Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears official
Speaker 1: mobile app for up to the minute Bears content every
Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. Your all
Speaker 1: access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Athletical
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. I really love that promo right there,
Speaker 1: right before we got on here. That kind of gets
Speaker 1: you jacked up about the impact of this game. Drama,
Speaker 1: dripping and gripping as the Bears get ready to meet
Speaker 1: the Green Bay Packers for a right to go to
Speaker 1: the playoff. Both teams right now situated at one and
Speaker 1: seven in the NFC Playoff picture. My broadcast partner Tom there,
Speaker 1: welcoming you too, Bears All Access brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy with our producer Adam Studzinski, thanks to Dan
Speaker 1: Barelli and Jordan tread Up. Tom, let me take your
Speaker 1: temperature right now where yet? Mentally? Oh, you know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: It's been fun really to approach this game because I
Speaker 1: really believe in what the Bears have been able to
Speaker 1: do in the last couple of weeks. It puts a
Speaker 1: whole different flavor to this game. If it was a
Speaker 1: stagnant offense going nowhere and you're accounting on the emotions
Speaker 1: of the division to carry you over the top, that's
Speaker 1: not necessarily what you need. You need the same improvements
Speaker 1: that you had the last couple of weeks. You need
Speaker 1: Mitchell Trubisky to be the most confident player on the field.
Speaker 1: You need everybody else to have a hand in the
Speaker 1: movement and the motion of the football, and the defense
Speaker 1: has to have a hand in stopping the football, tackling
Speaker 1: to perfection, making sure every one of their responsibilities are fulfilled,
Speaker 1: praying and hoping. Chuck Bagano is aggressive every single chance
Speaker 1: he gets. I do not want to see a three
Speaker 1: man line after Aaron Rodgers where he's just waiting to
Speaker 1: see where he's not going to throw it. Not necessarily
Speaker 1: that he has to throw it. So there's a lot
Speaker 1: of emotions that are built into this game. But I'm
Speaker 1: as excited for a Bears Packer contest this late in
Speaker 1: the season as as excited as I bet in a
Speaker 1: long time. To me, it boils down to some things
Speaker 1: that will get into deeper but it's stopping their run
Speaker 1: or at least containing it so that they just don't
Speaker 1: have the ability to keep beyond edge every single second,
Speaker 1: which the mere presence of number twelve does that anyway,
Speaker 1: and the Bear's ability to do so against a improving
Speaker 1: run defense, or at least an adjusting run defense like
Speaker 1: they did adjust to Derrick Henry with more beef up front,
Speaker 1: they are giving up a lot of yards per carry
Speaker 1: for the season four point six seven. That's still in
Speaker 1: the twenties in the NFL. But they seem to me
Speaker 1: to have gotten a little better stop of the run,
Speaker 1: and the Bears will have to establish the run. They
Speaker 1: have to. Yeah, but you know the thing about it too,
Speaker 1: The Bears are different monster in terms of just the
Speaker 1: ground game, and they were the first time they played
Speaker 1: Green Bay, or even what they were three or four
Speaker 1: weeks ago. So when you see what green or what
Speaker 1: the Bears are capable of now, either the configuration of
Speaker 1: the running game, the configuration of an interior power running game,
Speaker 1: and the athleticism of Mitchell Trubisky the defensive, Green Bay
Speaker 1: has a lot more thinking to do before the balls
Speaker 1: ever snapped, rather than just concentrating on trying to race
Speaker 1: to the quarterback. That's in the tackle box behind center.
Speaker 1: There has been a dramatic change. It's been talked about
Speaker 1: at length Allan Robinson to daytime on the dramatic change
Speaker 1: in how this offense has turned on a dime. It's
Speaker 1: not something that you can pinpoint, you know, I think
Speaker 1: across the board, you know, I think once we started
Speaker 1: get the run game established and then started being able
Speaker 1: to create some explosives, you know, started getting some first
Speaker 1: downs on first downs, you know, we didn't get we
Speaker 1: didn't get into as many third and longs and third
Speaker 1: now situations became more manageable. Once we again started getting
Speaker 1: more explosives, you know, we started getting in the ras
Speaker 1: on more. Once you get to the rest on, more
Speaker 1: able to run the ball and things like that. You know,
Speaker 1: your resin efficiency goes up because you're able to run
Speaker 1: in pass, you know. So across the board, it was
Speaker 1: tough to pinpoint one thing because we've gotten better at
Speaker 1: you know, offensively, really every category statistically across the board.
Speaker 1: So again I got said before, Man, I think it's
Speaker 1: just a true testament to everybody going out there and
Speaker 1: putting the work in east and every day and trying
Speaker 1: to get different results and trying to change what wasn't
Speaker 1: happened early on in the season. So a lot of
Speaker 1: dominoes fell there is he went step by step to you,
Speaker 1: what is the most significant domino to start the chain
Speaker 1: of events that has happened over the last three or
Speaker 1: four weeks. You know, listen, I don't want to sound
Speaker 1: just like I'm supporting a guy because he went to
Speaker 1: Notre Dame or he's an offensive lineman. But this what
Speaker 1: Sam Mustafer has done for at the center position. He's
Speaker 1: made Cody a more powerful football player at offensive guard.
Speaker 1: He's been able to use the time spent together between
Speaker 1: he and Alex bars in the time they invested in
Speaker 1: college is paying off as on a professional level. And
Speaker 1: the ability to again an interior point of attack running game,
Speaker 1: so David Montgomery can hit the hole in stride and
Speaker 1: convert it to a lot of extra yards. And then
Speaker 1: the snap factor for Mitchell Trubisky. If you look at
Speaker 1: the consistency on every shotgun snap since Sam has been
Speaker 1: in there, it's a consistent hip, high spiral snap. Now
Speaker 1: Mitch is not focusing on the flight of the football
Speaker 1: because it's coming at you oblong. It's coming at you
Speaker 1: in a spiral manner, so he's catching it, controlling and
Speaker 1: looking downfield without ever having to take his eyes off
Speaker 1: in when they're moving around, when they're trying to move
Speaker 1: before the cadence to either get into a blitz position
Speaker 1: or even trying to disguise coverage. So I know it's not,
Speaker 1: you know, a sexy position, but listen, man our man
Speaker 1: Sam Mustaffer is given some consistency. And again I remember
Speaker 1: you saying at five to survive with five games left,
Speaker 1: if he can find five offensive line and that would
Speaker 1: survive the rest of the season. And yeah, it's something
Speaker 1: that's stuck with me, and it's still part of their improvement.
