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Speaker 1: another edition of Bears All Access this week brought to
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Speaker 1: Tom Thayer, your Super Bowl Bear. Good to have you alongside.
Speaker 1: Tell me, how are you doing tonight? Jeff, I'm doing good.
Speaker 1: You know, it seems like each week I start the
Speaker 1: show by saying, one will one work. Where we are
Speaker 1: one week closer to everything, you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: decisions that need to be made in the NFL. And
Speaker 1: before we are on the air, I kind of asked you,
Speaker 1: you know who, who was the most interesting person that's
Speaker 1: been released this week? Not the free agents, but the
Speaker 1: release because you know, I was thinking of the two
Speaker 1: offensive lineman from Kansas City, Mitchell, Schwartz and Fisher that
Speaker 1: have been released. I think this year unlike any others,
Speaker 1: it's it affects when you were injured and if you
Speaker 1: were going to be cut. With both of those guys
Speaker 1: having one with a back surgery, one with the achilles tear,
Speaker 1: I think it's as a huge factor in this year
Speaker 1: in guys getting released. Well, yeah, but just in terms
Speaker 1: of just and trim and cash that that has to
Speaker 1: get out of that salary cap in six days. So
Speaker 1: I think that's an equally big part of it. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you think about neither of those two guys around the
Speaker 1: field for the Super Bowl, you know, right, But you know,
Speaker 1: in a normal scenario, if the salary cap was risen,
Speaker 1: there's two guys that they would rehab through their program.
Speaker 1: Now there's uncertainty for each of those players, but they
Speaker 1: probably have a better indication of what the status is.
Speaker 1: And I don't mean to dwell on the Kansas City
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, I mean for veterans as a whole in
Speaker 1: the NFL. All right, Jim Miller our guest as always
Speaker 1: each week, Big Jim Miller back with us from Sirius
Speaker 1: x MNFL Radio. Moving the chains with Pat Kerr went
Speaker 1: off his shift, then over to ours for a few
Speaker 1: segments and I Big Jim, how you feeling tonight? I'm
Speaker 1: doing great. Hey, I missed you guys last week. Has
Speaker 1: something to take care of, but it've worked out well
Speaker 1: and it always good to be with you guys. And yeah,
Speaker 1: here this is the fun stuff. Nothing ever ends in
Speaker 1: the National footballing There's always something to talk about. And
Speaker 1: as free agency approaches, teams getting their cap numbers down,
Speaker 1: all those things, there's this, man, it's gonna be so
Speaker 1: much fun. It's different coming off the obviously with the
Speaker 1: Salway cap going down, team there are some good guys
Speaker 1: getting released by teams around in the NFL. I mean
Speaker 1: there were some big ones today as Tom just mentioned,
Speaker 1: and there will be more tomorrow and through the weekend.
Speaker 1: Right six days from now, it all gets gone in
Speaker 1: the new league year gets underway and the cap must
Speaker 1: be met one hundred and eighty two and a half
Speaker 1: depending on if you have some leftover cash from last year.
Speaker 1: That puts the Bears at just over one ninety for
Speaker 1: the savalry cap. Let me take care of some business
Speaker 1: before we move on here. It's gonna be a short
Speaker 1: and show and I We've got a forty five minute
Speaker 1: version bulls basketball against Philadelphia seventy six ers in town tonight.
Speaker 1: We'll turn it over to Chuck s Horski and Bill
Speaker 1: Wennington to get you guys bulls ball out of the
Speaker 1: All Star break. Mike Rankin as our producer tonight, as
Speaker 1: well as Jordan trut Up and Dan Brilla for helping
Speaker 1: us out as well our Bears guests tonight will be
Speaker 1: an assistant coach, a new one for the Bears, and
Speaker 1: then it'll be our inside linebackers coach Bill mcgovernor will
Speaker 1: talk to him coming up at the bottom of the hour.
Speaker 1: You mentioned, you know, and you've been saying it, Jim
Speaker 1: for a while now. The teams, it's got to be
Speaker 1: the Saints right at the top of the list. They
Speaker 1: let go or Will Generas Jenkins. They've let go some others,
Speaker 1: and there's still a lot to be done with that
Speaker 1: fat franchise right there. And of the Bears, and you
Speaker 1: know the same coming up here soon. You know, the
Speaker 1: warrant rumors out there and the reports that Bobby Massey
Speaker 1: and we already know about Buster Screen. Yeah, and you know,
Speaker 1: the team the Bears currently are are over, So they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to do some more things from that standpoint.
Speaker 1: But you're right, the Saints, they're big names that they
Speaker 1: had to you know, they really stay with Janoris Jenkins,
Speaker 1: and they've got more work to do. They're still around
Speaker 1: thirty million over the cap. The Rams are now the
Speaker 1: worst team. I mean, think about New Orleans when they
Speaker 1: started that, they were over one hundred and fifty million
Speaker 1: over the cap. I mean, so there's a lot of
Speaker 1: work to be done, whether it's Drew Brees and the
Speaker 1: other players there. They're gonna have to restructure some players
Speaker 1: contracts that'll continue for them to get that cap number down.
