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Speaker 1: Hosts, Jeff Chiliac aka the Mayor of Bearsville and his sidekick,
Speaker 1: Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 3: Thankgrovering the opener was big for the Bears.
Speaker 4: They do it and come from behind fashion and now
Speaker 4: they move into Houston looking to pull the upset of
Speaker 4: the defending AFC South champion Houston Texans. They'll do so,
Speaker 4: possibly a little banged up offensively. Welcome into Bears Weekly
Speaker 4: right here on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio
Speaker 4: Network with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm
Speaker 4: Jeff Joniyak. Coming up we visit with Bears tight end
Speaker 4: Cole koment Well. Also here from the coordinators from today's
Speaker 4: podium at Halisaul and of the ESPN studio Spender Thedos.
Speaker 4: Tonight is Kendra Smith. Thanks to our producers, Dan Brilliant,
Speaker 4: Jordan Tredap from the Bears and the executive producer of
Speaker 4: the Bears radio network. Is Eric Ostrotski joining us for
Speaker 4: the first couple of segments tonight. Former Bears quarterback Jim
Speaker 4: Miller from Serious xm NFL Radio will get to him
Speaker 4: in just a moment. And that barking is one of
Speaker 4: Tom's dogs in the background, Yes, sir ree, which.
Speaker 5: Is going only one dog that bars like that, and
Speaker 5: that's sweet Lou. If there's anybody on my perimeter, he
Speaker 5: is gonna make me aware of it. And sorry, sorry
Speaker 5: for the interruption.
Speaker 4: But it is what it is, man, That's how we
Speaker 4: roll right now, Hey Tom, Jim Miller now ready to
Speaker 4: join us as well from Sirius xm n up for
Speaker 4: a radio We missed your brother since the preseason when
Speaker 4: you called the preseason games with Adam Aman got yourself
Speaker 4: on Hard Knocks. Jim, did that increase your public profile?
Speaker 4: You got on Hard Knocks just like Big Tom and myself?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I did hear it. You know a lot of
Speaker 6: people text me and stuff and said things that he
Speaker 6: made the cut last night. But hey, I was down
Speaker 6: in Chicago a week one and the game was fired
Speaker 6: up like anybody for the Bears to really pull out
Speaker 6: that victory the way they did. And hey, here we
Speaker 6: go week to another big challenge already on store for
Speaker 6: the Bears.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, glad you can join us, Big Jim.
Speaker 4: Let's talk injuries because Roma Dunze not practicing. It appears
Speaker 4: a knee injury that widely reported as an MCL of
Speaker 4: some sort. Keenan Allen dealing with a heel, so let's
Speaker 4: start there, carry blasting game. Did not practice. Ryan Bates
Speaker 4: did not practice today. He's dealing with shoulder elbow issues.
Speaker 4: So let's start on the offensive side of the ball
Speaker 4: big time. What is the trickle down with some of this?
Speaker 5: You know, guys that have been here all preseason, all
Speaker 5: training camp, all OTA's You got Tyler Scott, you got
Speaker 5: Colin Johnson. You have the possibility of veils going in
Speaker 5: there at the receiver position. When you look at the
Speaker 5: offensive line, they're super fortunate they brought in Matt Pryor.
Speaker 7: Because he is a big man.
Speaker 5: We saw a big man last week and to and
Speaker 5: Andre Sweat, but Matt Pryor is equally as big. So
Speaker 5: if they had any hiccups at the right guard position
Speaker 5: or any other offensive line position, I think that Matt
Speaker 5: Pryor could go in and steady the ship and then
Speaker 5: when you look at Karrie blasting game in the full
Speaker 5: back position, I think every tight end on the team
Speaker 5: has that versatility in them, whether it's a guy built
Speaker 5: like Gerald Everett or a guy's big as Cole Cobt,
Speaker 5: Steven Carlson, or even Marcedes Lewis. So I don't think
Speaker 5: the offense will change one iota.
Speaker 7: However, when you have marquee players, you'd like.
Speaker 5: To have them in a game this big, this magnitude,
Speaker 5: this nationally scoped.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Jim might firepower and firepower that's what you're hoping
Speaker 4: for this year. I mean that Houston defense was down
Speaker 4: on the field for only twenty minutes in their win
Speaker 4: in Indianapolis, and in those twenty minutes, somehow the Colts
Speaker 4: put twenty seven points on the board.
Speaker 3: What does that tell you about that defense?
Speaker 4: I don't know what you were able to watch and
Speaker 4: analyze with detections in that game defensively, but what did
Speaker 4: you see?
Speaker 6: I did their training camp. I think that is a
Speaker 6: well built team what Nick Cassero has done. Why because
Speaker 6: you know, much like the Bears, they got the rookie
Speaker 6: contract and they're starting to spend now. And then of
Speaker 6: course Demiko Ryans, who's really got a good heartbeat of
Speaker 6: that locker room. I just you know, just watching him
Speaker 6: coach and how that team's going to come together. And
Speaker 6: how about since going back to last year, CJ. Stroud
Speaker 6: has not thrown an interception in two hundred and thirty passes. Wow,
Speaker 6: two hundred and thirty passes. I mean he's playing mistake
Speaker 6: free football. That he's the anomaly of all quarterbacks that
Speaker 6: have come out. I mean, we saw the young quarterback
Speaker 6: struggle this weekend. You know that got their first start.
Speaker 6: And but what they've done with him, the weapons around him,
Speaker 6: with Tank Dell and Nico Collins. I think the Bears
Speaker 6: have an opportunity, but we'll see if the receivers, like
Speaker 6: I said, are healthy, otherwise they'll have probably have to
Speaker 6: go more twelve personnel with two tight ends, and then
Speaker 6: you wonder if they can keep up with the scoring
Speaker 6: of Houston. I think the Bears defense will keep them
Speaker 6: at bay. But this is a very good offense. The
Speaker 6: Bears will be seen good test.
Speaker 4: You are at QB, tell us what you saw. Tell
Speaker 4: us what you saw from Caleb Williams and the offense.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think he was a little amped up you know,
Speaker 6: I you know, I think the key thing is and
Speaker 6: I'm sure everybody'll say, because it's obvious, if you don't
Speaker 6: make the big mistake, you got a chance. If your
Speaker 6: quarterback doesn't make the big stake mistake, he got a chance.
Speaker 6: I thought he played. He was a little late on
Speaker 6: some of his reads. I think we know he could
Speaker 6: have had a couple of touchdowns Keenan Allen dropped that
Speaker 6: one in the front of the Pyelot thought he had
Speaker 6: a great one on that had an opportunity on that
Speaker 6: go route down the left sideline. So he was a
Speaker 6: little amped up and a little jacked up. But I
Speaker 6: think again, it says a lot about the maturity of him.