Speaker 1: Five to surviving. Five are thriving. And today word that
Speaker 1: Bobby Massey will be getting activated off injured reserve, and
Speaker 1: so he'd become available, and not necessarily for this game,
Speaker 1: but another guy to throw into the mix, possibly for
Speaker 1: a playoff for the Chicago Bears. Mitch's twenty twenty journey
Speaker 1: significant with the start to sit down, the slide, coming back,
Speaker 1: working his way back, and now putting together an offense
Speaker 1: that's averaging thirty five points a game, certainly taking notice
Speaker 1: around the Lake. Heard from Aaron Rodgers today, Tom he said,
Speaker 1: this is a big Chicago versus a little Green Bay.
Speaker 1: You know, already starting at twist, twist and knife a
Speaker 1: little bit. But he says he does appreciate the rivalry.
Speaker 1: It's it's something signify. He likes playing here. He likes
Speaker 1: the fans uncertain, certainly no fans here, but he does
Speaker 1: like the environment. Yeah. I mean, when you look thro
Speaker 1: youre talking specifically about the population of the two home downs,
Speaker 1: you are talking about little against big. But I know
Speaker 1: what Aaron Rodgers the cyclo trying to say, and wy're
Speaker 1: trying to try to needle all of us. But as
Speaker 1: a player, as confidently as he is, he's got that right,
Speaker 1: Yes he does. Coming up next will be joined by
Speaker 1: Tom Silverstein, the writer for the Milwaukee Journal Senter who
Speaker 1: was covering the Packers for a long time. And at
Speaker 1: six thirty we'll be joined by Bears inside linebacker Roe Quantum.
Speaker 1: That's allah header on Bears All Access brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy with Tom There Jeff Joni on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome back to Bears
Speaker 1: All Access Everybody, brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose
Speaker 1: clean energy for your home at IGS dot Com because
Speaker 1: every good choice adds up to a better world. Jeff
Speaker 1: Joni Actum there with you on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The Score, talking Bears and Packers Tonight on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access, now joined by Tom Silverstein, the Milwaukee Journal
Speaker 1: set No Packers beat writer NFL VET Tom. Happy New Year, buddy.
Speaker 1: How are you doing? Oh, I'm doing great. Same to
Speaker 1: you as well. Are you jumpy? Are you Jeff? Backed up?
Speaker 1: Are you what you're feeling about this matchup? You know,
Speaker 1: I think we've been here before a number of times,
Speaker 1: both sides, you know, a big game at Soldier Field,
Speaker 1: And in fact, I was just kind of going through
Speaker 1: them a few of the games, and you know, it
Speaker 1: always comes down to the quarterback, at least it hasn't
Speaker 1: in the biggest of the games, and so you know,
Speaker 1: I think that's probably what's going to happen again. And
Speaker 1: whether Chicago can slow down Rogers, I don't know. It's
Speaker 1: been tough, and now he's got a little bit of
Speaker 1: a running game. So we'll see his potential for a
Speaker 1: third maybe even you might might most people say a
Speaker 1: likely MVP award Comparatively speaking, as you analyze his performance,
Speaker 1: how would this wants stack up to his first two.
Speaker 1: I think this one is he's assuming he gets it.
Speaker 1: I think this would be completely different. And another two
Speaker 1: two instances. I mean, he was he was playing at
Speaker 1: such a high level. You know, he was at AU
Speaker 1: he was at the Brady level at that time. And
Speaker 1: now he's he's a different player. Uh He he relies
Speaker 1: a lot on their run game, he relies on their
Speaker 1: play action. He's far less of a scrambler than he
Speaker 1: used to. He doesn't hold on to the ball like
Speaker 1: he used to. He's bought into Matt Lafleur's system and
Speaker 1: it's made him look really good. If he went back
Speaker 1: to playing the way he did in two thousand eleven
Speaker 1: they scored five hundred and sixty points or whatever it was,
Speaker 1: it wouldn't work. So you know, Ages has taken from
Speaker 1: things from him, but he's playing in an offense that
Speaker 1: he's totally bought into. Hey, Tom, when you look at
Speaker 1: the Green Bay defense, I do think around the league
Speaker 1: they're underrespected. But when you think about this game in particular,
Speaker 1: the emotions that are involved in the importance that's surrounding it.
Speaker 1: What does Mike Patton, what does the defensive coordinator have
Speaker 1: to do in order to control the new Trubisky lead offense.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how much of this offense you
Speaker 1: get to see, but there's a wide variety of guys
Speaker 1: are actively involved in getting their hands on the ball.
Speaker 1: The running game is better, The offensive line is really settled.
Speaker 1: So are the what are the defensive concerns you see
Speaker 1: about this new offense? Well, I think I think you
Speaker 1: definitely hit on one, which is the offensive line seems
Speaker 1: to be playing a lot better. I watched the Jacksonville game,
Speaker 1: and objectible, isn't that good? It looked like Trubisky was
Speaker 1: comfortable and like he could function in the offense and
Speaker 1: not have to worry about being under pressure immediately and
Speaker 1: have to use his legs. But I think, I actually
Speaker 1: think that is something that they are the most concerned about,
Speaker 1: is him running all over the place, and that they're
Speaker 1: gonna want to try to keep him in the pocket
Speaker 1: and try to get him to throw a few more
Speaker 1: of those balls like he threw into the end zone
Speaker 1: you know that got picked off. I think it's really
Speaker 1: about not letting him get first downs, don't let him
Speaker 1: run out of a third and ten and get a
Speaker 1: get a running first down. I think they'll take their
Speaker 1: chances with him throwing. But I also think they're worried
Speaker 1: about Montgomery. You know, they just faced Derrick Henry and
Speaker 1: they played great against him. But they had a plan
Speaker 1: to totally force Tennessee to throw the ball in the
Speaker 1: snow and they couldn't do it. This will, this will
Speaker 1: be a little bit different than that. I think Chicago's
Speaker 1: not as married to you know, they're running back as
Speaker 1: Tennessee was. You know, it's something to see. You know,
Speaker 1: Mitch Trubisky has been able to take a page out
Speaker 1: of Aaron Rodgers snapcount playbook. In every game he gets
Speaker 1: one or two free plays a game. So when you
Speaker 1: think about the atmosphere, not only this week, but going forward,
Speaker 1: it does Green Bay they don't earn as much other
Speaker 1: than the temperature when they have home field if they
Speaker 1: get home field advantage through the playoffs. So is uh
Speaker 1: is Aaron Rodgers' ability and his voice control equally as
Speaker 1: as a destructive and illegal on the road as it
Speaker 1: is at home. Yeah, but you know, teams have really
Speaker 1: worked at not falling for his heart count. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's not had a lot of success with the heartcount
Speaker 1: this year or the twelve man. He's always really good
Speaker 1: at at when teams try to substitute getting them while
Speaker 1: they're you know, have a twelfth guy on the field.
