Speaker 1: Right, what justin middle of a field forty five fifteen
Speaker 1: bring Russ in front of them.
Speaker 2: Leaving Lions in his way.
Speaker 1: I am Jeff jonihacklitsus on donc Pour.
Speaker 2: What was like playing for coache Gooddom.
Speaker 3: I don't want to answer any questions like that. Sixty
Speaker 3: one yards?
Speaker 4: What's Sunday stroll for? Justin Field? Ye Bears, et cetera.
Speaker 1: With the voices of the Chicago Bears Jeff Joniac we're
Speaker 1: up to episode number thirty four. What a great number
Speaker 1: in Bear's history. Walter Peyton and the Peyton Center all
Speaker 1: in his honor. As we get you set for Bears
Speaker 1: Lions with Tom Thayer, I'm Jeff Joniak. We come to
Speaker 1: you each Tuesday and Thursday. We got the Lions on
Speaker 1: the schedule this week up at Ford Field. Can't wait
Speaker 1: to bring that game to you and Tom. This would
Speaker 1: be the exact perfect game that Walter would have loved
Speaker 1: to play in the division raucus environment, on the road
Speaker 1: against a really good Detroit team right now, and in
Speaker 1: a game that could be very well won on the ground.
Speaker 1: Both teams are a very good run in the football.
Speaker 1: I mean it's gonna be a physical nasty game. He'd
Speaker 1: be delivering shots, he wouldn't be running out of bounds untouched.
Speaker 4: Uh huh, it would be that kind of game. Are
Speaker 4: you feeling me?
Speaker 5: Well, that's why you would need Walter Payton, because if
Speaker 5: there's not a guy that leads by example of physical
Speaker 5: style of play, you're going to have a really difficult
Speaker 5: time competing in this game.
Speaker 3: And Walter Payton is the guy.
Speaker 5: No one's too big, no one's too fast, no one's
Speaker 5: too tough. Walter Payton can show you examples of every
Speaker 5: single one of those things I just said, and he
Speaker 5: can be the leader in the clubhouse from beginning to end.
Speaker 1: And Barry Sanders was that kind of cat too, man,
Speaker 1: that guy steel belted, tired legs, I mean, unbelievable, darting,
Speaker 1: quick suddenness that you think you had them but you didn't.
Speaker 1: Both in the Hall of Fame, both highly regarded, and
Speaker 1: it's and we're going to touch on his late part
Speaker 1: of his career anyway, documentary dropping soon on his decision
Speaker 1: why he left the game early. Lomas Brown, the former
Speaker 1: outstanding left tackle for the Detroit Lions and now in
Speaker 1: the radio crew. Our good friend will join us as well.
Speaker 1: He's a great storyteller too.
Speaker 5: Tommy love Lomas Brown. I loved him as a player.
Speaker 5: I love him as a guy within the division. I
Speaker 5: had tons of respect for He's a guy that was
Speaker 5: respected by the Chicago Bears when he played against him,
Speaker 5: played underneath some difficult circumstances for the Detroit Lions when
Speaker 5: they didn't have great crowd support and weren't a great team.
Speaker 3: But he was still a Pro Bowl caliber player.
Speaker 5: So I think that's why Lomuce brown And is still
Speaker 5: an endeared part of that organization.
Speaker 1: For all your journeys ahead, go with a partner who's
Speaker 1: been on your team from the beginning, the one members
Speaker 1: and communities have trusted for over eighty five years, the
Speaker 1: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, always standing by you,
Speaker 1: with you, for you through it all. Let's get the
Speaker 1: status from Hollis and. The status is as we anticipated
Speaker 1: and probably expected, justin fields trending towards getting the start
Speaker 1: against the Lions in Week eleven after a four and
Speaker 1: a half game absence. He was at the podium today.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from some of that in a moment, but overall,
Speaker 1: tom the thumb is ready to go. What are the
Speaker 1: challenges he faces with that recovery. He can grip the
Speaker 1: football and throw it. And what did you take away
Speaker 1: from his conference with the media today.
Speaker 5: He doesn't have any challenges. He's not going to think
Speaker 5: about the thumb. It's not going to play and role
Speaker 5: of anything that Luke Getsy wants him to do. He's
Speaker 5: going to go out there and he's going to play
Speaker 5: a Justin Fields brand of football. And I think that
Speaker 5: the experience that he went through on the sidelines of
Speaker 5: watching Tyson Bagent use the offense the way Luke Getsy
Speaker 5: got the team ready, listening to Luke Getsy coach on
Speaker 5: the sideline, and he says that he didn't interfere with
Speaker 5: Luke Getsy at all during the course of the game.
Speaker 3: That he just sat back, paid attention.
Speaker 5: To the game plan, and looked at as a student
Speaker 5: of the game. And I think that's probably some of
Speaker 5: the most beneficial parts of rehabilitation that you can go through.
Speaker 1: And almost is the cliche with young quarterback to young
Speaker 1: players that may have had an injury and they get
Speaker 1: to watch and I always hear these questions, do you
Speaker 1: think you learned anything? It was it good for that player?
Speaker 1: It's only good if they take what they saw and
Speaker 1: apply it, though, And you know, and every quarterback and
Speaker 1: every player, regardless of position, does things a different way.
Speaker 1: They handle things a different way. Do you think, though,
Speaker 1: in this particular instance, especially with timing of plays, release
Speaker 1: of the football, what you see sometimes is not what
Speaker 1: you get from a defense. Do you think those things
Speaker 1: could that gap be closed a little bit? Given how
Speaker 1: Beagent played the game?
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, I think Justin made reference to the point saying, yeah,
Speaker 5: I watched the way Beige it used the information that
Speaker 5: he was fed, and how he looked at plays, and
Speaker 5: maybe some of the results of his reads, and the
Speaker 5: way he looked at the football out of his hands.
Speaker 5: All those things can help you. It's the same thing, Jeff,
Speaker 5: if we are watching a team in preparation and we
Speaker 5: are playing against the defense, and maybe they had a
Speaker 5: Pro Bowl lineman on their football team, and you kind
Speaker 5: of watch some of their techniques and some of their
Speaker 5: fundamentals and the way they would go out and block
Speaker 5: whomever we are getting ready to play against, and you
Speaker 5: didn't necessarily try to emulate them. You tried to learn
Speaker 5: from what you are seeing from them. And so I
Speaker 5: don't think there's a much difference in it, whether you're
Speaker 5: a quarterback or an offensive lineman or whatever position you play.
Speaker 5: And then they asked Justin about did you go back
Speaker 5: and study the games that you've already played.
Speaker 3: And he said, no, I didn't.
Speaker 5: I was looking forward and I was studying the next opponent.
Speaker 3: I was taking notes.
Speaker 5: I was giving Tyson any information that I thought that
Speaker 5: was beneficial.
Speaker 3: To me that he could use.
Speaker 5: So I liked Justin's approach moving forward through the injury,
Speaker 5: because there's nothing he can do about the past opponents.
Speaker 3: You're not going to see again.
Speaker 5: It's about going forward and watching the tape of the
Speaker 5: guys they're getting ready to play as if you were
Speaker 5: preparing to be the starting quarterback. And I think that's
Speaker 5: the role that Justin needed to be in the most.
Speaker 4: Here's a chunk of the press conference with fields back
Speaker 4: of the podium with the media just as your.
Speaker 1: Grip strinth doing right now on how you tinkered with
Speaker 1: glove tape.
Speaker 6: Yeah it feels pretty good, you know. So I'm just
Speaker 6: getting back. Anything feels good to throw, arm feels fresh,
Speaker 6: but yeah, feel good, and you know, take it up
Speaker 6: today I practice, so we'll see how I was feeling
Speaker 6: on Sunday to whether I need tape or not. But
Speaker 6: I'll try to glove at first, just because you don't
Speaker 6: have to grip the ball as much, you know, without
Speaker 6: a glove or with the glove. So but I didn't
Speaker 6: really feel too comfortable with the glove on. So yeah,
Speaker 6: so you.
