big matchup Sunday along Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland,
Speaker 3: Ohio for the week fifteen Bears Brown's Matchup. And this
Speaker 3: is Bears Weekly with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom.
Speaker 4: There.
Speaker 5: I'm Jeff Jonniack.
Speaker 3: Thanks to our producers Jordan tread Up and Dan Burrily
Speaker 3: from the Bears And Tonight at the ESPN one thousand Studios,
Speaker 3: Jack McGrath and Sean. Our executive producer of the Bears
Speaker 3: Radio Network is Eric Ostrowski Coming up tonight we visit
Speaker 3: with Bears cornerback Jalen Johnson and later in the program
Speaker 3: big time former Browns quarterback Brunie Kosar from Our Bears, Etc.
Speaker 3: Podcast that we tape this week tonight. All right, So
Speaker 3: the Bears going to Cleveland as underdogs as they've been
Speaker 3: all season long, but that line keeps shrinking, Tom, not
Speaker 3: that we're into that, but the Browns have nine starters
Speaker 3: out if you take out guys like Deshaun Watson, Nick
Speaker 3: Chubb and some really good defensive players losing Grant del
Speaker 3: but its safety, twelve players of note on their injured reserve,
Speaker 3: and their their top three tackles are out.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but you know, I think everybody's accustomed to that
Speaker 6: in the in the football business, because you know that
Speaker 6: everybody's not going to have a perfect rosser at this
Speaker 6: time of the season. I mean, it's just like the Bears,
Speaker 6: you know, just a mid stride and Yannick and Gotaway
Speaker 6: comes up and he's injured and he's out of the lineup,
Speaker 6: So how do you make changes accordingly? And I think
Speaker 6: everybody is faced with those types of injury issues throughout
Speaker 6: the course of the season. To me, did Cleveland win
Speaker 6: last week. I mean, they got a quarterback that's thirty
Speaker 6: eight years old that's just come aboard. They have injury
Speaker 6: issues up and down their roster, but they still go
Speaker 6: out there and play a super brand of competitive football.
Speaker 6: And they're playing at home where they get great support.
Speaker 6: So just because there's injuries on the side of the
Speaker 6: Cleveland Browns, I wouldn't take them any less seriously than
Speaker 6: I would if they had a healthy roster Week one.
Speaker 5: Right now, this will be the fourth consecutive game.
Speaker 3: It just occurred to me if I had my math straight,
Speaker 3: the Bears played the Lions twice and.
Speaker 5: The Vikings and now going to play Cleveland.
Speaker 3: Those are currently as the season ends today, there's four
Speaker 3: playoff teams. The Bears have a chance here. Should have
Speaker 3: beat Detroit the first time, beat Minnesota, beat Detroit. If
Speaker 3: they beat Cleveland, they will have beaten What now if
Speaker 3: the season ended today and it doesn't December?
Speaker 5: Football is weird that way. I mean, what perspective.
Speaker 3: Does that give you about how these guys have come together?
Speaker 7: You know?
Speaker 6: I just like the whole fact that they've been improving
Speaker 6: throughout the course of the season, and Matt Eber flew
Speaker 6: the head coach has never lost the locker room. They're
Speaker 6: working in a positive direction in segments and team and
Speaker 6: aspects of this group are making significant improvements week in
Speaker 6: and week out. So you look at the Minnesota Vikings,
Speaker 6: they had a backup quarterback in the mix and the
Speaker 6: Bears were able to take advantage of them. Now the
Speaker 6: Cleveland Browns, they have a backup, well, a newly a
Speaker 6: board quarterback that's in the mix, and they have to
Speaker 6: do the same the Joe Flacco. But when you look
Speaker 6: at what they did against the Detroit Lions and a
Speaker 6: quarterback that was probably playing as good as any quarterback
Speaker 6: in the league, the Bears were able to take advantage
Speaker 6: of him as well.
Speaker 3: We're going to break this thing down with our coordinators
Speaker 3: every Thursday. They speak at Hallisaw so we get snippets
Speaker 3: of it. Luke Getzi right in your alley, asked about
Speaker 3: the offensive line. This will be the fourth straight game
Speaker 3: that the Bears offensive line is it's currently constituted, it
Speaker 3: has played the other That seems odd, but you feel them,
Speaker 3: You feel the difference they're making.
Speaker 5: Here's the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 8: You're definitely seeing that chemistry, communication, the different styles of defenses,
Speaker 8: that we've play put some some put extreme circumstances out
Speaker 8: there that the communication has.
Speaker 4: To be on point.
Speaker 8: And when you play next to each other, you know,
Speaker 8: sometimes you don't have to speak those words.
Speaker 4: You just know what each other are gonna do.
Speaker 8: And so I think that's the long term benefit of
Speaker 8: those guys playing next to each other, that that well,
Speaker 8: even that will happen even more. But what you know,
Speaker 8: the short term part of it is absolutely we're seeing
Speaker 8: the benefit of it, you know, and you have the
Speaker 8: just that free play.
Speaker 4: Just take that play alone.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that play alone was the fourth and thirteen free
Speaker 3: play conversion to DJ Moore. You played it, and you
Speaker 3: played it well at a level that's beyond expectations. These days,
Speaker 3: seven straight years, you guys barely miss a snap together.
Speaker 3: You're same five. I mean, this is this is baby
Speaker 3: steps in terms of continuity with four.
Speaker 5: How encouraged are you?
Speaker 6: Oh, I'm super encouraged.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 6: The first game I was getting ready to start for
Speaker 6: the Chicago Bears, Jay Hilgenberg the center came up to
Speaker 6: me and said, remember, you do my job first and
Speaker 6: then you do your own. And it's kind of just
Speaker 6: chemistry type of talk because when they had the discipline
Speaker 6: to stay on sides when the defensive lineman from Detroit
Speaker 6: jumped and it gave him the opportunity for that free play.
Speaker 6: I don't think people understand how much discipline that takes,
Speaker 6: because the first thing you want to do as an
Speaker 6: offensive lineman is if you get a guy jumping off
Speaker 6: sides is kind of overreact to them. They didn't do that.
Speaker 6: They kind of fell into place with their protection and
Speaker 6: justin read it accordingly saw DJ down the field for
Speaker 6: a touchdown throw and it became one of the biggest
Speaker 6: plays in the game.
Speaker 3: But Tevin Jenkins has been graded out very high during
Speaker 3: his time this season, moving on both sides of the
Speaker 3: line eight games, and then Darnell Wright with really maybe
Speaker 3: his best game of the season last week.
Speaker 6: But you know, I think when you talk about chemistry,
Speaker 6: and I joke about Jay saying do my job first,
Speaker 6: I think this is what I was kind of getting at,
Speaker 6: as the fact that Tevin Jenkins and Nate Davis they
Speaker 6: have to really pay attention to the offensive tackles in
Speaker 6: this game because first of all, they have to identify
Speaker 6: where Miles Garrett is lined up, and they have to
Speaker 6: understand and if they have any freedom, if they have
Speaker 6: a bubble over them, they're gonna have to have all
Speaker 6: eyes approach on Miles Garrett. And so when you look
Speaker 6: at Tevin Jenkins and you look at Nate Davis, you're
Speaker 6: gonna have to really take into account where Miles is
Speaker 6: so you can help these offensive tackles the most.