Speaker 1: But I think the one thing he has been able
Speaker 1: to do is communicate freely with the players, and really
Speaker 1: they do a lot of check with me kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: a lot of run pass option where he can he does.
Speaker 1: He can call a run and if the corners eight
Speaker 1: yards off of devote Adams, He's going to throw it
Speaker 1: to him. There's a lot of It's not really sophisticated
Speaker 1: checks and audibles and things like that, but it is.
Speaker 1: You know, he's giving guys a lot of information at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. And I think in a in
Speaker 1: a road atmosphere that might be different. If fans were
Speaker 1: in the game, I will say, though, you know, they
Speaker 1: are counting on Lambeau being a cold weather venue and
Speaker 1: not having an impact. You know, I wouldn't matter against
Speaker 1: the Bears. It probably wouldn't matter against Seattle. It probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't matter against Washington. But maybe New Orleans, Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: you know, teams like that, maybe they would have a problem.
Speaker 1: La Rams, Tom Silvers down our guest Tera the Packers
Speaker 1: beat writer for the Milwaukee General Sentinel, remaining moments with him, Tom,
Speaker 1: if you had to pick one thing on the team, offense,
Speaker 1: defense or special teams that has been a weakness that
Speaker 1: has evolved over the course of the season into a strength,
Speaker 1: what would it be for the Green Bay Packers. For
Speaker 1: the Packers, well, first, I'll give you a weakness, that
Speaker 1: a state of weakness, and that I think you can.
Speaker 1: I think you can. I think the Bears will try
Speaker 1: to exploit that. And that's their special teams. They've been
Speaker 1: just giving up big play second half of the year.
Speaker 1: And you know, Sean Menenga, their special teams coach, was
Speaker 1: an assistant with Chris Tabor and Cleveland, so that's kind
Speaker 1: of his mentor. And I can imagine Tabor knows a
Speaker 1: lot about Menenga, and you know, you know, they're friends
Speaker 1: up until kickoff, So I would expect I would look
Speaker 1: for a breakdown there. As far as something that's become
Speaker 1: better for the Packers, I would say inside linebacker, they've
Speaker 1: got two young two rookies who've come in and they're
Speaker 1: more physical. One of them is really good, Chris Barnes
Speaker 1: at getting everyone set and they had signed a long
Speaker 1: term you know, time veteran Christian Kirksey and these other
Speaker 1: two guys about played them. So that's probably where they've
Speaker 1: improved the most. The receiver position, after Davante Adams, who
Speaker 1: they rank him as the number one receiver in the league,
Speaker 1: is your second best option Tony in the tight end
Speaker 1: because it doesn't seem like there's any other clear candidate
Speaker 1: out there that is getting a lot of attention by
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers other than a lot of bootlegs to the
Speaker 1: tight end, but they're runofficially. Yeah, Tonyon has become kind
Speaker 1: of a big play guy. He's got ten touchdowns and
Speaker 1: they're not you know, they're not like red zone touchdowns,
Speaker 1: not all of them. He seems to find a way
Speaker 1: to get open, especially when the coverage is going towards Adams,
Speaker 1: but free just down to down. I think Lazard is
Speaker 1: the number to target. It's just that he's been a
Speaker 1: little bit off because he had core muscle surgery earlier
Speaker 1: in the year and he's just not quite as explosive.
Speaker 1: But he is, you know, a third and seven. He
Speaker 1: is as comfortable going to Lazard as he is going
Speaker 1: to Adams, and he's the kind of guy who will
Speaker 1: get first down. Adams is gonna break it for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Lazard's gonna, you know, run his comeback right to the
Speaker 1: first down marker, but Rogers is gonna feel really confident
Speaker 1: about throwing it to him. So it's kind of That's
Speaker 1: kind of how it's been. Yeah, great year for Tanya,
Speaker 1: the mckennery High School East All Conference quarterback turned tight
Speaker 1: end out of Indiana State. Also played in basketball Mary
Speaker 1: and Kaeptic and a workout pel of George Kittle, who
Speaker 1: proclaimed himself a Bears fan growing up. I'm sure Tonyon
Speaker 1: was as well. Hey, we're gonna let you go. Tom,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Happy New Year to you and your family,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk you down the road. Absolutely, take care,
Speaker 1: guys out a happy new year. Thank you, Tom Silverstein.
Speaker 1: Coming up at the bottom of the hour, rope quand
Speaker 1: Smith will join us. This is Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The Score with you on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access. Jeff jonn Yak in time day, We're
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy and go to have
Speaker 1: you alongside as we break down Bears and Packers. I
Speaker 1: cannot believe a couple of things I cannot do. Three
Speaker 1: things I can't believe todaytime a that it's week seventeen.
Speaker 1: It does you know. I'm sitting there this morning, sipping
Speaker 1: my coffee. I'm thinking, gosh, this whole thing started with
Speaker 1: so much uncertainty. We were freaking out about whether we're
Speaker 1: gonna have a season, We're gonna travel, were we not,
Speaker 1: you know, worried about how we're gonna call the games.
Speaker 1: So that that, and then we went to training camp
Speaker 1: and was summer, and now it's a snowy day yesterday,
Speaker 1: and it's it's a new year coming. It's just a
Speaker 1: weird thing. That's number one. Number two today happens to
Speaker 1: be Lebron James's thirty sixth birthday. It happens to be
Speaker 1: Tiger Woods is forty fifth birthday, Sandy Kofax's eighty fifth birthday.
Speaker 1: Three legendary figures in professional sports that kind of caught
Speaker 1: my attention, And now I forgot my third one. I
Speaker 1: remember now, I oh, here it is here, It is here.
Speaker 1: It is that the NFL today did say that they
Speaker 1: will hit the one million fan mark one hundred and
Speaker 1: two games of fans this year. None, of course, it's
Speaker 1: sold your field here in Chicago, much to everybody's disappointment,
Speaker 1: I would have never guessed that. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: even know. I mean, I haven't seen that. I haven't
Speaker 1: seen that many people during the course of the season
Speaker 1: and all the games that I've watched the season, So yeah,
Speaker 1: that really catches me by surprise. But back to the
Speaker 1: original point again, I admire the head coaches, the players,
Speaker 1: the staffs inside the building that we're able to keep
Speaker 1: these players self by self discipline or by the testing
Speaker 1: procedures that they went through, because I do think this
Speaker 1: season so far has paid dividends for the USA all right, today,
Speaker 1: for the world. For absolutely today I walked through for
Speaker 1: both teams. They both walked through today. The Bears still,
Speaker 1: if they would have practiced, would not have had rookie
Speaker 1: cornerback Jayleen Johnson getting better because of that shoulder on
Speaker 1: a tackling Sean Watson a couple of weeks backbuster screen
Speaker 1: stilling concussion protocol Dion Bush for the foot illness. Today
Speaker 1: for a Keem Hicks, any concerns about those three guys
Speaker 1: in the secondary or what they are facing if they
Speaker 1: don't play, and Duke Shelley and kindallville Doore going up
Speaker 1: against number twelve. My concern only for is the big
Speaker 1: picture of Buster buster screen because I enjoy his personality
Speaker 1: so much and he is a kind hearted person. To
Speaker 1: have this long of a concussion concern after having a
Speaker 1: couple of concussions, I, you know, whatever the decision has made,
Speaker 1: I just he needs to make the best decision for him.