Speaker 5: Want to play every game obviously, but now you're actually
Speaker 5: getting an opportunity to do so.
Speaker 2: Just how excited are you about getting it back out
Speaker 2: there again?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, of course, I'm really excited.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 6: I feel like the longer I was out, the more
Speaker 6: you know, I was I wanted to play. But I'm
Speaker 6: really excited to get back, you know, this week and
Speaker 6: get back on the field of the guys.
Speaker 2: For sure. Playing against Carolina was there consideration.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it was real consideration, but I wanted to play,
Speaker 6: but uh, you know, the head trainer said it was
Speaker 6: my best, you know, for the best for the future
Speaker 6: long term to just wait it out one more week,
Speaker 6: especially you know, coming out a short week and stuff
Speaker 6: like that, and you know, if it would have got
Speaker 6: hit or something like that, it probably would have postponed
Speaker 6: another two or three weeks.
Speaker 8: So yeah, are you looking at these next seven games
Speaker 8: any differently for you even if thinking big picture of
Speaker 8: the evaluation of what the Bears are doing for you
Speaker 8: as a quarterback, or are you just kind of approaching them.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's just try to win out these last games.
Speaker 6: I mean, it just starts with Sunday and just taking
Speaker 6: the day by day. So yeah, I mean that's my
Speaker 6: focus right now, is just you know, focusing on Sunday,
Speaker 6: get prepared for that, you know, going out there, playing hard,
Speaker 6: playing to the best of my ability.
Speaker 9: Justin in what ways are you going to have to
Speaker 9: make sure that whether you're in the pocket or running
Speaker 9: with the football, that it doesn't affect ball security.
Speaker 6: I mean, I wouldn't be playing if it was going
Speaker 6: to affect that. So I don't see that see that
Speaker 6: as a problem. You know, comes Sunday.
Speaker 3: So it's fair to say that this is the longest
Speaker 3: stretch within a season ever in your.
Speaker 2: Football life that you haven't been able to play.
Speaker 7: It might be close.
Speaker 6: I'd say I missed about the same amount of time
Speaker 6: my senior high school. So yeah, pretty similar with those fingers, Yeah,
Speaker 6: with my index finger.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's just.
Speaker 5: Been like kind of sitting impatiently, patiently whatever you want
Speaker 5: to call it for the last five weeks to try
Speaker 5: to figure out when the.
Speaker 2: Opening was going to come in.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, of course, you know, when I was out,
Speaker 6: I was trying to you know, just you know, be
Speaker 6: the same leader I was when I was playing, you know,
Speaker 6: helping of course, helping Tyson out with you know, anything
Speaker 6: he asked for. I would write extra notes about scattering
Speaker 6: ports on bbs and safeties and linebacker and stuff and
Speaker 6: just send it to them.
Speaker 7: But yeah, and you know.
Speaker 6: Just being on the sidelines, I feel like you look
Speaker 6: at the game from a different perspective and you know,
Speaker 6: just kind of just seeing the game from a different view. So,
Speaker 6: you know, definitely learned a lot from you know, just
Speaker 6: being on the sideline and just just really just looking
Speaker 6: at the game from the sideline. Just body language, you know,
Speaker 6: just you know, different alignment cells and stuff like that.
Speaker 9: So anything you need to be cognizant of if you
Speaker 9: get hit or sacked.
Speaker 2: About protecting your hand.
Speaker 6: Just protect the ball, that's number one. So my hand
Speaker 6: gets hurt in the process, it's sorry. The ball protected,
Speaker 6: you know, that's all that matters. But not really out
Speaker 6: there thinking about my hand. You know, if I was
Speaker 6: out there like it's like a mental block. There's no
Speaker 6: mental block with my thumb and you know, playing playing
Speaker 6: normal football.
Speaker 7: So yeah, the.
Speaker 10: Last time we talked to you, you said there was
Speaker 10: still a little bit of pain in your hand.
Speaker 3: Is that all the way gone or is that something
Speaker 3: you have to play through?
Speaker 7: Talking about last week.
Speaker 6: When I first came back, Yeah, yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 6: not one hundred percent, but you know, feels feels good.
Speaker 7: There's still a little bit of healing left, but it's stable.
Speaker 6: Uh, you know, like I said, it's it's good.
Speaker 5: There's huge implications for any player in their third season.
Speaker 5: What do you hope to prove individually during the final
Speaker 5: seven games of this regular season?
Speaker 6: Just go out there and you know, win games. Not
Speaker 6: good to prove anything to anybody. I'm playing for my teammates,
Speaker 6: playing for the coaches, and you know, that's that's it,
Speaker 6: and everything else will take care of itself. So uh,
Speaker 6: you know, not necessarly trying to prove anything to anybody.
Speaker 6: Let's just go out there with my brothers and go
Speaker 6: out there and perform.
Speaker 2: So, justin with regard to being an observer the last
Speaker 2: few weeks, was there anything you saw from Tyson pages
Speaker 2: that you can apply to your game.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I think really just looking at all quarterbacks,
Speaker 6: I feel like Tyson. Of course, Tyson quarterbacks run the league,
Speaker 6: quarterbacks in college, like, we all play the game differently,
Speaker 6: So you know, things that Tyson did well, you know,
Speaker 6: I'm definitely going to try to, you know, emulate that
Speaker 6: of course in my game. But you know, at the
Speaker 6: end of the day, we're different quarterbacks. We don't do
Speaker 6: the same thing. So but of course there's bits and
Speaker 6: pieces that we do do differently that he did well
Speaker 6: on the field, and of course I'm going to try to,
Speaker 6: you know, add that to my game for sure.
Speaker 2: Is there something in particular that really compliments the way
Speaker 2: you play?
Speaker 5: Like you said, you are different quarterbacks, but sometimes that
Speaker 5: can emerge.
Speaker 2: It too and it helps.
Speaker 1: Is there anything he did he did he feel like
Speaker 1: can compliment your skills.
Speaker 7: Yeah, a lot of stuff. For sure.
Speaker 11: Most the experience I can kind of be on the
Speaker 11: sideline here coach gets call in those players, not in
Speaker 11: the moment where you got to kind of just go
Speaker 11: precurre to say that, to execute, actually be able to
Speaker 11: kind of evaluate why he's calling.
Speaker 3: You have a different perspective or different experience here.
Speaker 7: It that way.
Speaker 6: I think the Sunday night game, I was trying to,
Speaker 6: you know, just play the game in my head. I
Speaker 6: think I got a call down from upstairs and saying
Speaker 6: that the camera kept showing me called the play calls,
Speaker 6: so I couldn't.
Speaker 7: I had to stop doing that.
Speaker 6: But yeah, I think, you know, just like you said,
Speaker 6: just seeing the game from a different perspective, and of course,
Speaker 6: you know, I don't want to mess with Luke too
Speaker 6: much during the game.
Speaker 7: Of course he's locked in too, so.
Speaker 6: Definitely just seeing what he's calling certain plays, and you know,
Speaker 6: there were a few times where you know, I wanted
Speaker 6: to ask him, you know, what were you thinking on display,
Speaker 6: like what was your mindset?
Speaker 7: Like what was your goal?
Speaker 6: And to call in his play, But like I said,
Speaker 6: I didn't want to mess with his mojo because he's
Speaker 6: he's locked in, you know, game that I think. I
Speaker 6: tried to talk to him one time, and I mean
Speaker 6: he just, you know, he's so locked in he didn't
Speaker 6: even hear me. But yeah, definitely, like I said earlier,
Speaker 6: just you know, seeing the game from a different perspective
Speaker 6: and kind of just a bigger picture of things.
