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Speaker 1: Happy to be with you tonight, this evening, Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer with you. We've got one hour of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. Have a couple of great guests. They're going
Speaker 1: to join us. As running back Betty Cunningham should be
Speaker 1: joining us moment, Terrelly. We'll have Jay Hilgenberg at six
Speaker 1: thirty pm Eastern times, so make sure you stay tuned
Speaker 1: for that, and also look at the Bears. They report today.
Speaker 1: The Bears rookies reported and the veterans will report three
Speaker 1: days from now. First practice scheduled for July twenty first,
Speaker 1: And don't forget that's just around the corner because the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame game, as they will be placed or
Speaker 1: playing the Baltimore Ravens, will be Thursday, August second. But
Speaker 1: who better to break it down over the next hour,
Speaker 1: None better than my partner. Let's welcome in Bears former
Speaker 1: offensive lineman Tom Thayer to the program. Tom. Jim Miller here.
Speaker 1: Good to be with you, man. Always a great time
Speaker 1: of year when training camp and the rookies finally have
Speaker 1: to report. Yeah it is, Jim. I mean, all across
Speaker 1: the landscape of the NFL. It's exciting because there's so
Speaker 1: many stories that are going around the league in terms
Speaker 1: of the stuff on the players and stuff. And you
Speaker 1: know what, Jim, as much as I hate extra preseason games,
Speaker 1: I think this is the one year that I'm kind
Speaker 1: of encouraged by an extra preseason game. Not only do
Speaker 1: I think the veterans need the practices, but I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot of young guys here that need to
Speaker 1: capture the attention of the coaches before the preseason starts.
Speaker 1: In what better way can they do it? By getting
Speaker 1: a couple of exter practice plays cup plus a couple
Speaker 1: of extra game reps. In a Hall of Fame game
Speaker 1: like this, with a new head coach, you've got to
Speaker 1: become more familiar with your crew. And I think these
Speaker 1: between the Hall of Fame game and then down in
Speaker 1: training camp going to Denver for a week, I think
Speaker 1: it's great too, great building times for the Bears in
Speaker 1: the future. Well, that's a great point because you just
Speaker 1: wonder how new Bears head coach Matt Naggie is really
Speaker 1: going to distribute the reps. You know, how much is
Speaker 1: Anthony Miller gonna get as a young receiver. Think about
Speaker 1: all the new players when you look at Allen Robinson
Speaker 1: or even Taylor Gabriel at the wide receiver position, Trey
Speaker 1: Burton as a new tight end for the Bears. So
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pieces to the puzzle that coming
Speaker 1: in place. And yes, you know, players may look at
Speaker 1: five preseason games, but it's another week of work. Is
Speaker 1: they get this offense up and running and humming at
Speaker 1: really the pace they want to be? I mean, certainly
Speaker 1: they probably don't want to disclose and show all the
Speaker 1: things that they're going to do well offensively, But you
Speaker 1: and I have always tub up more reps is a
Speaker 1: good thing for some of these new players that will
Speaker 1: be outfitted in Bears uniforms. Oh heck, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, whether you're on the defensive and you've been
Speaker 1: the defensive portion of the ball and you've been around
Speaker 1: here for a little while with Vic Fangiona system, there
Speaker 1: still needs to be some young guys discovered. And when
Speaker 1: you're talking about a high draft choice and a couple
Speaker 1: of their draft choices, defensively speaking, everybody wants to see
Speaker 1: those guys in the field. But I think when you're
Speaker 1: talking about offense in the preseason and it is so
Speaker 1: time consuming, and if you have a chance to get
Speaker 1: maybe one hundred and fifty extra reps during that week
Speaker 1: of practice before everybody else reports, man, that's when a
Speaker 1: guy like Anthony Miller can have three or four catches
Speaker 1: that open the eyes of the wide receiver. But there's
Speaker 1: also other guys out there, some free agent rookies out
Speaker 1: there that they need to be seen. They need to
Speaker 1: create some type of attraction to them by what they
Speaker 1: do on the field. And so that's the type of practice,
Speaker 1: that's the type of reps and opportunities that a young guy,
Speaker 1: a young free agent, a young draft choice may emerge
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden he starts getting a little
Speaker 1: bit of notoriety because the way he's prepared to play,
Speaker 1: whole new offense, new terminology. From all that standpoints, So
Speaker 1: young players like James Daniels and he mentioned Anthony Miller
Speaker 1: that probably will get more opportunities as the Bears get
Speaker 1: more work in with that extra preseason game. But when
Speaker 1: you flip it over the defensive side of the ball, Hey,
Speaker 1: everybody's excited that vic fan Joe is returning as a
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. Top ten defensive year ago. We've said that
Speaker 1: numerous times. But what are the odds of the hot
Speaker 1: rod Roquan Smith, the first round pick, a twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: sideline to sideline, a type of player and what he's
Speaker 1: asked to do, And you know, everybody assumes, at least
Speaker 1: I do, Tom, I expect him to be a starter
Speaker 1: Week one when the Bears line up to play the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers. You know, you know, Jim, it's it's weird.
Speaker 1: I do too. I do as much of an ability
Speaker 1: as the way that the NFL is constructed nowadays, and
Speaker 1: first rounders aren't going to get an opportunity to perform
Speaker 1: as early as they can. But you know, when you're
Speaker 1: thinking about the role that he's going to play at
Speaker 1: an NFL level is going to be so much different.
Speaker 1: Even though he was with some of the best athletes
Speaker 1: and the football landscape in the college conference. He came
Speaker 1: from the way they're going to try to take advantage
Speaker 1: of youth, the way they're going to try to take
Speaker 1: advantage of a young guy that had doesn't have a
Speaker 1: great deal of experience visually of seeing NFL offenses line
Speaker 1: up in front of him. So it's going to be interesting.
Speaker 1: But I have high expectations for Roquan. I expect him
Speaker 1: to be a starter on day one, but I hope
Speaker 1: that increases the sense of urgency for the other guys
Speaker 1: in the interior, the Nick Kotkowskis and the guys like
Speaker 1: that that want to be better. And we've seen improvement
Speaker 1: by Nick, so I think he's a guy that is
Speaker 1: going to go out there and be as be as
Speaker 1: competitive as any guy on the field. At the start
Speaker 1: of camp, you just wonder how aggressive Vic Fangiel because
Speaker 1: the early schedule is you got two great quarterbacks rate
Speaker 1: out the shoot when you look at September ninth on
Speaker 1: the road against the Green Bay Packers, Rogers back into
Speaker 1: the fold with them prime time, and then the Seattle
Speaker 1: Seahawks with Russell Wilson. So how aggressive will Vic Fangio be?