Speaker 3: AND's a Darius Smith. He may be on the other
Speaker 3: side of thirty, but he's still a threat. As Luke
Speaker 3: Getzi outline, it's not just Miles Garrett, it's also big Z.
Speaker 4: It's not just him.
Speaker 8: I mean they're it's they give us a report each
Speaker 8: week and I think they were like number one, and
Speaker 8: like every defense is statistic in the league.
Speaker 4: So I was like, this is gonna be fun.
Speaker 8: Right, And then then you go out there and you
Speaker 8: have ninety five and ninety nine staring down at you
Speaker 8: at the same time. But they're no, that's it's fun.
Speaker 8: And I think this is this is like, this is
Speaker 8: why you do what you do. You want to play
Speaker 8: against the best, and I think this is, yes, you
Speaker 8: have those two, those two you have to account for
Speaker 8: at all times. There's no question about it that when
Speaker 8: you're when you're going up against some guys like that
Speaker 8: that your game plan has to be fit centered around
Speaker 8: those two guys.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they are number one in eight different categories, but
Speaker 3: in recent weeks they're giving up a lot of points.
Speaker 6: Right. You know, when Jeff So, when Reggie White was
Speaker 6: in the NFL, who was the defensive end that played
Speaker 6: on the opposite side of him? You don't know, You
Speaker 6: can't remember anyway, you weren't concerned about that defense was
Speaker 6: on the opposite side. It was he played here for
Speaker 6: a while. I'll think of him in a minute. However,
Speaker 6: I'm just saying back to Miles Garrett, you have to
Speaker 6: be one hundred percent assured that you have as many
Speaker 6: hands and eyes on Miles Garrett as you can have
Speaker 6: in that sometimes you're going to have some difficult circumstances
Speaker 6: for the opposite offensive tackle who's going to have to
Speaker 6: block the Zadarias Smith by himself. So again, it's about
Speaker 6: all due respect to Smith, but it's about Miles Garrett
Speaker 6: that you're going to have to have complete awareness of.
Speaker 3: All Right, we're going to take a break our first
Speaker 3: here on Bears Weekly. When we come back, we'll hear
Speaker 3: from cornerback Jalen Johnson, My sit down interview with him
Speaker 3: for our Bears Game Day Live show. Now you'll see
Speaker 3: and hear on Sunday from Cleveland on Fox thirty two Chicago.
Speaker 3: With Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniak. This is Bears Weekly
Speaker 3: on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Jona on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network. This is Bears Weekly with a
Speaker 1: voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff jon
Speaker 1: on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
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Speaker 3: getting ready for the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 5: Coming into the break, Tom was trying.
Speaker 3: To figure out who played opposite Reggie White, and you
Speaker 3: say it was Clyde Simmons.
Speaker 5: Yeah, as one of.
Speaker 6: The man he was one of them because Reggie played
Speaker 6: at Green Bay, Reggie played, you know, in other places. However,
Speaker 6: I'm just getting back to the Miles Garrett comparison with
Speaker 6: a guy like Reggie White, that when you're that awesome,
Speaker 6: that's where your focus begins.
Speaker 3: All right, We got to talk about Ja Kwon Brisker
Speaker 3: before we get to Jalen here real quick, because he
Speaker 3: is hitting and.
Speaker 5: Playing like a linebacker.
Speaker 3: He's playing as his inspirational and motivated and loud defensive players.
Speaker 5: You can get.
Speaker 3: They gave him eighteen tackles from the coaches. See they
Speaker 3: don't give those stats out anymore. Once upon a time
Speaker 3: you'd get the league stats and then on Tuesday you'd
Speaker 3: get with the defensive coaches gave and the numbers were
Speaker 3: usually elevated, which helps the player out know those are
Speaker 3: kept secret. But when a guy gets seventeen tackles like that,
Speaker 3: the coach eber Flues said, yeah, we had him for eighteen.
Speaker 3: This is Dave Borgonzi on Jakwan Brisker's impact on the defense.
Speaker 9: Just the physicality and the tempo that he sets for
Speaker 9: the rest of the guys. I mean he's a safety,
Speaker 9: but I mean he plays like you said, the way
Speaker 9: he hits and how physically is it's like a linebacker.
Speaker 2: We've had safeties in the league.
Speaker 4: That have played like that.
Speaker 9: But he's also a good cover player, So I think
Speaker 9: he's got the unique combination of can play in the box,
Speaker 9: he can play the run, he's physically can tackle bigger backs,
Speaker 9: and he can also cover and just Jakwan's mentality I
Speaker 9: think is awesome.
Speaker 2: Again.
Speaker 9: I talked about TJ and Tremaine about how they prepare
Speaker 9: in Jaquan's the same way. Football is important to him
Speaker 9: and how he prepares I think positively affects him how
Speaker 9: he plays on Sunday.
Speaker 3: All right, So there's a lot on the table for
Speaker 3: him on Sunday. Actually, because the Browns are physical, they
Speaker 3: like to run the ball. How they running it the
Speaker 3: way they did with Nick Chubb. No, but they have
Speaker 3: capable running backs and Kareem Hunts the change up to
Speaker 3: Jerome Ford right now, everybody knows what Hunt is like.
Speaker 3: And David and Joku. We don't talk enough about David
Speaker 3: and Joke with the tight end position. Uniquely gifted athlete.
Speaker 6: Kind of makes me, gives me the most concerns for
Speaker 6: a quarterback that's just come aboard because if you want
Speaker 6: to talk about matchups, that it's difficult to match up
Speaker 6: against in terms of a linebacker with tight end speed
Speaker 6: or defensive back to the size that cover a line
Speaker 6: or a tight end. You know that's you know, Joe
Speaker 6: go to guy right now. And so it's going to
Speaker 6: be interesting to see what the Bears do. But you're
Speaker 6: not going to do anything without getting pressure on the quarterback.
Speaker 6: So everything has to match up with each other. And
Speaker 6: I think when you look at a guy like Jakwan Brisker,
Speaker 6: because he's not exclusively a defensive back, he can play
Speaker 6: at the first, second, or third level that I think
Speaker 6: that's why you know he's the guy that creates interesting
Speaker 6: matchups because he never gives away actually who he's going
Speaker 6: to cover.
Speaker 5: And I wonder who Jalen's gonna cover.
Speaker 3: Jalen Johnson Amari Cooper is the guy that's the most
Speaker 3: targeted so far with Flakley at fourteen targets only seven
Speaker 3: catches last week out of those fourteen, but on an
Speaker 3: array of different types of receivers. But overall, Jalen Johnson's
Speaker 3: been playing at a very high level this season. Pro
Speaker 3: Football Focus says he's the number one cover corner this
Speaker 3: point in the NFL. Here's my conversation with a Bears
Speaker 3: starting corner. Would you agree this is a dangerous team
Speaker 3: right now?
Speaker 4: Yeah? For sure.
Speaker 3: I mean forget about that. I mean, it's a handful
Speaker 3: of games and see what happens.
Speaker 4: Do you feel that way?
Speaker 10: No, definitely, I think honestly, I think teams are I
Speaker 10: won't even say scared, but it's a little unknown I
Speaker 10: think of what type of team we are because I
Speaker 10: think we've given teams plenty of problems and I think
Speaker 10: it's always about us not finishing. And I think that
Speaker 10: it can be scary for teams to go into scout
Speaker 10: because it's like you look at the record and just
Speaker 10: naturally you want to think like, Okay, they're not that good,
Speaker 10: but then you kind of watch the game, it's like, nah,
Speaker 10: they're good. They just don't finish it. They just find
Speaker 10: ways in a sense to lose the game. But I
Speaker 10: think now when you start kind of changing that narrative
Speaker 10: towards the end of the season, now it's like, Okay,
Speaker 10: now this team.