Speaker 6: It didn't bother him after the game. His postgame is like, hey,
Speaker 6: you know, it's my first start. Doesn't matter that the
Speaker 6: stats weren't great, but we won, and I think he
Speaker 6: was And I think he's sincere saying it. You know,
Speaker 6: these things don't seem to linger bother him where it
Speaker 6: you know, because like for me, he missed two touchdown throws,
Speaker 6: I'd be losing sleep at night. You know, it's probably
Speaker 6: bothering him internally, but he doesn't show it. And he's
Speaker 6: cool as a cat, and I like that too.
Speaker 5: You know, the two things that I took away from
Speaker 5: this game is the fact that it's the first real
Speaker 5: action by Caleb. And after you spend five months in
Speaker 5: a red Jersey where no one can get into your space,
Speaker 5: no one can interferre with your legs, your feet, your
Speaker 5: follow through or.
Speaker 7: Get anywhere near you, and then.
Speaker 5: You're sought You're a sought after product when you talk
Speaker 5: about playing in a real game against an opponent that
Speaker 5: has a defense like Tennessee or a Tennessee or a
Speaker 5: Houston defense. But the thing to me is the defense
Speaker 5: picked up where they left off. And I think that's
Speaker 5: the key ingredient here. It's not that Caleb Williams has
Speaker 5: to come in here and be the savior of the
Speaker 5: Bears organization. He's got to play a brand of football
Speaker 5: that he improves week in and week out and then
Speaker 5: compliments the defense.
Speaker 7: And one way of doing that is not turning the
Speaker 7: ball over.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you went, you gave up a nineteen yard sack,
Speaker 5: but you didn't throw the ball into Harm's way where
Speaker 5: you put the defense there, you know, their backs to
Speaker 5: the goal line, or you gave him multiple opportunities, and
Speaker 5: so I think, you know, like Jim said and Caleb's
Speaker 5: postgame comments, I think he's going to ascend through the
Speaker 5: season here and he's never gonna be a guy that's
Speaker 5: gonna shy away from the big opportunity he's earned in life.
Speaker 4: Yeah, overcoming adversity is part of the whole puzzle, and
Speaker 4: I think he's had great experience at that.
Speaker 3: This venue will not be too crazy for him either.
Speaker 4: He's been on the biggest platforms in college football at
Speaker 4: Oklahoma and USC. He's been rising to the occasion, and
Speaker 4: hopefully they can take the starch out of that crowd
Speaker 4: with a run game and getting some first downs. Just
Speaker 4: two third down conversions some of those seven I believe
Speaker 4: we're third and five or less. So those you gotta
Speaker 4: get at least five of those, right, five of those
Speaker 4: That gets you another fifteen plays at a minimum, extend
Speaker 4: some drives and put you in position to get some
Speaker 4: some more points. And so that's what I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 4: Pass protection's got to hold up against those edge guys.
Speaker 4: Daniel Hunter obviously a wrecker outside coming over from the Vikings.
Speaker 4: He's always been a problem for the Bears over the years,
Speaker 4: because he is good. He's one of the premier pass
Speaker 4: rushers in the NFL that often doesn't get talked about
Speaker 4: when you're talking about the Miles Garrett Miles Garretts and
Speaker 4: you're talking about the TJ. Watts and all that, but
Speaker 4: he's right up there in sax Town.
Speaker 5: Well, one thing about cloud crowd, quieters, sacks, defensive turnovers,
Speaker 5: and special teams touchdowns, and the Bears were able to
Speaker 5: do all of that in this past week's game. So
Speaker 5: if you can bring that into Houston and you can
Speaker 5: allow your offense to continue to develop over time and
Speaker 5: then Caleb not make the big mistake, they're gonna give
Speaker 5: themselves a better opportunity because with the Bears have multiple sackers,
Speaker 5: they have defensive lineups that they can put sacks in numbers.
Speaker 5: Then they got turnover opportunities, and then they got special
Speaker 5: teams either big kickoff returns or punt blocks for touchdowns.
Speaker 4: Jim Joe Mixon only six backs, thirty thirty carries or
Speaker 4: more last year in the NFL.
Speaker 3: He had thirty.
Speaker 4: The young man in San Francisco getting the start last
Speaker 4: on Monday night, he had twenty eight carries. Slowick, the
Speaker 4: offensive coordinator Houston.
Speaker 7: Is he more.
Speaker 4: Tied to the tree of Shanahan or McVeigh in terms
Speaker 4: of this, because I was listening to the forty nine
Speaker 4: Ers broadcast on radio and they kept talking about, Okay,
Speaker 4: the magic number of carries is thirty thirty carries, thirty carries,
Speaker 4: thirty carries.
Speaker 3: So is this where we're headed in this particular scheme?
Speaker 7: Now?
Speaker 6: Well, first, to me, it's always going to be Kyle Shanahan.
Speaker 6: It's this is you know slow, It comes from San Francisco,
Speaker 6: and that's really and even you know Sean McVay, he
Speaker 6: was with Kyle Shanahan in Washington. He was really under him.
Speaker 6: So it's really this all this tree is the Shanahan tree,
Speaker 6: and he's been awesome at it. But I would think Slow,
Speaker 6: he's gonna be more in line with Kyle Shanahan coming
Speaker 6: from San Francisco. I mean, look at that game the
Speaker 6: other day by San Francisco. I mean they just ran
Speaker 6: outside zone run after outside zone run and just put
Speaker 6: it on the New York Jets. And that's really gonna
Speaker 6: be the style of Houston, you know, because that's who
Speaker 6: they want to be. From Bobby Slok, They've got a
Speaker 6: young talented passer, but forty minutes time of possession and
Speaker 6: Joe Mixon was a wrecking ball. I still can't believe
Speaker 6: Cincinnati gave away Joe Mixon. Didn Cincinnati just get embarrassed
Speaker 6: week one. They could have used Joe.
Speaker 4: Mixon for a seventh round pick. They dealt him for Yeah,
Speaker 4: seventh round pick. Okay, there's still value in backs. That's
Speaker 4: what you're telling us, Jim, no question about it. All right,
Speaker 4: we're gonna take our first break. Jim back here for
Speaker 4: this segment, we'll talk about Shane Waldron. Hear what he
Speaker 4: had to say, as well as the Bears get ready
Speaker 4: for the Texans. Here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one
Speaker 4: thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly. Come a Bears Network.
Speaker 2: Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff show you.
Speaker 4: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 4: Igs Energy, Jeff and Tom and Jim Miller alongside. Before
Speaker 4: we delve in, let's listen into what Shane Walder and
Speaker 4: the Bears offensive coordinator I had to say about Week one.
Speaker 3: Caleb Williams and I look ahead.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think for him just going out there playing
Speaker 8: with clean eyes, clean feet, first chance to get out
Speaker 8: into a road environment, which I'm sure he'll be rocking
Speaker 8: on Sunday night, to be able to get to operate
Speaker 8: that way. Great communication with his guys up front, and
Speaker 8: you know, the receivers, the running backs, tight ends, everyone
Speaker 8: supporting him and knowing that as an offense, we want
Speaker 8: to keep improving every single week. And what's that looked
Speaker 8: like again? You know a results will speak for themselves
Speaker 8: as we go out there, work at it, clean it up.