Speaker 1: Hold that thought, Tom, because we'll get to it on
Speaker 1: the other side. And also we're going to talk to
Speaker 1: Bears running back Benny Cunningham is going to join us
Speaker 1: on the program. So get an excited training camp underway
Speaker 1: for the Bears rookie, So stay right here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. Get the latest Bears news, photos and videos
Speaker 1: delivered straight to your mobile device. Download the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: official mobile app presented by Verizon. And with that said,
Speaker 1: we are going to go out to the guest line
Speaker 1: and welcome in our guests tonight. He's a talented running
Speaker 1: back former Rams, spent last year with the Bears and
Speaker 1: now resigned with the Bears as well. So let's welcome
Speaker 1: in Bears running back Benny Cunningham to the program. Benny,
Speaker 1: Jim Miller, Tom Thayer, Bears All Access, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1: How you feeling this camp is just around the corner,
Speaker 1: you savvy veteran, seething great man I appreciate youall for
Speaker 1: having me just excited to get back with the guys
Speaker 1: um and kind of put this in together and you know,
Speaker 1: get the season started. Benny, your experienced NFL veteran now
Speaker 1: seven hundred and seventy seven yards rushing, one hundred and
Speaker 1: eighty touches, one hundred and thirteen catches, nine hundred ninety
Speaker 1: two yards. Is this a better offense, first, second, third
Speaker 1: down fit for you than the other offenses you've been
Speaker 1: around in the NFL? H Yeah, honestly, so like this
Speaker 1: since my style played more, um just because the Betsy
Speaker 1: get more involved in the receiving game. Uh, you know
Speaker 1: he does a good job of you know, trying to
Speaker 1: get it back in space. Um, also doing a good
Speaker 1: job of moving through around kind of getting him to
Speaker 1: learn everything. So almost definitely feel like me individually, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a better fit, but also like it for
Speaker 1: you know, the rest of the group OF's oil well, Benny,
Speaker 1: they're just there's seems to be so much optimism about
Speaker 1: where this Beer's offense could go offensively, and just your
Speaker 1: ability to attack the defense is much better here in
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. Last year, probably defenses were dictating to you
Speaker 1: guys offensively, where now you'll have the opportunity to dictate
Speaker 1: to them what you're gonna do offensively. Maybe just talk
Speaker 1: about the options and the growth of this offense overall
Speaker 1: this offseason. You feel like, you know, Trabiski, you know
Speaker 1: how an excellent offseason. He has a year under his belt,
Speaker 1: so the game's really starting to slow down for him.
Speaker 1: You can see that he's starting to really own that
Speaker 1: leadership bro as he kind of stepped into later in
Speaker 1: the season last year. But I'm just excited to see,
Speaker 1: you know how we all grow. We kind of want
Speaker 1: to put, you know, last season behind us and kind
Speaker 1: of take the one day at a time and just
Speaker 1: try to go out and compete with each other, get better,
Speaker 1: and kind of fill each other out because it's new
Speaker 1: for everybody's it's a new coaching staff, new roster spots,
Speaker 1: everybody coming in and ready to compete. So I feel
Speaker 1: like we just kind of try to get out there
Speaker 1: and kind of missed together. Ben, you talked about your
Speaker 1: value on offense in first, second, and third down, but
Speaker 1: last year fake punt by Patrick o'donald, you caught a
Speaker 1: touchdown pass. You bring in a new special teams coordinator
Speaker 1: and Chris Tabor, does he have that fun up as
Speaker 1: sleeve like we saw a little bit out of the
Speaker 1: special Teams here in the last couple of years, And
Speaker 1: is Taybor going to be that kind of guy that
Speaker 1: will include all of your talents and everything you do
Speaker 1: out there. Oh yeah, I'm most I'm most definitely feel
Speaker 1: like he opens it up for us kind of you know,
Speaker 1: he's also you know, learning the guys, filling out the team,
Speaker 1: trying to see what guys can do, where he can
Speaker 1: put guys, how I can move guys around. So I
Speaker 1: feel like once he gets more comfortable with the personnel
Speaker 1: and you know, kind of knowing who's who and who
Speaker 1: can do what, um, I feel like he'll open it
Speaker 1: for us as well. Like I said, just going into account,
Speaker 1: you know, the coaches still want to see that this
Speaker 1: would be their first time seeing guys in past, how
Speaker 1: we practice, how we compete, So I feel like they're
Speaker 1: also you know, learning what we can do and what
Speaker 1: kind of guys we are, what kind of work is
Speaker 1: we are. So I feel like once he kind of
Speaker 1: gets a feel for that, he's most definitely gonna open
Speaker 1: it up for us. And it sounds like from the
Speaker 1: new rule standpoint, obviously, the kickoff rules that are going
Speaker 1: to be implemented by the NFL, it's almost like a
Speaker 1: wait and see a approach. I've talked to other special
Speaker 1: teams coaches that they've taken their big guys completely off
Speaker 1: their kickoff coverage teams. And how do you view it
Speaker 1: as a player of how the officials are are gonna
Speaker 1: call it during games? Because I think that remains to
Speaker 1: be seen, Betty. We kind of practice it. We kind
Speaker 1: of started the practice towards the end of you know,
Speaker 1: OTAs because Coach kind of felt like it would happen.
Speaker 1: But I feel like we pretty much won't change much,
Speaker 1: kind of stick to what we do and kind of
Speaker 1: feel our way through it. I don't think it's that
Speaker 1: big of a difference for me personally, and I don't
Speaker 1: feel like Coach feels like it's that much of a
Speaker 1: different either. So we kind of just gonna feel our
Speaker 1: way through it, and you know, we need to make
Speaker 1: a justtions. I'm sure we will. Hey, you know, Benny,
Speaker 1: if anybody ever had a chance to see, you're a
Speaker 1: yoke guy. And now we talk about these new rules
Speaker 1: in the NFL that if you lower your helmet, you're
Speaker 1: gonna there's a chance that you can be kicked out.
Speaker 1: Have the coaches position coaches specifically been talking about techniques
Speaker 1: to conclude or run or what your approaches and how
Speaker 1: what are we going to see different out of the players.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I feel like coaches throughout the league probably
Speaker 1: do a great job of teaching it. I know that
Speaker 1: we practice it just about every day. Proper placement of
Speaker 1: the helmet, how to fit the guy up, how to
Speaker 1: you know, try to avoid injury. Honestly, I just feel
Speaker 1: like in the heat of the moment, it's kind of
Speaker 1: hard sometimes think about that. You're being competitive, you're playing.
Speaker 1: Things are moving away faster than they look from the stands.
Speaker 1: So I feel like, you know, guys just get in
Speaker 1: the moment of playing football. But I feel like the coaches,
Speaker 1: you know, they do as good as they can. The
Speaker 1: referees do a good a job as they can. You know,
Speaker 1: we're just out there all around, just try to do
Speaker 1: our best when it comes to that. Well, let me
Speaker 1: ask you this spending because and for the listeners out there,
Speaker 1: the officials will be in bourbon A and the players
Speaker 1: do get an opportunity to really question the officials of
Speaker 1: how new the new rules are going to be. And
Speaker 1: I think helmet to helmet is a new rule that
Speaker 1: you know, it could affect all twenty two players on
Speaker 1: the field, Betty, would you have any questions that maybe
Speaker 1: you'd ask the officials when you guys have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to sit with the zebras, not necessarily, you know, if
Speaker 1: something costing my mind, I'm sure I'll ask. But I
Speaker 1: feel like the coaches themselves have done a good job
Speaker 1: of pretty much explaining to us what to expect. It's
Speaker 1: not that big of a change. All you always want to,
Speaker 1: you know, try to keep your head away from contact
Speaker 1: and use the right form when making the tackle. And
Speaker 1: most of the times when you see those things happening
Speaker 1: on TV, I feel like it's just the natural instinct
Speaker 1: of a player. I don't really think it's any guys
Speaker 1: intentionally trying to hurt one another. I just feel like
Speaker 1: it's the heat of the moment and guys just being competitive.