Speaker 2: Is pretty good.
Speaker 10: They just had a rough start. So I mean, just
Speaker 10: for us, just got to continue to find ways to finish.
Speaker 10: And I think that after we do that, I think
Speaker 10: we'll be a very dangerous team.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, I went back before the season and looked
Speaker 3: up everybody's record on this roster and there ain't been
Speaker 3: many guys that had a winning record.
Speaker 5: And I think over time that.
Speaker 2: Will get better.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean, I think it just comes with experience.
Speaker 10: I mean even I think if you look from the
Speaker 10: top down, I think everybody's in newer positions. I mean,
Speaker 10: even start with Ryan Poles. He is the first year
Speaker 10: GM coach. Flues is the first year head coach. So
Speaker 10: it's like there's a lot of people that are in
Speaker 10: newer positions that are still that have been around winning,
Speaker 10: but for like you said, being in it yourself and
Speaker 10: actually having to drive that boat and be the leader
Speaker 10: and be that that dude that shows teams how to
Speaker 10: win or show your players and things like that, and
Speaker 10: we're all I think we're all building it together. I
Speaker 10: think it's just a matter of getting the right pieces.
Speaker 10: And I think we have the right pieces. We just
Speaker 10: got to continue to gel together and continue to go
Speaker 10: through these experiences and then really just have to kick
Speaker 10: the door down mentality, because I mean, we've been knocking
Speaker 10: out the door so many times, and just throughout this
Speaker 10: season it's knocking out the door. But at some point
Speaker 10: we got to take that step to kick the door down.
Speaker 5: I love your confidence. You came in the league that way, honest.
Speaker 4: You have to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, right, like you're twenty four, right, you don't look
Speaker 3: you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: I'm just saying you just have a way about.
Speaker 3: You and your confidence of going to a podium, and
Speaker 3: you know it can be looked at many different ways,
Speaker 3: saying yeah, I think I'm the best corner in league.
Speaker 3: I'm going to be the best corner in the league.
Speaker 3: I think there's a few guys in this league, this
Speaker 3: is what you said over the most of your career
Speaker 3: that could cover better than me.
Speaker 2: But I've got the truth is the truth.
Speaker 5: The truth is the truth.
Speaker 2: Right, Like your catch.
Speaker 3: Rate all four years is in the fifty seven to
Speaker 3: fifty four percent range, which is outstanding. Guys are catching
Speaker 3: the ball when it's thrown in your direction.
Speaker 5: They have a battle with you. How I mean the.
Speaker 2: Facts or the factions four years of it right, right?
Speaker 2: Do you agree?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 10: I mean, honestly, that's what That's what I prot myself
Speaker 10: in doing. I think when it comes to covering, coming
Speaker 10: to challenging and really going getting after wide receivers, I
Speaker 10: mean that's what that's what I've always wanted to do.
Speaker 10: I mean, just in college, that's what I did, and
Speaker 10: I think just coming down to the league, nothing nothing
Speaker 10: for me. Changes, continue to perfect my craft, continue to
Speaker 10: get smarter and learn offenses, learn different concepts, and I
Speaker 10: think that's what has took me over the top this year,
Speaker 10: really learning and what the offense was to do, learning
Speaker 10: situational ball. But I mean, honestly, just all comes down
Speaker 10: to them of just being a dog and competing.
Speaker 5: How about this too this year.
Speaker 3: It hasn't been much over the course of your career,
Speaker 3: but less than one hundred yards. You after the catch,
Speaker 3: alout what's going on there?
Speaker 2: I mean sticky covered. I mean if they do catch it.
Speaker 10: A few times that they do catch it, I think
Speaker 10: it's one of those I'm right there on them, so
Speaker 10: just being able to get them down right away. But
Speaker 10: I mean, honestly, you just got to be in the
Speaker 10: right position. I mean sometimes you're gonna get them the
Speaker 10: catches and then just when you do, you got to
Speaker 10: get them down.
Speaker 3: Or you had a two interception game against Vegas, you
Speaker 3: had the interception against Minnesota.
Speaker 5: That's been a big, a big point right.
Speaker 1: For you too?
Speaker 3: You think you too, And you know you made a
Speaker 3: comment a couple of weeks ago like I don't know
Speaker 3: what's going on with a couple drops and you're gonna
Speaker 3: go back to you know, is it is it a
Speaker 3: Darnell Mooney hit the jugs gun every day type of situation. Well,
Speaker 3: I mean it's a little different when you're a receiver
Speaker 3: in a corner.
Speaker 2: But what have you learned about that part of it?
Speaker 2: About your game in your hands?
Speaker 10: Honestly, really just getting in that point. I mean I
Speaker 10: feel up until this year, I have had too many
Speaker 10: of those opportunities.
Speaker 2: Really in the game.
Speaker 10: Slowing, slowing down when you get to that point.
Speaker 2: I think that's the biggest part.
Speaker 10: I mean, sometimes, especially as the DV, you got to react,
Speaker 10: you got to go fast, but just in that moment
Speaker 10: of catching, because I mean I have I have pretty
Speaker 10: good hands, but at times, I know, especially its Minnesota,
Speaker 10: thinking about the end zone, to think about what I'm
Speaker 10: gonna do after It's like now you just got to
Speaker 10: see it all the way in first. So it's like
Speaker 10: not getting those game reps. I think I feel like
Speaker 10: we're shown clearly, but just as the project is just
Speaker 10: continuing too. Every time I catch, make sure I'm looking
Speaker 10: the ball all the way in. And honestly, speaking of
Speaker 10: the morning he we are catching a few weeks ago,
Speaker 10: and he showed me this thing that he does, and
Speaker 10: he was like, every time he catches it, he calls
Speaker 10: what he sees, and it's like, does he sees spaces
Speaker 10: or laces? So I mean, even so we've called a
Speaker 10: few times out of practice and just when I am
Speaker 10: catching with the quarterbacks and things, I just always want
Speaker 10: to catch it and in a sense call out what
Speaker 10: I see. So definitely credits to him and giving me
Speaker 10: some of those wide receiver tips. But I think that's
Speaker 10: the biggest thing, just being able to focus and slow,
Speaker 10: slow down in that catch porn and just call out
Speaker 10: what I see.
Speaker 3: Best moment that's happened to you as a Bear and
Speaker 3: you're worst.
Speaker 10: I would probably say, Walter Payton, man you nominee. Yeah,
Speaker 10: I'll probably say that one worst moment, I would say
Speaker 10: my rookie year we played actually with Detroit. We played
Speaker 10: Detroit and if I'm not mistaken, I gave up I
Speaker 10: want to say, maybe.
Speaker 2: Two touchdowns.
Speaker 10: One of them was a scrambled drill fifty fifty he
Speaker 10: caught it whatever, and then the second one crunch time
Speaker 10: in a sense, just wasn't in the right position reading
Speaker 10: the concept, ended up throwing the ball. I felt in
Speaker 10: between me and the safety, but it was supposed to
Speaker 10: be my coverage. And then they scored and then I
Speaker 10: think that and I ain't even think they ended up
Speaker 10: winning that game, so I would probably say that was
Speaker 10: I would say my worst moment.
