Speaker 1: Right justin middle of the field forty five fifteen bring
Speaker 1: Russ in front of a leading.
Speaker 2: Lions in his way.
Speaker 1: I am Jeff jonihat wlitz.
Speaker 3: Is on Don huts Her.
Speaker 4: What was like playing for Coche?
Speaker 1: Good done?
Speaker 2: I don't want to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 5: Sixty one yards?
Speaker 1: What's Sunday stroll for?
Speaker 2: Justin field?
Speaker 6: Yes, Bears et cetera brought to you by Miller Light
Speaker 6: with the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Cuts have been made, deals have been done, and probably
Speaker 1: more to come before it's all said and done. The
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three Bears prepare for their one hundredth fourth
Speaker 1: season in franchise history with a new look and a
Speaker 1: new hope for success. Hi, everybody, this is Bears et
Speaker 1: cetera with Super Bowl winning Bear Tom Payer. I'm Jeff JONINGAF,
Speaker 1: my broadcast partner on ESPN one thousand of the Bears
Speaker 1: Radio Network, and we're brought to you by Miller Lte
Speaker 1: tastes like Miller Time Chicago. All the angs that players
Speaker 1: have felt over the course of the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: Time and no way is there a sigh relief, right right?
Speaker 7: Jeff you know, have you ever watched the end of
Speaker 7: the Stanley Cupp or a golf tournament where they show
Speaker 7: the guy that's inscribing the name of the winners on
Speaker 7: the trophy forever.
Speaker 2: That's not happening yet.
Speaker 7: Those names are not being inscribed on the roster for
Speaker 7: the finality of the Chicago Bear season. There's hundreds of
Speaker 7: names and positions and players in previous scouting that they've
Speaker 7: done on players that have to see if they fit
Speaker 7: and they may be better on this team than they
Speaker 7: were on the team they were trying out for, because
Speaker 7: of depth, because of different instances throughout the course of
Speaker 7: time in training camp. So I think this is something
Speaker 7: that we need to, as you say, pump the breaks
Speaker 7: and let's see where the roster is in almost two
Speaker 7: weeks where instead of tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Right as of right now, twenty six players on offense,
Speaker 1: twenty three on defense, and three of the specialists of course,
Speaker 1: and the newest edition is Dan Feenie, a local product
Speaker 1: from sanbrig Go out there in Orland Park. Tommy another
Speaker 1: local guy and a guy with experience, acquired from Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins in return for a sixth round pick in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty four more on his arrival from head coach Matt Eberflues.
Speaker 1: Pending the passing of a physical.
Speaker 3: In there, you've got an inside guy that you feel
Speaker 3: that can play all spots and back up and you
Speaker 3: know and be you know, a good a good starter there.
Speaker 5: So that's really it.
Speaker 3: And it's kind of like having a good swing tackle,
Speaker 3: you know, And that's really what the thought process was there.
Speaker 5: We just said that everybody felt the but tevins week week.
Speaker 5: We interpret that as you expect them to be good
Speaker 5: to go.
Speaker 3: That's what they're saying. Yep, everything looks good. We're getting
Speaker 3: guys in. We had a walk through, a nice long
Speaker 3: walkthrough meetings yesterday. We got the same thing today and
Speaker 3: guys are looking good there and they're ramping up. Guys
Speaker 3: that have been out are starting to do a lot
Speaker 3: of you know, land based stuff and getting in the
Speaker 3: speeds and cuts and moving around. So we'll see where
Speaker 3: it goes. But looks good right now.
Speaker 6: With Cody is healthy, will he go back to center?
Speaker 6: Where do you anticipate him staying in left guard?
Speaker 3: We're gonna have to look at that once we get
Speaker 3: the roster finalized, you know, because there's a lot of
Speaker 3: moving parts right now that we're looking at you know,
Speaker 3: every position, you know for depth, and.
Speaker 5: You know potential otherwise. But yeah, right now, we can't
Speaker 5: really say that we'll see Tommy.
Speaker 1: Four years with the Chargers, two seasons with the Jets
Speaker 1: before joining the Dolphins earlier this offseason. He's got almost
Speaker 1: one hundred career games and sixty four starts under his belt.
Speaker 1: The thing is, the key here is I would imagine
Speaker 1: from your perspective, he's insurance and he's got experience at
Speaker 1: both guard and center.