Speaker 9: When Tyson had some success, I think there were some
Speaker 9: people that wanted to create a quarterback controversy.
Speaker 2: Did you hear any of that?
Speaker 6: And then yeah, I mean, of course, But that's the
Speaker 6: world we live in nowadays. You know, everybody wants you know,
Speaker 6: everybody wants to cause a stir, cause media attention, boom
Speaker 6: boom boom, comments stories. So that's just you know, that's
Speaker 6: just what comes with it. But you know, I knew
Speaker 6: that was going to happen from the get go, So
Speaker 6: it came to me as no surprise. But you know,
Speaker 6: like I said, I was coming in the building every
Speaker 6: day being the same guy was you know before I
Speaker 6: was hurt and you know, just trying to be the
Speaker 6: best leader I can be.
Speaker 1: All right, So now he's got seven games knock on woods,
Speaker 1: stays healthy, to put some good things on tape and
Speaker 1: have people thinking that this is going to be something
Speaker 1: that we can expect consistently from Justin Fields.
Speaker 4: Is this the most important part of his career?
Speaker 5: It is, But it's not like he's just jumped out
Speaker 5: of an airplane and he pulled the ripcord on a parachute.
Speaker 5: It's more like you got to go out there and
Speaker 5: play football like you've been playing throughout your career. You
Speaker 5: have to understand the decisions you have to make according
Speaker 5: to the down and distance, run pass, RPO, play action pass,
Speaker 5: and Justin Fields has to continue on that trajectory of
Speaker 5: improvement that we all expect from him and I think
Speaker 5: he expects from himself. Once you get back in the
Speaker 5: saddle again and you are the starting quarterback, you think
Speaker 5: of the those incremental times of practice between Wednesday, Thursday
Speaker 5: and Friday and the growth and development that you would
Speaker 5: like to show yourself each and every day. I think
Speaker 5: it's important that he has a solid performance this week
Speaker 5: in practice only because you're coming back from a thumb injury.
Speaker 1: Team is healthy as it's been and it's going to
Speaker 1: be pretty much healthy all the way across the board.
Speaker 1: Still don't know about Tremaine Edmunds did not practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: but Nate Davis is back. He's going to get the
Speaker 1: start at right guard. That will move Tevin Jenkins to
Speaker 1: left guard, and unfortunately, as you indicated in Tuesday's podcast,
Speaker 1: this means Cody white Hair is not in that starting lineup.
Speaker 1: He's got to stay ready, of course, and he can
Speaker 1: play all those different positions. That's something that you anticipated
Speaker 1: it does give the Bears that comfort that Nate Davis comfort.
Speaker 1: He's played that right side his entire career, so that's
Speaker 1: where he goes, and we certainly have seen the left
Speaker 1: guard spot handled by Tevin Jenkins.
Speaker 4: How do you feel about this?
Speaker 5: Well, you know, the most shocking thing that when I
Speaker 5: heard Matt Eberflus make the announcement that Nate is not
Speaker 5: going to be on a snap count. And when you
Speaker 5: are recovering from what they said was a high ankle
Speaker 5: sprain or an ankle sprayin, you.
Speaker 3: Know how much conditioning were you able to do?
Speaker 5: And so Nate has to go out on the field
Speaker 5: once he gets out there for the first play and
Speaker 5: play equally as energy g filled on the last play.
Speaker 5: And so that's something that I'll be paying attention to
Speaker 5: all game. Is do I think conditioning is affecting Nate's
Speaker 5: game at all? And if it's not, I think he
Speaker 5: and Tevin at the combination of offensive guards can really
Speaker 5: help this offensive line.
Speaker 3: Listen, it doesn't take.
Speaker 5: Away from my admiration for Cody Whitehair and what he's
Speaker 5: done throughout his career, and I got to imagine he'll
Speaker 5: be as ready as any player on that team to
Speaker 5: go in and play wherever they need him the most
Speaker 5: at a moment's notice. However, that's the challenges you go
Speaker 5: through as a football player throughout the course and time
Speaker 5: of a lengthy career.
Speaker 1: Tay Foreman limited with an ankle, Sandborn limited with an
Speaker 1: ankle klip, Herbert limited with his return from an ankle
Speaker 1: injury is twenty one one day window coming off ir
Speaker 1: is still open. There's an anticipation that he could be
Speaker 1: back for this game. There would have to be a
Speaker 1: corresponding roster move, Cary blasting game expected back Terrell Smith
Speaker 1: back in the secondary of the young rookie who has
Speaker 1: put on some good tape. So that's the story from
Speaker 1: Hallis Haws to get ready for a Lions team Tom
Speaker 1: that is on a six game NFC North winning streak
Speaker 1: for the first time since nineteen ninety five, a win
Speaker 1: for them, and that's seventh straight for the first time
Speaker 1: in division play since nineteen seventy. Things are turning in
Speaker 1: a right direction for the Detroit Lions. Let's pick it
Speaker 1: up with our friend Lolmas Brown, the former Lion left
Speaker 1: tackle and one of their radio analysts for the Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions Radio network.
Speaker 4: Our good palace back. We missed him since last year.
Speaker 1: Lomas Brown one of the analysts on the Detroit Lions
Speaker 1: radio network and does a lot of great stuff there
Speaker 1: in the Detroit area with Tommy and I here on
Speaker 1: the Bears, Etc.
Speaker 4: Podcast.
Speaker 1: So I don't know about you, but we we have
Speaker 1: now trickled into the podcast universe this year and Tom
Speaker 1: is actually having fun.
Speaker 4: Lomas, he's having fun.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad to hear Tom is having fun. Man.
Speaker 2: That's the old offensive lineman.
Speaker 10: Man. We need to have fun in our ages right now.
Speaker 10: So I'm glad to see he's having fun.
Speaker 3: They need to hear more of us offensive lineman.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's where the wisdom come from.
Speaker 1: You know, A long time ago, I was an intern.
Speaker 1: I was covering Brown's training camp you speak of this,
Speaker 1: and I did a feature you remember you guys all
Speaker 1: both Tom and I.
Speaker 4: Had many a meeting with him.
Speaker 1: But Doug Deacon, the former offensive lineman and former Browns analyst,
Speaker 1: and it was Bob Golick And I was a young
Speaker 1: kid intern and I was doing a story on the
Speaker 1: difference between offensive and defensive linemen, and these two got
Speaker 1: into a comedy act.
Speaker 4: It was absolutely hilarious.
Speaker 1: I hope to find the tape one day because you know,
Speaker 1: that kind of is the thought offensive lineman. You know,
Speaker 1: they're very cerebral. They have to understand a complicated playbook
Speaker 1: and defensive line just go get the quarterback. We both
Speaker 1: know it's not that simple on either side. But you
Speaker 1: have to be smart to play offensive line, smart football wise.
Speaker 10: Oh yeah, absolutely, and Tom knows that. I mean, there's
Speaker 10: so many things that happens that goes on on the
Speaker 10: offensive line, even after the player is called. So you
Speaker 10: know's just so many integral parts of playing offensive line.
Speaker 10: And the thing about like you mentioned with the offensive line,
Speaker 10: always like to say, it's like a hand and a glove.
Speaker 2: Everything has the work right for that play to go right.
Speaker 10: Defensive linemen they could cover from for each other if
Speaker 10: they don't do the right thing.
Speaker 2: So things happen a lot differently.
Speaker 10: You can have a guy shift from a five technique
Speaker 10: all the way inside on you.
Speaker 2: There's just so many different things that can happen that
Speaker 2: the offensive line, like.
Speaker 10: You say, have to be rebuild and they have to
Speaker 10: be able to think things out and you have to
Speaker 10: be able to do it just like that.
Speaker 3: So Lomos, I'm gonna ask you a question about it.