Speaker 1: And the Rams, I think they're just gonna have some
Speaker 1: flat out tough decisions. Like Michael Brockers, who's a good player.
Speaker 1: I think they're just gonna flat just have to get
Speaker 1: rid of them, because you know, once that March seventeenth
Speaker 1: at four pm hits, all these teams have to be
Speaker 1: under the salary cap. That is by rule how it is,
Speaker 1: and nobody wants to get deemed or anything like that,
Speaker 1: and and teams like it that way. You know, it's
Speaker 1: they have to make adjustments because the cap has gone down.
Speaker 1: But you hear about the new TV contracts probably four
Speaker 1: years from now. Every it's gonna below everybody's minds which
Speaker 1: the salary cap will be. But the owners like it
Speaker 1: because it's a hard cap. It's a hardcaps are fixed cost,
Speaker 1: and so it's a it's a level playing field. And yes,
Speaker 1: they're going to take a hit in the NFLPA, and
Speaker 1: the owners have agreed that they're going to spread this
Speaker 1: loss over because there was a four billion dollars loss
Speaker 1: this year, four billion dollars, So they're gonna try and
Speaker 1: spread this out and then when these new TV contracts
Speaker 1: kick in, they'll start to make an You'll see the
Speaker 1: salary cap. If everything is fortunate and there's no more
Speaker 1: viruses or anything like that, it should have a steady
Speaker 1: growth and of really a big explosion here in the
Speaker 1: next four years. That's Jim Miller with Tom Fair. I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Johnny AAC will take our first break. Coming up,
Speaker 1: we'll be joined by the bears new inside linebackers coach
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the hour, Bill McGovern. This is
Speaker 1: Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: Bears All Access with Tom Fair, Jeff Johnny acc and
Speaker 1: Jim Miller from Chicago Bears quarterback. We're brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy. Good to have you alongside and choose
Speaker 1: clean energy for your home at igs dot com because
Speaker 1: every good choice adds up to a better world. Tell
Speaker 1: us a lot going on. You're gonna hear signings, You're
Speaker 1: gonna restructures around the league, including the Bears, and also
Speaker 1: you got the Pro Days getting underway Northwestern head there
Speaker 1: are Big one this week, a lot of attendants there
Speaker 1: and also just now on social media on Twitter, the
Speaker 1: Tribunes Brad Biggs reporting the Bears have agreed to terms
Speaker 1: with Cairo Santos, So that puts an end to all
Speaker 1: the kicking conversation. He had a terrific year franchise record
Speaker 1: of consecutive kicks. Brad reporting that it's a five year,
Speaker 1: sixteen million dollars deal with a max value of seventeen
Speaker 1: and a half. So there you go. One of the
Speaker 1: first shoes to drop in terms of what the Bears
Speaker 1: gonna do with their roster. Tom and Jim, Hey, I'm
Speaker 1: happy for him. He deserves it. He's a hard working
Speaker 1: kid that really endeared himself to the Bears fans, even
Speaker 1: though they weren't in the stands, and I think inside
Speaker 1: the locker room made some really difficult kicks, and when
Speaker 1: it was judgment Day and some of the harsher conditions
Speaker 1: that the Bears faced throughout the end of the season,
Speaker 1: he lived up to everything that was asked of him.
Speaker 1: So I'm happy for a guy that things work out
Speaker 1: and builds confidence throughout the year. Nice percentage ninety three
Speaker 1: over ninety three percent last year two or three over
Speaker 1: fifty nine, ten forty forty nine. And I'll say it
Speaker 1: this way, because there was a lot of bad kicking
Speaker 1: around the NFL, and Kyrie really had a good year.
Speaker 1: He was study for the Bears, and you just wonder,
Speaker 1: granted the Bears traded with the Raiders to pick up
Speaker 1: Eddie Pennero, I'm wondering if Eddie could be a bargaining
Speaker 1: chip because this looks like this could potentially solidify that
Speaker 1: Santos is going to be the kicker for the Bears.
Speaker 1: But there were a lot of teams that struggled with
Speaker 1: their kicking game and maybe maybe a run excuse me,
Speaker 1: Ryan Pace could maybe acquire another pick if somebody was
Speaker 1: interested in Eddie Penarol. Also, you know when it's becomes
Speaker 1: official from the organization. Again, this is Brad Biggs's story.