Speaker 7: Exactly. It's all about versatility, Jeff. You know, when you
Speaker 7: bringing in a guy, especially an offensive lineman, this late
Speaker 7: in the mix, he's gonna have to be sped or
Speaker 7: fed a lot of information over the next fifteen or
Speaker 7: fourteen or however many days there is before the first game.
Speaker 7: But he's gonna have to digest a lot of information
Speaker 7: before they put him on the practice field so he
Speaker 7: can get involved in the play. So it's something that
Speaker 7: he's going to have to stand right to the right
Speaker 7: of Chris Morgan, the offensive line coach. Every single play
Speaker 7: that's called, he's almost told his assignment. And then when
Speaker 7: he gets an opportunity to get some reps. You know,
Speaker 7: you have to be told your assignment again, but these
Speaker 7: professionals know how to study. I've had it happen to
Speaker 7: me when I got cut by the Bears. I got
Speaker 7: picked up a couple days later by Miami Dolphins and
Speaker 7: they said, listen, you better sit there and study your
Speaker 7: plays so we can activate you as soon as possible.
Speaker 2: And it's no different now in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe any abit easier transition. Maybe Mike McDaniel from
Speaker 1: that tree of Kyle Shanahan and guys up in Green
Speaker 1: Bay and of course Luke Getzi, so there could be
Speaker 1: a little bit of an easier transition possibly. But you know,
Speaker 1: does this also signal anything to you about the health
Speaker 1: of the offensive line, in particular, what's going on with
Speaker 1: Cody white Hair, what's going on with Lucas Patrick, what's
Speaker 1: going on with Nate Davis, and what potential is going
Speaker 1: on with Kramer as well.
Speaker 2: And Tevin Jenkins.
Speaker 7: You know, because when you listen to Matt abra Fluis,
Speaker 7: he wasn't committing to the length of his injury or
Speaker 7: to any of those guys, and some of them are
Speaker 7: still day to day. So I think it's important to
Speaker 7: come in here and pick up a guy that has
Speaker 7: NFL playing experience, because it's not a shock to a
Speaker 7: guy that's already been in the NFL. Sometimes it is
Speaker 7: a surprise that's a college player that comes in and
Speaker 7: plays in the first regular season game because the you,
Speaker 7: Jeff Listen, man, you've been around the NFL long enough
Speaker 7: and you know the tempo of the regular season is
Speaker 7: a lot different than the uncertainty or the amount of
Speaker 7: reps that these guys are told they're going to play
Speaker 7: in the preseason. So I think the one key word
Speaker 7: is we get ready to start the season is chemistry.
Speaker 7: And if you think of chemistry, it fits in every
Speaker 7: single one of the segmented positions that they need to
Speaker 7: get better before they go against the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: A lot of questions about Nate Davis that was asked
Speaker 1: if head coach Matt Eberflush on Tuesday, is he going
Speaker 1: to be ready to play for Week one?
Speaker 3: We're just looking at the phases where he is now.
Speaker 3: So he's in the steps that it says he's going
Speaker 3: to be ready. I don't know what's going to happen
Speaker 3: with the other steps because I can't I can't tell
Speaker 3: the future. But right now, he's in line for where
Speaker 3: he needs to be and we'll see where it goes
Speaker 3: from here.
Speaker 2: The player like.
Speaker 6: That who hasn't been on the field though all that much,
Speaker 6: can you tell the buy into the hits principle to
Speaker 6: the intensity, to the level of which you expect your
Speaker 6: guys to be playing since you haven't really seen that
Speaker 6: from him in your system.
Speaker 3: Uh yeah, I mean I've played against him for four
Speaker 3: years or whatever it was, from eighteen to twenty twenty one,
Speaker 3: so I know what kind of player he is. You know,
Speaker 3: I've seen what kind of player is the intensity brings
Speaker 3: to the line.
Speaker 5: And when he's been there and he's looked great.
Speaker 3: You know, he's been in there looking good at his
Speaker 3: past sets, his jumps to the second level in the
Speaker 3: run game.
Speaker 5: So he's looked really good in there.
Speaker 3: And like I said, the process will take care of
Speaker 3: itself and he'll be ready to go.
Speaker 5: But my past experience is with him, he's our kind
Speaker 5: of guy.
Speaker 1: Tom. It made it seem like everybody's going to be
Speaker 1: ready to go come week one, with the exception of
Speaker 1: Tevin Jenkins.