Speaker 1: But you know, if something comes up, I'm sure they'll,
Speaker 1: you know, I'll ask a question, they'll explain it. But
Speaker 1: you know, for the most part, I feel like I
Speaker 1: have a pretty good understanding and you know what to expect. Hey, Benny,
Speaker 1: I was looking up the running backs who were drafted
Speaker 1: the year you came out, and you were a free
Speaker 1: agent coming out of college, and I think of the
Speaker 1: top twelve, there maybe one or two still in the league.
Speaker 1: What has been your secret to success? Is it the
Speaker 1: ability to morph through all the offenses that you've been through,
Speaker 1: or just when an opportunity is presented you take advantage
Speaker 1: of it, because I think it's a great reflection for
Speaker 1: other guys that are free agents to understand that they
Speaker 1: have an opportunity just like the first rounders do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm most definitely just feel like it's you know, just
Speaker 1: trying to compete and also just being selfless. You know,
Speaker 1: whatever the coaches asked me to do, I'm comfortable with
Speaker 1: doing that. I'm not a me guy, you know. I just,
Speaker 1: you know, actually love to play the game. I love
Speaker 1: to compete. I love football in itself. I love being
Speaker 1: a great teammate to the younger players. And when you
Speaker 1: get guys like Trek that come in in my position,
Speaker 1: I have no problem telling him everything that I know,
Speaker 1: you know, to kind of catch him up to speed
Speaker 1: and help him be successful, you know. Even if that
Speaker 1: means me playing less. I just want to, you know,
Speaker 1: continue to try to compete, and you know, when giving
Speaker 1: an opportunity to try to, you know, make the most
Speaker 1: of it. You know, I just feel like that's my secret.
Speaker 1: It's not really a secret in itself, just you know,
Speaker 1: working hard, competing and not being selfish. Well, you look
Speaker 1: at guys like Jordan Howard that made the jump from
Speaker 1: year one to year two and Tari Cohen everybody expects
Speaker 1: that big jump this year. What about for a guy
Speaker 1: like Benny Cunningham, what have you been been working on
Speaker 1: to up your game? Because you're a savvy veteran, as
Speaker 1: I mentioned, you've been around a while know how to
Speaker 1: prepare yourself. But what areas of the game are you
Speaker 1: looking to better yourself in everything? All around? Um? You
Speaker 1: never know, you know what can happen in the game
Speaker 1: when you could get thrown into a game. So I
Speaker 1: just try to prepare myself for everything you can possibly
Speaker 1: think of. I prepare myself as if I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: the week one starter at running back. I try to
Speaker 1: prepare myself as I'm gonna start on all four special teams,
Speaker 1: so you know, when I get the opportunity, I'm prepared
Speaker 1: for it and not confused about what's going on. Where
Speaker 1: do we study, what does the opponent like to do?
Speaker 1: I just try to, you know, take as much as
Speaker 1: I can and just be ready, you know, when I
Speaker 1: get the opportunity. So is there any thought of going
Speaker 1: or investigating other teams, because you know, coach Naggie really
Speaker 1: is in and taking the energy and really has done
Speaker 1: a great deal so far in this early offseason without
Speaker 1: knowing a lot about him. Did you consider going anywhere
Speaker 1: else or was it Chicago that you wanted to come
Speaker 1: back to. I almost definitely wanted to come back to Chicago,
Speaker 1: just the bond that I've created with the players. UM
Speaker 1: a young team, but you know, I feel like guys
Speaker 1: are starting to grow, Trabisky starting to grow into that
Speaker 1: leadership role. So you know, I'm excited to be around
Speaker 1: to able to see, you know, how he continues to
Speaker 1: grow on what he can do and what we can
Speaker 1: do is offense. UM talking to like Jodan Howard and
Speaker 1: Clariga was like no doubt in my mind that I
Speaker 1: wanted to come back and be around those guys for
Speaker 1: another season at least. UM. So you know, I'm happy
Speaker 1: that I'm back. I'm happy that I got the opportunity
Speaker 1: to be back, and you know, hopefully I can stay
Speaker 1: around longer than you know, well, Betty, from from a
Speaker 1: preparation standpoint, again, you being around it, like you said,
Speaker 1: you prepare yourself for everything. What have you noticed about Jordan,
Speaker 1: how in Tarik and their preparation, because that's a big
Speaker 1: part of it when you're a young player growing into
Speaker 1: the National Football League, not only up in your game
Speaker 1: in all areas, but just your overall preparation and your
Speaker 1: opponent blitzes, you know, coverages, all those type of things.
Speaker 1: What have you noticed from those two in terms of
Speaker 1: how they prepare much differently now as they grow as
Speaker 1: young players. Yeah, I feel like Tarika is just a
Speaker 1: guy that just has a prere genuine love for the game.
Speaker 1: He has a very high competitive motor. It comes in
Speaker 1: and that every day ready to work, excited to work,
Speaker 1: happy that he gets the opportunity to do this for
Speaker 1: a living. So I feel like he just has a
Speaker 1: great understanding that it's a blessing to be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, play this game what we dream of doing
Speaker 1: as young kids. And Jordan is one of the smartest
Speaker 1: guys on the team. Probably one of the quietest guys,
Speaker 1: but one of the smartest. NonStop film He's probably sending
Speaker 1: me cut ups of clips of me from my rookie year.
Speaker 1: You know, that's how much film he watches. So just
Speaker 1: excited to continue to watch them grow and you know,
Speaker 1: watch them be successful, you know in this upcoming season. Well,
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's it's here, and that's the exciting
Speaker 1: thing about it. I think for all the Chicago Bears fans,
Speaker 1: ever since they made the hire of coach Naggie and
Speaker 1: he brought in the staff, and they brought Vic Fangio,
Speaker 1: I think the expectations are unique. Even though you do
Speaker 1: have young quarterback and you said young players, the expect
Speaker 1: the expectations from this football team from the fans and
Speaker 1: from the support. I think we have high expectations for
Speaker 1: this football team. And I'm sure that you guys have
Speaker 1: the same. Going in the day one a training camp, Yeah,
Speaker 1: most definitely. You know, you know everybody, Well, I think
Speaker 1: we lost to their Betty, You're still there, Betty, we
Speaker 1: got okay, there you are there. You are go ahead
Speaker 1: of my friend. Yeah, my bad. But I feel like
Speaker 1: everybody has it. You know, go sit to you know,
Speaker 1: win a super Bowl and make the playoffs. But I
Speaker 1: feel like for us, just with that being a big goal,
Speaker 1: you break it down and you just take it one
Speaker 1: day at a time. So when we get back, the
Speaker 1: first goal is everybody past the conditioning tests that make
Speaker 1: yo all will be you know, executing the first practice
Speaker 1: and just taking them one day at a time and
Speaker 1: building blocks. And ultimately I feel like if we just
Speaker 1: take things one day at a time and focus on
Speaker 1: the task to hand, we'll be successful and we'll accomplish
Speaker 1: what you want to. All right, Betty, this is not
Speaker 1: your first rodeo going to training camp. What give the
Speaker 1: Bears fans? What's the last thing you splur John before
Speaker 1: you had the camp and get serious? Nothing? Nothing, nothing.