Speaker 8: I think the thing that gives us so much confidence
Speaker 8: as coaches as players as you come in here on Monday,
Speaker 8: head it. First of all, a great week last week
Speaker 8: by our defense, inspy, our special teams unit. I heard
Speaker 8: Tyreek talking about it too just a minute ago, about
Speaker 8: what a great brotherhood these guys have formed. Everyone has
Speaker 8: each other's back, and you felt that from from our
Speaker 8: lens on offense right there, whether it was at halftime,
Speaker 8: whether it was during the course of the game. So
Speaker 8: then when we're moving forward this week, knowing each week,
Speaker 8: you know, different units have to support each other, knowing
Speaker 8: that we have to do a better job of supporting
Speaker 8: our defense and our special teams moving forward, and that'll
Speaker 8: happen by just those incremental improvements here, you know, staying together,
Speaker 8: playing together. So when we came out to practice yesterday
Speaker 8: as an offense, the tempo that we operated at, the enthusiasm,
Speaker 8: effort to hustle, you know, the hustle on the backside,
Speaker 8: the blox, you know, all the things that on a Wednesday,
Speaker 8: if if you have the right people, it looks like
Speaker 8: what it did yesterday is a.
Speaker 2: Developer or established running game.
Speaker 9: How much it's doing that would help.
Speaker 8: I think for us, you know, we always want to
Speaker 8: have that balance of the run in the past, I
Speaker 8: think you know this this past week obviously want to
Speaker 8: do a little bit better job of getting some more
Speaker 8: runs off and helping that and you know, in the
Speaker 8: negative plays and know you know, when you have sudden
Speaker 8: change situations or some things that occurred, or you know,
Speaker 8: Dre has a really big kick return, we want to
Speaker 8: be able to get the runs going in those scenarios.
Speaker 8: And I think for us that's just part of, uh,
Speaker 8: you know, the offense as a whole of what we
Speaker 8: want to be as a balance system. Uh, and starting
Speaker 8: with running the ball, and I think you know, Chris
Speaker 8: Morgan and the offensive line has done a good job,
Speaker 8: you know, talking about a group that started out yesterday,
Speaker 8: you know, bringing the right attitude, bringing the right effort.
Speaker 8: You know, those guys set the tone for practice like
Speaker 8: they will every day and you know, excited to see
Speaker 8: what those guys go out and do this next one.
Speaker 4: Caleb's accuracy has been one of the calling cards that
Speaker 4: he had been He missed a lot of throws on
Speaker 4: something that that he normally wouldn't from your lens, What
Speaker 4: was behind the accuracytions for Caleb?
Speaker 8: I think for Caleb it's just about reps and the
Speaker 8: more time he's out there, like anything, like you know,
Speaker 8: anyone that's playing any of the positions, anyone that's coaching,
Speaker 8: the more reps that we're able to accumulate, uh, the
Speaker 8: slower it becomes each week in and out. And I
Speaker 8: think I know Caleb had mentioned it though, but the
Speaker 8: tempo was of his feet. I think just playing with
Speaker 8: that good, clean tempo and mentioned clean eyes, clean feet
Speaker 8: and sticking to that, and then that'll obviously lead to
Speaker 8: an improved accuracy on a couple of throws here and there.
Speaker 8: But like you said, we've seen him make all these
Speaker 8: throws throughout the course of practice throughout the course of
Speaker 8: his college career and have all the confidence in the
Speaker 8: world that each week that'll get incrementally better and we'll
Speaker 8: be excited what we see.
Speaker 4: All Right, Jim, you're the QB, So I have to
Speaker 4: defer to you right out of the gate when you
Speaker 4: talk about clean eyes, clean feet, to explain what that
Speaker 4: all means, big Jim, I've got you.
Speaker 3: Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 6: Yeah, So normally when you when your feet, when you're throwing,
Speaker 6: your feet should marry up with the routes that you're throwing.
Speaker 6: Like we always talking about the timing and rhythms. So
Speaker 6: five step, drop, hitch throw, you know, whether that's throwing
Speaker 6: you know an out route, but your feet will will
Speaker 6: really get you to the right spot into our throw
Speaker 6: because if you're processing everything you need and he'll be
Speaker 6: faster at processing, he'll get better and better at that.
Speaker 6: These are some new looks that maybe's ever seen before.
Speaker 6: But his feet will start to marry up. And sometimes,
Speaker 6: like I said, if you're say throwing an out route,
Speaker 6: say you're normally in a if they were in a
Speaker 6: cover two, you're gonna adjust and throw get your footwork
Speaker 6: to where you're gonna throw a hole shot on the outside. Now,
Speaker 6: say if it's single high safety at the snap of ball,
Speaker 6: say you know he's under there, and says said, hut,
Speaker 6: he's looking at cover two. Now they rotate to a
Speaker 6: cover three. Now you've got to get your feet to
Speaker 6: where what the drop would be on a five step
Speaker 6: drop for an out route to be thrown at twelve
Speaker 6: yards and keeping it outside so everything will start to
Speaker 6: marry up, where the timing and rhythm will get better
Speaker 6: and it would become seamless, and it'll become rope memory.
Speaker 6: He's too talented of a player not to do it,
Speaker 6: and he'll get there. It'll just take a little time.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 5: What one thing I like about this week and what
Speaker 5: Shane kind of alluded to that the run game is
Speaker 5: the responsibility of the offensive line. They got to do
Speaker 5: this whole offense, this whole football team a service by
Speaker 5: having an effective running game. I also think after this
Speaker 5: week there is not going to be any shock to
Speaker 5: the system in terms of the atmosphere in the crowd, noise,
Speaker 5: in what you're going to face throughout the rest of
Speaker 5: your career. And I really like the fact that you
Speaker 5: get these out of the way early a home game,
Speaker 5: all of that excitement, the adrenaline is flying like it
Speaker 5: never will again.
Speaker 7: And then you go to.
Speaker 5: This environment that they're going to face this week in Houston,
Speaker 5: a white out Sunday night, National TV.
Speaker 7: The crowd is going to be absolutely insane.
Speaker 5: But I know you've been in big games like this
Speaker 5: before in the college level, but you haven't played against
Speaker 5: guys like this before in a loud stadium. Because these
Speaker 5: guys that you're going to face throughout the entirety of
Speaker 5: your NFL career are completely different athletes than what you
Speaker 5: faced an allowed atmosphere in college. So I think these
Speaker 5: first two games are going to do more for the
Speaker 5: development of Caleb than a lot of other portions of
Speaker 5: improvement will do for him.
Speaker 9: Jim.
Speaker 4: I'm also you know about flowing rhythm. I know every
Speaker 4: quarterback wants that. Every quarterback enjoys working in rhythm. So
Speaker 4: you know when personnel packages are thrown into the mix,
Speaker 4: and I believe they had twenty six different groupings of
Speaker 4: personnel in that game, how do how do you get
Speaker 4: that with that kind of change down to down, how
Speaker 4: do you get into that rhythm as a passer?