Speaker 1: You couldn't happen to an nicer guy, number one, A
Speaker 1: guy who work through a lot of personal battles to
Speaker 1: get to where he is back with the Bears. Because
Speaker 1: he was a record setting kicker for the Kansas City
Speaker 1: Chiefs fellas, so he had the excellence, then he had
Speaker 1: the injury and it took longer than he wanted it too,
Speaker 1: obviously to get through it. But to kick twenty seven
Speaker 1: in a row in as you say, Tom, some tough
Speaker 1: situations and anybody who kicks well enough to handle soldier
Speaker 1: field and it's trickiness. You know, you got to give
Speaker 1: him a tip of the cap. To this day, Robbie
Speaker 1: Gold's the best soldier field kicker of all time and
Speaker 1: dealing with that over a long period of time, got
Speaker 1: to know that place so well. But Cairo Santos is
Speaker 1: fit right in to the Chicago Bears, right, you know
Speaker 1: the thing. The thing about his perseverance is, you know,
Speaker 1: rarely do you get a big chance like that as
Speaker 1: unless you can measure up to the competition that they're
Speaker 1: going to set before you as a kicker, and what
Speaker 1: they set before Cairo as other people coming into the mix,
Speaker 1: kicking out there under a lot of pressure because of
Speaker 1: what's happened to the Bears in the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: With the kicker, I just like to see what he
Speaker 1: was able to persevere and like you said, he's a
Speaker 1: quality guy and he deserves the opportunity to flourish. And
Speaker 1: Jim the operation involved too with Patrick O'Donnell, Patrick Scales.
Speaker 1: They're both free agents as well. They've been able to
Speaker 1: get those guys back year after year. Is that also
Speaker 1: an important aspect of this right now, to get them back? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I would think so. I think you want to keep
Speaker 1: that trio together. I really do. I mean, you know, granted,
Speaker 1: they'll be able to see what they're worth is in
Speaker 1: free agency, but you know, the market's going to be
Speaker 1: tough now because because teams are so salary capped strap
Speaker 1: right now, there's kind of the halves and the halves
Speaker 1: not so I think for them would be nice to
Speaker 1: get keep them all together. Um, you know, they'll continue
Speaker 1: to work, but you know how many games are decided
Speaker 1: by a field goal. You know, they're so important to
Speaker 1: this game. And I just think that's a good signing
Speaker 1: because you know, I've talked to other kickers. I know
Speaker 1: you guys have talked to Patrick Manley and other specialists
Speaker 1: that come on here Chicago, going in Soldier Field, it's
Speaker 1: psyches you out. I remember talking to j Shanson of
Speaker 1: the Detroit Lions and he said, for whatever reason he
Speaker 1: goes a lot of kickers are just psyched out before
Speaker 1: they even go into Chicago because it is kind of
Speaker 1: a mentally challenging the area, just the wind coming off
Speaker 1: the lake and how it is and how it can
Speaker 1: squirl in that stadium, and they kind of just psyche
Speaker 1: themselves out. And once you've got a guy that has
Speaker 1: a confidence, whether it's Robbie Gold or Cairo Santos said,
Speaker 1: feels that they can, they've got to Downpat. I mean absolutely,
Speaker 1: this is a great resigning for the Bears. I always
Speaker 1: felt when I heard kick any stadium, if you're going,
Speaker 1: you don't have to combine or whatever and get the
Speaker 1: young kickers when they start thinking or talking about the wind.
Speaker 1: Granted they get asked about it first, but then if
Speaker 1: it becomes a repetitive theme, you know that there could
Speaker 1: be a little bit of issue right there, and trust
Speaker 1: value because you really you got to negotiate it, but
Speaker 1: you can't dwell on it. Well, you know what too,
Speaker 1: as natural surfaces to all kickers, puts a dynamic into
Speaker 1: their head. And now you have to include your plant foot.
Speaker 1: So if you don't have a care plant foot, you're
Speaker 1: rare are going to be able to be an accurate kicker.
Speaker 1: And I think because of the plans the playing surface
Speaker 1: of Soldier Field that lingers in the mind of all
Speaker 1: AstroTurf and sports field kickers in the league. All Right,
Speaker 1: you know I've been reading a lot of these former
Speaker 1: NFL execs, Jim and you've talked to him, I'm sure
Speaker 1: on your shows on Serious XM. But you know I
Speaker 1: keep hearing seeing Joe Banner, Joe Banner, who was with
Speaker 1: the Eagles for so many years, keeps talking about the
Speaker 1: smart teams will take advantage of this particular unique opportunity
Speaker 1: here in twenty twenty one. Is that fair? Regarding what's
Speaker 1: about to happen here and the cuts and some big
Speaker 1: names as we've alluded to at the top of the show. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I talked to him. Michael Bidwell, the owner of the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals. He came on with us last week and
Speaker 1: he thinks that there is going to be And he's
Speaker 1: not the only one. There are other general managers that
Speaker 1: we've talked to, like Steven Jones yesterday, the CEO of
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. They believe there's going to be a seismic
Speaker 1: shift of talent in the NFL with the players moving on.
Speaker 1: You know, because like I said that, you've got half
Speaker 1: the league that has big time salary cap money. You know,
Speaker 1: teams like Jacksonville, teams like the Jets. I mean, these
Speaker 1: teams have well over eighty million dollars of cap space
Speaker 1: where they're sitting right now. And then you got a
Speaker 1: team like the Rams, who they're still in the hole.