Speaker 1: I usually just try to take a trip somewhere just
Speaker 1: to clear my mind where this. I've done Hawaii before,
Speaker 1: I've done Jamaica this offseason, just to kind of clear
Speaker 1: my mind away from everything, relax, then come back, spend
Speaker 1: a little bit of time with family, and you know
Speaker 1: before after that it's time to put on a hardhead
Speaker 1: and go to work. All right, Well, Betty, good luck
Speaker 1: to you hear this training camp? Good luck to you
Speaker 1: on the season as well. We appreciate your time in
Speaker 1: this evening. Thank you, Thank y'all so much. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Bears running back Benny Cunningham as the veterans,
Speaker 1: they will report to bourbon a July nineteenth. Rookies reported
Speaker 1: today training camp is here. We'll come back more to discuss. Plus,
Speaker 1: Jay Hilgenberg is going to join us on the program
Speaker 1: as well, so don't change that now, keep it right
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access. Welcome back to Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: Jim Miller, Tom Thayer. Hey, make sure you sign your
Speaker 1: child up for some fun. Check out the non contact
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Youth football camp, brought to you by Gatorade
Speaker 1: and Athletical Physical Therapy. All you have to do is
Speaker 1: visit www dot Bears camps dot com and you get
Speaker 1: to save fifty dollars today. Again, our thanks to Bears
Speaker 1: running back Benny Cunningham, who just joined us on the program.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to Tom's old teammate, Jay Hilgenberry. He'll join
Speaker 1: us a little over six thirty pm Eastern time. But
Speaker 1: wanted to return to the conversation we had about the
Speaker 1: Bears defense. You think of that early schedule, tom on
Speaker 1: the road against the Green Bay Packers. As I mentioned
Speaker 1: primetime that will be September ninth, then September seventeenth, facing
Speaker 1: another savvy quarterback. When you look at Russell Wilson, that
Speaker 1: also will be primetime game a Monday nighter to be exact.
Speaker 1: But you know, you just wonder how aggressive will Vic
Speaker 1: Fangio'll be. Will they feel that they have to protect
Speaker 1: a young offense until they have to catch fire. But
Speaker 1: thoughts we already talked about Roquat Smith. You and I
Speaker 1: both think he's going to be a Day one starter
Speaker 1: for the Chicago Bears, and how aggressive maybe this defense
Speaker 1: could get early against some top tier quarterbacks. You know,
Speaker 1: you know, Jim, when we watch preseason, I think we're
Speaker 1: probably going to see the most vanilla defense on the
Speaker 1: game fields that we've ever seen. Yeah, when you come
Speaker 1: to practice and you pay attention and you start studying
Speaker 1: the little things they're doing, maybe some of the line
Speaker 1: stunts are doing some of the coordinated blitzes that they
Speaker 1: have gone And I think if Vic Fangio can build
Speaker 1: this defense through the training camp practices all leading up
Speaker 1: to that game one against Green Bay, I do think
Speaker 1: he's gonna have the opportunity to be way more aggressive
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers the first game of the year. You still
Speaker 1: don't understand the speed of the tempo because Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: doesn't play in the preseason. And yeah, he has practice reps,
Speaker 1: but it's different in the game. And I'm really interested about,
Speaker 1: you know, the thinking of the Bears leading up to
Speaker 1: that first regular season game. I know they have a
Speaker 1: lot of work to go through before then, but when
Speaker 1: we sat here a year ago leading into the start
Speaker 1: of training camp, he had no understanding of what the
Speaker 1: defense was going to look like because of the uncertainty
Speaker 1: of the defensive backs. And when you have guys that
Speaker 1: develop like Kyle Fuller and Adrian Amos, it changed it
Speaker 1: a little bit. So I think they're going to be
Speaker 1: have a chance to be more aggressive early. But if
Speaker 1: you're coming to training camp, pay attention to the practices
Speaker 1: because that's when you're gonna see this stuff. I don't
Speaker 1: think you'll see it in preseason games. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: good point too, And plus Green Base probably gonna look
Speaker 1: a lot different. No, Jordy Nelson, You've got Jimmy Grant
Speaker 1: there now. I mean if Roquan is playing. I don't know,
Speaker 1: will there be one on once against a you know
Speaker 1: one A. He's a red zone nightmare. He had ted
Speaker 1: touchdowns a year ago for the Seattle Seahaks. So I
Speaker 1: think offensively Green Base is gonna shift a little bit
Speaker 1: different to maybe what they were under Jamichael Findland before
Speaker 1: he retired and had to walk away from the game.
Speaker 1: I agree, And that's, you know, that's the one unknown
Speaker 1: is well, how is Jimmy Graham going to affect the
Speaker 1: offensive the green Bay Packers? Because this is well and
Speaker 1: you know, Drew Brees is the one heck of a quarterback,
Speaker 1: but in you know, Aaron Rodgers is right up there.
Speaker 1: So I mean, he's having an opportunity to play with
Speaker 1: really tremendous quarterback play throughout his career in the NFL.
Speaker 1: But now, you know, what is the offensive line for
Speaker 1: Green Bay? Are they going to be able to hold
Speaker 1: up to allow Jimmy Graham to get into his routes.
Speaker 1: I know he's going to be a mismatch. You know,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be a matchup nightmare. He's always gonna win
Speaker 1: the size battle. But again, it's about how Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: controls the cadence at the line of scrimmage and how
Speaker 1: well the Bears they can they can play upfront. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and two quarterbacks that can extend plays. Granted left to
Speaker 1: see how Seattle Seahawks offensive line shapes together in Week two,
Speaker 1: But there was a time period there where Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: was making tremendous plays. You know that we're breaking down
Speaker 1: in terms of the pocket and his ability to move.
Speaker 1: So it'll be interesting how Vic van Joe uses, like
Speaker 1: you said, that aggressiveness or you know, whether they can
Speaker 1: correl these players because a lot of time, nine times
Speaker 1: out of ten, for both those quarterbacks, it's what they
Speaker 1: do outside the pocket as well, right, Jim, You know,
Speaker 1: and Jim, every year we sit here and talk about
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers and what are you gonna do? How are
Speaker 1: you gonna do vince him? Oh, I'm gonna make him
Speaker 1: move to his left, yeah, Right, Aaron Rodgers is in
Speaker 1: control of the game, and no matter what you think
Speaker 1: you want to do to him, that means you're winning
Speaker 1: a lot of battles up front to force Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: into a space that he doesn't want to be in.