Speaker 5: Everybody's got a good, no worse, that's for sure.
Speaker 6: You know, it's amazed me when I listened to that
Speaker 6: interview and you say you look older, I because he's
Speaker 6: still a young man twenty four years old. Then you
Speaker 6: think of how young Jaquan is, how young Carl Gordon is,
Speaker 6: how young Tarique Stevenson is, how young Terrell Smith is.
Speaker 6: This is a young defensive backfield. And then I because
Speaker 6: as we are sitting here, I was looking up the
Speaker 6: age of Eddie Jackson. They say he's thirty years old.
Speaker 6: I don't. I it's hard for me to believe. But
Speaker 6: it's a young defensive backfield, and it's a talented defensive backfield.
Speaker 6: So I guess when you throw out the statistics of
Speaker 6: the way Jalen is playing, you know the proof is
Speaker 6: in the number. So he's having a great start of
Speaker 6: his career, and you know he should be proud of
Speaker 6: himself because there's a lot of responsibility at the defensive back,
Speaker 6: in the cornerback position, specifically to go out there and
Speaker 6: be able to play in the NFL.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is crazy, this whole age thing, especially when
Speaker 3: you talk about a thirty eight year old quarterback. The
Speaker 3: Bears will be facing in Joe Flacco on Sunday, and
Speaker 3: he's thrown to guys like David Bell was seven years
Speaker 3: old when Flacco got drafted in the first round. So
Speaker 3: that's the weirdness of having these veteran quarterbacks. All right,
Speaker 3: when we come back, we'll listen into the special teams
Speaker 3: component of this matchup between the Bears and the Cleveland
Speaker 3: Browns with Tom Tahre. I'm Jeff Joniac here on Bears
Speaker 3: Weekly on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by CDW.
Speaker 3: If people to get it with Tom Jeff Joniac as
Speaker 3: we get you said for Bears and Brown's heard from
Speaker 3: Richard High Tower this week, the NFL, I guess is
Speaker 3: concerned about the kick returns.
Speaker 5: They're way down, way way down.
Speaker 3: The biggest number of a single return, guys, sixteen returns.
Speaker 3: They usually get into the thirties. We know how we
Speaker 3: feel about it. It's ruining it.
Speaker 6: Don't put me on an open mic about that topic
Speaker 6: because you know where I'm gonna go.
Speaker 3: Here's Richard high Tower, the Bear special teams coordinator.
Speaker 11: Yeah. I mean, I think it's something we got to
Speaker 11: look at in the off season.
Speaker 2: Obviously.
Speaker 11: I think Troy's desired result and the leagus desired result
Speaker 11: is we wanted Lee wanted to kick returns to go down,
Speaker 11: which has happened. I still feel like it's a phenomenal play.
Speaker 11: Is very exciting. Hopefully Devin gets in the hall soon
Speaker 11: because he made that play what it is today. Because
Speaker 11: it's just a phenomenal football play. We want to keep
Speaker 11: the foot.
Speaker 2: In the game.
Speaker 11: I mean, they call it football for a reason because
Speaker 11: you kick the ball. So we want to look at it,
Speaker 11: and we want to look at it in the off
Speaker 11: season and see how we can make the play even better.
Speaker 11: And I think everybody wants to keep the foot in
Speaker 11: the game, so that's the way I would address it.
Speaker 11: And as the weather changes, I mean, I think the
Speaker 11: returns that went down early, but as the weather changes,
Speaker 11: the returns are going to start to go up. Now,
Speaker 11: so we'll just see how it is. What we're visited
Speaker 11: after the season.
Speaker 3: Troy Vincent of the NFL office says the kickoff rule
Speaker 3: change is gone too far in terms of reducing the returns.
Speaker 3: They want to find a better middle ground. I think
Speaker 3: also those who don't recall the great Gail Sayers man,
Speaker 3: he was unstoppable returning kicks. Devin revolutionized how teams tried
Speaker 3: to defend the kick return coverage.
Speaker 6: Billy Whites, Shoes, Johnson, Ricky up Church, There's Gail Says,
Speaker 6: Dante Hall, Dante Hall, There's Carderio Patterson, Desmond Howard. I
Speaker 6: mean just just you know, Tim Brown. So there's there's
Speaker 6: tons of guys. You know, it's the most difficult running
Speaker 6: play to be taught by a coach. And that's what is.
Speaker 6: You catch the kickoff and then you have assignments to
Speaker 6: every one of the other ten guys, and you're designed
Speaker 6: a running play point of attack, creating a lane, sustaining
Speaker 6: a block head placement and all that. It's difficult to
Speaker 6: coach and for them to try to take it out
Speaker 6: of the game, it's just embarrassing.
Speaker 3: Well it is, and it's deflating because you think about it,
Speaker 3: you start the game, crowds to rock you kick on
Speaker 3: the sales out of the back of the end zone
Speaker 3: or on a few occasions because there haven't been many
Speaker 3: a fair catch.
Speaker 5: It just it's a buzzkill.
Speaker 3: And coming out at halftime, same thing, keep pointing the game.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's strategy that's going out the window. Remember
Speaker 3: the game against the Vikings with Adrian Peterson.
Speaker 5: It was an unbelievable game. He had a great.
Speaker 3: Game run of the play and they put him back
Speaker 3: the return of kickoffs, right, I mean the DJ Moore
Speaker 3: could do the.
Speaker 6: Same Walter's done. Walter did it in his career.
Speaker 5: And it's on the name of safety.
Speaker 3: Don't you think in a punp return is not as
Speaker 3: safe as a kickoff return?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean if listen, if you're gonna put the
Speaker 6: blame game on an aspect of football that you say
Speaker 6: is too dangerous, I don't think kickoff return is the
Speaker 6: way to go about it. Again, I don't know what's
Speaker 6: the difference. One. I played on every single kickoff return
Speaker 6: throughout my whole career, and that's when you could have
Speaker 6: the wedge. So yeah, then they took the wedge apart.
Speaker 6: Now they try to dissect the process of the return
Speaker 6: to make it safer. It's just just a ridiculous, ridiculous
Speaker 6: way that people that have never played the game are
Speaker 6: trying to make make the game.
Speaker 3: Say for Eric Metcalf, yeah, I mean he was so exciting.
Speaker 3: It's the excitement factor. It's something strategy in your pocket.
Speaker 6: One of the greatest games in Chicago Bear history was
Speaker 6: an overtime kickoff return by David Williams against the Detroit
Speaker 6: Lions on Thanksgiving. Yeah, and it was a kickoff return
Speaker 6: that decided that game. So we have a lot of
Speaker 6: different complaints, but I guess the.
Speaker 5: Kicking game is going to be big.
Speaker 3: You know, you can make a case because it's a
Speaker 3: Russ Belt town, Cleveland by the Lake like Chicago, that
Speaker 3: that stadium and that stadium is it's challenging, but the
Speaker 3: wins that Soldier Field are definitely harder to navigate. The
Speaker 3: turf which has changed in a very positive way with
Speaker 3: the Bermuda grass now. But they got a really good
Speaker 3: kicker in Dustin Hopkins. The Bears have a really good
Speaker 3: kicker in Cairo Santos. Their special teams coordinator, the former
Speaker 3: player Bubba Van Trone, says absolutely Hopkins should be a
Speaker 3: pro bowler. He's hit eight of eight from fifty plus,
Speaker 3: but he's forgetting the Cairo is seven for seven, So
Speaker 3: you know, they're both having great years. And hey, this
Speaker 3: could be the type of game because of the wild card,
Speaker 3: with injuries on their side of the fence, this could
Speaker 3: be a game that decides by a field goal.