Speaker 1: They're they're over the cap thirty two million dollars. I
Speaker 1: get all that, but they can't say they can't sign anybody.
Speaker 1: I get all that. But when you talk about, like,
Speaker 1: what is your definition of smart both of you guys
Speaker 1: in this situation for an NFL front office, Well, I
Speaker 1: think if you want a guy, you go after him.
Speaker 1: But I think it probably the best example. Well for
Speaker 1: former Chicago Bear scout, how about Chris Ballard last year?
Speaker 1: Remember how everybody's saying, man, look at how patient he was.
Speaker 1: Man he made the big trade and got to Forrest Buckner,
Speaker 1: and they gave him a big deal, and they had
Speaker 1: the cap space to do it. But he was he
Speaker 1: was smart and not making the big splash. And then
Speaker 1: the markets started to come down, and the markets started
Speaker 1: to come to him, and he had he had the
Speaker 1: money available to now sign a whole bunch of players.
Speaker 1: He brings the n Xavier Rhodes and signs all these
Speaker 1: free agents for reasonable contracts because these players need work
Speaker 1: and the and the money was drying up. And I
Speaker 1: thought Chris Ballard did just a tremendous job last year
Speaker 1: for the Indianapolis Scolts and how physically prudent they were
Speaker 1: in their spending. And I think that's the key part
Speaker 1: about it. You never want to overspend, you know. Even
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones admitted today about the money that he paid
Speaker 1: for Dak Prescott. He says, he I overpay for the
Speaker 1: most special things in my life. And Dak had the
Speaker 1: leverage and they knew they had to resign him in
Speaker 1: Dak actually benefited even though the Satway camp went down,
Speaker 1: Dak got a better deal than what he did last year.
Speaker 1: You know one thing I'm gonna do is I'm first
Speaker 1: of all, if i'm a GM, I'm gonna look at
Speaker 1: my own roster. I'm gonna look at what guys are
Speaker 1: developing in a talent position where they can compete for
Speaker 1: a starting position with a cheap salary. So I'll bring
Speaker 1: So you got a guy like Shad Coward. Rashad Coward
Speaker 1: showed that he has the ability to go out there
Speaker 1: and compete at offensive guard and offensive tackle, and then
Speaker 1: you have the salary of a guy like Bobby Massey.
Speaker 1: So first of all, the decisions I'm gonna make are
Speaker 1: with the guys that are on my own roster that
Speaker 1: are stepping up to a competitive position. And then I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go look at for a veteran that's willing to
Speaker 1: take a little bit of a pay cut to be
Speaker 1: on a good team and compete for a starting position. Fellas,
Speaker 1: we have to step away for another break. Coming up
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the hour, Bill mcgoverned, the Bear's
Speaker 1: new inside linebackers coach. This is Bears All Access, brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to score. The Chicago Bears Network Presents Inside the
Speaker 1: Bears brought to you by Verizon At. Anthony Adams and
Speaker 1: Lauren Screeden cover the world of Bears football on and
Speaker 1: off the field every Sunday night at ten thirty five
Speaker 1: on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime at Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears dot com or on the Bears Official at a
Speaker 1: broadcast binder top there Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious
Speaker 1: x M NFL Radio moving the chains, joining us as
Speaker 1: we break down Bears football heading into what is an
Speaker 1: important week to get down to the salary cap. Also, Jim,
Speaker 1: a lot of pro days going on right now and
Speaker 1: he catch your attention. So far, north Western had a
Speaker 1: big draw with their offensive lineman in cornerback. And then
Speaker 1: of course the Clemson workout that included a lot of
Speaker 1: great players right there Texas today as well. Anything stick out, Um, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Clemson. The two receivers down there are good.
Speaker 1: Cornwall A Powell, he's a really good player. Amari Rodgers.
Speaker 1: I saw both of him at the Senior Bowl. Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1: Amari Rodgers is a really good player too. Also, their
Speaker 1: offensive lineman that Jackson, he was the blindside for Trevor
Speaker 1: Lawrence but in tom I know you'll watch him on tape,
Speaker 1: but this guy's legit six five, three hundred and forty
Speaker 1: five pounds. He's probably gonna be a power guard in
Speaker 1: the NFL. He'll probably be on a team that runs
Speaker 1: a lot of gaps scheme stuff, like a Baltimore. Baltimore
Speaker 1: runs a lot of gap scheme. But I like him.
Speaker 1: He's a good power garden. That's the thing is this
Speaker 1: year's draft, there's it's not as deep as the tackle
Speaker 1: draft at the position of tackle as in previous years.
Speaker 1: A lot of these tackles will kick in the guard
Speaker 1: like Jackson, who I just mentioned from Clemson. There's got
Speaker 1: a lot of guys like that in this draft. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm interested to see throughout the Pro days this year
Speaker 1: as I don't. I think when you go to the
Speaker 1: combine and you're there with a couple of one hundred
Speaker 1: other guys and then you're lining up for the forty
Speaker 1: or you're getting underneath the bench, there's a lot of motivation,
Speaker 1: a lot of adrenaline flowing in the room. I'm interested
Speaker 1: to see the forty times of the fastest players this year,
Speaker 1: if they match up to the fastest guys in the past,
Speaker 1: because I think when you're running a forty by yourself,
Speaker 1: just around a bunch of scouts at a pro day,
Speaker 1: it is not as motivating, it's not as adrenaline filled,
Speaker 1: it's not as competitive as when you're at the combine.