Speaker 6: Well, well, the reads are still going to be the reach.
Speaker 6: You know, you're going to go through your progressions and
Speaker 6: you know you're going through this checklist once you hear
Speaker 6: that play. So imagine me just sitting there looking at
Speaker 6: the sideline or in the huddle, waiting for that call
Speaker 6: to come in my helmet. And as soon as I
Speaker 6: hear those words, I'm coming up with my checklist. All right,
Speaker 6: we're you know, I got to be careful here. We
Speaker 6: might have to audible to this play. This looks no good,
Speaker 6: so all right, this coverage we're going to you know,
Speaker 6: make an adjustment here. So and I'm going through this checklist,
Speaker 6: all right. And by the time we say ready break
Speaker 6: and we're walking up the line of scrimmage, All right,
Speaker 6: now what am I little?
Speaker 10: All right?
Speaker 6: Like I said, all right, strong safety is down. Be
Speaker 6: ready for the strong safety blist. That's what my checklist there.
Speaker 6: If it looks like it's coming, hey, I'm gonna I
Speaker 6: may check a week side run, you know, so I'm
Speaker 6: seeing you know, pressure on the right side, and then
Speaker 6: I'm going through the checklist, make the audible run the play,
Speaker 6: because that's my job to get the offense and the
Speaker 6: best play to take advantage of the defense. And I
Speaker 6: think again, he'll get better and better and better. He'll
Speaker 6: see it, he'll understand it, and now how do I
Speaker 6: attack it? And that's gonna get better and better every
Speaker 6: single week.
Speaker 4: Tom Demiko. Ryan's talking a lot about stopping the run.
Speaker 4: He's got some really good players on that defense, obviously
Speaker 4: at the at the ends, but they've got a bunch
Speaker 4: of new bodies as well, some really named players in
Speaker 4: the secondary. Jalen Petree is their nickel, but he's a safety.
Speaker 4: He's he's a guy that'll come up. He's not afraid
Speaker 4: of contact, so he's already thinking like the Bears, you know,
Speaker 4: could be taking that path to success.
Speaker 5: And well, if you're talking about a third line level
Speaker 5: player being the leading tackler in the game, the Bears
Speaker 5: running game is doing well.
Speaker 7: To me.
Speaker 5: When I look at guys like Will Anderson and daneil Hunter,
Speaker 5: I am not gonna let them do what they want
Speaker 5: to do, and that's rushed the passer. I'm gonna make
Speaker 5: them absorb a physical style of game. And like we
Speaker 5: saw the first play of the game, they went unbalanced left.
Speaker 5: And now you put a big guy like Darnell right
Speaker 5: on the far outside next to Braxton Jones, and if
Speaker 5: you want to have multiple times where you run an
Speaker 5: unbalanced line, it's okay you can do that, especially with
Speaker 5: the success you've been having. But never am I gonna
Speaker 5: let the guys do what they want to do in
Speaker 5: order to showcase their talent. And I think if you
Speaker 5: can run the fall, run the ball effectively to that edge,
Speaker 5: to maybe those interior holes or that outside zone that
Speaker 5: they talk about, you can keep the offense on the
Speaker 5: field and you can put Caleb in a favorable second
Speaker 5: and four, a third and three situation where it's not
Speaker 5: you know, three seconds of protection, that the protection if
Speaker 5: at last two and a half seconds, it's enough to
Speaker 5: get the ball out of your hand.
Speaker 4: A Zizou Shara, their middle linebacker, their green top player,
Speaker 4: number one in tackles in twenty three with the Titans,
Speaker 4: also did lead the league in misstackles as well, so
Speaker 4: that's something to keep an eye on as well.
Speaker 3: Big Jim, any.
Speaker 4: Final thoughts before we cut you loose, and we appreciate
Speaker 4: you coming on. We'll have you on here throughout the
Speaker 4: regular season for a couple segments if you're so kind
Speaker 4: to do so.
Speaker 3: We love having you.
Speaker 6: Well, hey, good to be here with you.
Speaker 7: Guys.
Speaker 6: Hey, I'm fired. I think this is a good you know,
Speaker 6: this is a good test for the Chicago Bears. We
Speaker 6: know defense can travel. The Bears were one of the
Speaker 6: better rushing defenses last year and that's going to be
Speaker 6: tested because I think with what Joe Mixon with the
Speaker 6: thirty carries and what he went over, they still want
Speaker 6: to protect a young quarterback too. So the Bears run
Speaker 6: game has to travel and the Bears rushing defense has
Speaker 6: to travel well. And if they do that, they'll have
Speaker 6: a shot.
Speaker 3: All right, Jim, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: By the way, mixing too games one hundred plus in
Speaker 4: his last thirty six games with the Bengals, and had
Speaker 4: the big opener down in Houston. And we come back
Speaker 4: Tom and I visit with Cole Kmet the Bears starting
Speaker 4: tight end. It's a next on Bears Weekly on ESPN
Speaker 4: one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff show.
Speaker 4: You and this segment of Bears Weekly is brought to
Speaker 4: you by Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit athletical dot com to
Speaker 4: request it. In clinic or virtual deployment and start feeling
Speaker 4: better tomorrow. Welcome back to Bears Weekly here on ESPN
Speaker 4: one thousand on of the Chicago Bears Radio Network, Jeff
Speaker 4: and Tom and our good pal tight end Cole Comet
Speaker 4: joining the program. Tom, we had to fight elbow for
Speaker 4: this because you know, he's his own media star. Now
Speaker 4: tell us you're podcasting.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I'm podcasting. It's been fun, you know. I started
Speaker 11: doing some stuff last year with of those guys over
Speaker 11: at CGO and then started decided to do my own
Speaker 11: thing with their help, and it's been cool to kind
Speaker 11: of get some of the players in and get their
Speaker 11: perspective on things. I think fans, you know, if you
Speaker 11: tune in, are able to learn a little bit more
Speaker 11: of the intricancies to each position that each guy plays
Speaker 11: and really highlight all those guys. So it's been a
Speaker 11: lot of fun so far.
Speaker 3: It's called the eighty five.
Speaker 9: It's called the eighty five.
Speaker 3: Tom.
Speaker 4: People could get confused. Now, I mean that's Super Bowl winners.
Speaker 5: Now everybody knows what eighty five means. Right now, it's
Speaker 5: Cole's number, and it's Cole's number for the next decade,
Speaker 5: and that's what how people can talk to them.
Speaker 12: Hey, Cole, So you think of back to the start
Speaker 12: of the season.
Speaker 5: They bring in a new offensive coordinator, they start installing
Speaker 5: a new offense. You guys get announced, say you're going
Speaker 5: to be on hard knocks. You begin all the processes
Speaker 5: of the preseason. When you got to last week, did
Speaker 5: it seem faster or did it seem like things slowed
Speaker 5: down because of it?