Speaker 6: The whole end of the season, they're all outdoor games,
Speaker 6: and you know, kickers, they become a different, you know,
Speaker 6: type of a kicking animal when conditions get unfavorable. So
Speaker 6: whether it's the footing for the punter, the plant step
Speaker 6: for a kicker, or whatever the case may be.
Speaker 3: The Bear special teams unit has improved over the course
Speaker 3: of the season. Tom and there you talked about the
Speaker 3: young secondary. Some of those guys are playing on special teams.
Speaker 3: They've gotten defensive snaps like Elijah Hicks. Elijah Hicks is
Speaker 3: a very emotional player on special teams. He was pointing
Speaker 3: that out by Richard high Tower. You've got Blackwell, he's outstanding,
Speaker 3: very very good player.
Speaker 5: I mean, we can go down the list.
Speaker 6: Eric Stevenson fumble in the Detroit.
Speaker 3: Game, Oshawn Johnson, he's out there, he's you know, this
Speaker 3: is a very this is the beginning of something.
Speaker 5: It is really with all these young.
Speaker 6: Players right well, you know, listen, if you are a starter,
Speaker 6: you have to be willing to contribute on special teams,
Speaker 6: whether you're in a starting role or in a backup position,
Speaker 6: and probably during the course of the season, your number
Speaker 6: is going to be called just because out of a
Speaker 6: need in numbers in a game. So I think it's
Speaker 6: as equally as important role. Even if you're only designed
Speaker 6: to do one play, you gotta do it right and
Speaker 6: you have to understand what your assignment is.
Speaker 3: Coming up next to our sit down with Bernie Kosar
Speaker 3: from our Bears et Cetera podcast. A portion of that
Speaker 3: thirty seven minute interview coming up next here on Bears
Speaker 3: Weekly on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletical
Speaker 3: Business with Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request the
Speaker 3: name clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 3: He was one of the best quarterbacks during an era
Speaker 3: where the Cleveland Browns were you know, they were contenders
Speaker 3: until the Denver Broncos and John Elway took it away
Speaker 3: from them several times, but Bernie Costar was the guy
Speaker 3: running the show. He's got perspective, he watches a lot
Speaker 3: of football. He is very close to Tom and I
Speaker 3: from his days coming over in our booth and Tom
Speaker 3: obviously playing in the same era. Bernie was a nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty five draft pick out of the University of Miami
Speaker 3: down in Florida, and we've had some really good times.
Speaker 3: He's also battled a lot physically and emotionally. Some of
Speaker 3: that here in this interview on Bears Weekly.
Speaker 7: To see Joe Flacco in a Cleveland Brown uniform and
Speaker 7: playing in the old Cleveland Brown Stadium is a little
Speaker 7: unique and challenging to some of us CTEED or TBI
Speaker 7: Kincustle quarterbacks. But seeing him on the Brown side of
Speaker 7: things as opposed to the Ravens and our last year.
Speaker 7: We were mortified when he was playing for the Jets
Speaker 7: and had that miracle comeback against the Browns last year.
Speaker 7: The way our defense is playing, where our offensive line
Speaker 7: is playing, and to see Joe Flacco, who literally two
Speaker 7: and a half weeks ago was sitting on his couch
Speaker 7: and now to see now, to see him throwing and
Speaker 7: to see him throwing.
Speaker 2: And I'm not trying.
Speaker 7: To say this guy's to be a homer or to
Speaker 7: strike up this Browns Bears thing. I'm really just talking
Speaker 7: about it from the ultimate respect of an old quarterback
Speaker 7: watching another quarterback play. To see him throw on the
Speaker 7: skinny bangate post that he threw a couple times against
Speaker 7: the Rams two weeks ago, and then what he was
Speaker 7: doing last weekend's game, and to have that sense of
Speaker 7: timing to be able to hit those balls now, with
Speaker 7: that sense of timing now, it's really impressive after all
Speaker 7: those years in the league that he's still able to
Speaker 7: make those type of throws and away coach Stefanski and
Speaker 7: our offense and coach Callahan's been handled. We've had a
Speaker 7: ton of injuries on the offensive line, and with Tom
Speaker 7: on the call here, I'd love to see what he
Speaker 7: thinks about our offensive line. I mean, we're on the
Speaker 7: third level of third string, yet our offensive line is
Speaker 7: dominating and given Joe Flacco with the running game time
Speaker 7: so the.
Speaker 2: Play action pass and being an.
Speaker 7: Old school quarterback, drop back pocket quarterback with offensive line
Speaker 7: play with guys that you have only been there as
Speaker 7: a little amount of time as Joe Flacco.
Speaker 2: It's actually really impressive, Hey, Bernie.
Speaker 12: My last year in Miami, Steve de Berg and I
Speaker 12: came aboard the same time in Miami.
Speaker 13: He practiced for four days and then he was able
Speaker 13: to start a game.
Speaker 12: You look at the similarities with the age and Joe
Speaker 12: Flacco's experience.
Speaker 13: So does Joe Flacco come in and tell Stefanski.
Speaker 12: To plays the types of patterns he likes the most
Speaker 12: and then you build upon that, or does Joe Flacco
Speaker 12: have to invest himself in the terminology of the Cleveland
Speaker 12: Browns playbook in play by their rules.
Speaker 7: So I'm gonna get to that ladder question, my man.
Speaker 7: But I wanted to get back to that nineteen ninety
Speaker 7: three Steve Denberg coming and learning that system in.
Speaker 2: For four days and play that.
Speaker 7: Awesome guard Tom Fair and stuff, because Bertie Costar gonna
Speaker 7: whap that year too. Okay, So I was getting to
Speaker 7: talk to by the Dolphins too.
Speaker 2: So as me and Steve de Berg were debating between.
Speaker 7: The Dolphins and the Cowboys and stuff, Steve ended up at.
Speaker 2: The Dolphins and stuff I could have handled.
Speaker 7: I could went from I gotta went from Jay Hilgenberg
Speaker 7: taking snaps down.
Speaker 14: The cover out there, okay, but as it pertains to
Speaker 14: the play calling and the system, and with Joe Flaccom,
Speaker 14: he's gonna want to.
Speaker 4: There were some.
Speaker 2: Cute things that happened towards the end of our Browns game.
Speaker 7: We had a fourth and two where we went forward
Speaker 7: on a plus forty yard line ended up hitting it
Speaker 7: for a touchdown.
Speaker 2: When they blew the coverage last week and stuff.
Speaker 7: And you can see the excitement of coach the fans
Speaker 7: get running down the field.
Speaker 2: You can see the excitement Joe Flaccom fetching.
Speaker 7: Qbs and the respect they the coaches tend to have
Speaker 7: for us older qbs. I could see them really tailoring
Speaker 7: game plans now that are really in Joe's sweet spot,
Speaker 7: stuff that he really feels good at doing.
Speaker 2: And again, not the bear see these things.
Speaker 7: But again he's thirty eight years old, and whether he's
Speaker 7: the Browns quarterback or.