Speaker 1: So it'll it'll be interesting to you know, when you
Speaker 1: see some of these numbers off of these top tier guys,
Speaker 1: if they're going to live up to what's expected of
Speaker 1: them from the past guys. Interestingly for me Jim and
Speaker 1: Tom is yes, you're right about that, and it's now
Speaker 1: it's not standardized. Now that's it. You know, that's the
Speaker 1: one thing everybody says, well, what do you what do
Speaker 1: you got to do the combine in Indianapolis. Well, it's
Speaker 1: the same surface for everybody. Everybody does the same work
Speaker 1: under the same eyeballs. So now you have a measuring
Speaker 1: stick that goes back decades and that's the trick. And
Speaker 1: you look at the weightlifting competition even out whether that
Speaker 1: stuff matters or not to the to the average person,
Speaker 1: I think it's the competitive juices. Find out what's what's
Speaker 1: making a guy tick. Because the last few years Jim
Speaker 1: and Tom they had it available to the fans it
Speaker 1: was the rowtiest part of the combine in Indianapolis. I'm
Speaker 1: seeing some early returns here. You wonder what some of
Speaker 1: the guys and I don't know if some of these
Speaker 1: guys are opt outs or not. And I'm not talking
Speaker 1: about offensive linemen or defense, and I'm talking about backs
Speaker 1: and receivers doing four reps or three reps or six reps.
Speaker 1: Are they getting the kind of training that they've been
Speaker 1: used to. Well, that tells me everything you need to.
Speaker 1: You know. The one thing real quick is when you
Speaker 1: look at the weightlifting competition, it's not necessarily who's going
Speaker 1: to do the most, it's who's gonna do a number
Speaker 1: that shows me they're investing themselves in the weight room.
Speaker 1: And if I see a guy that lays on the
Speaker 1: bench and whether he's three hundred and fifty pounds or
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty pounds in the number of reps,
Speaker 1: the number of competitive time in the weight room, that
Speaker 1: tells me something about the player. Yeah, the big Georgia
Speaker 1: offensive i'd been Cleveland is supposed to do over. He's
Speaker 1: trying to break the record. The record is forty nine
Speaker 1: to two twenty five. He's trying to he thinks he
Speaker 1: can get over fifty. But much like Tom just talking
Speaker 1: about the cautionary tale is this, and probably everybody should
Speaker 1: have known it because his father was a really good
Speaker 1: player in the NFL. Orlando Brown. People forget Orlando Brown,
Speaker 1: who's probably gonna get traded for he is a right
Speaker 1: tackle for Baltimore Ravens. They moved him over to left
Speaker 1: tackle due to the injury to Ronnie Stanley. He benched
Speaker 1: the bench six times, so everybody, to Tom's point, Tom's saying,
Speaker 1: everybody's saying, oh, he's lazy, he doesn't work hard, he's
Speaker 1: not invested. But if you put out the tape, he's
Speaker 1: a legit player. He's already gone to two Pro Bowls
Speaker 1: and now he potentially may be traded because he wants
Speaker 1: to play left tackle. There are exceptions to the rule
Speaker 1: like that, but for the most the point that Tom
Speaker 1: everybody's sitting at home on. You have to show that
Speaker 1: you're working at this, that you're invested, that it's important
Speaker 1: to you, and when you can do those certain benchmark
Speaker 1: numbers really obviously makes teams, GMS coaches feel a lot
Speaker 1: better about you. And why Orlando Brown dropped to the
Speaker 1: third round in the draft. There's no way he's the
Speaker 1: third round tackle, No way. But he did well today.
Speaker 1: The Texas tackle Samuel Cosme thirty six reps on the bench,
Speaker 1: and you got to give a shout out to Pat
Speaker 1: Fitzherud on the Northwestern program. Tim first of all, tremendous environment,
Speaker 1: big draw and his guys really did some really good,
Speaker 1: impressive work. With Shawn Slater, the the tackle who opted
Speaker 1: out of twenty twenty and was in great shape, ran
Speaker 1: a four to nine. He's got long arms, big dude.
Speaker 1: Gonna be a first round likely at tackle there and
Speaker 1: Greg Knew from the cornerback ran at four three four
Speaker 1: three nine forty and as a highly thought of corner
Speaker 1: he boldly says, I think I'm the best, and that's
Speaker 1: what you want to hear. You know what's going to
Speaker 1: be different for me this year, Jeff, is the guys
Speaker 1: that are coming out of college, you always expect that
Speaker 1: year of growth for them. When I see a when
Speaker 1: I'm gonna see a guy for the first time in
Speaker 1: Eddie Goldman who's who's a pro but sat out that year,
Speaker 1: I also need to see indicators on what he's been
Speaker 1: doing in the last year. So you have college guys
Speaker 1: that are around the system, they're around a big support system.