Speaker 7: Well, you know, Nate Davis, he's got to be ready
Speaker 7: to play. If he was able to put his pads
Speaker 7: on a couple times in Indianapolis, and throughout the last
Speaker 7: week of the preseason, he's got a Is this not
Speaker 7: a ramp up period anymore for Nate Davis? This is
Speaker 7: a prepared to start for Nate Davis. And the biggest
Speaker 7: help that they can give Darnell right is having an
Speaker 7: experience lined up to his immediate left, in his immediate
Speaker 7: right when you talk about the tight end position, Nate,
Speaker 7: you were paid a lot of money to come in
Speaker 7: here and to be a day one bona fide starter.
Speaker 7: That's what I expect out of him, and I hope
Speaker 7: that's the same expectations for Bear Nation and the Bears
Speaker 7: coaching staff.
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Speaker 1: All Right, Among the cuts the veterans defensive end Trevis
Speaker 1: Gibson and cornerback kendallville Door. They've been in the program
Speaker 1: now for several years. DeMarcus Gates was banged up, didn't
Speaker 1: play much at all during the preseason, Steven Carlson, the
Speaker 1: tight end of Ante Collins a tackle, and also some
Speaker 1: other veterans like Derise Fountain at the wide receiver position,
Speaker 1: Michael Ojamudia at corner, and Simba Webster. Some of these guys,
Speaker 1: even though they're veterans, will be brought back to the
Speaker 1: sixteen man practice squad. So this is probably something that
Speaker 1: we probably shouldn't even get into. But let's tackle Gibson
Speaker 1: number one, because obviously the idea that he was asking
Speaker 1: for and granted a trade request did not materialize, but
Speaker 1: it seemed like the handwriting was on the wall for Travis.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, there's coaches out there that have familiarity
Speaker 7: with him. You know, if you look at Sean Desai
Speaker 7: in Philly, you look down in Miami with Vic Fangio,
Speaker 7: there's guys that are familiar with his style of play,
Speaker 7: in his dedication to the everyday responsibilities of an NFL player.
Speaker 7: So you never know, he could let he could land
Speaker 7: at one of those two teams. I think if I
Speaker 7: was Trevis Gibson, I would stay fresh, I would stay
Speaker 7: working out, I would stay ready to play at a
Speaker 7: moment's notice because he showed, you know, in the preseason
Speaker 7: that he's got pass rushing skills. So maybe it's something
Speaker 7: that you can continue to refine those skills you end
Speaker 7: up in a roster and have a long, healthy, happy career.
Speaker 1: I got to talk about Tyson Page and he is
Speaker 1: the number two quarterback right now. Nathan Peterman was waived.
Speaker 1: It does not prey clue, according to the head coach,
Speaker 1: Matty Reflush from bringing in some experience at the quarterback position,
Speaker 1: but his performance throughout training camp in in the preseason
Speaker 1: certainly turned everybody's heads. Here's Eberflution on what he's looking
Speaker 1: for in the young man's.
Speaker 3: When you're a young player like that, you know you
Speaker 3: have to improve and get better every single week. And
Speaker 3: he's going to learn as he goes through the process
Speaker 3: of how the game plan changes every week, and that's
Speaker 3: probably a lot different than what he's used to.
Speaker 5: You know, you put a training camp.
Speaker 3: Install in and you're going through these concepts that you have,
Speaker 3: you know, the runs, and then the play action comes
Speaker 3: off of it, and the screen game were putting in
Speaker 3: and you know, the quick game, the empty game, and
Speaker 3: so forth, and you kind of go through that process
Speaker 3: during week one week, two week three of training camp,
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden, now you get to a
Speaker 3: game week and you're like, say, hey, we're going to
Speaker 3: pull this off the board, this off the board, We're
Speaker 3: going to change this, just this, and.
Speaker 5: You got to learn all those concepts.
Speaker 3: But they may look different to the to the defense,
Speaker 3: and that's how we put them in.
Speaker 5: So he's got to learn how to do that process.
Speaker 1: Tom, anything about this surprise you, Well.
Speaker 7: Let me ask you something you announced the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 7: Does anything that surprise you? You have more eyes on
Speaker 7: experience from his practicing. When you go from the college
Speaker 7: he went to Shepherd University right now, you go to
Speaker 7: the Senior Bowl with all these Division Division one five
Speaker 7: star quality athletes. Me, I'm surprised just because I didn't
Speaker 7: know anything about them. But I've grown to like these
Speaker 7: guys that stay in college for four years because it's
Speaker 7: evident of the extra couple thousands of reps that they
Speaker 7: get in those last years and it helps them, you know,
Speaker 7: elevate their skills. What about you, Joni, He's surprised.