Speaker 1: But he can throw the ball from anywhere He's accurate
Speaker 1: in any type of moving pocket or moving throw. So
Speaker 1: you know that's still the leader of the division. All right, Well,
Speaker 1: next segment, I get to take a back seat because
Speaker 1: two former teammates are gonna go down memory lane. That's right,
Speaker 1: Jay Hilgenberg, He'll be on Bears All Access next. Keep
Speaker 1: it right here. The segment of Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: orchestrated by c d W CDW people who get it. Well,
Speaker 1: I'd hate to go to trade camp back when Tom
Speaker 1: Thayer and Jay Hilgenberg were going twice a day in
Speaker 1: pads at one of the best defenses ever formed in
Speaker 1: the NFL. But as our pleasure right now to go
Speaker 1: up to the guest line and welcome in Jay Hilgenberg,
Speaker 1: five time All Pro and seven time Pro bowler, one
Speaker 1: of the reasons probably why he got to be so good.
Speaker 1: So Jay had to be just a pleasure lighting up
Speaker 1: in pads every day against that top tier defense. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: we looked forward to that twice a day, especially one
Speaker 1: hundred agree weather Jim. It was for six weeks, no less,
Speaker 1: for six weeks of it brutal. I mean we used to.
Speaker 1: You know, people the players nowadays think that, you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't. That's when we started working out. Was a
Speaker 1: training camp. We worked out year round, so we were
Speaker 1: in shape when we went into camp. It was just
Speaker 1: total over training and we knew it as players, and
Speaker 1: the coaches I think knew it too, But just it's
Speaker 1: one of those things. I mean, it's just everybody did
Speaker 1: it and so just that was what you did, and
Speaker 1: it just takes a successful team to doing something different
Speaker 1: than Arabay also follow that, you know, j I think
Speaker 1: we drove to every single training camp together in Platteville
Speaker 1: and it was the most miserable four hour drive of
Speaker 1: the year, and there was nothing like the reward of
Speaker 1: driving home at the end of training camp. I mean,
Speaker 1: you imagine going down to Kaka Key, forty five minute drive,
Speaker 1: nice opens Illinois fields with everybody's supporting. Yes, so it
Speaker 1: would be more fun going to this training camp than
Speaker 1: the old school, right I met We had a nice
Speaker 1: trip up through the one time when we got the
Speaker 1: Harley the motorcycles and drove those up. But the problem
Speaker 1: was the next day when we started two days we
Speaker 1: were so sunburned putting the pads on and everything was
Speaker 1: just miserable for about three four days, right, But you
Speaker 1: know that, you know that was the funny thing about it.
Speaker 1: I never told my family I bought a motorcycle, and
Speaker 1: then they had the picture on the front page of
Speaker 1: the Sun Times of us driving into Platteville. My mom
Speaker 1: called me crying. That's what I got out of it. Well,
Speaker 1: when you look at it, Jay, I mean back in
Speaker 1: the day, I mean normally the morning practice was more
Speaker 1: run play action type of pen then you come back
Speaker 1: in the afternoon, you line up in the pads and
Speaker 1: do more pass pro and things like that. Maybe maybe
Speaker 1: talk about the challenges of James Daniels because a lot
Speaker 1: of these young offensive linemen they don't get the whole
Speaker 1: in their skills because they're just not going to get
Speaker 1: as many reps as players like you were, Tom or
Speaker 1: or I had had the benefit of background. You're right, Jim,
Speaker 1: it would be difficult, I think mentally more so now
Speaker 1: for offensive linemen going into games to have that that
Speaker 1: confidence in the back of your mind, because there's no
Speaker 1: question that you know, the days that Tom and I played,
Speaker 1: the reps that we had at the one on one
Speaker 1: pass blocking and the team but pass blocking drills, you know,
Speaker 1: twice a day for as you said, six for six weeks.
Speaker 1: I mean, we were prepar ready to go for that
Speaker 1: that opening game of the year. Um, And it's just nowadays,
Speaker 1: it's just there's some way that these coaches got to
Speaker 1: come together and give these guys confidence that they are
Speaker 1: already and you know, I think they do it with
Speaker 1: a little more aggressive pass blocking. Your last couple of
Speaker 1: segments or something like I heard Tom talking about a
Speaker 1: little about something like that, how pass blocking has gotten
Speaker 1: to be a little more aggressive. You see less of
Speaker 1: the seven step drops and I the RPOs. That's that's
Speaker 1: what it is. That's what Tom was talking about. And uh,
Speaker 1: I agree that that that takes the pressure off the line.
Speaker 1: I think that's important for for the offensive coordinators and
Speaker 1: to give the offensive line guys a break, because you've
Speaker 1: got to give these guys the confidence to come off
Speaker 1: the ball and hit people in the face and try to,
Speaker 1: you know, be aggressive dominate guys. All right, Jay, you
Speaker 1: eat me and you talk about it every season. Do
Speaker 1: you think that the offense, I say offense more. Do
Speaker 1: you think the offense should play more in the preseason
Speaker 1: this year unlike any other years? Or because they have
Speaker 1: five games? Do you kind of you know, delegate, how
Speaker 1: much you're going to play some of these guys. I
Speaker 1: really think that they should be playing more. I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't they don't have the two days so that
Speaker 1: they're not getting the reps during the week. So I
Speaker 1: without question, I think they should be playing through to
Speaker 1: the halftime, if not, maybe a couple of these games,
Speaker 1: just a series in the third quarter, just to be
Speaker 1: ready to go. I just just so frustrated over the
Speaker 1: year some of the old line coaches that the Bears
Speaker 1: have had. I remember Mike Tyson, well, you really don't
Speaker 1: know what you have until the fourth game of the year.
Speaker 1: I mean by that time, you're you're out of it, right,
Speaker 1: all right, you gotta be ready to go day and
Speaker 1: there's no you got sixteen games I don't want to hear.
Speaker 1: I think all that era is behind the Bears. I
Speaker 1: think with Naggy here and and Vic staying here, I'm
Speaker 1: think this is a great quality coaching staff they have,
Speaker 1: and it's it's gonna be exciting. This team is going
Speaker 1: to show law of progress and it's really it's going
Speaker 1: to be the attitude going up to Green Bay that
Speaker 1: first game of the year. They got to believe in
Speaker 1: each other and believe that they're going to win the game.