Speaker 1: But then when you have some of the NFL guys
Speaker 1: that did opt out, I think they're going to go
Speaker 1: through some of this same evaluation they did maybe as
Speaker 1: a senior in college after coming back and seeing are
Speaker 1: they plug and play or do we need to get
Speaker 1: you back in shape? Jim Miller, Jeff jonnyac tamp there
Speaker 1: with you on Bears all access coming up in moments.
Speaker 1: Bill mcgoverned the Bears inside linebackers coach on a shortened
Speaker 1: version tonight. It Bears all access all right, So the
Speaker 1: Bears using what is available to them as provided by
Speaker 1: the collective bargaining agreement franchise tag Alan Robinson. I'm certain
Speaker 1: he's not thrilled about it, Jim, but there were at
Speaker 1: ten players in the same position, and it's an annual,
Speaker 1: annual discussion. Obviously, players don't love it, but organizations have
Speaker 1: the right to do it. Yeah, and you know he's
Speaker 1: you know already Taylor Molten, who's offensive tackle the Panthers.
Speaker 1: He already signed his franchise tender. I don't know what
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson plans to do, because if he doesn't sign it,
Speaker 1: obviously can stay away from the offseason and workouts and
Speaker 1: voluntary stuff and all that. But you just wonder. I
Speaker 1: don't view the tag as something offensive. I really don't,
Speaker 1: you know, because you look how Kirk Cousins benefited. If anything,
Speaker 1: it's it's his starting point for negotiating, which is a
Speaker 1: high number for the receiver in the franchise tag, and
Speaker 1: so you know it's only going to go from there
Speaker 1: now whether they can work out along from agreement prior
Speaker 1: to July fifteenth. This is a tool that is allowed
Speaker 1: by ownership in the NFL, and the players agreed to it.
Speaker 1: So I don't look at it a tag as something
Speaker 1: so bad. You know, you're guaranteed. I just signed it
Speaker 1: right now in case you got injured. Now you're guaranteed
Speaker 1: that salary for the entire year. Dek Prescott's glad he's ideas.
Speaker 1: Trust me. I've never been discouraged by the attitude of
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson. So if he signs, I think that he's
Speaker 1: going to be a great asset to the football team.
Speaker 1: But like Jeff said, some guys maybe in disagreement with
Speaker 1: the franchise tag. To me, I look at it as
Speaker 1: a lot of money guaranteed. He's a worker, wants his
Speaker 1: name to be shiny, and so he'll he'll continue to
Speaker 1: do what he needs to do to be a great
Speaker 1: football player. Coming up next, Bill mcgovernment, Bears Inside Linebackers coach,
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy to Score. This segment of Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot
Speaker 1: com to request an appointment in clinic or virtually and
Speaker 1: start feeling better tomorrow with Tom Bear and Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: two former Chicago Bears. I'm Jeff Joniac with you on
Speaker 1: Bears All Access with our producer Mike Ranting here on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score, and we welcome
Speaker 1: to the program the Bears new inside Linebackers coach, Bill McGovern. Bill,
Speaker 1: thanks for taking the time out tonight. How are you feeling?
Speaker 1: I feel great, Guy's pleasure to be with you. You
Speaker 1: got a lot of experience, obviously, nearly four decades of
Speaker 1: coaching and taking a step away last year to become
Speaker 1: a defensive analyst at Nebraska. What did that time away
Speaker 1: to just kind of look at the game a little differently?
Speaker 1: Do for you and what will it do for you
Speaker 1: with the Bears moving forward. Well, I think obviously going
Speaker 1: down there in Nebraska was a great experience. One of
Speaker 1: the things you got involved with a lot more there
Speaker 1: in the college game is the quarterback runs. It's much
Speaker 1: more prevalent in the college game, so you know, just
Speaker 1: different ideas, different looks to do to give the opposing
Speaker 1: teams that when they have a guy who can run
Speaker 1: the quarterback. But it was just something to kind of
Speaker 1: get back to basics, kind of reach our battery and
Speaker 1: just kind of that's why I'm so excited to be
Speaker 1: here right now. Hey, coach Bill top there here. Um,
Speaker 1: I wanted you know, throughout your career in college twenty
Speaker 1: four interceptions altogether, I think eleven as a senior. When
Speaker 1: you talk about turning a linebacker into an all three
Speaker 1: down linebacker, do you introduce your vision as a former
Speaker 1: defensive back to the linebacker in that role. Well, one
Speaker 1: of the things is, as you guys know, the game
Speaker 1: has gone to a great deal of passing and then
Speaker 1: spreading the field using all areas of the field. So
Speaker 1: guys have to have an awareness of the past game.