Speaker 1: No, I'm not, because I've said all along. It's just
Speaker 1: there's something about the guy, the way he carries himself,
Speaker 1: the way he walked down the practice field, the way
Speaker 1: players responded to him, the way he throws the football,
Speaker 1: his mechanics so no, and his belief. I mean, you
Speaker 1: know this word, mox he keeps coming up. I think
Speaker 1: it's just in the household he lived in with that
Speaker 1: father who was internationally famous for being a hand arm
Speaker 1: wrestler and being a champion of the best ever. He
Speaker 1: just walks and walks to talk. You know, he's just
Speaker 1: there's something about him. And whenever you hear about there's
Speaker 1: something you bottom guys, you know they're going to get
Speaker 1: a chance. And now he has a chance. And he
Speaker 1: believed this long before he started high school out there
Speaker 1: in West Virginia, long before he was ignored by colleges.
Speaker 1: He felt his whole mindset, Tom, his whole mindset was
Speaker 1: getting to the NFL. And when he started that process,
Speaker 1: there's video on it and he's quoted as saying, people
Speaker 1: are gonna they're gonna be wondering why they passed me
Speaker 1: up when I play in the NFL. And so now
Speaker 1: he's on the doorstep of being in the NFL.
Speaker 7: Jeff, when I was a junior in high school, me
Speaker 7: and two classmates of mine. Sitting in class, we said, hey,
Speaker 7: how are we going to sign our autograph when we
Speaker 7: make it to professional sports.
Speaker 2: It was in April of my junior year.
Speaker 7: I had that same mindset in my head, and I'm
Speaker 7: glad that Badget agent had it because you see what
Speaker 7: has come out to be. Now, the first thing you
Speaker 7: hear that term the eye test. Does he pass the
Speaker 7: eye test? Is he Doug Flutie five to nine plus? No,
Speaker 7: he's six three, two hundred and fifteen pounds. He passes
Speaker 7: the eye test. But now what's all about the mental test?
Speaker 7: And he's passed it. He's shown the coaches, given the
Speaker 7: indication and meetings and on the practice field and on
Speaker 7: the game field, that nothing's too big for him.
Speaker 2: So I'm proud of the kid.
Speaker 7: I'm happy for him, and I hope he has a long,
Speaker 7: successful career.
Speaker 1: I love these stories, and they're all over the nation.
Speaker 1: For Football League, there's a bunch of guys making teams
Speaker 1: that nobody thought they would make, and let's see what
Speaker 1: happens with their careers. One of those guys is tied
Speaker 1: in Robert Tunyan. He talked about Beijing and how he
Speaker 1: interacted with him. Their conversations and his own Indiana State
Speaker 1: to Detroit Lions to Green Bay Packers journey. Let's listen in.
Speaker 8: He's a good kid, he's a gamer. What's good about him.
Speaker 8: He was from a D two school and he played
Speaker 8: a lot of football. It's not like a guy who
Speaker 8: is just you know, starting like a handful of games
Speaker 8: in Division one and then getting drafted. You know, he played,
Speaker 8: you know, a lot of games, had a lot of success.
Speaker 8: So he has a lot of football under his belt.
Speaker 6: Been very self aware just about the level that he
Speaker 6: came from. And he said that he'd make plays and
Speaker 6: he'd notice some guys. But wait, like kind of almost
Speaker 6: like a little bit of shock that a D two
Speaker 6: guy can make right like that, like you went where
Speaker 6: to school? Like how have you seen your teammates react
Speaker 6: to like how well he's played this preseason?
Speaker 8: Knowing where I think that's what's good about Like our team,
Speaker 8: you know, a young team, like everyone's so like the
Speaker 8: camaraderie is good. Everyone doesn't really look down on people
Speaker 8: where they came from or you know, if you can play.
Speaker 5: Football, you can play football.
Speaker 8: And those are the people that we want around this
Speaker 8: building and we want a part of this team, So.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it is a little different.
Speaker 8: You know, a D two quarterback, you know, just coming
Speaker 8: in just all of a sudden making plays. But if
Speaker 8: you look at his film and like who he is
Speaker 8: and you know his statistics and all that, I mean,
Speaker 8: he's been doing it so.
Speaker 2: Along the same lines.
Speaker 5: You were a guy who had to fight for a
Speaker 5: roster spot.
Speaker 2: What do you remember what the emotions of like roster cutdout, dame.