Speaker 2: Not, I'm not smiling.
Speaker 7: I'm not giving these glowing statements. I'm massively impressed. Tom
Speaker 7: As we were waiting for you to get on air
Speaker 7: here I was joking with Jeff and stuff off air.
Speaker 7: I can't believe how he's throwing the skinny post. I mean,
Speaker 7: he's sitting on the couch two and a half weeks ago.
Speaker 7: Now he's throwing Bang Aids off off of a five
Speaker 7: step drop, throwing him like he's a twenty three year
Speaker 7: old guy with what such arm talent.
Speaker 2: It's super impressive.
Speaker 3: To watch Miles Garrett though he scares us now. He
Speaker 3: scared us in Justin's first NFL start, and Tom has
Speaker 3: many opinions on what happened in that start, but he
Speaker 3: was hit fifteen times, sack nine times. Garrett had four
Speaker 3: and a half of those sects and hit him six times.
Speaker 3: I think he's healthy, but is he having an MVP
Speaker 3: type season?
Speaker 6: For you?
Speaker 3: And what awaits the Bears when they take on that
Speaker 3: rounds front four?
Speaker 2: So I love, of.
Speaker 7: Course, we love Miles Scarett. There's no denying his awesomeness
Speaker 7: and how he's been playing the Bears. And Miles is
Speaker 7: a tough guy.
Speaker 2: He's not complaining at all.
Speaker 7: You know about his injuries and stuff, but he does
Speaker 7: have a shoulder injury.
Speaker 2: That the Bears know about and the old knows about.
Speaker 7: And he's been playing probably at eighty ish percent. So
Speaker 7: the last week or two, you know, getting an eighty
Speaker 7: percent Miles Garrett given one hundred percent effort, but physically
Speaker 7: that's maybe not as dominant.
Speaker 2: As we saw a month ago. When you have a.
Speaker 7: Tom you remember the old fresh legs perspective and good health.
Speaker 2: And stuff of it. But you mentioned the Justin Fields.
Speaker 7: First game against Miles Garrett in the four and a
Speaker 7: half sacks to fifteen hits.
Speaker 2: Let's see again.
Speaker 7: I'm not allowing to pick on that system, okay, but
Speaker 7: that system on set up at all for success for
Speaker 7: Justin Fields as a young quarterback. I think it's actually
Speaker 7: sinful to put.
Speaker 2: That young man in that spot.
Speaker 7: Back then, and that really retards his potential chance and growth.
Speaker 2: Right then. So again, I'm a Browns.
Speaker 7: Fan, so that bears that bodes well for us, but I.
Speaker 2: Don't like to see a young man like that bet in.
Speaker 7: His development and we put kind of in a system
Speaker 7: back then that.
Speaker 2: Man he should have been.
Speaker 7: And you guys, you're still suffering of the ramifications of
Speaker 7: the repercussions of that system and those hits. Because Livid,
Speaker 7: I'm looking at you, Jeff right and the eyes as
Speaker 7: we're on screen now, but thus QB's you know, I
Speaker 7: don't want to goofy you on camera here.
Speaker 2: But thus QB's gonna look up. We're looking past the
Speaker 2: Mike climberriers. They're looking in.
Speaker 7: Almost to the screen, and we're trying to see the
Speaker 7: whole picture.
Speaker 2: That's easier said than done. And I'm still doing that now.
Speaker 7: But when the play starts and guys are covering around
Speaker 7: you and stuff and that old system and Justin Field's that.
Speaker 2: Day got hit fifteen times and I got four and
Speaker 2: a half sacks by Miles Garrett Man, the eyes have
Speaker 2: to drop, they have to come down. And when you're
Speaker 2: a QB.
Speaker 7: And now I'm hovering and I see Tom Payer's backside.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's a negative sign. Quarterbacks we want to we don't.
Speaker 7: And I mean this in the most respect that Jay Hildelberg,
Speaker 7: who who blocked next to uh Tom.
Speaker 2: Also, I got the honor put my hands under his
Speaker 2: backside and stuff.
Speaker 7: I never saw those guys because they were so good.
Speaker 2: You knew they You didn't have to drop your eyes out.
Speaker 2: Justin Field's early.
Speaker 7: In his career, when he's developing his confidence, his self esteem.
Speaker 2: You know I've used it. I used the phrase you
Speaker 2: matter a lot here in Cleveland.
Speaker 7: It's not from the University of Miami it's because you matter.
Speaker 7: And us quarterbacks we were acting like we're always calm
Speaker 7: and we have our self belief, but their self confidence
Speaker 7: and self esteem, and if you don't have it, your
Speaker 7: eyes drop.
Speaker 2: You don't have a belief that the play's gonna hold up.
Speaker 7: You don't have a belief that the offensive line is
Speaker 7: going to hold up together.
Speaker 2: So you drop your eyes down and you.
Speaker 7: Take a look for Miles Garrett. And that makes for
Speaker 7: it a horrible day if you're a Bears fan, and
Speaker 7: make sure a great day if you're a Browns fan.
Speaker 2: Sw we love the slew, we love the NFL.
Speaker 13: So you've taken your career from consideration.
Speaker 2: You take it.
Speaker 12: You look at the tough guy image of that era
Speaker 12: of football, You think of the quarterback position, and then
Speaker 12: you think what Tom Brady said two weeks ago and
Speaker 12: the state of the toughness in preparation of the modern
Speaker 12: day NFL. Do you have any reaction towards what he said,
Speaker 12: and do you agree or disagree with it?
Speaker 7: Tom of the old school, the old school QBS.
Speaker 2: Now there's I probably could get.
Speaker 7: A little long winded on this answer, you know, And
Speaker 7: as I look at some of these old creatium and
Speaker 7: flaming mixtures of me behind me and stuff of the
Speaker 7: old days. We were joking, you know, me and you
Speaker 7: and Jeff joke on air and off air for more
Speaker 7: than the last decade about some of the health issues
Speaker 7: that we've gone through. The we go through and proudly
Speaker 7: what we did when we played. And I don't want
Speaker 7: to see guys get hit like we got hit, and
Speaker 7: it's kind of the Barbari gladiator days of it. But
Speaker 7: I am super proud to be sitting here, to be healthy,
Speaker 7: to be cognitively present. You know, after forty surgeries, eighty
Speaker 7: broken bones, hack one hundred concussions, had fifteen seizures. I
Speaker 7: had my last two seizures at the O'Hare Airport.
Speaker 2: I was at a coma for.
Speaker 7: Ninety six hours coming from a concussion evaluation with the
Speaker 7: NFL docs.
Speaker 2: So I don't want to see these younger quarterbacks.
Speaker 7: Go through some of the stuff that I'm going through
Speaker 7: health wise and kind of what I've been doing on
Speaker 7: my health and wellness journey to come out of it. Heck,
Speaker 7: the great quarterback Jim McMahon, I've been looking at his
Speaker 7: ankle and some of the stuff that you know, he's
Speaker 7: going through with his rehab on us trying to be
Speaker 7: healthy now on that God, one of your old teammates
Speaker 7: that you used to block, Steve McMichael, you know, and
Speaker 7: what he's going through. So there's so many of those
Speaker 7: type gladiator issues that some of our friends aren't doing
Speaker 7: well with that.
Speaker 12: You know.