Speaker 1: But you know, Jalen, he'll be back a Keem Hicks
Speaker 1: if I have to go in and suit him up
Speaker 1: and push him on the field, he'll be there Sunday.
Speaker 1: That's right now. They need him. He was he wasn't.
Speaker 1: He's got to play. He wasn't in that first game, right,
Speaker 1: you know, for all the fans when we are sitting
Speaker 1: there watching the feed to get ready to broadcast the
Speaker 1: Bears game and a Keem Hicks came out and he
Speaker 1: was warming up before the game, he kind of get
Speaker 1: an indication, all right, he's feeling good, he's got his rhythm.
Speaker 1: And then when the inactives came out and he was
Speaker 1: not a part of the game plan, I had a
Speaker 1: really defleted sense just for the defense when he's not
Speaker 1: in the game. AJ Dylon getting his biggest day of
Speaker 1: work against Tennessee was impressive. He's two hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: pounds tom and runs a four to five. He'll run
Speaker 1: through you, aneron you if he's got space added to
Speaker 1: what they already have with Aaron Jones. I don't know
Speaker 1: what Jamal Williams will be. But what does that add
Speaker 1: to the mix here for the Bears. Well, you know
Speaker 1: the Dylan and he can catch the ball. So he's
Speaker 1: not a one dimensional big guy, you know. He you know,
Speaker 1: he's got a wide variety of skills that if Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers to put him out as the primary receiver in
Speaker 1: an out route or a wheel route, he'll he'll he's
Speaker 1: got the arm, confidence to go to him and he's
Speaker 1: just he's put that on display. But that's what Jeff
Speaker 1: My first key to the game is premium tackling. This
Speaker 1: has got to be the best tackling game by far
Speaker 1: of every single member of that defense, you know, from
Speaker 1: you know, every single from the defensive line, every level.
Speaker 1: They got to be able to come out and when
Speaker 1: they have a chance to have contact against a Green
Speaker 1: Bay player with the ball in his hands, it's got
Speaker 1: to stop there. You can't turn a two yard run
Speaker 1: into a seven yard run. You can't turn a twelve
Speaker 1: yard catch into a twenty five yard catch. It's got
Speaker 1: to be immediate contact. Hey, that goes for Aaron Rodgers too.
Speaker 1: If he's starting to scamper around, bring him down, man,
Speaker 1: don't let him. Don't let him scramble for anything. He's
Speaker 1: got a bunch of first downs again this year. Do
Speaker 1: you hear they claimed snacks Harrison off Waivers today? The
Speaker 1: Pack did not hear that. While another big defensive tackle,
Speaker 1: but the heart of their defense is led by the
Speaker 1: defensive tackles. He won't be eligible to play on Sunday.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't think so. I wouldn't think so. That's that's
Speaker 1: looking down the road of their playoff picts are all right,
Speaker 1: coming on neck. We'll be joined by a roe Quand Smith,
Speaker 1: the Bear star linebacker joining the program. Next. This is
Speaker 1: Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the
Speaker 1: Score and welcome back to Bears All Access. It's brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy Here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the Score. Good to have you along. Tom there,
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac bringing you the Bears and Packers from Soldier Field.
Speaker 1: Exclusive live cover starting at noon and our pregame show
Speaker 1: with Ron, Jim and Jay and then some good packer
Speaker 1: memory talk. We always bringing it to the table in
Speaker 1: that pregame show, Tommy, and then kick off at three
Speaker 1: twenty five. Are you indifferent or do you care the
Speaker 1: game was moved? I mean, you sent me something today
Speaker 1: about the coverage for the telecast. It's almost the entire
Speaker 1: United States gonna get that game. It is. It is amazing,
Speaker 1: And I don't I don't, I really don't care. I
Speaker 1: don't know the condition, you know, so the daytime high
Speaker 1: temperature is before kickoff, it's like sometime like midnight tonight
Speaker 1: or something. Then it's gonna go down. It's, you know,
Speaker 1: be an uncomfortable twenty five degrees. But I don't think
Speaker 1: it matters from noon to three twenty five. It's not
Speaker 1: big of that big of a deal. The players get
Speaker 1: to sleep in a little bit longer, and actually they
Speaker 1: may feel a little fresher and a little bit more
Speaker 1: alive and woken up at three twenty five. Mitchell Trubisky
Speaker 1: certainly is a topic of conversation. He won the Good
Speaker 1: Guy Award by the Pro Football Writers of America Chicago
Speaker 1: Chapter today for his he steps up to the table
Speaker 1: and it has ever since he's got here. Just a
Speaker 1: really impressive approach after games good and bad. Time Now
Speaker 1: to join Roquan Smith, the Bear star linebacker, joined the program. Roquine,
Speaker 1: good evening, Thanks for joining Bears All Access here with
Speaker 1: Tom and Jeff. How's things going going very well? Happy
Speaker 1: to be here. Thanks for having me. Appreciate appreciate it.
Speaker 1: So you were with the media today on a zoom
Speaker 1: call talking about you know, everybody's very supportive of the
Speaker 1: way you've played this year, and that's why they pose
Speaker 1: all the questions about the Pro Bowl absence and all that.
Speaker 1: I know it doesn't seem to really move your needle
Speaker 1: very much, but but deep down you must know that
Speaker 1: what you've accomplished this year, as you look in the mirror,
Speaker 1: you have to agree it's been a great success for
Speaker 1: you individually and has this team in a position to
Speaker 1: go to the playoffs. Don't you think you've had a
Speaker 1: good season? Absolutely? I feel like I've had a really
Speaker 1: good season this year. I know I wanted to be
Speaker 1: my best year to this day, and I felt like
Speaker 1: you had has thus far, but not done yet. And
Speaker 1: it's just more so focused on this game to get
Speaker 1: us in the dance and then we'll go go from there. Hey,
Speaker 1: ro Quan, what's the one thing I You know, people
Speaker 1: keep asking Tom and I this other time. Why this
Speaker 1: year is so much of an impact year for Roquan Smith,
Speaker 1: not like the other ones weren't. But do you think
Speaker 1: the idea that you know, they gave you a lot responsibility.