Speaker 5: I guess we have to include a tight end position
Speaker 5: as part of the offensive line because I want to
Speaker 5: ask you a question about Dan Campbell. When you think
Speaker 5: about the way analytics has infiltrated its way into football,
Speaker 5: everything from the amount of time guys practice, how fast
Speaker 5: they run, and decisions you make. Dan Campbell goes completely
Speaker 5: against the norm last week and on fourth down he
Speaker 5: throws the ball.
Speaker 10: That's a great question because you know again in the
Speaker 10: course of the game, and I know Dan has the
Speaker 10: trust of his team, and I'll say this, he's not
Speaker 10: like how he used to be. Someone asked me what's
Speaker 10: the biggest difference between him this.
Speaker 2: Year and last year? And I would say he thinks
Speaker 2: things out.
Speaker 10: The game has slowed down from him from a coaching standpoint.
Speaker 2: So the directly answer.
Speaker 10: Your question, no ether want us to go for it,
Speaker 10: and especially throwing for it. You know, I thought it
Speaker 10: was risky, but you know again and Dan, we trust
Speaker 10: and I was happy how things worked out. And I
Speaker 10: think what it does is it sends a message to
Speaker 10: not only you know, Tom, not only to the guys
Speaker 10: in that locker room, but to the rest of the
Speaker 10: teams around this league that you know that we're a
Speaker 10: team that's gonna go for things. We're a team that's
Speaker 10: going to play you hard, and you kind of, like
Speaker 10: you say, kind of almost like a wild card. You
Speaker 10: really don't know what to expect out of a Detroit
Speaker 10: Lion team. And I'll say that on both all three
Speaker 10: sides of the ball, offense, defense, and special teams, because
Speaker 10: we do some things on special teams too.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm glad.
Speaker 10: It worked out, though. It always make things better, you
Speaker 10: know when it works out.
Speaker 5: You know, Lomas, you had a chance to play against
Speaker 5: the eighty five Bears. Yeah, And a lot of the
Speaker 5: conversation about the eighty five Bears always started with the defense.
Speaker 5: When you talk about this version of the Detroit Lions,
Speaker 5: if we're going to have a conversation, are we going
Speaker 5: to talk about offense first or defense?
Speaker 2: No, I think with this version that's a Oh, that's
Speaker 2: what's a good.
Speaker 10: Question, that really is I think, Wow, I'm gonna say,
Speaker 10: you're gonna talk about the offense because of the consistency
Speaker 10: of the offense, how it's been consistent, and that's what
Speaker 10: we've been talking about pretty much for the last you know,
Speaker 10: leading into this year, coming out of last year and
Speaker 10: talking about this year, just how consistent the offense has been,
Speaker 10: the offensive line, the performance that Jamiir Gibbs and that
Speaker 10: David Montgomery is putting on the record, sending things that
Speaker 10: Ama Ross Saint.
Speaker 2: Brown is doing, actually the.
Speaker 10: Records, sending things that Sam Laporta, the rookie tight end
Speaker 10: is doing.
Speaker 2: It's just a lot of things.
Speaker 10: Great that's going on on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 10: To they sewell, not giving up any sacks of pressure,
Speaker 10: Taylor Decker going up against me, going up against some
Speaker 10: of the better pass rushers if you think about the
Speaker 10: Bolster and Khalil Mack and they held both of those
Speaker 10: guys and no sacks, no pressures, just they were quiet.
Speaker 10: So we I think that's going to get the head
Speaker 10: lines because we've been talking about that much. But I
Speaker 10: tell you what, the defense, they're trying to make a
Speaker 10: little noise over there on the defensive side of the
Speaker 10: ball too.
Speaker 1: Almas Brown, our guest, Aaron Bears, etc. Take a chance
Speaker 1: download the Bent Rivers app.
Speaker 4: Today.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the offense, and I got to talk more
Speaker 1: in detail about Jared Goff because you know, when he
Speaker 1: was at the Rams and was dealt. Everybody, I think
Speaker 1: assumed he was going to be a bridge quarterback to
Speaker 1: some draft pick in the future. I know the three
Speaker 1: of us talked about that. And look what he's done.
Speaker 1: He has protected the football. He is engineering offense that
Speaker 1: is top five or six in almost every major offensive category.
Speaker 1: He's got weapons, he's stretching the field, he's extending it
Speaker 1: horizontally and vertically. They got a running game. And it's
Speaker 1: just how impressive has he been? And he's only twenty
Speaker 1: nine yet. So is he there to stay?
Speaker 2: I mean, he should be.
Speaker 10: I mean, if I'm the Lions, I'm trying to tie
Speaker 10: him up right now if I can. You know, I
Speaker 10: don't understand what else he would have to do. I mean,
Speaker 10: of course, and I take that back. Of course, we
Speaker 10: want to win, and we halfway through the season, so
Speaker 10: I know it's a lot of things left to do.
Speaker 10: But oh my goodness, like you said, from where he
Speaker 10: came from to where he is now, he's an extension
Speaker 10: of Ben Johnson out there.
Speaker 2: On that field because he knows that playbook completely. It
Speaker 2: was a great.
Speaker 10: Play, as you know, on that seventy five yard run
Speaker 10: from David Montgomery. He all the boot he checked out
Speaker 10: of what they were going to have, and check it
Speaker 10: too that run because he's seeing the three down line
Speaker 10: was just three down linemen and that defensive scheme that
Speaker 10: they had out there.
Speaker 2: And of course, man, with our guys up front and
Speaker 2: with David, you're gonna take that all day long.
Speaker 10: Tom knows it's already gaps there for you, so you
Speaker 10: gonna take that. And that's what Jared Golf did and
Speaker 10: it ended up being a.
Speaker 2: Seventy five yard touchdown run.
Speaker 10: So he knows the offense in and now he could
Speaker 10: get us in and out of a good, good place.
Speaker 2: He knows just where the guys are gonna be at.
Speaker 10: He knows, like you say, how to orchestrate these guys
Speaker 10: and put them in the right POSI.
Speaker 2: You know, all the different motions and formations that we
Speaker 2: go in. It's a lot of movement up.
Speaker 10: Front when you face a Detroit Lion offense, a lot
Speaker 10: of movement that Ben Johnson has.
Speaker 2: So Jared has done a wonderful job.
Speaker 10: And like I say, I don't know why, you know,
Speaker 10: maybe they start talking to him his agent behind the doors,
Speaker 10: but I think he's done what he needed to do.
Speaker 2: To say, hey, I'm the quarterback of the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 1: Well, miss Justin Fields expected a return for this game
Speaker 1: after a four week absence, really four and a half
Speaker 1: games since his thumb injury. What is he going to
Speaker 1: be looking at defensively from the Detroit Lions? And do
Speaker 1: you feel if there's anything that concerns fans about, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe going all the way and being the super Bowl
Speaker 1: representative in the NFC? Is that side of the ball
Speaker 1: the question mark?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it is. And you know, we expect
Speaker 2: Justin Fields.
Speaker 10: To come in and I really think we're going to
Speaker 10: get the best version of him. I think that sometime
Speaker 10: when the player is able to sit back and just watch,
Speaker 10: just sit back and observe and see things differently, see
Speaker 10: it from a different view, you know, just you know,
Speaker 10: see practice from a different view, hear things from a
Speaker 10: different view.
Speaker 2: It can help a player, it really can.
Speaker 10: And I think with Justin I just think this is
Speaker 10: something that I think coming back off his injury, watching
Speaker 10: the way that Tyson Badget play and I'm sorry some
Speaker 10: of the success that he had, I think Justin's gonna
Speaker 10: come back and show us the best version of this
Speaker 10: of himself.
Speaker 2: So I'm a little nervous, you know, going into this game,
Speaker 2: because I really don't know what they expect. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's heard us in the past, and you know.
Speaker 10: We hadn't been real, real good with quarterbacks that can
Speaker 10: buy time and help their off the line out.