Speaker 7: I'm super proud to be cognitively present and to be
Speaker 7: basically physically pretty good. But boy, Tom, you know some
Speaker 7: of the stuff that we went through and some of
Speaker 7: our friends are going through now. It's awesome that you
Speaker 7: and me are able to be on air today and
Speaker 7: talk decently articularly, but God, so many of our friends
Speaker 7: aren't able to do that. So when I hear statements
Speaker 7: like that, I kind of feel proud.
Speaker 4: To be here.
Speaker 7: I hear Tom Brady make those statements. The physical thing
Speaker 7: I think is okay. But one of the things that
Speaker 7: maybe he's maybe referring to is because they don't maybe
Speaker 7: practice as much. And actually see this a little bit
Speaker 7: in the development of Justin Fields in Chicago. I'm a big,
Speaker 7: big fan of your QB there, and I love his athleticism.
Speaker 7: I love the way he plays in his presence. But
Speaker 7: maybe Tom your question and what Tom Brady's may be
Speaker 7: referring to is his level of coaching and the system
Speaker 7: that he got early in his career, and the attention
Speaker 7: to detail and almost the obsessiveness that we had with
Speaker 7: knowledge and practice back in the day, you know, yeahvs
Speaker 7: on top of that Gladiator target killer, be killed attitude
Speaker 7: from the physical side, but boy frim the mental side.
Speaker 7: It was a master's program of practice and intelligence from
Speaker 7: the x'es and o's. And I see that kind of
Speaker 7: lacking a little bit in what they're teaching the younger quarterbacks,
Speaker 7: and they're asking him really tonant learn the whole field,
Speaker 7: in the whole game, like Tom Brady, like myself was
Speaker 7: kind of groomed, and that's.
Speaker 2: Kind of limiting two young quarterbacks. And then I see
Speaker 2: guys like you know, Justin Field's kind.
Speaker 7: Of struggling early in his development because of I think
Speaker 7: some of those statements like that Tom Brady's making about
Speaker 7: maybe the development of the coaching of it isn't what
Speaker 7: it's what it's up to.
Speaker 2: Part.
Speaker 3: Nothing's been easy for you, has it? And I mean,
Speaker 3: you look fantastic, number one. Number one, just look really
Speaker 3: good and healthy and happy. So first and foremost are
Speaker 3: you are you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I am, thanks Jeff.
Speaker 7: You know you mentioned you know, you mentioned the co
Speaker 7: Star coffee and stuff.
Speaker 2: I don't do that for a shameless.
Speaker 5: Plug in that what's in it?
Speaker 2: But well, you know what's.
Speaker 7: In it is I infuse and I have a patent
Speaker 7: with some great partners and stuff, and I've become a
Speaker 7: holistic kind of healer in the late third quarter, early
Speaker 7: fourth quarter of my life.
Speaker 2: I mean I joked about it. So we infuse.
Speaker 7: Vitamin D and resveratrol. So I'm not a drinker anymore.
Speaker 7: Resveratroll is the top anti that you find in red wine,
Speaker 7: so as a moderate vita mixed juicer. Now as a
Speaker 7: guy who's had forty surgeries eighty broken bones, I was
Speaker 7: saying earlier the hunter concussions, fourteen seizures, that last one
Speaker 7: in Chicago that I was telling you about earlier in
Speaker 7: a comb for ninety six hours. I mean that was
Speaker 7: five and a half years ago, twenty seventeen. About twenty seventeen,
Speaker 7: I was told that I have four years left a
Speaker 7: cognitive brain function. You guys remember when you and me
Speaker 7: we used to do the shows six seven, eight years ago,
Speaker 7: nine years ago. I was okay, but man, I could
Speaker 7: really annuncia, articulate, tommunikey, any.
Speaker 2: Multiple syllable words.
Speaker 7: So four years ago when I was told I had
Speaker 7: five years left a cognitive brain function, when the doctors
Speaker 7: in the Chicago hospital said, hey, man, you're a tough guy.
Speaker 7: You're doing great. Keep up with your prescriptions protocols.
Speaker 2: Man, I was on like sixty some pills a day.
Speaker 7: I was close to a thousand milligrams scripted of oshi
Speaker 7: contin's adderalls by Vance. So now to not have taken
Speaker 7: a pillm five years, to have figured out how to
Speaker 7: be juicing and stuff and how to do smart supplementation
Speaker 7: kind of with my Coasar wellness, my coas Art coffee,
Speaker 7: I've really been able to almost slow down the deterioration
Speaker 7: of my cogitate decline, and physically I've been really feeling good.
Speaker 12: So your name is recognized around our country, you know,
Speaker 12: whether you say Bernie or you say Cozar. And everything
Speaker 12: you were able to accomplish on the football field, you
Speaker 12: may looked offward throwing the ball, but you threw it
Speaker 12: in the right spot. Everything that you have accomplished over
Speaker 12: the last few years, and as well as Jeff and
Speaker 12: I A know youa it overshadows everything you were able
Speaker 12: to accomplish on the football field, and I have nothing
Speaker 12: but admiration, and I can't wait for the people to
Speaker 12: be able to hear your story and to listen to
Speaker 12: you and understand what you've overcome and how your arrow
Speaker 12: is pointed up. And I tell you what I can't
Speaker 12: say enoughing tell you how much I appreciate you for it.
Speaker 2: Thank you, brother, I appreciate you.
Speaker 5: Guys, Well you didn't hear there.
Speaker 3: He was in Atlanta this week with Commissioner Goodell, who
Speaker 3: will be at the game on Sunday along with Michael
Speaker 3: Vick and some other quarterbacks as they inspire Change, which
Speaker 3: is an NFL initiative here this month. So he's doing
Speaker 3: a lot of different things. He's not sitting around, that's
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 6: You know, there's a lot of people that aren't athletes
Speaker 6: that are going through struggles in their life. And if
Speaker 6: you could ever pass on an interview to a person
Speaker 6: that needs some quality advice or some assurances that if
Speaker 6: you do the right things, you can turn things around.
Speaker 6: I think that's what Bernie impressed me most with because
Speaker 6: we saw him at times where we are looking at
Speaker 6: him going wow, is everything okay with him. Listen, everything
Speaker 6: wasn't okay this interview, everything was okay. Yeah, he was
Speaker 6: a clearly speaking, intelligent guy that is really on the
Speaker 6: right track to recovery. And I just couldn't be more
Speaker 6: happy for a guy that I really enjoy his company.
Speaker 5: That's Tom There. I'm Jeff Jonniak.
Speaker 3: One more segments to go as you break down the
Speaker 3: Bears and Browns on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3: Want VIP access to every Bears home game, exclusive seating,
Speaker 3: sideline credentials, and more now available to get the ultimate
Speaker 3: VIP fan package this season by visiting Chicago Bears vip
Speaker 3: dot Com. Jeff and Tom our final segment before we
Speaker 3: get you sent for Bears and Browns. Dave Borgonzi talked
Speaker 3: a lot about the linebackers and that's his position of strength.
Speaker 3: He's the guy at the podium this week without the
Speaker 3: true defensive coordinator that is a Matt Eberflus's job. But
Speaker 3: he's got a trio of guys that we love, and
Speaker 3: I love Noah Suwele's potential as well. But Tremaine Edmunds
Speaker 3: flashing some really good play as a heavy investment in
Speaker 3: free agency.
Speaker 5: Same with t J.