Speaker 1: Well that's the weird Yeah, Jim and I were talking
Speaker 1: about that Vic would probably have a chance to be
Speaker 1: a little bit more aggressive that first game of the
Speaker 1: year because they're familiar with the system. He's got a
Speaker 1: better understanding of his defensive backs and the nickel and
Speaker 1: diamond everything else. But it's about the guys up front, right,
Speaker 1: no question. You know. I had a conversation with John Fox, didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't have many when he was here, but he
Speaker 1: was telling me about his first game he coached for
Speaker 1: the Bearers. It was against the Packers in Chicago, and
Speaker 1: at halftime it was a close game, and Fox told me,
Speaker 1: at halftime, he comes walk in the locker room, the
Speaker 1: team's excited, loud kind of cheering the locker room, and
Speaker 1: he goes, oh no, he goes, He goes, look at
Speaker 1: I mean, these guys don't expect to be close to
Speaker 1: these guys, they don't expect to win. So he and
Speaker 1: that's I think the thing is is Naggy and his
Speaker 1: coaching staff and Ryan Paston, everybody has to get these
Speaker 1: guys that have to add you if these guys come together,
Speaker 1: they can beat anybody in the league. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just a matter of coming together and having that common
Speaker 1: goal and everybody be on the same page. Great, great point, Jake, Well,
Speaker 1: we talked about Tom and I did Roquan Smith. We
Speaker 1: expect him to be a Day one starter and an
Speaker 1: impact player for the Bears. Not for you to give
Speaker 1: some Iowa Hawkeye love, but you know, when you look
Speaker 1: at James Daniels, he's I mean, this guy is a
Speaker 1: really good football player from Iowa both center guard. And
Speaker 1: maybe your early impressions of James Daniels and what he
Speaker 1: could do potentially in his NFL career, Uh yeah. I
Speaker 1: watched James play every snap he played at Iowa, of course,
Speaker 1: and he was a fun guy to watch. And I'm
Speaker 1: really excited to see the Bears draft him. And I
Speaker 1: was the pleasure of coming going up to Hollishall and
Speaker 1: then meeting him. The Bears had a little thing for
Speaker 1: all the rookies before Mini camp with some of the
Speaker 1: veterans and said down had dinner with James and just
Speaker 1: a great kid. Can't believe how young he looks. I
Speaker 1: mean he is, he is young, but kind of surprised
Speaker 1: that originally they put him at guard. But I do
Speaker 1: understand it seems like, you know, today's la these guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's out like when Tom and I played,
Speaker 1: you know, we were specialists that we call why was
Speaker 1: the center? He was a guard. We didn't we didn't
Speaker 1: move around. But nowadays, you know, these guys got to
Speaker 1: play different positions. Well that's that's the thing about it
Speaker 1: is you got Cody White, Harry, you have James Daniels,
Speaker 1: you have a Horonis Gris Sue, you have Eric Kush.
Speaker 1: You have these guys that have a lot of versatility
Speaker 1: on the inside. So I think Harry is going to
Speaker 1: have his work cut out for him because even a
Speaker 1: free agent, they signed an Earl Warford, who's a heck
Speaker 1: of a football player. I think he's gonna make it
Speaker 1: really hard on some of the veterans to earn spots.
Speaker 1: So I think that you know, that'll probably be one
Speaker 1: of the more interesting positions to play. Pay attention to
Speaker 1: is the interior the offensive line, Right, I heard you
Speaker 1: talking about him, and I'm excited to watch this guy
Speaker 1: played because they they do sound like this is going
Speaker 1: to be a solid three guys in that middle of
Speaker 1: that offensive line. I mean, you don't know who they're
Speaker 1: going to be, but it's they're all good candidates, right right,
Speaker 1: that's good, and throw James in there. I think it's
Speaker 1: great that they're starting him off at guard because he's
Speaker 1: a quality center and if he gets that confidence in
Speaker 1: that guard position, then he's gonna be really valuable to
Speaker 1: the Bears. But I don't think I think James, by
Speaker 1: the time it's all said and done for his career,
Speaker 1: he's going to be known as a pretty top center
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Well, let me ask you both this,
Speaker 1: because I know Tom thinks highly well. He thinks the
Speaker 1: world of Dick Stanfeld and how he was coached and
Speaker 1: things he taught him, and how here you got Harry
Speaker 1: he stand coming in as the offensive line goes, how
Speaker 1: quickly for a veteran from your standpoint in terms of
Speaker 1: offensive line techniques or maybe some things that maybe Harry
Speaker 1: he stand majors in that the veterans can quickly pick
Speaker 1: up pick up on because for the rookies they're going
Speaker 1: to know this moving forward obviously, but for maybe the
Speaker 1: veterans to change some things and for maybe Harry he
Speaker 1: stand to reach them, say hey, maybe look at this
Speaker 1: a little bit differently, whether it's a kickstep, maybe it's
Speaker 1: hand placement. I'd like to get both your your thoughts
Speaker 1: on this, and I'll start with you Jay. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: think that's a good point, Jim that I've always thought
Speaker 1: that with coaching changes, a new coaching, new coaches coming in,
Speaker 1: that the new, the young guys, the new guys really
Speaker 1: kind of have an advantage because if you have some
Speaker 1: real to vesterns and they're not and if they're stuck
Speaker 1: in their way that they want to do things, that's
Speaker 1: that's just not gonna go very well. So I but
Speaker 1: but I think the Bears are so lucky to get
Speaker 1: Harry back. I mean, this is part of that great
Speaker 1: coaching staff. They have to get him back because I
Speaker 1: Dick Stanfeld with that que. I mean, he's a Hall
Speaker 1: of Famers, He's the greatest offensive line coach in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and what he taught is is really not coach today.
Speaker 1: But I think Harry comes about as close as possible
Speaker 1: as you can. I had a conversation with Harry too,
Speaker 1: and he understands the whole hand placement, getting the hands
Speaker 1: inside and fighting, getting position on guys and try to
Speaker 1: dominate guys. So it's it. That was a that was
Speaker 1: a huge pick up to get Harry back here. You know.
Speaker 1: You know what was interesting during our time and our
Speaker 1: career is when we started meetings at training camp. We
Speaker 1: used to have this playbook that was probably three hundred
Speaker 1: pages thick. But at the beginning of a section, Dick
Speaker 1: Stanfeld had a page written out about what he expected
Speaker 1: out of the techniques, and he kind of gave a
Speaker 1: description of it. And we went around the room and
Speaker 1: everybody read a paragraph to learn to have him tell
Speaker 1: you what he wants you to learn, and then he
Speaker 1: goes out and teaches you on the field. And I
Speaker 1: think that was a really important description for us, you know, Jim,
Speaker 1: because when you go from college to pro everything is
Speaker 1: so different. The talent is great, you know, McMichael is
Speaker 1: different than Hampton, and Hampton's different than Fridge, and so
Speaker 1: you have to trust your technique against all the different
Speaker 1: body styles you played against. And I do think it
Speaker 1: was helpful in an adult playbook to read it in
Speaker 1: front of your peers to get a better understanding of
Speaker 1: what your coach expected out of you. Yeah. Well, Jay,
Speaker 1: you touched on something a little bit of go about
Speaker 1: if these guys jealous a team come together and believe,
Speaker 1: and we've seen it a year ago. Look at what
Speaker 1: the La Rams did under under first year a head
Speaker 1: coach Sean McVeigh. And you know, I guess your expectation
Speaker 1: because there is such optimism about the season because so
Speaker 1: much has changed a year ago from the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: and it did not go well. I think we all
Speaker 1: understand that, but there are multiple variables and changes and
Speaker 1: just you your thoughts are I guess your expectations for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears in twenty eight team, Hey, my expectations
Speaker 1: that they should be right there for the fight to
Speaker 1: be in the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I mean these you know, these years or each year
Speaker 1: is a valuable year to these players, and you know
Speaker 1: there's enough transition every year in the NFL that that
Speaker 1: goes around that and it's a for four months or
Speaker 1: five months. You know, let's get these these guys come
Speaker 1: together training camp and they can stay together and just
Speaker 1: have that everybody have a similar goal to go out
Speaker 1: and started off by going beating Green Bay. I mean,
Speaker 1: good things will happen this year. The only thing I'm
Speaker 1: scared about this season going in for all of us
Speaker 1: who have a long time here is the fact that
Speaker 1: the rules of the lowering and the helmet and when
Speaker 1: we see a player offensively or defensively get kicked out
Speaker 1: because of the infraction, it's it's gonna lead a lot
Speaker 1: of you know, conversation throughout this season when those types
Speaker 1: of rule changes take effect. Yeah, it's gonna be that.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be interesting to watch this time. I really
Speaker 1: haven't thought about much. I got the well, I mean,
Speaker 1: Tom and Jim, you guys gotta be up more on me.