Speaker 2: With their legs. So you know, it'd be interesting to see.
Speaker 10: The approach that Aaron Glenn takes to him and how
Speaker 10: if we're gonna finally be able to get that guys
Speaker 10: down on the ground because we get pressures on the quarterback,
Speaker 10: it's just that we haven't been able to get them
Speaker 10: down on the ground.
Speaker 3: Well, Lomas, I'm a little bit nervous as well, and
Speaker 3: I'll tell you why.
Speaker 5: I've been to every Chicago Bear Detroit Lion game in
Speaker 5: Detroit since nineteen eighty five, and I think last year
Speaker 5: it started to build an atmosphere that your indoor stadium
Speaker 5: could be a true weapon on behalf of the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 3: So can you give us a description of what the.
Speaker 5: Bear fans that are listening on the radio should expect
Speaker 5: inside that building Sunday?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is. It has turned into a home field
Speaker 2: of vantage and.
Speaker 10: Really Tom even on the road, Oh my goodness, we
Speaker 10: take over stadiums now.
Speaker 2: It's just been unbelievable.
Speaker 10: Every stadium we've been in, we pretty much have taken
Speaker 10: it over, other than Baltimore. But I'll say this, there
Speaker 10: was still a lot of Lion fans in Baltimore.
Speaker 2: They just really didn't have any reason to cheer. But
Speaker 2: it's been that way and it's definitely a home field
Speaker 2: of vantage twelfth man type of advantage here in.
Speaker 3: Detroit. Now.
Speaker 10: Dan Campbell, he has the pulse of this community, of
Speaker 10: this state, and everybody's balled in right now.
Speaker 2: So you gonna see.
Speaker 10: The best version of our fans as far as you know,
Speaker 10: bringing the noise. So yeah, I expect you guys come
Speaker 10: here and use the silent cap come here, and I
Speaker 10: know I'm quite sure. Uh Coach Eba Flues and that
Speaker 10: staff they practiced that all week long. But it's gonna
Speaker 10: be unbelievable. The fans are gonna be ready. Man. We're
Speaker 10: riding a winning streak after beating going out to LA
Speaker 10: and beating the Chargers.
Speaker 2: Uh so the fans are rubbed up.
Speaker 10: And as you know, we got this to be We
Speaker 10: got another game coming up on Thursday, Thanksgiving, so we
Speaker 10: had like three games and will be three.
Speaker 2: Games in eleven days.
Speaker 10: So hopefully, you know, they won't be too much on
Speaker 10: these guys body, and like I said, they could come
Speaker 10: out and give their best version of themselves on Sunday.
Speaker 5: Oh so you played offensive tackle your whole career and
Speaker 5: you think of a couple of the defensive ends in
Speaker 5: this game. Montest Sweat is newly aboard with the Bears,
Speaker 5: and Hutchinson from the Detroit Lions. So hutch won't be
Speaker 5: able to hear the snapcount because the crowd's going to
Speaker 5: be so loud. Montest Sweat is going to be able
Speaker 5: to hear the snap count each and every play because
Speaker 5: the crowd will be silent.
Speaker 3: For you, guys, as an offensive.
Speaker 5: Tackle, who do you think has the biggest advantage the
Speaker 5: end that cannot hear the snap count or the end
Speaker 5: that can hear the snap count?
Speaker 2: Oh? Wow, man, you've been coming? What man? What have
Speaker 2: you been doing? Man?
Speaker 10: I mean you just bring in the a game with
Speaker 10: that said mentality. Wow, that's another great question right there. Wow.
Speaker 10: You know I would say wow, I would say probably
Speaker 10: the end that can't because you still don't know even
Speaker 10: if you hear it, they still don't know what it's
Speaker 10: on you see what I'm saying. Even if you and
Speaker 10: you can hear the cave, you still don't know what
Speaker 10: the snap count is on. So I would thank the
Speaker 10: guy that, uh that doesn't have it. I just think
Speaker 10: it would be right. Yeah, wait, am I saying that?
Speaker 2: Right? I agree?
Speaker 10: Okay, all right, I saw that mixing myself up a
Speaker 10: little bit.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm saying.
Speaker 6: He gave you.
Speaker 1: He gave you a little voodoo magic there, Tommy, he's
Speaker 1: trying to trick you up.
Speaker 5: No, it's also you know, he knows the he knows
Speaker 5: the crowd support at home.
Speaker 3: He's got a better understanding that that.
Speaker 5: And then when Montes Sweat is newly aboard kind of
Speaker 5: thinking about the plate called in the huddle, the down
Speaker 5: and distance specifically, and playing against the Lions as a
Speaker 5: member of the Bears for the first time, you know,
Speaker 5: do you fall into that pattern of listening to the
Speaker 5: snap count or are you disciplined enough like Hutch at
Speaker 5: home where he knows he's not going to hear the
Speaker 5: snap count.
Speaker 10: Yeah, tom think about this. You just got me thinking
Speaker 10: about something. Think about this now, you know they can't
Speaker 10: if you jump. You know what I'm saying, it's they're approach.
Speaker 10: They're in the neutral zone. So remember how back in
Speaker 10: our day, guys could twitch at you, you know what
Speaker 10: I'm saying in loud stadiums when you couldn't hear. Back
Speaker 10: in our day, guys could twitch at you and if
Speaker 10: you move, the pilody was on you. Now, these guys,
Speaker 10: like I said, they really can't twitch. But I'm saying
Speaker 10: if they ended that neutral zone now then it's pretty
Speaker 10: much going against them if you move or jump out
Speaker 10: the way. So it's just how times have changed. And
Speaker 10: that's that's something else too. You know that should work
Speaker 10: in the advantage of Aiden hutcheson with you guys tackles
Speaker 10: not being able to hear.
Speaker 2: So it's just amazing.
Speaker 10: How times have changed from when we played to some
Speaker 10: of the things they get away with.
Speaker 1: Wow, it'll be a great match up Aiden hud you
Speaker 1: sent and primarily of of the right tackle the Bears.
Speaker 1: Darnell right, the rookie who's done a nice job so far,
Speaker 1: would be a good match. All right, we'll let you
Speaker 1: go on this.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 1: In addition to just the fact the Lions are winning,
Speaker 1: they're winning two years in a row of winning and
Speaker 1: trying to get to the playoffs with a really good
Speaker 1: balanced team. The other big story is Barry Sanders documentary
Speaker 1: that's coming out, So yeah, maybe you got a sneak
Speaker 1: peek a ready. I don't know, but that's your good friend.
Speaker 1: And is that a lot of anticipation to find out
Speaker 1: what the real story is behind his departure earlier than
Speaker 1: we all wished.
Speaker 10: Yeah, I'm definitely curious about what he's going to say
Speaker 10: because you know, by us being teammates, you hear things, you.
Speaker 2: Know things about him and everything.
Speaker 10: So I want to see if it matches up to
Speaker 10: what I know the reason why Barry left, you know,
Speaker 10: left the game.
Speaker 2: And you know, the one thing that I did knowing that,
Speaker 2: you know, my last year was ninety five with the Lions,
Speaker 2: and his.
Speaker 10: Last year, of course was ninety nine with the Lion
Speaker 10: The one thing that I did know once he stepped
Speaker 10: the way, you know, he was gone. He wasn't coming back,
Speaker 10: because that's just how Barry was.
Speaker 2: You know, he was a man of his word. He
Speaker 2: was the guy that was gonna stick to what he said.
Speaker 10: And once he said he was done, I knew he
Speaker 10: was done because you know, it was all kinds of
Speaker 10: speculations that he was gonna come back, they were gonna
Speaker 10: trade them the Miami just all these other things. But
Speaker 10: I knew that just from knowing the type of person
Speaker 10: he was, because it's the same guy his rookie year.