Speaker 1: You got the headset, you got the the the chart,
Speaker 1: you're in charge of the defense, You're you're making the calls,
Speaker 1: you're lighting people up. Do you think that made your
Speaker 1: focus a little bit more significant in the day to
Speaker 1: day preparation. Oh well, I think even prior to that,
Speaker 1: myocus I felt like my focus was at another level.
Speaker 1: But Dan like with all that added things like being
Speaker 1: one of the leaders making the calls on defense, that's
Speaker 1: for sure make you more focused because there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people depending on you and some affort situations. So
Speaker 1: to be able to you know, handle that and then
Speaker 1: know how to navigate and go from there, I think
Speaker 1: that takes a lot of maturing. And then it's just
Speaker 1: like learning from the other guys and just all knowing
Speaker 1: what's right and what's wrong and just doing everything to
Speaker 1: the best of my ability. Hey, Roquan, forgive me because
Speaker 1: I did not get to see your press conference today,
Speaker 1: So I don't know if you're asked this question already,
Speaker 1: because I saw it. I saw it in the game
Speaker 1: and your first interception where you're gonna flip the ball
Speaker 1: to Kyle Fuller, I absolutely was. I had a boy
Speaker 1: thank you, and I I like it because Kyle was
Speaker 1: there kind of egging you on to hey, man, give
Speaker 1: me that rugby pass and I'm gonna and then you
Speaker 1: got to turn into a lead blocker. Absolutely, all right. Hey,
Speaker 1: so you know a lot of times when we refer
Speaker 1: to a young quarterback, they always have that expression the
Speaker 1: game is slowing down for him. Not necessarily, That's what
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about you, but are you able to filter
Speaker 1: more information more quickly in terms of what they can
Speaker 1: do from run to pass, play action to drop back,
Speaker 1: and just the information that you're seeing from the time
Speaker 1: they break the huddle till the ball is snapped. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I feel like this year things are like very slow,
Speaker 1: and I feel like das are slow down so much
Speaker 1: that I'm able to like process, I already know what
Speaker 1: we're in inside and out, and also just processing with
Speaker 1: those the possible threats that those guys could give me.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I would definitely they say, things are very
Speaker 1: have flown down so much this year for sure. How
Speaker 1: much of you guys, how much of you and Danny
Speaker 1: Trevathan benefited from the play of the defensive line because
Speaker 1: again that they play such an important role in the
Speaker 1: amount of tackles that you guys can fly around the
Speaker 1: field and get. So when you when you talk about
Speaker 1: their role and their importance to you, guys, talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about the because it's a group of guys,
Speaker 1: it's not just one or two of them. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would agree, uh, and it's it's a tough job, man,
Speaker 1: and not they don't get much notoriety or anything like that.
Speaker 1: But man, hey, like, I'm very thankful for those guys
Speaker 1: and the subtless jobs that they do, like eating up
Speaker 1: blocks just so we can get free. That means a lot.
Speaker 1: That speaks volume to those guys character and whatnot. So
Speaker 1: I'm just happy to have those guys with my teammates.
Speaker 1: This segment of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: by Microsoft Surface and CDW. People to get it, learn
Speaker 1: more at CDW dot com. Roquan Smith, our guest here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access, Jeff Joniac end time there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you mentioned those guys up front. I had a conversation
Speaker 1: with with Al Nichols. We'll hear some of it coming
Speaker 1: up after we're done with you here this evening as
Speaker 1: our featured player on our Bears Game Day Live show
Speaker 1: on Fox. Just you know you guys, You guys are
Speaker 1: good friends. You guys know that you guys are part
Speaker 1: of the core for the future to let alone the present.
Speaker 1: Just where he's gone, where he's taking his game from
Speaker 1: when he started to where he is now. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: pretty insane, man. I got a lot of respect for
Speaker 1: the way I got to go about his business and
Speaker 1: the way he come in eating every day, go to
Speaker 1: work with his heart, had all never complain. That's always
Speaker 1: do whatever and taking to getting the job done, and
Speaker 1: like you just to continue to get better year one,
Speaker 1: year two, and now you're there, y'all. Think he's planning,
Speaker 1: especially the last rests of games. I feel like he's
Speaker 1: planned some of the best ball of his career. But
Speaker 1: you don't get much notoriety, but I'll definitely appreciate that guy.
Speaker 1: All right, So the stage is set. This is, uh
Speaker 1: the launching pad game for this Bears team. You guys
Speaker 1: fought through so much to get to where you are
Speaker 1: right now. I know you try and tap down the
Speaker 1: significance of it in terms of emotions, but the significance
Speaker 1: of Bears packers for the right to represent the NFC
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, it doesn't go unnoticed certainly. Well, how
Speaker 1: are you looking at this? How are you framing this
Speaker 1: as a guy that's now involved in this significant rivalry
Speaker 1: in NFL history and what it means for this Bears
Speaker 1: team on Sunday. I think it means it means a
Speaker 1: lot because everything is on the table. It's either win
Speaker 1: or go home. We feel like that's then our whole
Speaker 1: mindset the last couple of weeks, so it's literally give
Speaker 1: everything you got every single play nuts and we wasn't
Speaker 1: doing that before, but it's really when or go home
Speaker 1: and get the next game. So we're looking at it
Speaker 1: at that and it's a game whether or not we
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs. So I think that's that has
Speaker 1: enough on it within itselfs to like have god hair
Speaker 1: flickering up a little bit and nor on what's to stake, Hey, Roquat,
Speaker 1: when you think of the atmospheres that you played in
Speaker 1: this season, is there you do you have any ability
Speaker 1: to pick up any repeated information because you can hear
Speaker 1: it on the other side of the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: or do you have to completely discount that because you
Speaker 1: have enough of your own huddle call to think about. Well,
Speaker 1: for sure, you're for sureking. I feel like you can
Speaker 1: hear what some of the other guys, especially that they
Speaker 1: are repeating repeated cadence and things of that nature. So
Speaker 1: I think that definitely is good. But I feel like
Speaker 1: I was hearing some of those things even when fans
Speaker 1: were in the stadium, but like right now, it's even
Speaker 1: more clear. So like different things, you can't pick up
Speaker 1: all real. Quat spent our guest here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy score. All Right,
Speaker 1: what cannot happen Sunday when you're playing a guy like
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers? What cannot happen on Sunday? I'm gonna say,
Speaker 1: first and foremost, not letting their run game gets started,
Speaker 1: because once their run game gets going, then he can
Speaker 1: pretty much do whatever run or throy. So first, verst
Speaker 1: and foremost, I feel like we have we need to
Speaker 1: eliminate the run game, and then if we do that,
Speaker 1: then I feel like we can be in good spent
Speaker 1: a going that stamped out, and then we can all
Speaker 1: focus focused on the bad. I feel like still making
Speaker 1: them one dimensional with a sense. You guys have faced
Speaker 1: some really good backs this year, so it's uncertainly helps
Speaker 1: and I faced Aaron Jones already, but AJ Dillon for
Speaker 1: the first time. That guy's got some steel belted thighs. Man.