Speaker 1: I don't get involved until the regular season. You guys
Speaker 1: got to be ready to go preseason. So but I
Speaker 1: worry about it. Yeah, well, Jay, I worry about it
Speaker 1: like goal line in short yardage situations. I mean, what,
Speaker 1: you know, who's to say if elect left tackles kickstep
Speaker 1: and in a defensive end or outside lives bull rushing
Speaker 1: them in a tackle headbuts the outside linebacker, is that
Speaker 1: going to be called? Or say you're pulling out a
Speaker 1: G power. You know, imagine that time if you're pulling
Speaker 1: out a G power and maybe you'll lower your helmet
Speaker 1: going up into the hole as you're trying to take
Speaker 1: out a linebacker. I mean, it's gonna be interesting. I
Speaker 1: think that that could be a factor. Earlier when we
Speaker 1: had Benny Cunningham on and he said, you know, you
Speaker 1: just have to react as a football player. You're not
Speaker 1: going to be able to have an instant thought go
Speaker 1: through your head and specifically change an angle. So that's
Speaker 1: the frustrating thing for all of us, is when a
Speaker 1: player gets kicked out for just doing something football related
Speaker 1: and reaction related, it's it's gonna be a tough it's
Speaker 1: gonna be tough pill to swallow. Well, you know, if
Speaker 1: they start finding autentive lineman for loaning their head on blocks,
Speaker 1: then that that may be the straw right there that
Speaker 1: breaks Camel's back, because I mean, how can you, I mean,
Speaker 1: it bothers me so much nowadays in the NFL, how
Speaker 1: they can take these this money away from these defuntry
Speaker 1: backs for making reactionary plays out there. It's just it,
Speaker 1: it's not right. And so I hopefully this is not
Speaker 1: a rule change, you know, to try to to find
Speaker 1: players a little bit more. I don't think it is.
Speaker 1: I'm sure I take it for what it is for
Speaker 1: the safety of the game, but I just hope. It
Speaker 1: just isn't an avenue for a bunch of fines for
Speaker 1: oftentive linement. Well before we let you go, Jay, while
Speaker 1: you and Tom were driving up to platte Fille sulky
Speaker 1: and feeling sorry, but but you know what, I would
Speaker 1: still drive back there and go to Pizzario Uno. That's
Speaker 1: what I was gonna say. What was your last spurs
Speaker 1: before that first practice? Jay? Oh? We I think we
Speaker 1: used to go do um we see it healthy? I
Speaker 1: used to we see it healthy pretty much the whole summer,
Speaker 1: and then like the night before, Tom and I used
Speaker 1: to go and get chicken wings. Someplaces these as may
Speaker 1: chicken right, we proably should well. Jay, always a pleasure
Speaker 1: to talk to you. Thanks for taking a few moments
Speaker 1: of your night and coming out. Bears all access. Yeah, Jim, Jay,
Speaker 1: Thanks Jay Hilgenberg. Everybody, let's hit the last break. We'll
Speaker 1: come back. Hey, we'll open up the phone line three
Speaker 1: one two sixty four sixty seven sixty seven. Any questions
Speaker 1: Tom and I will answer him. As training camp officially
Speaker 1: starts for the Chicago Bears, veterans will report on the nineteenth.
Speaker 1: So just around the corner, folks, so get ready football
Speaker 1: season at finally here keep it right here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. Welcome back to Bears All Access. Make sure
Speaker 1: you check out this week on Inside the Bears, Roquan
Speaker 1: Smith's journey from Smalltown to Chicago and Allen Robinson hangs
Speaker 1: with Spice in Big Guys in a Bends. Inside the
Speaker 1: Bears air Saturday's at six pm on CW fifty Chicago
Speaker 1: and Sundays at ten thirty five pm on Fox thirty
Speaker 1: two Chicago. You can also watch show segments online at
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears dot com or on Chicago Bears Official App.
Speaker 1: Anytime Jim Miller Tom there with you. You can join
Speaker 1: us at three one two six forty four sixty seven
Speaker 1: six seven. I believe let's go out and hear from Ryan.
Speaker 1: I believe he's calling from Naperville. What do you got today? Ryan? Hey? Ryan,
Speaker 1: how you guys doing? Jim, Tom, what do you got that?
Speaker 1: Good to have you? Thank you? UM. I mean basically
Speaker 1: I was just calling it. I just wanted to kind
Speaker 1: of follow up on what on Jay was talking about. UM.
Speaker 1: And obviously this is no disrespect to Jay thinking about
Speaker 1: the Bears are gonna go. You know, this is gonna
Speaker 1: be a year that they're gonna do something here. This
Speaker 1: is just something I think, and I think a lot
Speaker 1: of US Bears saying think it might take to about
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, twenty twenty until we see this team turn
Speaker 1: around and actually be a contender for you know, the
Speaker 1: playoffs or you know, or even some kind of super
Speaker 1: Bowl contention. I mean, I I don't know if that's
Speaker 1: what you guys think, but that's kind of where I'm
Speaker 1: going with it. I mean, I think I'm very football
Speaker 1: knowledge where that you guys have you guys have played
Speaker 1: in the NFL, I played college football. I'm just using
Speaker 1: this as I feel like I'm I'm a pretty good
Speaker 1: judge of character and kind of where we're going. But
Speaker 1: we're going in the right right No, Ryan, I think
Speaker 1: you're right, and I think you know, when when you
Speaker 1: look at the Bears and the super Bowl, you know,
Speaker 1: you got to try to make that super Bowl before
Speaker 1: Mitchell Trubisky gets to a second contract, so that that
Speaker 1: gives you four years. So I'm kind of in the
Speaker 1: same time frame you are. However, I do think there
Speaker 1: has to be a change of culture inside the locker room.
Speaker 1: If you go into this, if you drive to the stadium,
Speaker 1: you think there's no chance we're gonna win, or you
Speaker 1: get to halftime and you have the lead and you're
Speaker 1: so excited you go out and falter the whole second half.
Speaker 1: I think Jim or Jay and I feel the same way.