Speaker 10: I tell people this all the time. He had a
Speaker 10: chance to win the Russian title. He only needed nine
Speaker 10: yards to win the Russian title.
Speaker 2: We had a whole quarter to go.
Speaker 10: Christian mccoyer from the Kansas City Chiefs, they were done,
Speaker 10: so we had just found out entering the fourth quarter.
Speaker 10: Berry only needed nine yards to win that and it
Speaker 10: was a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars bonus for
Speaker 10: him being the Russian chap. He refused to go back
Speaker 10: in the game, just we begged him. He would not
Speaker 10: go back in that game. So just what I'm saying,
Speaker 10: money accolates, things like that never motivated him. So, like
Speaker 10: I said, I knew once he left the game. You know,
Speaker 10: everybody said Walter Payton's ruker. I knew they had nothing
Speaker 10: to do with it. I don't think they had a
Speaker 10: thing to do with it. So that was just Barry.
Speaker 1: Well, that's a great story to wrap us up. We
Speaker 1: can't wait to see you on Sunday. Make sure you
Speaker 1: make sure you drop by, or we'll drop by and
Speaker 1: say thank you so much. Lomas Brown, I guess here
Speaker 1: on Bears.
Speaker 4: Et cetera.
Speaker 1: All right, how about that story on Barry Sanders as
Speaker 1: a rookie? Had you ever heard that story?
Speaker 5: Now, I've never heard it, but I've always been kind
Speaker 5: of confused and interested in Barry Sanders in a couple
Speaker 5: of ways.
Speaker 3: Is he quiet or is he an introvert? Is he
Speaker 3: super satisfied with his you.
Speaker 5: Know what he was able to accomplish throughout his football
Speaker 5: career where he didn't need special accolades to be to
Speaker 5: convince himself that he had credible achievement. He's in the
Speaker 5: Hall of Fame. He's an incredible person, I understand. So
Speaker 5: it's great here in a story like that from Lomas,
Speaker 5: an actual teammate of his, one of his supporting offensive linemen,
Speaker 5: and for years after the fact, to have a little
Speaker 5: bit of that insight for.
Speaker 1: US Bears fans. You can be there for live NFL
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Speaker 1: in Detroit this week.
Speaker 3: I'm thinking I don't think so either.
Speaker 5: And Jeff, when we are sitting there last year, up
Speaker 5: in that seven stories above the field, and I was
Speaker 5: listening to the crowd, I knew times were at changing
Speaker 5: And never in the history of my career there did
Speaker 5: I hear at Detroit Stadium as loud as it was
Speaker 5: last year. And I expect this year to be even louder.
Speaker 5: And I think when Dan Campbell took the job at Detroit,
Speaker 5: even though they suffered through a difficult season his first year,
Speaker 5: he knew if he could get the building on his side,
Speaker 5: that it was going to be in every opponent weapon
Speaker 5: anybody who came into that building, it was going to
Speaker 5: be difficult for them to walk out, you know, walk
Speaker 5: out of there not feeling the effects of that crowd.
Speaker 5: So congratulations to them. But if the Bears are going
Speaker 5: to take control of that crowd, they're going to have
Speaker 5: to have a super effective running game. They're going to
Speaker 5: have to play as physical and determined on defense as
Speaker 5: Detroit will, and then they're going to have to come
Speaker 5: out and they're going to have to shock the world.
Speaker 4: Can't.
Speaker 1: You can't give many extra possessions either. Can't do it
Speaker 1: this game. The protection of the football to me is
Speaker 1: the storyteller. You can't do it in this game that place,
Speaker 1: that offense, I mean, I mean there's a lot of
Speaker 1: you can't in this game, honestly, but that one, that
Speaker 1: one could kill you.
Speaker 5: Well, what one key is you also can't have a
Speaker 5: special team play that results in the touchdown. To me,
Speaker 5: that's as much as giving them an extra possession, whereas
Speaker 5: you actually get the extra possession if you give up
Speaker 5: a significant play like that. So I think coach High
Speaker 5: Tower and his special teams have to be as stifling
Speaker 5: this week as they have been all season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Bears have nine defensive or special teams touchdowns allowed
Speaker 1: in the last two years, so that involves what twenty
Speaker 1: seven games. That's a lot right there.
Speaker 4: You mentioned the running game.
Speaker 1: Bears are one of five teams I don't know if
Speaker 1: you're aware of this top ten in both rushing offense
Speaker 1: and rushing defense their fifth offense, second on defense, first
Speaker 1: stop on the run. Over the last six weeks in
Speaker 1: the NFL, the Bears have gone three and three. The
Speaker 1: other four teams Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco. They're combined records,
Speaker 1: of course, twenty seven and nine, and the Bears sit
Speaker 1: here at three and seven. It does underscore that there
Speaker 1: are other factors, not just the run. But it is
Speaker 1: a heck of a start in the rec direction if
Speaker 1: you continue to run the ball effectively and you continue
Speaker 1: to stop the run. Considering what the Bears could not
Speaker 1: do a year ago as the thirty one ranked run
Speaker 1: defense in the NFL.
Speaker 5: Well for the last couple of years, the Bears have
Speaker 5: been able to run the ball successfully at home or
Speaker 5: on the road, and I think they have a nice
Speaker 5: stable of running backs that they can compliment each other
Speaker 5: and run the ball equally as hard. This is probably
Speaker 5: one of the most interesting offensive line lineups that I'm
Speaker 5: excited to see since the season began, because of they've
Speaker 5: had so many injuries up until now, and then the
Speaker 5: thing that intrigues me most is have an eight rotating
Speaker 5: defensive lineman that can come and all play equally as well.
Speaker 5: And if you can keep fresh defensive linemen in the
Speaker 5: game rotating to support the linebackers and the defensive backs
Speaker 5: and make some of those tackles for loss, you know,
Speaker 5: have a handful of sacks. They can go out there
Speaker 5: and they can play good deepen And so I guess
Speaker 5: I'm putting this game on the shoulders of the defensive
Speaker 5: line and the offensive line as much as I am
Speaker 5: any any other position, including quarterback.
Speaker 1: Good news, Chicago United Airlines is getting brand new planes
Speaker 1: with all the bells and whistles, like Bluetooth connectivity screens
Speaker 1: at every seat and room for everyone's rollerbag. United Proud
Speaker 1: to fly the Chicago Bears, and you too. This is
Speaker 1: a game where you got a battle for the entire
Speaker 1: entire sixty minutes. I think Mike Evens mentioned that this
Speaker 1: is going to be a test man in that building,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned it not not just the impact of
Speaker 1: the crowd, but the physicality they can impose upon you.
Speaker 1: So and I you know, and part of it's going
Speaker 1: to begin with somebody like David Montgomery. He runs hard,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter who the opponent was. But you just
Speaker 1: wonder what he's gonna how he's gonna feel. After four
Speaker 1: years with the Bears, He's.
Speaker 4: Done a great job.
Speaker 1: He's got one k plus yard from scrimmage and six
Speaker 1: plus touchdowns each of his four seasons with the Bears.
Speaker 1: He's already got seven touchdowns this season coming off that
Speaker 1: big game last week, so he is a great one
Speaker 1: two punch inside out with him and Jamar Gibbs.
Speaker 3: All Right, I got a question for you.
Speaker 5: So your Bears win the coin toss, you want to
Speaker 5: give the ball to David Montgomery after all those glowing
Speaker 5: numbers you just gave me, the King of analytics, or
Speaker 5: do you want to do you want to put the
Speaker 5: Bears offense on the field first to try to squash
Speaker 5: the crowd noise and and uh, you know, gain change
Speaker 5: or take control of field position.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna defer,
Speaker 1: and i'm gonna I don't like that.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna give me. I'm gonna. I'm gonna give the
Speaker 4: ball to Detroit to start the game. All right, but
Speaker 4: the risk involved with.