Speaker 3: Edwards having a Pro Bowl year and Jack Sanborn makes plays.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: Just a great trio. As we listen in the Dave
Speaker 3: Barganzi explain.
Speaker 9: They're really close. Really, the whole group is close. And
Speaker 9: then Tremaine and TJ. Uh, you know, coming from different
Speaker 9: places last year, the bond really started when they got here.
Speaker 4: Uh, it's really there.
Speaker 9: Their love for football, they love competing, they love practicing. Uh,
Speaker 9: they love getting ready for the games. So and they
Speaker 9: are competitive with each other, which which really works for
Speaker 9: the whole room. So right now we're gonna take away
Speaker 9: competition amongst the linebackers. So they're they're competing against each other,
Speaker 9: which is great and that's and really that's the formula
Speaker 9: win games. You know, what we talk about is hustle, intensity, takeaways,
Speaker 9: smart situational football. Uh, and the takeaways that's the best
Speaker 9: at and ball that correlates the most to winning.
Speaker 4: And it's something that we practice and it's something we take.
Speaker 2: A lot of product.
Speaker 5: What do you think of this trio?
Speaker 6: You know, they're super inspirational to this football team because
Speaker 6: I think they came aboard the beginning of the year.
Speaker 6: They were receiving some criticism, but they never let the
Speaker 6: criticism get them down. And then when you look at
Speaker 6: them through mint season, they started to approve at such
Speaker 6: a high rate that they started to be talked about
Speaker 6: around the league as one of the better segments of
Speaker 6: the Bears defense. Now you look at their performance late
Speaker 6: in the season, they are one of the bet best
Speaker 6: linebacking trios in all of the league. But then the
Speaker 6: influence they have on the younger guys that are in
Speaker 6: the room, because Borganzi said, this is a good room,
Speaker 6: and you have to have a positive atmosphere from the
Speaker 6: veterans to make sure the rookies and the young guys
Speaker 6: keep included. Because I do think that you know eventually
Speaker 6: when you get your rep or you're going out there,
Speaker 6: you're competing, you're working the show team, and you're playing
Speaker 6: at a high level because the guys in front of
Speaker 6: you are committed and playing at a high level themselves.
Speaker 3: And Dylan Cole veteran also in that group as well.
Speaker 3: He also talked about the speed of Tremaine Edmunds and
Speaker 3: that's starting to show.
Speaker 5: They're cutting him loose a little bit. On the blitz.
Speaker 3: I was teasing coach Eberflus on the on the Bears,
Speaker 3: a set of a podcast on Monday. Hey keep coming,
Speaker 3: you know, because you bring him down the middle of
Speaker 3: a blitz against a quarterback with his hands up, he's
Speaker 3: six ' five plus the range. And then if you
Speaker 3: happen to Stunt Montes, who's almost sixty seven with thirty
Speaker 3: six inch arms, and then oh, by the way, Gervon
Speaker 3: Dexter is sixty six with length your cloud and vision,
Speaker 3: you're taking away lanes, aren't you.
Speaker 6: Well, anytime you give a linebacker that big a running
Speaker 6: start at an offensive lineman that has a one on one,
Speaker 6: you're gonna create some type of advantage. You talk about
Speaker 6: the height that's gonna throw take away a throwing lane.
Speaker 6: If the offensive lineman over commits and the defense of
Speaker 6: the linebackers able to avoid him, then he's bringing pressure
Speaker 6: on the quarterback and putting him on the run. So
Speaker 6: there's a lot of elements of a blitz by interior
Speaker 6: linebacker that can be effective as the defensive lineman out
Speaker 6: of his stands.
Speaker 5: All right, let's go into the game real quick here
Speaker 5: before we go.
Speaker 3: So obviously, Miles Garrett, the Brons defense very good. It's
Speaker 3: all it all starts with him really and the guys
Speaker 3: up front, and then Greg Newsham out of Northwestern playing
Speaker 3: some good corner along with Martin Emasher and Junior. Last
Speaker 3: week they combined for three interceptions and three pass breakups
Speaker 3: in addition to those three. So they're playing some good ball,
Speaker 3: but they're they're losing their their safety. Grant Delpit right now,
Speaker 3: I mean, that's that's big. He's out for the year.
Speaker 3: How do you attack this defense?
Speaker 6: First of all, have awareness of Miles Garrett. Then you
Speaker 6: have to make sure that you don't have a rhythmic
Speaker 6: snap count to give them the advantage off of the
Speaker 6: line of scrimmage. And then I think you have to
Speaker 6: have a similar game plan approach like you did against
Speaker 6: the Raiders, when you have to think of those guys
Speaker 6: having a dynamic, full effort at defensive end. So how
Speaker 6: do you run plays away from him? How do you
Speaker 6: make them, you know, have no responsibility inside of a
Speaker 6: play when you get the ball out of the quarterback's
Speaker 6: hands immediately, how do you run those types of design
Speaker 6: sweeps to DJ Moore that you're basically running away from
Speaker 6: Miles Garrett. So I think it's the creativeness and the
Speaker 6: design of the plays by Luke Getzi to make sure
Speaker 6: that you don't put Miles Garrett in the position to succeed.
Speaker 3: Darn Harmon is going to play for the Browns too.
Speaker 3: He was here, he was in Detroit, and now he's
Speaker 3: in Cleveland. This league is stunning.
Speaker 6: Well, you know the thing about it is, you know,
Speaker 6: Cleveland has a lot of faith in the pressure that
Speaker 6: they can put on the quarterback. So no matter who
Speaker 6: they have in the defensive backfield, they believe that they
Speaker 6: can make up the time with the pressure, so they
Speaker 6: don't have to add the time to the defensive coverage.
Speaker 3: So their offensive tackles their fourth and fifth string.
Speaker 5: That's just the honest truth about that. Right now.
Speaker 3: Joel Atonio, thirty two year old guard, and Wyatt tell
Speaker 3: her he's a nasty guy at guard. He knocked down
Speaker 3: one guy with two guys with one punch. He got
Speaker 3: the linebacker and the safety in one. He's a little nasty.
Speaker 3: But you got Joe Flacco. So if you can get
Speaker 3: him off his spot and make him be the mobile
Speaker 3: quarterback that he is not, then I think you're going
Speaker 3: to have a good day.
Speaker 6: Make him rely on his athleticism, which is not his strength,
Speaker 6: but you also have to try to challenge his conditioning.
Speaker 6: I don't care how much work that he's done in
Speaker 6: preparation of waiting to get his number called. There's nothing
Speaker 6: like being fatigued, and then that kind of affects all
Speaker 6: of your fundamentals of being a football player. Now, if
Speaker 6: you throw the ball awkwardly, if your arm's moving slow,
Speaker 6: if you don't have a lot of juice on the pass,
Speaker 6: those types of things you can take advantage of.
Speaker 3: Brown's play well at home, and they also have done
Speaker 3: a nice job beating teams in close games. So something
Speaker 3: to keep an eye on. We'll have it for you
Speaker 3: starting at twelve o'clock our kickoff Bears and Browns in Cleveland.
Speaker 5: That's going to do it for us.
Speaker 3: I want to thank you and our guest Bernie Kosar,
Speaker 3: also the Jalen Johnson for Tom there, I'm Jeff Joniyek.
Speaker 5: Thanks to all our producers.
Speaker 3: Coming up next Black and Abdala here and ESPN Chicago
Speaker 3: and the Bears Radio Network and