Speaker 1: They have to be able to understand route concepts and
Speaker 1: everything else and have to understand the coverages and how
Speaker 1: they're going to get attacked by offenses. So it's one
Speaker 1: of those things that we try and teach those guys
Speaker 1: right now. The more they know and the more they
Speaker 1: can do, the more valuable they are. So it's it's
Speaker 1: it's a challenge because obviously the offense is going to
Speaker 1: try to stress you every way in every coverage, but
Speaker 1: it's important if the guys can study it. And then
Speaker 1: the guys here have been doing a great job of
Speaker 1: studying in the past of getting to know and getting
Speaker 1: position to make a play. A coach Jim Miller here
Speaker 1: and welcome to Chicago, And let me just ask you
Speaker 1: all your years in coaching and here you've coached a
Speaker 1: lot of great players at the pro level, at the
Speaker 1: collegiate level, and you know, and players just want to
Speaker 1: get better. I just know from I I could have
Speaker 1: couldn't have cared who my coach was, just I would
Speaker 1: know as a player if they make me better at
Speaker 1: the end of the day. And so, how do you
Speaker 1: get across and get your points across to players and
Speaker 1: how do you get them to responds? What buttons do
Speaker 1: you need to know how to push because every player
Speaker 1: is different in order to push those buttons well. And
Speaker 1: you guys know, being players, former players, you guys understand right,
Speaker 1: it's a relationship business. One of the things you want
Speaker 1: to know from a coach is, hey, how can you
Speaker 1: help me get better? How can you extend my career?
Speaker 1: And hey, how can you help me hopefully make some
Speaker 1: more money? You know, but if we're playing well, those
Speaker 1: are the things that guys are looking for. But to
Speaker 1: do that, you got to earn your trust. You know,
Speaker 1: respect is given, but trust is earned, and we really
Speaker 1: got to do that and you just getting to know
Speaker 1: these guys one on one that I think is one
Speaker 1: of the bigger challenges now with the COVID and everything
Speaker 1: in the way to shutdown is you don't have that
Speaker 1: off season program to get to know these guys a
Speaker 1: little bit more. In the off season, you know, you're
Speaker 1: getting zoom meetings and stuff like that, but it's that
Speaker 1: kind of slows the process down a little bit, but
Speaker 1: it's one of just gaining their trust, getting them to
Speaker 1: understand it, Hey, I'm here for you, I'm here trying
Speaker 1: to help you guys get better. Bear's new inside linebackers
Speaker 1: coach Bill mcgoverned our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy the score on Bears All Access, we're out
Speaker 1: of here for Bulls basketball coming up at six forty five.
Speaker 1: They entertained the Philadelphia seventy six ers tonight. Okay, So
Speaker 1: on this staff and even through the front office, there's
Speaker 1: a lot and I'm saying, everybody's that a corridor of Jersey, Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: Central Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania, Ohio coaches on this staff. Do
Speaker 1: you feel right at home here because there's a bunch
Speaker 1: of you. You're from Jersey, right, absolutely, I'm from North Jersey, Yes,
Speaker 1: for more though Jersey. But it's a great area where
Speaker 1: I'm from, lovely area. But if this has been a
Speaker 1: tremendous place to come to. I know a number of
Speaker 1: people here, people who went to college with me at
Speaker 1: Holy Cross College. A lot of the alumni are out here.
Speaker 1: So it's been a great experience. Obviously kind of been
Speaker 1: bunkered down here in the offices, but I've got a
Speaker 1: lot of people here that are around and helping me
Speaker 1: show me how what a great city Chicago is. And
Speaker 1: we you know, Tommy was being he kind of glossed
Speaker 1: over and he snuck in there. Twenty four career interceptions.
Speaker 1: But let's let's tell you, folks, this is a holy
Speaker 1: cross defensive backers at the NC double A Division one
Speaker 1: double A record in a career and eleven as a
Speaker 1: senior in All American. You're a Hall of famer, your
Speaker 1: big time bill. Tell us about your playing career a
Speaker 1: little bit, and you know you got to throw that.
Speaker 1: You know you remember that. You know Gilbert Gilbert used
Speaker 1: to be are on Lovey staff and they he had
Speaker 1: what forty two career interceptions, So the players start calling
Speaker 1: him forty two, they're gonna start calling you twenty four.
Speaker 1: I don't know about that. Listen, when they when they
Speaker 1: looked at when they looked at me in the back end,
Speaker 1: they just they were throwing it at the worst guy.
Speaker 1: The other guys around to that much better, So they
Speaker 1: figured they'd take their chances with me. Coach, When what
Speaker 1: is you like if you have a background. You you
Speaker 1: talked about how defense has changed so much to me,
Speaker 1: I think no one is a forty three and nobody
Speaker 1: is a thirty four. It's whatever offensive personnel you're facing.