Speaker 5: The defense has to step up to the play, create
Speaker 5: a three and out and get good field position for
Speaker 5: your offense.
Speaker 1: Listen, Tom, the defense the last six weeks playing tremendous football.
Speaker 1: The numbers say so they've been outstanding defensively outstanding, and
Speaker 1: you know, if you can somehow The thing is golf
Speaker 1: doesn't turn it over anymore, used to, doesn't do it anymore.
Speaker 1: So he's very protective of the football. And so you're
Speaker 1: going to have to make a special play to get
Speaker 1: the ball away from these guys.
Speaker 4: What would you do?
Speaker 5: I would kick the ball off to Detroit, and the
Speaker 5: first thing I would do is I would try to
Speaker 5: limit the success of the run on first down. And
Speaker 5: then I would try to make the first passing opportunities
Speaker 5: for Detroit as uncomfortable as I possibly could. And I
Speaker 5: would want Jared Goff to make him think that he's
Speaker 5: going to be pushed off of this spot. He's going
Speaker 5: to have to throw on the run. He's going to
Speaker 5: have to make too early or too late of decisions.
Speaker 5: I don't want him to have the timing of the
Speaker 5: offense in his hand. And so I would kick off,
Speaker 5: and I would be the aggressor. From the first series.
Speaker 1: Last four games against the Bears, eight touchdowns, no interceptionsed off.
Speaker 4: At home.
Speaker 1: His quarterback rating over the last seventeen games forty three touchdowns,
Speaker 1: seven picks, one to ten quarterback. He's just playing well.
Speaker 1: He's playing well. All right, Tom, I got a quiz
Speaker 1: for you, and we're brought to you by PNC Official
Speaker 1: Bank of the Bears. Can you name the quarterback in
Speaker 1: the NFL right now who is leading the league in
Speaker 1: passing yards. I'm gonna give you a second, and if
Speaker 1: you want to go back to it as you think
Speaker 1: it through without looking at the Google machine, you go
Speaker 1: right ahead, we can.
Speaker 5: I don't have Google's I mean, is it something as
Speaker 5: obvious as Jared Goff?
Speaker 4: No, it's not, but he is fifth. Yes, to me,
Speaker 4: it's not obvious.
Speaker 1: And you know, we study this game, we watch it
Speaker 1: and the first guy I was thinking about was Tua
Speaker 1: and Tua is third.
Speaker 4: Then I thought, well you got Mahomes yeh, No, Mahomes CJ.
Speaker 1: Strouds had an unbelievable start, So he's number two. Josh
Speaker 1: Allen is number four, and we're gonna get to Josh
Speaker 1: Allen more in a second. Sam Howell Sam Howell twenty
Speaker 1: seven eighty three and seventeen touchdown throws.
Speaker 4: Sam Howe. I did not anticipate that answer, So yeah,
Speaker 4: did I You know.
Speaker 5: But you know, how often does Eric the enemy their
Speaker 5: new offensive coordinator play caller. You know, for the beginning
Speaker 5: of a career with the new team and the Washington
Speaker 5: Commanders what is the disparity between run pass.
Speaker 4: I'd have to see. I'd have to look that up.
Speaker 1: Okay, Lomas mentioned Ben Johnson, he is going to be
Speaker 1: a head coaching candidate. One hundred percent was last offseason
Speaker 1: as well. Chose to take his name out of some
Speaker 1: of those openings and knew he had something brewing in
Speaker 1: Detroit and that's proven to be true. Outstanding play caller,
Speaker 1: But it's about all the weapons Aman Ross Saint Brown.
Speaker 1: Certainly he's on a tear with one hundred yard catches.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, one hundred yard games. You got the running game,
Speaker 1: you got other receivers. But the guy that has really
Speaker 1: impressed me his tight end, Sam Laporta. And nobody's really
Speaker 1: talking about him. What is his impact and where is
Speaker 1: that impacting the Bears defense on Sunday with Sam Laporta.
Speaker 5: Well, I mean he's a great immediate release for the quarterback.
Speaker 5: When you have a quarterback like Jared Goff who's not
Speaker 5: the most elusive when he's facing pressure, the guy that
Speaker 5: can get the ball out of his hands with less
Speaker 5: than two point two seconds is the tight end. And
Speaker 5: at the tight end position, nine times out of ten,
Speaker 5: you always have a size matchup, whether it's get an
Speaker 5: undersized linebacker who runs well or some type of the
Speaker 5: safety position. And if you understand the catching radius of
Speaker 5: a talent to tight end, it sure opens up quick
Speaker 5: throw opportunities for you. And I think that's why the
Speaker 5: tight end has become such an attractive target so early
Speaker 5: in his career.
Speaker 1: Fifteen yards among tight ends and the first ever tight
Speaker 1: end with thirty five or more receiving yards in each
Speaker 1: of his first nine games. You know he's from Illinois
Speaker 1: all that, he went to Iowa. So I I meet
Speaker 1: him at the combine and he super smart guy, super congenial.
Speaker 1: You could tell he's got a big personality. And I say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know you're from Highland Park. Did you grow up
Speaker 1: a Bears fan? He goes, no, I grew up in Highland, Illinois.
Speaker 1: I have no idea where it is, somewhere south. I
Speaker 1: was embarrassed. He just called me out out right away.
Speaker 1: I thought he's an Island Park kid, but it slipped me.
Speaker 1: And Uh, that's why I like going to the combine.
Speaker 4: Tom.
Speaker 1: You never know what you're gonna learn when you talk
Speaker 1: to some of these guys. But excellent player. But uh,
Speaker 1: for for my money, as well as you know my
Speaker 1: favorite Bears player, right, that's what you always say, no
Speaker 1: disrespect to the other fifty two on the team. Cole
Speaker 1: Comet has been Yeah, real tight.
Speaker 4: End you Notre Dame. And they got another one on
Speaker 4: the on the.
Speaker 1: Lions roster, Tommy another one and he caught. He caught
Speaker 1: like seven balls at Notre Dame. He's got seven NFL touchdowns.
Speaker 1: So it's it's crazy. You guys are jeeping on churning
Speaker 1: them out and and you're gonna have your go to
Speaker 1: have a top top five potentially are a top ten
Speaker 1: pick from the offensive line and Joe Ault this year.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they got a good tight end.
Speaker 5: They had Michael Mayer for the Raiders catch his first
Speaker 5: tight on touchdown the other day. They had Tommy Tremble
Speaker 5: from the Carolina Panthers that you unfortunately gave a bio
Speaker 5: state university.
Speaker 3: Credit for developing him.
Speaker 5: So I did I think tight end you is a
Speaker 5: Notre Dame as much as anybody else wants to claim
Speaker 5: it's their school.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and sure indeed, but so he and Cole Cole
Speaker 1: and Mark Andrews the only two players this year with
Speaker 1: five plus receiving touchdowns.
Speaker 4: The last two years.
Speaker 1: All right, one more thought on the Bears. The linebacking
Speaker 1: crew Samborn's done a terrific job filling in and in
Speaker 1: base when he's out there in base and just being
Speaker 1: active on special teams. And Tremaine Edmonds is going to
Speaker 1: work through a knee. Maybe he plays this week, maybe
Speaker 1: he doesn't, But I feel t J. Edwards is playing
Speaker 1: at a pro bowl level. That's my opinion. I think he's.
Speaker 1: First of all, he's leading the league in tackles, and
Speaker 1: he's just more and more aggressive as the season has
Speaker 1: gone on, as he adapts in this scheme.
Speaker 4: Am I off on that?
Speaker 3: Not at all?
Speaker 5: You know what, We talk a lot about chemistry that
Speaker 5: needs to be developed by the offensive line if they
Speaker 5: ever get a chance to play together for a significant
Speaker 5: period of time. I think the chemistry developed from a
Speaker 5: linebackers forward to their defensive line is equally as important.