Speaker 12: Now it's the regular season.
Speaker 11: Well, I think the regular season is always an uptick
Speaker 11: from the preseason. So and I know those preseason reps
Speaker 11: in the moment, you know, seem like a lot maybe
Speaker 11: to a lot of the fans, and you know, you
Speaker 11: really try and digest and you know, really taking everything
Speaker 11: that happens on those on those days in the preseason.
Speaker 11: But regular seasons a whole different animal. You got defensive
Speaker 11: coordinators are now game planning specifically against your offense, and
Speaker 11: you're seeing maybe some different looks that you hadn't seen before.
Speaker 11: And obviously this past week against Tennessee you're planning against
Speaker 11: a new defensive coordinator for them, So there's a lot
Speaker 11: of looks that you're not really seeing that you haven't
Speaker 11: seen from them. So there's things that you got to
Speaker 11: look back when you know that DC he was in Baltimore,
Speaker 11: so you're looking at some Baltimore film and I obviously
Speaker 11: they got different personnel in Tennessee. So there's a lot
Speaker 11: of a lot of things going on in that regard,
Speaker 11: you know. For me, Now, for me personally, going into
Speaker 11: year five, things have continued to slow down a year
Speaker 11: after year for me, And you know, I've always been
Speaker 11: feeling pretty good out there, you know, especially recently. So
Speaker 11: I'm sure for some guys, I know, the rookies, maybe
Speaker 11: it probably ticked up in speed a little bit. And
Speaker 11: that's just how the NFL is going to be and
Speaker 11: it'll adjust as the season goes.
Speaker 5: So your your inclusion into this offense, is it how
Speaker 5: you fit against your next opponent or what changes this
Speaker 5: offense can make for you to fit better against your
Speaker 5: next opponent.
Speaker 9: Yeah, we'll see where it goes.
Speaker 11: You know, I'm not gonna be a guy that is gonna,
Speaker 11: you know, go ahead and complain for targets or for
Speaker 11: my involvement. You know, I'm gonna trust the whatever coaches
Speaker 11: roll out there, and we'll kind of see where it goes.
Speaker 8: You know.
Speaker 11: Obviously, you know I've said what I said about the
Speaker 11: about everything, and you know, I feel like I'm a
Speaker 11: top tight end in this league, and you know, I'm
Speaker 11: a guy that can that can do it all, and
Speaker 11: I really feel like this year I'm a I'm in
Speaker 11: a position to take a big step with where I'm
Speaker 11: at physically and mentally.
Speaker 9: So, uh, we'll see where it goes.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 11: Obviously we got a lot of pieces that we got
Speaker 11: to figure out, just a lot of new guys, a
Speaker 11: lot of talent that we got to take care of,
Speaker 11: and obviously a rookie quarterback as well that we also
Speaker 11: got to bring along.
Speaker 9: So we'll see where it goes.
Speaker 11: You know, I'm still very optimistic about where we can
Speaker 11: what we can be offensively this year, but it just
Speaker 11: might take a little bit of time.
Speaker 4: Shane Waldron said, as much about you knows you're one
Speaker 4: of the top play makers and you've done everything right
Speaker 4: since you got her.
Speaker 3: You said it today at the podium here at Hallis Hall.
Speaker 4: But this whole one ball many weapons thing fans were
Speaker 4: curious before the season, you add more talent, but this
Speaker 4: league is about matchups, right, and so when you get
Speaker 4: a great matchup, you might get ten targets this week
Speaker 4: and play you know, sixty snaps.
Speaker 11: Yeah and everyone, yeah, everyone will forget about it. So yeah, yeah,
Speaker 11: but yeah, we'll see where it goes. This is a
Speaker 11: matchup league, and we got a lot of good matchups
Speaker 11: across the board. You know, whether you're looking obviously at
Speaker 11: like DJ Keenan Rome has looked really good throughout training
Speaker 11: camp and you know myself Gerald and then in the
Speaker 11: running back room as well. So a lot of good
Speaker 11: a lot of good weapons that we can choose from,
Speaker 11: you know, just about putting it together and making this thing.
Speaker 4: Jel is the offensive coordinator's door open. Do you talk
Speaker 4: to him?
Speaker 9: Absolutely?
Speaker 11: Yeah, yeah, no, we we we we have a great dialogue.
Speaker 11: All the players have a great dialogue with Shane. Shane's
Speaker 11: really receptive on things. He's a really smart guy. You know,
Speaker 11: he's been really good with axes and no's and that's
Speaker 11: been evident for him throughout his whole career so far.
Speaker 11: And you've seen this stuff that he's done in Seattle
Speaker 11: and other places he's been at, so he has a
Speaker 11: lot of knowledge. And but look, this is a thing
Speaker 11: that we got to gel together and that that that's
Speaker 11: something that take that takes time, and but all this
Speaker 11: is all part of being a team and being new.
Speaker 4: One of the best tight end rooms in the league,
Speaker 4: variety age, and you know what.
Speaker 11: Yeah, I mean, obviously Gerald's been around, he's been doing
Speaker 11: he's been doing a good job. And then you know Mercedes,
Speaker 11: you know, at almost forty years old, I think is
Speaker 11: still the best blocking tight end in the NFL. And
Speaker 11: obviously I put myself up there as being a very
Speaker 11: good blocking tight end. So you know, when we got
Speaker 11: me and him together, we can do some damage up
Speaker 11: front and then obviously all the things we're able to
Speaker 11: do in the past game.
Speaker 9: So it's a very talented room.
Speaker 5: Well, one more fun topic for me is throughout my
Speaker 5: Notre Dame career, I was owing four against USC and
Speaker 5: I don't know what your record was, but I saw
Speaker 5: George Kittle this morning whereing Iowa State helmet because he
Speaker 5: did bet with Brock thirty home of Jeff Joniak. I
Speaker 5: know it's not until the end of the year, so
Speaker 5: I'm gonna give you time to think about some fun
Speaker 5: bet that you can have with premiere quarterback number one.
Speaker 9: Oh, I already I already got this in mind.
Speaker 7: Man.
Speaker 11: Well, first I never lost to USC, which is the
Speaker 11: biggest thing that I hang my hat on leaving the
Speaker 11: name so like that to me was because I can't
Speaker 11: stand us. But I'm going to propose that he dresses
Speaker 11: like a LEPrecon. If we beat him, how about that?
Speaker 12: That's pretty good, I means.
Speaker 5: And if it goes the other way, then you got
Speaker 5: to dress as like one of their trojans.
Speaker 12: Yeah, he can pick.
Speaker 11: He can pick whatever he wants, but he's dressed up
Speaker 11: as a LEPrecon. If we win that game, that's for sure,
Speaker 11: and I'll buy the costume too. Cole, You're more familiar.