Speaker 1: That guy is a horse, isn't he. Yeah, he's a
Speaker 1: He's a nice he's a nice time back for sure.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it'll be a great It'll be a great
Speaker 1: college to get some rookie You haven't seen any rookie
Speaker 1: backs this year, so it'll be nice. Uh to get
Speaker 1: up and walk get him and uh, I beat you
Speaker 1: guy Jones looking forward to what I'm thinking, it'd be great. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta get your staff or Eddie. You
Speaker 1: got to get those guys on the huddle. Buck. To me, Roquan,
Speaker 1: the most important element is premier tackling, and that's all
Speaker 1: the running backs and the receivers that when you have
Speaker 1: initial contact, you got to stop them in their tracks
Speaker 1: just to give him anything extra. So when you're in there,
Speaker 1: that's got to be one of the key elements of
Speaker 1: the entire defenses focus this week with that many weapons.
Speaker 1: I agree, Yeah, eliminating yards after catch, after to run
Speaker 1: or anything like that, because those guys feast off those
Speaker 1: type games. So we'll definitely it be all best interest
Speaker 1: to eliminate that for sure. Hey, real, qu on one
Speaker 1: last thing before we let you go, and we really
Speaker 1: appreciate you joining us. So you had that playoff experience
Speaker 1: as a rook and you know those games take on
Speaker 1: a greater intensity. This is a playoff game. Packers head
Speaker 1: coach Matt Lafleur is saying the same thing. This is
Speaker 1: a playoff game for us. That's their mindset. They're gonna
Speaker 1: attack this thing that way. What did you learn from
Speaker 1: that playoff experience that you can use on Sunday against
Speaker 1: the Packers and think of it as a playoff game
Speaker 1: and nothing less. Yeah, absolutely that it very well is
Speaker 1: a playoff game. Winner go home, And I feel like
Speaker 1: it's just going out there trusting what you see, trusting
Speaker 1: what you see, and just playing every play like it's
Speaker 1: their last playing and not taking night of something, no
Speaker 1: more nothing, just eliminating their main things what they drove on.
Speaker 1: No regrets, right, ro Quan, no regrets leave the field,
Speaker 1: no regrets whatsoever. All right, Roal Quant Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Good luck on Sunday, Happy New Year to you. Thank
Speaker 1: you up news. Ro Quan Smith, the Bears outstanding against
Speaker 1: side linebacker, joining Bears All Access. We're brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy. We'll break things down here a little
Speaker 1: balow Nickels on his career arc right now. He's having
Speaker 1: a fantastic year. Five sacks and a lot of big
Speaker 1: plays behind the line of scrimmage. Hopefully a few more
Speaker 1: on Sunday against the Pack. This is Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score, everybody just
Speaker 1: sayment of Bears aut Access is brought to you by
Speaker 1: Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request an
Speaker 1: deployment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Jeff Joni Ech along with Tom Thair. This is Bears
Speaker 1: All Access, not Chicago Sports Radio six seventy Score. Adam
Speaker 1: Stezinski is our producer tonight and Score Studio is good
Speaker 1: to hear Roquan smith Man his year and his trajectory
Speaker 1: time is taking off in a very big way. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean he's got a lot of responsible a lot
Speaker 1: of responsibility on his football life shoulders because where he
Speaker 1: was drafted in the first place. And then when you
Speaker 1: get handed the green dot, and the green dot is
Speaker 1: a communication device within the helmet of Roquan Smith that
Speaker 1: you have to reach a certain stature or a certain
Speaker 1: understanding knowledge of how to call plays within the huddle
Speaker 1: because you're the guys transferring information to the other ten guys.
Speaker 1: So that whole growth pass is still is really an
Speaker 1: unknown until you see him be able to perform under
Speaker 1: those types of outside the football box type of pressures.
Speaker 1: So everything that the Bears have asked Roquan Smith to do,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's gain weight, you know on you know,
Speaker 1: study in your on your tablet, all the elements to
Speaker 1: make him a better football player, He's done everything asked
Speaker 1: of him. He's triggering fast two in the run game
Speaker 1: and of the past game, and if something does get
Speaker 1: down field, he goes and chases you down. I mean
Speaker 1: that's the one thing. And then last week dropping him
Speaker 1: in there almost it was it wasn't I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't believe it was cover a cover two situations, but
Speaker 1: dropping down the middle of the field like Brian Urlacher
Speaker 1: used to do in the four three. This is certainly
Speaker 1: not that. But dropping down into coverage and going then
Speaker 1: and take that interception away down the middle of the
Speaker 1: field was was erlak er esque a little bit right.
Speaker 1: He was under support to the safety over the top
Speaker 1: of the route. But the more impressive route was earlier
Speaker 1: in the game. They had a third and two, so
Speaker 1: Roquan Smith lines up inside the heels of the defensive lineman.
Speaker 1: Now that completely changes the responsibility of the offensive lineman
Speaker 1: who they're responsible for first, so they count ro Quan
Speaker 1: Smith as their responsibility. But he takes off and he
Speaker 1: chases a back naterally all the way to the sideline
Speaker 1: and stops him before he gets a first down. So
Speaker 1: you just think of the confusion that he creates at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and then he's no longer there,
Speaker 1: and then he's stopping the running back who's taken an
Speaker 1: outlet pass before he can convert it into a first down.
Speaker 1: So it's the elements not only of his individual ability,
Speaker 1: but where he can adjust himself and put in to
Speaker 1: a confusing position for the opponent. Speaking of confusing, Fred
Speaker 1: Warner got Player of the Week, not that this matters
Speaker 1: in the NFC at eight tackles. Yet eight tackles and
Speaker 1: when Roquan has a couple of interceptions plus those eight
Speaker 1: tackles and snubbed Q eight tackles, two interceptions and two fumbles,
Speaker 1: you know what it is. I kind of laugh about
Speaker 1: that because they were able to recover both of them.
Speaker 1: But even you know, asking him about his he know
Speaker 1: he knew he was going to pitch it too, and
Speaker 1: you nailed that on the broadcast because I was thinking, Okay,
Speaker 1: he's acting like the lineback, you know, the running back
Speaker 1: shifts the ball to run away from you know, the
Speaker 1: different types of attacks from from the guy tackling you.