Speaker 3: And I think that's one thing about TJ. Edwards.
Speaker 5: The coaches understand how to use him the best, and
Speaker 5: he understands how the defensive line.
Speaker 3: Up front is going to compliment him the most.
Speaker 5: And when you look at his reaction time to the
Speaker 5: actual direction of the play, whether it's runner, pass, rpo,
Speaker 5: play action, whatever you want to say. TG Edwards has
Speaker 5: immediate reaction. And that's why when you look at the
Speaker 5: whole linebacking crew, they're all equally as.
Speaker 3: Supportive of each other.
Speaker 5: They all play on an uptempo style of play. But TJ,
Speaker 5: because he's been in there every single game, all three downs,
Speaker 5: it's evident and obvious he's really developing into this program.
Speaker 1: Now, if Tremaine does not return, Noah Seowel will be
Speaker 1: in there. So Noah Seowell is playing linebacker and doesn't
Speaker 1: get a ton of snaps, but his brother is Penne Sewell,
Speaker 1: the outstanding right tackle for and so there's not It
Speaker 1: reminds me of the remember the Kyle Long Chris Long
Speaker 1: game when the Rams are still in Saint Louis. That
Speaker 1: Kyle was very edgy in that game, very very edgy.
Speaker 1: I wonder what it's going to be like. I talked
Speaker 1: to him a couple of weeks ago because he has
Speaker 1: another brother that I think was on the Raiders or
Speaker 1: the Saints.
Speaker 4: Saints Yeah, and I.
Speaker 1: Wasn't sure and I talked to him in the lunch
Speaker 1: room about it, and yeah, he goes, yeah, it's kind
Speaker 1: of crazy that We've been blessed totally different players all
Speaker 1: all across the board. Penne is the biggest one, and
Speaker 1: he's playing an outstanding job right now. Right If you
Speaker 1: had a play Rick and you were playing defense at
Speaker 1: the time you had to tackle Rick as a fullback,
Speaker 1: what would your emotions be like leading into a game.
Speaker 3: I would be emotionless.
Speaker 5: I wouldn't think about it because I think that is
Speaker 5: just a distraction to what your real job is, and
Speaker 5: I think you're not going to have a chance of
Speaker 5: listening to the defense called in the huddle, pay attention
Speaker 5: to the down and distance, the hash mark, the time
Speaker 5: on the plate clock, and then try to keep your
Speaker 5: left eye on looking at your big brother to see
Speaker 5: how he played that play. You got to worry about
Speaker 5: what your job is as a linebacker on that specific play. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I think it's emotional in some respects, but you also
Speaker 5: have to be a pre you have to be professional
Speaker 5: in all respects.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point. Steinhoffel is an employee owned
Speaker 1: furniture in Mattress store. Visit any of their for Chicago
Speaker 1: locations in Vernon Hills, Christal Lake, Downers Grove, and Hardwood Heights,
Speaker 1: or shop online at Steinhoffels dot com. We'll do a
Speaker 1: quick trip around the league and it involves the core
Speaker 1: back position because the unbelievable story that's developing in Cleveland
Speaker 1: that feels they have a championship caliber defense, which is
Speaker 1: really really good, but their quarterback now is out with
Speaker 1: a broken bone and his throwing shoulder, Deshaun Watson done
Speaker 1: for the year. They're going to start this week Dorian
Speaker 1: Thompson Robinson against the Steelers. They're not going to go
Speaker 1: to PJ. Walker, who was with the Bears in the
Speaker 1: preseason and has started games this year for the Browns
Speaker 1: in the absence of Watson. But the craziest part of
Speaker 1: this whole story, Tom, do you know who the backup
Speaker 1: quarterback to start training camp in Cleveland was for.
Speaker 3: It was Joshua Dobbs.
Speaker 1: Correct, So Cleveland trades him to Arizona Cardinals of course
Speaker 1: traded him to Minnesota. Now he is tearing it up
Speaker 1: as a two game starter for the Vikings. Do you
Speaker 1: think for a minute Cleveland isn't bemoaning the fact that
Speaker 1: that quarterback they sent him away thinking that they were
Speaker 1: set at the quarterback position. It underscores this thought for me,
Speaker 1: You're never set at quarterback. You're never set. You can
Speaker 1: pay a guy two hundred and sixty million dollars and
Speaker 1: he goes out in the fifth game of the year
Speaker 1: or in the twelfth game of the year when you're
Speaker 1: trying to win a Super Bowl and you're your sol
Speaker 1: So never ever, ever, ever think you're set at quarterback.
Speaker 4: That's a perfect example.
Speaker 5: They also had Tyron Taylor at one point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, what's your feeling about that topic, what's
Speaker 1: you're feeling about that, because again, teams are falling over
Speaker 1: themselves trying to find the next quarterback, the great quarterback
Speaker 1: that's going to be leading you to Super Bowls annually
Speaker 1: or at least in the competition for it. And it's
Speaker 1: an exercise that is the most challenging of anything in sports.
Speaker 4: It really is.
Speaker 5: I know, I felt Joshua, they felt Joshua Dobbs was
Speaker 5: a commodity. But they were evaluating Deshaun Watson the whole
Speaker 5: time when they felt that he was going to be
Speaker 5: one hundred percent ready to go. They were trying to
Speaker 5: turn a quality backup quarterback into it asset. And so
Speaker 5: then they let him go to another team and they think, well,
Speaker 5: we can bring in a couple of other guys here
Speaker 5: after cuts and allow them to develop while Deshaun is playing.
Speaker 5: So it's all these you know, guys trying to think
Speaker 5: down the road, how to create value, how to go
Speaker 5: and capitalize on somebody else's a player they cut, and.
Speaker 1: But you agree with me that you don't feel ever
Speaker 1: comfortable even if you think you've got the guy, because
Speaker 1: this is the thing about it. You know, I don't
Speaker 1: care what team it is. Say it's a team like
Speaker 1: Detroit or the Bears that have had this roller coaster
Speaker 1: ride of trying to get to the super Bowl and
Speaker 1: trying to find the quarterback, and then you know, you
Speaker 1: think you have a championship football team and the quarterback
Speaker 1: goes and suffers an injury that knocks them out for
Speaker 1: the rest of the year. I mean, I know there
Speaker 1: are other examples of this, sure in the past. But
Speaker 1: you just you better have a really good feeling about
Speaker 1: And I know some people say, there's not thirty two
Speaker 1: so how is there sixty four quarterbacks? Ninety six quarterbacks?
Speaker 1: So but you better feel really good about quarterback, you
Speaker 1: really do.
Speaker 5: That decision the Cleveland Browns made is coming back to
Speaker 5: haunt them. But the decision that Sean McDermott made this
Speaker 5: week that is escapegoatle of a decision ever made in
Speaker 5: the history of football, the.
Speaker 1: Firing of Ken Dorsey and then Frank Reich has now
Speaker 1: taken the play calling back again from Thomas Brown, so
Speaker 1: he's starting to call the plays this week for Bryce Young.
Speaker 5: Frank Reich should have never given up the play calling
Speaker 5: because he has more quarterback experience than anybody else on
Speaker 5: that staff, including Josh McCowen. So frank Reich should he
Speaker 5: should have held his hold on it. He's the head coach,
Speaker 5: he's the decision maker, and he understands the development of
Speaker 5: a quarterback like that, so he should have never given
Speaker 5: it up.
Speaker 1: All right, Tom, I think we covered a lot of bases.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you next week after the Bear's hopeful
Speaker 1: victory against the Detroit Lions to Talk Down the Radio
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Our Next Bears, Etc. Podcast drops next Tuesday.
Speaker 1: We'll preview the app coming matchup against the Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 1: on Monday Night Football. Thanks for listening, everybody, Please subscribe
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Speaker 4: Bear Down