Speaker 5: With the college noise than I am because I'm so old,
Speaker 5: and I think about you guys going into Houston. Is
Speaker 5: there similarities between the stadiums that you played in and
Speaker 5: how packed it was, because usually all state even away
Speaker 5: stadiums were packed against Notre Dame. Is there similarities to
Speaker 5: it or is there an extreme noise difference between the
Speaker 5: your college experience and the your NFL experiences.
Speaker 11: Yeah, we were actually talking about this on the field
Speaker 11: the other day. I don't think I've ever been in
Speaker 11: an NFL stadium yet, honestly that has been as loud
Speaker 11: as some of the college stadiums I've played at, and
Speaker 11: that includes Georgia Notre Dame at times.
Speaker 9: I play at Michigan in front of.
Speaker 11: One hundred plus thousands, So those stadiums get really, really
Speaker 11: loud in those college football atmospheres. Now that being said,
Speaker 11: there's a lot more communication involved at the NFL level
Speaker 11: than there is at the college level. You know, everyone's
Speaker 11: looking to the sideline in college to get their play.
Speaker 9: There's no huddle calls.
Speaker 11: The checks are usually verbal in the NFL, and there's
Speaker 11: having to signal at the line of scrimmage and having
Speaker 11: to communicate across the line of scrimmage and run checks.
Speaker 11: And you know, if there's a down safety here, if
Speaker 11: the safety flies back there, that might change the point
Speaker 11: in a protection or in a run scheme. So there's
Speaker 11: a lot more intricacies in the NFL game and a
Speaker 11: lot more communication that has to happen. So any type
Speaker 11: of noise is going to affect you, you know, that
Speaker 11: being said. The loudest moment in a football game I've
Speaker 11: ever been a part of was when the other I
Speaker 11: think was last year when the Lions had beat us
Speaker 11: and they came back and Algerson had that strip sack
Speaker 11: and that was the most That was the loudest I'd
Speaker 11: ever heard of stadium in my life. So, well, I'm
Speaker 11: sure it'll be noisy. I'm sure it'll be routed riled
Speaker 11: up there in Houston. It's the first time they've had
Speaker 11: a Sunday night football game, I think in a long,
Speaker 11: long time, five years. Yeah, so they're gonna be juiced up,
Speaker 11: ready to go. There's gonna be a lot of noise.
Speaker 11: We're gonna have to communicate really well. But this is
Speaker 11: nothing that most of us haven't played in before, and
Speaker 11: we just got to be able to handle it.
Speaker 4: Fluis is thinking it's a college environment, indoor on top
Speaker 4: of it.
Speaker 12: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So Cole covet our guest here on Bears Weekly on
Speaker 4: ESPN one thousand of the Bears ready a network. So
Speaker 4: I can't remember now through the five episodes Tome you
Speaker 4: watched off five, so I don't know how many appearances
Speaker 4: you had on camera and hard Knocks, but I see
Speaker 4: they're dropping some stuff that they picked up the cutting
Speaker 4: room floor and they're repurposing. Yes, So the football car
Speaker 4: to Mercedes Lewis was one I saw online this week,
Speaker 4: which is pretty cool.
Speaker 7: Were you cool with.
Speaker 4: Your appearances or lack thereof on hard knocks. Were you
Speaker 4: looking for a little more time?
Speaker 11: I think it was like the perfect amount where I
Speaker 11: showed up here and there just cause I want to
Speaker 11: be able to show this to my kids one right,
Speaker 11: so like they'll know, Okay, like I was actually involved
Speaker 11: in on the team and like that was on in there,
Speaker 11: but I never had like a big feature which I
Speaker 11: was totally okay with.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and I feel the same, Wait, our calls were
Speaker 4: on there, Tom. Also that's something for perpetuity this general
Speaker 4: managers keep adding local products. So the latest is Karanamagaji.
Speaker 4: You know that flavor, and we keep bringing it up.
Speaker 3: Is it important in a weird way? Yeah?
Speaker 11: No, I think I think it matters here more maybe
Speaker 11: than in other places, because you've got to understand the
Speaker 11: environment that you're getting into here.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 11: My example was just the past Sunday. I think some
Speaker 11: people were a little shocked that the Boo Birds came
Speaker 11: out at halftime. Uh, this is Chicago, man, They're expecting
Speaker 11: the winter and they have they have big expectations for
Speaker 11: their football team. So having guys that know the area, well,
Speaker 11: I think it brings a level of comfort and understanding
Speaker 11: as to what this football team means to the city,
Speaker 11: and just that level of understanding. You come into the
Speaker 11: practicely knowing what you got to do every day for sure.
Speaker 12: So from hard knocks that you threw out the first
Speaker 12: pitch at the Cubs game.
Speaker 5: So when you went to the mound, did its is
Speaker 5: what you remembered? Did you think, Okay, I gotta I
Speaker 5: gotta deliver this so I don't look like some of
Speaker 5: the other high lighted players that couldn't make it to
Speaker 5: the mound.
Speaker 12: What was your your pre pitch thinking there?
Speaker 11: I was getting I was getting nervous before. Honestly, I
Speaker 11: have no idea why. I started warming up with my
Speaker 11: brother beforehand, and they had told me the mascot was
Speaker 11: gonna be catching the first pitch, and so I was like,
Speaker 11: can I like throw this thing in there? Because whenever
Speaker 11: you have to for me in baseball, when you got
Speaker 11: to lob something in or like put touch on it,
Speaker 11: it never goes where you wanted to go. You just
Speaker 11: got to fire it through the chest. And so they
Speaker 11: were like, yeah, you can fire this thing, fire this
Speaker 11: thing at him. So I'm like all right, So I
Speaker 11: just got up there and ripped it and it might
Speaker 11: have been a ball outside. George was giving me some
Speaker 11: crap for it the other day, saying that it was
Speaker 11: that it wasn't a strike, but you know, it got
Speaker 11: over the plate, it looked, it looked professional.
Speaker 3: Did you get the did you get the MPH on it?
Speaker 9: Yes? Yes?
Speaker 3: What'd you fire?
Speaker 11: I think they said it was in the seventies, so
Speaker 11: not bad, not bad, not bad, not bad.
Speaker 3: What'd you top out it?
Speaker 11: My top out in college I think was ninety six. Yeah,
Speaker 11: and I sat at ninety ninety three, so yeah, wow, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 11: I had a good arm from the left side. But
Speaker 11: that was that was like a dream come true for
Speaker 11: me and a lot of fun.
Speaker 3: How's the wedding going?
Speaker 9: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 11: I get home every day and my fiance we always
Speaker 11: got stuff to talk about. But credit to her, she's
Speaker 11: been killing it. She's been taking care of a lot
Speaker 11: of different things. We just did a wedding tasting deal
Speaker 11: the other night and we just had a blast with that.
Speaker 11: So the process is fun with it. We're having fun
Speaker 11: with it. But yeah, definitely a lot of work, a
Speaker 11: lot of that has to be done, but we're enjoying
Speaker 11: the process for sure.
Speaker 12: All right, back to football, So.