Speaker 1: I think there needs to be a change of confidence,
Speaker 1: a change of culture. And I know Aaron Rodgers is great,
Speaker 1: and I know Matthew Stafford is a heck of a
Speaker 1: quarterback and what they got in Minnesota and everything, but
Speaker 1: this is about the entirety of the team. And I
Speaker 1: think that there has been a little bit of a change,
Speaker 1: that it's the momentum starting that way. But it's gonna
Speaker 1: take a big win. It's gonna take a couple of
Speaker 1: division wins, and it's going to take some able to
Speaker 1: chase or you know, chase for that division crown. I
Speaker 1: always believe it, especially for a young team, it takes
Speaker 1: a signature win to really get a team to believe. Now,
Speaker 1: whether that's on Week one, punching Green Bay in the mouth,
Speaker 1: and I think that they got to know that they
Speaker 1: can hang and they can hang with the best. And
Speaker 1: I think, you you know, you got to go out
Speaker 1: there and do it. And I think everybody just says, hey,
Speaker 1: we're a lot better than what people are given a
Speaker 1: given credit for. And I you know, and I think
Speaker 1: Ryan Pace has done a good job overhauling this roster.
Speaker 1: You know. Again, even when John Fox became the coach,
Speaker 1: they were one of the oldest rosters that have been
Speaker 1: overturned and churned to one of the youngest rosters in
Speaker 1: the NFL. And that continues to happen even this past
Speaker 1: offseason for the Chicago Bears. But but I'm a big
Speaker 1: believer in that in that time, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: you you think you're good, but you gotta go go
Speaker 1: out and get that signature win and say, hey we
Speaker 1: we can hang with Anybody's kind of you kind of
Speaker 1: set that standard for yourself and then have to live
Speaker 1: up to it every single week, right, you know. And
Speaker 1: and I've been on teams where I knew we were
Speaker 1: going to win the game going out the door. But
Speaker 1: I also there's seasons that I was a part of
Speaker 1: that we had losing seasons that it was gonna talk,
Speaker 1: it was gonna be tough to go out there and compete.
Speaker 1: But the culture that Coach Dick had created during our
Speaker 1: our term, there was one of confidence, one of belief
Speaker 1: that you are the best and the toughest and the
Speaker 1: biggest and the baddest in the league. And so you
Speaker 1: know that that that's the mentality that has to develop
Speaker 1: your big strong guys. They got to be big and strong.
Speaker 1: You're great athletes. They have to be great, and that's
Speaker 1: the way that you're gonna mold this whole thing into
Speaker 1: a winning team. Well, in terms of you know, we
Speaker 1: always talk about trust among players. You know, over the
Speaker 1: past few seasons, I did, whether it was Mark Trustman,
Speaker 1: I didn't get the feeling players trusted one another to
Speaker 1: do their job. You know that That's just my take
Speaker 1: on it, you know, and what I saw, And when
Speaker 1: you see players second guesting or maybe out of position,
Speaker 1: and I think Naggie moving forward at least in terms
Speaker 1: of that belief factor or that buy in factor, and
Speaker 1: you know the presence of Vic Fangio and obviously what
Speaker 1: Naggie wants to accomplish on the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: With Mark Helfrik, I've got a greater sense of trust
Speaker 1: even though they're learning the new system offensively. At least
Speaker 1: that's the way I felt, Tom. I got a greater
Speaker 1: sense of trust among these teammates here this offseason and
Speaker 1: what they're trying to build, you know, you know, Jim,
Speaker 1: I think there's um going to be more on the
Speaker 1: line for a lot of these guys. Because last year
Speaker 1: when it was John Fox the head coach, Vic Fangio
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator boom right there, and then you had Dal
Speaker 1: Loggin's the leader of the other side of the ball.
Speaker 1: I just don't know if it was the game plan
Speaker 1: was constructed well enough to go out there and gain
Speaker 1: confidence that earn you victories. And I think it I
Speaker 1: like coach Naggie and Mark Helfrich on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball, with Vic being on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball and Chris Tabor being the special team's coordinator,
Speaker 1: because I think that's when you get the most efficient
Speaker 1: amount of work out of the coaches and the and
Speaker 1: the high chair positions that will help this again, the
Speaker 1: development of the team. Well that's a good point, you
Speaker 1: know here. You know, even a year ago they didn't
Speaker 1: trust Terre Cohan to do multiple positions, and then this
Speaker 1: year you hear he's lining up all over the place,
Speaker 1: you know, and then you know, I think that's part
Speaker 1: of it is the trust in those players in their
Speaker 1: new head coach and how players are going to be
Speaker 1: called and how they're going to be utilized. And it
Speaker 1: goes both way between coaches and players and players and coaches.
Speaker 1: And again it just whether it's from Mitchell Trubiski or
Speaker 1: Kyle Long or the receivers or the tight ends, the
Speaker 1: players that we've heard from and how they're going to
Speaker 1: be utilized, you just get a greater sense of trust
Speaker 1: and what should I say, confidence in the players and
Speaker 1: what they're going to be able to do this year
Speaker 1: and what they're going to be asked to do this year.
Speaker 1: From from that standpoint, like to get your thoughts on that, well,
Speaker 1: you know what you know, last year, going into the
Speaker 1: training camp, my biggest concern was the defensive backfield as
Speaker 1: a whole. Would it be able to hold up in
Speaker 1: the division? Would it be able to hold up in
Speaker 1: the season. And it did improve weekend and week out,
Speaker 1: And that's some of the concerns that I have going
Speaker 1: into this season. I'm I'm I'm not concerned because I
Speaker 1: think the tight end position is going to develop into
Speaker 1: a quality position on this team. And I'm talking about
Speaker 1: Dion Simms and the and the young guy. I think
Speaker 1: Trey Burton is going to be a tight end that's
Speaker 1: gonna be on the Adam Sheheen and Trey Burton's going
Speaker 1: to be the outside and the tight end position on
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage is going to be that job
Speaker 1: of Dion Simms and Adam Sheheen. So I have high
Speaker 1: expectations for that position because they was completely forgot about
Speaker 1: last year after Zach Miller was hurt and Zach Miller
Speaker 1: had was he was like a Swiss army knife. He
Speaker 1: could do everything that was asked out of the tight
Speaker 1: end position, and I don't think that's going to be
Speaker 1: the same. I think there's going to be delegated assignments
Speaker 1: to the personnel they have at that position. And that's
Speaker 1: my biggest need for help in the offense going in
Speaker 1: this year. Well, it started in with the OTAs and
Speaker 1: obviously the three phases of the offseason, and now it
Speaker 1: builds again as training camp is finally here, and then
Speaker 1: the preseason games they've got the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals,
Speaker 1: the Denver Broncos, and of course the Kansas City Chiefs
Speaker 1: and Buffalo Bills, and then the season will be fast
Speaker 1: upon us. So Tom always enjoyed it here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. I'll see it down at training camp by friend.
Speaker 1: Look forward to a big Jim. Thank you, buddy. Thanks
Speaker 1: for everybody for joining us tonight. Bears All Access football
Speaker 1: season just around the corner. Have a great night, everybody.
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