Speaker 1: But you were right on the money as per usual,
Speaker 1: big time, and that would have been the right thing
Speaker 1: to do, is put the ball in your opposite arm
Speaker 1: so you can stiff arm with your right and then
Speaker 1: you're controlling the football in your left hand away from
Speaker 1: where you're going to receive contacts. Still a couple of
Speaker 1: tackles away from matching Brian or Lacker and Lance breaks
Speaker 1: for tackles for law excuse me, Alex Brown for the
Speaker 1: all time record in a single season of nineteenies two. There,
Speaker 1: it'd be great to happen against the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: Another career arc with a very strong trajectory right now
Speaker 1: playing nose tackle and end is blown Nichols. He's our
Speaker 1: feature on Bears Game Day Live coming up on Sunday
Speaker 1: on Fox at ten thirty in the morning with Luke,
Speaker 1: Anellis and everybody. And here's a little snippet at this
Speaker 1: point this season, what excites you about what you've become.
Speaker 1: I think it's exciting me the fact that you know
Speaker 1: I'm making great progress. Um, the funny thing is I'm
Speaker 1: nowhere where I want to be. But the good thing
Speaker 1: is that I see it and I'm making strides and
Speaker 1: you know where i want to be. I'm on my way,
Speaker 1: but I'm not there yet. And uh, you know, as
Speaker 1: a young player, that's that's exciting to know that all
Speaker 1: the hard work that you put in, you know, it's
Speaker 1: starting to pay off and you're starting to see, you know,
Speaker 1: some of the fruits of your labor. So you know,
Speaker 1: it only motivates me to continue to work harder and
Speaker 1: harder and continue to just be the best me I
Speaker 1: could be. I have a funny feeling. You're never going
Speaker 1: to feel like you arrived, are you. You're always going
Speaker 1: to be pushing that envelope. Yeah. No, I'm never gonna
Speaker 1: feel like that, just because I've never felt like that
Speaker 1: in my life. I've always been, you know, the underdog.
Speaker 1: So it's a part of me that won't ever allow
Speaker 1: myself to feel like, what's the thrill of the hunt?
Speaker 1: Like now that you're second quarterbacks regular Lake? Yeah, oh man,
Speaker 1: it's awesome, you know, just that feeling that just you know,
Speaker 1: you being out there with your teammates and you could
Speaker 1: just feel you know, you feel the atmosphere, you feel
Speaker 1: the energy that you know you get to go hunt
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, it's it's an amazing feeling, especially
Speaker 1: when you know, uh, you've worked hard, you prepared all
Speaker 1: week to beat you man, and you finally get there
Speaker 1: and you finally do it. It's like a it's an
Speaker 1: unbelievable feeling. I mean, it's it's amazing. I've seen him
Speaker 1: call you young King, I've seen him call you baby bull,
Speaker 1: your guy A. Kim Hicks has really continued to kind
Speaker 1: of take you under his wing. But now it's it's
Speaker 1: more a friendship and a mentorship that is really a
Speaker 1: terrific story over the course of the years you've been
Speaker 1: with him. How would you describe it. It's it's it's amazing. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't have anybody else with the relationship
Speaker 1: like I have with the Kim in the NFL. It's
Speaker 1: very different. It's like you said, he really liked a
Speaker 1: big brother to me. I mean a lot of the
Speaker 1: things that we talk about we talk about life outside
Speaker 1: of football. Of course we talk about football, but you know,
Speaker 1: the conversation that we have outside of football, the things
Speaker 1: he's putting me onto and he's telling me about off
Speaker 1: the field are just as huge as the things he's
Speaker 1: putting me onto on the field. You know, he's a
Speaker 1: guy that you know when I when I have things
Speaker 1: I want to talk about, you know, I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: him a call. All right. So the stage is set
Speaker 1: Barris Packers Soldier Field. When you're in how are you
Speaker 1: feeling as all this is coming to route here? I
Speaker 1: feel I feel great. I wouldn't want it any other
Speaker 1: way against any other team, you know, if if I could,
Speaker 1: if I could paint it out like this, This is
Speaker 1: exactly how it would be. Um. You know, everybody knows
Speaker 1: about the rivalry we have with them, everybody know how
Speaker 1: we feel about them, and everybody know how we feel
Speaker 1: about us. And I wouldn't want it any other way.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't want to be any other team to get
Speaker 1: into the playoffs. So I'm excited. I'm ready to go.
Speaker 1: You feel you guys are a dangerous team. I do.
Speaker 1: I do, And I feel like we're gonna put the
Speaker 1: league on notice pretty soon. You know, we we got
Speaker 1: our momentum ruling. You know, we're feeling good. We're starting
Speaker 1: to feel that we got that swag back. We're starting
Speaker 1: to get that back, and I feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: we're a team that you need to look out for.
Speaker 1: And Tom, you know, he's one of the young cors.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's Tim, It's Eddie Jackson, It's a real
Speaker 1: quant Smith, It's you know what we find out more
Speaker 1: and more every day, is it Duke Shelley is a
Speaker 1: kindle Ville door coming into their own as well as
Speaker 1: they'll get a lot more opportunities down the road. Jalen
Speaker 1: Johnson David Montgomery on the offense, side of the ball,
Speaker 1: Mooney must if. I mean, there's a pretty good cash
Speaker 1: of young players here that are going to be your
Speaker 1: future leaders, no doubt about it. You know, when I
Speaker 1: listened to blaw Nichols and I listen to him talk,
Speaker 1: you can hear him absorb a lot of information from
Speaker 1: the different guys he's got to play with. He compliments
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn, really well they do They run line stunts
Speaker 1: efficiently that result in sacks. He plays really well on
Speaker 1: the inside while he's going with a Keem Hicks or
Speaker 1: he's going with Brent Urban. However, last week in the
Speaker 1: Jacksonville game, you see this play that shows multiple levels
Speaker 1: of just football intelligence blaw Nichols when he almost intercepted
Speaker 1: that screen pass. First of all, you're defeating an offensive
Speaker 1: lineman and you're kind of reading the signals he's giving you.
Speaker 1: He tries to release, it's too easily. Blow immediately reads screen.
Speaker 1: He sees the back release of the outside flat and
Speaker 1: he takes a path where the pass is gonna go.
Speaker 1: He should have caught that thing on the run and
Speaker 1: would able to convert that into an interception. So it's
Speaker 1: a multi level intelligent play. While you're adjusting your assignment
Speaker 1: midstream because you know what you're thinking about as a
Speaker 1: defensive lineman in your stance depending upon a down a distance.