Speaker 2: Don't don't ebody.
Speaker 3: He doesn't talk. Yeah, yeah, he does not go to weddings.
Speaker 5: He doesn't go to the question I'm curious about because
Speaker 5: during hard knocks we saw Caleb have a little bit
Speaker 5: of an interruption, interruption with the communication device in this helmet,
Speaker 5: and he was able to piece the words together and
Speaker 5: know exactly what he was supposed to say in the huddle.
Speaker 5: How was the communication Sunday? Being the first time four
Speaker 5: quarters in a regular season game, some alternate, some alternate
Speaker 5: down in distance that you were facing, how did that
Speaker 5: process of the game go?
Speaker 7: Well?
Speaker 11: I thought in terms of the huddle, it was great
Speaker 11: and it was good. I mean, there were some mishaps
Speaker 11: here and there, which is expecting that happens in every
Speaker 11: NFL game, but you know, for the most part, I
Speaker 11: thought it was pretty good. And I think we're kind
Speaker 11: of what I mentioned with the noise in Houston and
Speaker 11: you know, having to communicate the line of scrimmage. I
Speaker 11: think that's where we can all get better, you know,
Speaker 11: not just at the quarterback position, but between receivers, tight ends,
Speaker 11: offensive line and running backs, and we can communicate better
Speaker 11: with the post huddle deal. And I think that'll help
Speaker 11: us out tremendously.
Speaker 3: The Neil Hunter, Will Anderson got a black those guys, yeah, we.
Speaker 9: Got hear hear of them. Yeah, they look really good.
Speaker 11: Obviously, two talented guys, and you know those are guys
Speaker 11: you got to look out for and if you can
Speaker 11: neutralize them, I think we'll have some good success on offense.
Speaker 4: Thanks for the time, appreciating good luck on the podcast.
Speaker 4: Good luck on Sunday and the rest of the season.
Speaker 4: Cole commit our guest. We'll continue with Bears Weekly after
Speaker 4: this on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network
Speaker 4: is Bears Weekly.
Speaker 1: With the voice of the Bears for twenty four years,
Speaker 1: the Chef Chilney a chef pu up Bears Network.
Speaker 4: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by CDW.
Speaker 4: If people to get it, Jeff and Tom Love talking
Speaker 4: to Cole Comet Tommy. If he gets thirty five catches
Speaker 4: this year, he'd cracked the top five all time in
Speaker 4: franchise hints history for Bears pass catchers in his first
Speaker 4: five seasons and third and touchdowns by a tight end
Speaker 4: in the NFL is ince twenty twenty two, behind only
Speaker 4: Kelsey and Kittle.
Speaker 5: So if he doesn't have thirty five catches, we have
Speaker 5: to have an investigation, right because Cole Kmet, as he mentioned,
Speaker 5: he is.
Speaker 7: Capable of doing it all.
Speaker 5: He's a very good inline blocker, he could play h back,
Speaker 5: he could play full back. He's a downfield threat, he's
Speaker 5: a red zone threat, and he's a consistent five yard
Speaker 5: plus tight end.
Speaker 7: So Cole is.
Speaker 5: Just in the midst of the beginning of a great
Speaker 5: All right.
Speaker 4: Let's switch it over to the defensive coordinator, Eric Washington.
Speaker 4: He went to the podium and dove right in on
Speaker 4: the Houston Texans.
Speaker 10: A good challenge for us this week. The first is
Speaker 10: to the defense making sure that we play to our
Speaker 10: standard four quarters in every aspect of what we do
Speaker 10: with all of our values, our culture, and then just
Speaker 10: stopping the run and just doing everything that we can
Speaker 10: going into this week to elevate our level of play,
Speaker 10: our discipline, ball production, hits on a quarterback, just being
Speaker 10: efficient on first and second down. We want to make
Speaker 10: sure that we take a pretty decent jump this week.
Speaker 10: And the second is the opponent this offense, what can
Speaker 10: you say? The quarterback is dynamic. The offensive line has
Speaker 10: done a nice job of creating lanes for their runners
Speaker 10: Joe Mixon. They've got a receiving corps that can really
Speaker 10: produce explosive plays, and we'll have our hands full in
Speaker 10: terms of keeping this off in front of us and
Speaker 10: doing everything that we can to address the way that
Speaker 10: they try and attack you, especially with the explosive plays.
Speaker 10: Joe Mixon has done a really nice job of protecting
Speaker 10: the football, and for a defense that has that you know,
Speaker 10: has aspirations of taking the football away, that's going to
Speaker 10: be a tremendous challenge for us and we're going to
Speaker 10: need a special effort to get that done. So good
Speaker 10: challenge for us, good opportunity for us to grow and
Speaker 10: to continue to make progress against a really really good
Speaker 10: offense and a dynamic young quarterback.
Speaker 4: Here, Coach Washington talks about wide receiver Nico Collins very talented.
Speaker 10: I mean the size, not only the speed to catch radius.
Speaker 10: I mean the quarterback does not have to be perfect
Speaker 10: and one accurate for him to make a play on
Speaker 10: the football. And what gets lost in the whole thing
Speaker 10: is his ability to block on the perimeter.
Speaker 9: I mean, very physical blocker.
Speaker 10: All of the receivers are, and so we're gonna have
Speaker 10: to do a really good job of being physical disconnecting
Speaker 10: from blocks actually against perimeter runs. But he's the full
Speaker 10: he's the full, total package with the.
Speaker 1: Way they established the run last week and then win
Speaker 1: themselves to what did you see on video about how
Speaker 1: Mixing had the day that he had.
Speaker 10: Yeah, it's number one. They're run inventory creates some issues
Speaker 10: for you. I mean they can go from a gap
Speaker 10: scheme concept with pullers to an outside zone looking to
Speaker 10: cut the football back and so they've got a nice blend,
Speaker 10: a nice mix of run concepts that you have to
Speaker 10: do a really good job of addressing and fitting, especially
Speaker 10: when they start to pull an offensive lineman.
Speaker 13: They seem to establish himself pretty early on those underneath throws.
Speaker 13: For CJ, is that when you try to scheme up
Speaker 13: like responsibilities of how you're going to attack their three receivers,
Speaker 13: is that something that you expect to stay consistent on
Speaker 13: a week to week basis to prepare for that, you
Speaker 13: know how they might use them differently.
Speaker 10: Yeah, we we have to be prepared for all contingencies
Speaker 10: as far as the route concepts that we'll see, and
Speaker 10: I'm sure they'll move Stephan around so that we can't
Speaker 10: identify and pinpoint one location for him and design our
Speaker 10: plan around. But wherever he ends up in terms of
Speaker 10: the route concept, we have to make sure we execute
Speaker 10: the coverage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, digs with two touchdowns in the red zone. Tommy
Speaker 4: interesting on the variety of runs. So yes, inside gap
Speaker 4: and outside zone two very different styles and you got
Speaker 4: to prepare for both.