Speaker 1: Do you have a background in a type of defense
Speaker 1: that you've been raising, because when I look at your resume,
Speaker 1: it's one of the most impressive college pro linebacker resumes
Speaker 1: I've ever seen by a coach. But where do your
Speaker 1: roots lie? It's a good question because just like you said,
Speaker 1: I've kind of grown with the sport in the sense
Speaker 1: that when I first started out, every everybody was kind
Speaker 1: of a five two. Then then it got turned to
Speaker 1: three to four, then it went to a four to three,
Speaker 1: everybody went to h and now it's basically coming down
Speaker 1: says you. Guys, know, you want to present the offense
Speaker 1: with different presentations on different downs, so you don't they
Speaker 1: don't get a beat on you and kind of contale
Speaker 1: off on you. So you've got to be able to
Speaker 1: do a little bit of everything. You can show a
Speaker 1: bare front, you can do in the whole mine yards.
Speaker 1: So it's one of those things that as we go forward,
Speaker 1: you know, you just kind of keep evolving and trying
Speaker 1: to give the offense different looks, but you know, kind
Speaker 1: of set the tempo if you can with your defensive style.
Speaker 1: It's my biggest thing is how do we play? Are
Speaker 1: we playing smart, fast and aggressive? Well, well, coach, can
Speaker 1: you break it? Down without giving too much away. Just
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, everything's so wide open now, but there
Speaker 1: are you know, tendencies of an offense. You know that,
Speaker 1: just that you know teams that are out there, you
Speaker 1: know they're running the guy and say, Kansas City, they're
Speaker 1: running a guy in motion. Oh it's a jet suite. Well,
Speaker 1: they're running the same guy in motion up. Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: is faking and running a bootleg. They're running a guy
Speaker 1: in motion. Oh it's a shovel past, Travis Kelsey. How
Speaker 1: you're able to zone in to really get the goals
Speaker 1: of what you're trying to accomplish when these offenses just
Speaker 1: look like they're just wide open, but they are giving
Speaker 1: you a tendencies to break, don't right. And that's a
Speaker 1: credit to the players in the sense that there's the
Speaker 1: way their study habits are and the way they need
Speaker 1: to be detailed in their preparation, because you have to
Speaker 1: you have to notice that every little thing that goes
Speaker 1: on out there, what way you guys aligned, way a
Speaker 1: guy motions, what kind of speed he's motioning with, if
Speaker 1: the back is offset further than he normally is. All
Speaker 1: those things come into play and you're trying to basically
Speaker 1: line up and take it away from it. You want
Speaker 1: to be a sound defense, but you want to take
Speaker 1: away what they do best. And that's as you guys know,
Speaker 1: during the week, we study what a team does, what
Speaker 1: they hang their hat on. We want to try to
Speaker 1: make them try to try to beat us left handed
Speaker 1: if they can. All right, we'll let you go. Bill.
Speaker 1: Last question though, because you're you do know Sean Decide
Speaker 1: from Boston college days and what you know. It's an
Speaker 1: interesting thing because the young guy bringing in a guy
Speaker 1: who's been in football for four decades into the mix here,
Speaker 1: what advice do you give a first time defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: I'm not even given advice. We're here for each We're
Speaker 1: kind of we're kind of using each other as a resource.
Speaker 1: That's everybody comes together on this. You know, there's older
Speaker 1: guys that we got scars from, you know, when we've
Speaker 1: coached and played that we understand that some things work well,
Speaker 1: some things don't work as well, you know, but we're
Speaker 1: trying to help each other kind of just present the
Speaker 1: best defense that we can. But showing the showing the
Speaker 1: one thing you know about showing he's going to be prepared,
Speaker 1: he's going to have these guys ready to play and
Speaker 1: they're gonna play for him. Yes, everybody's excited about it. Indeed, Bill,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for john us. Looking forward to
Speaker 1: Mitya great guys, looking forward to Minya. Thanks for having
Speaker 1: me on. Bears Inside linebackers coach Bill McGovern. Before we
Speaker 1: wrap up, some final thoughts fellas up earlier in the show,
Speaker 1: the breaking news from Brad Biggs from the Tribune. The
Speaker 1: Bears reportedly have agreed to terms with kicker Cairo Santos.
Speaker 1: Let's touch that stone one more time, starting with Tommy
Speaker 1: there and going over to Jim. Well, I just think
Speaker 1: he earned it. You know, this is not something that
Speaker 1: he's just being gift. That he earned it, and I
Speaker 1: think that's what you want to see out of every
Speaker 1: position player. This will be the last time you hear
Speaker 1: this from me more. Kickers need to be in a
Speaker 1: Hall of fame. Who decides the outcomes of games more
Speaker 1: than kickers? Quarterbacks? Jim, Thanks so much, Town. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to you next week. Coming up next Bulls basketball right
Speaker 1: here on the score which Chuck's worst game bill winning
Speaker 1: ten Bulls and seventy six is coming up Thanks to
Speaker 1: Mike ranting, our producers Jordan Treed up at Dam Billy
Speaker 1: and our guest Bill McGovern. This is Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score any thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot com
Speaker 1: and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app.
Speaker 1: Bears All Access has been brought to you by IGS
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