Speaker 1: It's how destructive can I be immediately disengage from this
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, get in, create a sack or stop the
Speaker 1: running back. But when you have that multi level vision
Speaker 1: site intelligence and then you see a factor into that
Speaker 1: type of play, it's gonna be soon where he's gonna
Speaker 1: snag one of these interceptions from one of these courts.
Speaker 1: Jay Rodgers is a defensive line coach whom he also
Speaker 1: raves about in that interview that you'll see on Fox
Speaker 1: and here on WBBM on Sunday, and that's a significant
Speaker 1: piece to this too. He says he's never been around
Speaker 1: a guy and that's been able to coach him like
Speaker 1: he coaches him and he has him a ton of credit. Also,
Speaker 1: when you have an opportunity like that, and there have
Speaker 1: been many this season. You know, talk about this team
Speaker 1: not having the takeaway totals that we fell in love
Speaker 1: with in twenty eighteen and they thrived on, is that
Speaker 1: there have been a lot of missed opportunities to take
Speaker 1: the ball away, whether it be on ricochets or a
Speaker 1: ball in your hands, and you're not against Green Bay
Speaker 1: on Sunday. If that rare moment comes because this guy
Speaker 1: doesn't throw picks or the ball doesn't come out, you
Speaker 1: can't miss it. There can be no miss Yeah. I
Speaker 1: remember early in the last Green Bay game someone got
Speaker 1: in onto Aaron Rodgers and swiped the ball out of
Speaker 1: his hands in comfortably and luckily it just landed at
Speaker 1: his feet and he was able to PLoP on it.
Speaker 1: Those are the types of plays that the Bears. They
Speaker 1: have to be. They have to be the recipient. If
Speaker 1: they're gonna have that destructive of a play, then they're
Speaker 1: gonna be the guys that have to get that loose football,
Speaker 1: whether it's in the air or on the ground. Bears
Speaker 1: fans been shopping for your game day celebrations, don't forget
Speaker 1: to pick up your favorite variety of lace, potato chips
Speaker 1: and tostitos. Tostitos and lays are an essential part of
Speaker 1: the game day tradition and the official chip of your
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. Gold Bears a moment with Sean Desai. All
Speaker 1: the coaches spoke this week, so a lot of good detail.
Speaker 1: Thought this was interesting about how you have to attack
Speaker 1: from a safety perspective, from a cornerback perspective, from a
Speaker 1: Nickel slat perspective. When you play a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: The biggest thing that we try to emphasize is with
Speaker 1: Aaron is obviously he can he makes all the on
Speaker 1: time rhythm throws, and then he makes all the spectacular
Speaker 1: throws that are off schedule and off time too. So
Speaker 1: you know, the average NFL play goes from four to
Speaker 1: six seconds. We got to be ready to play from
Speaker 1: six to ten seconds, you know, and we got to
Speaker 1: make sure that we're on point and finishing and the
Speaker 1: playing over until that whistle blows or the balls on
Speaker 1: the ground or you know, there's an incomplete pass or
Speaker 1: something like that. That we've got to make sure that
Speaker 1: we're doing our jobs at all levels of the defense,
Speaker 1: not just the back end, until the play is actually over,
Speaker 1: because you don't know when that plays over six to
Speaker 1: ten seconds. That really caught my attention. It's a good
Speaker 1: thing you only play a guy like Aaron Rodgers maybe
Speaker 1: twice a year if you're you know, because of that
Speaker 1: great Not everybody has those types of skills, but Sean
Speaker 1: is exactly right. You have to understand that you may
Speaker 1: be coming across the whole width of the field to
Speaker 1: assist on a tackle on the opposite side or pressure
Speaker 1: in the line of scrimmage. It's a it's just a
Speaker 1: you know, a snap to whistle type performance that this
Speaker 1: defense has to have and they always have to be
Speaker 1: in an advantaged position when after the ball is snapped.
Speaker 1: How are you gonna deal with Davante Adams right now?
Speaker 1: So in the first game, where do you have sixty
Speaker 1: one yards? He had a touchdown. He's been just crazy good.
Speaker 1: How do you defend this because he'll get the ball
Speaker 1: flip to him if you're gonna give him cushing and
Speaker 1: he's gonna get a little something. He's gonna move the
Speaker 1: sticks if you get up in him and try and
Speaker 1: press him. He's got the size and strength now and
Speaker 1: the savvy. He invites it, and he's gonna beat you
Speaker 1: down the field and Aaron puts it on the right
Speaker 1: money spot nickel, you know, and diame you to death.
Speaker 1: He could do it all with this guy. What do
Speaker 1: you recommend and how to defend this receiver? Right now?
Speaker 1: You know, I'm gonna try to coordinate my pressure into
Speaker 1: the side he's lining up to. I don't want Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers to have an extended view out there to wait
Speaker 1: him get to that crease and then he fires the
Speaker 1: ball to him. I want to put Aaron Rodgers on
Speaker 1: the defensive. I want him to move his feet as
Speaker 1: much as he possibly has to. And I know that
Speaker 1: he can throw the ball out of any stance, out
Speaker 1: of any type of foundation. But if you can affect
Speaker 1: how much power he can put behind these passes, then
Speaker 1: maybe you know he's got to bring it down and
Speaker 1: go into a different direction. But you know, I would
Speaker 1: rather go down with the ship of firing all my
Speaker 1: cannons than having a bunch of ammunition stored down below
Speaker 1: while I'm still sinking. Any weapon that you want to
Speaker 1: weaponize on Sunday that hasn't been utilized to the extent
Speaker 1: you felt they would be offensively for the Bears, you know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's a blitzing Sherick McManus. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's DeAndre Houston Carson coming in as
Speaker 1: a sixth defensive back and maybe lining up closer to
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage, trying to get a one on one
Speaker 1: battle for a Keem Hicks that he can absolutely you know,
Speaker 1: power into the backfield. So there's a lot of elements offensively,
Speaker 1: give me one. You got thirty seconds? Yeah, I keep
Speaker 1: the tight ends involved as much as you possibly can.
Speaker 1: I think the biggest mismatch in height and receiver ability
Speaker 1: is Jimmy Graham and Cole commet Anthony Miller. Can you
Speaker 1: hear me? Number seventeen and he's waiting throw to the
Speaker 1: Yale another big play? Anthony Miller. All right, thanks town,
Speaker 1: we're out of time. We're breaking down Bears and Packers.
Speaker 1: Hope you enjoyed the show. Thanks to Adams, the Zinsky
Speaker 1: and our guests wrote Quantum at the time Silverstein. More
Speaker 1: on the score coming up next, don't you Tago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy to score. Thanks for listening to this
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are
Speaker 1: available on Chicago Bears dot com and on iTunes, or
Speaker 1: download the official Bears mobile app. Bears All Access has
Speaker 1: been brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by
Speaker 1: Miller Litte