Speaker 3: But you know with what.
Speaker 4: Andrew Billings did, and we're so intrigued by what he
Speaker 4: did in this game, had a lot of reps, put
Speaker 4: hits on the quarterback, stuff the run, put pressure on
Speaker 4: the quarterback.
Speaker 3: He becomes a very key figure.
Speaker 5: He's a super key figure because his versatility brings the
Speaker 5: type of what I'm gonna call him EW. Okay, that's
Speaker 5: Eric Washington. Fluse gives everybody nicknames. I'm gonna now go
Speaker 5: with EW for Eric Washington. Because when he talks about
Speaker 5: the variety of runs that opponents have, the Bears have
Speaker 5: a variety of defensive fronts they can put out there
Speaker 5: because of their versatility of their front seven and as
Speaker 5: you say about their defensive backs, they have great deployment
Speaker 5: and they can put him in a lot of different positions.
Speaker 5: So Eric Billings, i mean Big Billings can do a lot.
Speaker 5: But Zach Pickens is also elevated to a full practice today,
Speaker 5: So you know what type of reps, what type of
Speaker 5: versatility does that get the defensive front.
Speaker 7: I don't want to ignore Billings because I gotta tell
Speaker 7: you what.
Speaker 5: He impressed me more in this first game of the
Speaker 5: regular season than he did throughout training camp. And his
Speaker 5: production and the way that he assisted the linebacker position
Speaker 5: and the way he assisted the defensive line in the
Speaker 5: way he put pressure on the quarterback was more impressive
Speaker 5: to me than I thought I saw. But going back
Speaker 5: and looking at it, listen, man, Billings is a big
Speaker 5: man that's hard to move, and I think he can
Speaker 5: be a stabilizing force in the center of that defense.
Speaker 4: You know say, with guys like that, they grow roots,
Speaker 4: meaning they're hard to dig out of there for an
Speaker 4: offensive lineman, guys like well Andrew Billings.
Speaker 5: One thing about that, Jeff, and that that's a great
Speaker 5: point by you, because when you have a defensive lineman
Speaker 5: that's considered has great roots, that means the combination blocks
Speaker 5: of offensive linemen have to spend more time of getting
Speaker 5: that guy moved than they can getting to the second level.
Speaker 7: And then that gives.
Speaker 5: A little bit of you know, three quarters of a second,
Speaker 5: half a second more freedom for the linebacker to get
Speaker 5: in position to make a play.
Speaker 4: Once se'mon Ago, We'll get Tom stattson Richard High Tower,
Speaker 4: his views on the special teams excellence that was a
Speaker 4: part of that big victory at home against Tennessee. This
Speaker 4: is Bears Weekly at ESPN one thousand and the Bears
Speaker 4: Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on the Bears Wingdio Network.
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Speaker 4: this season.
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Speaker 4: with Chicago Bears vip our remaining moments here on Bears Weekly,
Speaker 4: We'll start with Tom's thoughts, Tom, what do you got?
Speaker 5: Okay, I'm gonna tell you an actual story from my
Speaker 5: career that I think it's relatable to this week. So
Speaker 5: we were in our season with Mike Ditkaza, head coach,
Speaker 5: and the offensive line. He wanted them to play better,
Speaker 5: and in front of everybody, he stood there and he said,
Speaker 5: if I criticize the wide receivers that I'll go into
Speaker 5: a shell. If I criticize the defensive backs, they'll they're
Speaker 5: too sensitive. So the team, the only faction of a team,
Speaker 5: segment of a team that I can criticize in front
Speaker 5: of everybody is the offensive line. If you win the game,
Speaker 5: you get no credit. If you lose the game, you
Speaker 5: get all the blame. So when I think about this
Speaker 5: week going into Houston, I want the offensive line to
Speaker 5: play a more physical Chicago brand of football.
Speaker 7: I want them to play.
Speaker 5: A brand of football that Chris Morgan, the offensive line coach,
Speaker 5: continues to preach and coach. So these guys have to
Speaker 5: up their standard of physical approach to football in the
Speaker 5: most difficult circumstances they can possibly face, and that is
Speaker 5: not hearing the snapcount, being in a super hostile environment,
Speaker 5: being the most important segment of the Chicago Bears football
Speaker 5: team in order for this team to come away with
Speaker 5: a win. So for my actual experiences, I want to
Speaker 5: relate it to these guys and I want them to
Speaker 5: play a better, more physical brand of football.
Speaker 3: I like it.
Speaker 4: Physicality on special teams is something that Matt Eberflus brought
Speaker 4: up earlier in the week. Richard high Tower also applauding
Speaker 4: the work of Daniel Hardy, who blocked that plunt in
Speaker 4: the win.
Speaker 14: It's a testament to not only him as a person,
Speaker 14: and I actually met his mom this week as well
Speaker 14: for the first time. It's a testament to his family,
Speaker 14: how he was raised, how he goes about his business,
Speaker 14: and it's a testament to our personnel department finding a
Speaker 14: guy like that because a lot of people didn't know
Speaker 14: who Daniel Hardy was, and for him to work and
Speaker 14: develop and and you know, make the plays that he made.
Speaker 14: I'm very proud of him as well as his teammates.
Speaker 14: His teammates are proud of him as well, And I'm
Speaker 14: proud of Daniel and his teammates. And then we're just
Speaker 14: looking for more growth.
Speaker 9: You know.
Speaker 14: One quick thing on that, because I could talk all
Speaker 14: day about Hardy Okay, But what's interesting that people don't
Speaker 14: know is after the game he had and after he
Speaker 14: was you know, you know, recognized by coach as one
Speaker 14: of the players you know, of the game that contributed
Speaker 14: and all that. The kid after that, she came right
Speaker 14: up to my office and wanted to know what he
Speaker 14: could get better at.
Speaker 4: Oh, that's what I love here in big time and
Speaker 4: you've got thirty seconds. We both liked this young man.
Speaker 5: Love him, love him since training camp, in his production,
Speaker 5: and I hope he has more success than he or
Speaker 5: his mom originally thought he could have.
Speaker 3: Yeah, his mom was at the game.
Speaker 4: Post game when I was interviewing him on Marquee, she
Speaker 4: was standing right there taking pictures.
Speaker 3: I saw him in the locker room.
Speaker 4: She said it was one of her biggest thrills, like
Speaker 4: watching all this come to fruition as a former basketball player,
Speaker 4: didn't play a lot of high school football and had
Speaker 4: to find a way to get to the college level
Speaker 4: and has earned himself a spot and he is relentless
Speaker 4: on special teams.
Speaker 5: You should have interviewed, yes, and you should have interviewed her.
Speaker 7: All right, the most important person in her life.
Speaker 3: We gotta go big time. We'll see us Sunday night
Speaker 3: in Houston.
Speaker 4: This has been Bears Weekly on the new radio Home
Speaker 4: of the Bears, ESPN Chicago.
Speaker 3: Coming up next, Chris Black. Good night, everybody,