Speaker 5: What advice do you have for guys?
Speaker 8: Kind of Yeah, I mean I had, you know, when
Speaker 8: I was in Detroit, I had the worst where you know,
Speaker 8: I went in to sign my practice squad contract and
Speaker 8: then they didn't have it all of a sudden. And
Speaker 8: then the next year I go in and they call me.
Speaker 8: You know, I get that, you know, the prank call
Speaker 8: that I got cut, and then I go in there
Speaker 8: and then I made the team. So it was like
Speaker 8: completely the different, completely opposites. But yeah, I mean just advice,
Speaker 8: I mean it really it does, you know, weigh on
Speaker 8: you when you get that call or when you get cut.
Speaker 8: But there's so much that can happen within these like
Speaker 8: next handful of weeks. You know, so many injuries in
Speaker 8: the first couple of games, or you know, you see
Speaker 8: roster moves that you know people didn't really like, or
Speaker 8: you kind of just see how the NFL unfolds in
Speaker 8: terms of rosters and moves and stuff like that. So
Speaker 8: he kind of really can't dwell on it. But yeah,
Speaker 8: I didn'tan. I didn't sign Green Bay until like week
Speaker 8: or like the first week of December, so I was
Speaker 8: at home for like a whole year. So and uh yeah,
Speaker 8: so I mean really cliches it sounds, really isn't now
Speaker 8: it starts, but you know, when you get your opportunity,
Speaker 8: you know, finishing and executing and just making do with
Speaker 8: your opportunities.
Speaker 6: Someone had the audacity to prank call you from the
Speaker 6: front office.
Speaker 8: Like no, no, no, it was like another player who
Speaker 8: got cut, and then he used like the same text
Speaker 8: and copied and pasted and sent to me. I literally
Speaker 8: went into the office and handed in my iPad and
Speaker 8: then everyone was like excited to see me, and I
Speaker 8: was super confused. I didn't say anything. Yeah, there's like
Speaker 8: an article on it on ESPN or something like that,
Speaker 8: but this was yeah, two thousand and eight, Yeah, twenty eighteen.
Speaker 8: I had a really good preseason, and I like they
Speaker 8: basically told me like I was on the team, so
Speaker 8: I was like cool, and then like I'm at home
Speaker 8: like playing video games with my buddy, and all of
Speaker 8: a sudden, like I get that text and I literally
Speaker 8: drove like so mad to the building like hand in
Speaker 8: my iPad. Then my tight ends coach in the GM
Speaker 8: are like super excited to see me.
Speaker 5: I was like, this is weird.
Speaker 1: That was a great story from Tanya. The one I
Speaker 1: cannot believe though, was getting the crank call from somebody
Speaker 1: he didn't really like on the team telling him that
Speaker 1: he was cut after he thought he'd made the Packers.
Speaker 7: How me, it was it was a text, so some
Speaker 7: other teammate got cut through a text, and then that
Speaker 7: teammate took that text and sent it to Tonian.
Speaker 2: I would have drove right to that person's house and
Speaker 2: beat the.
Speaker 7: Crap out of them and then went back and hope,
Speaker 7: like heck that I still had a playbook at the
Speaker 7: end of the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's I gotta tell you.
Speaker 7: It's one of the greatest stories I've ever heard from
Speaker 7: an actual NFL successful player by Robert Tunyan And someday
Speaker 7: I would like to talk to him behind closed doors
Speaker 7: and get more of a off the microphone, you know,
Speaker 7: response to it.
Speaker 1: Well, even Detroit, he shows up for the practice squad
Speaker 1: and that there was no contract. That's all I said.
Speaker 1: There was nothing.
Speaker 2: There was nothing.
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 2: It was all.
Speaker 1: It was not happening. So and he didn't even play
Speaker 1: football for almost a year before he got together with
Speaker 1: the Packers and they had a ten touchdown season up
Speaker 1: there in Green Bay. So great guy, local guy. Glad
Speaker 1: he's here. And that's an exciting watch. Game day snacking
Speaker 1: calls for good foods. Chunky guacamaldi made with has avocados, tomatoes, onions,
Speaker 1: solan showing a squeeze of lime juice. It's the perfect
Speaker 1: snack to watch while the Bears win. Score something today
Speaker 1: at your local grocery store. Game day is guak day.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you we you know, and you've been
Speaker 1: making a lot of comments about me and my parent
Speaker 1: love for number twenty nine Tyre Stevenson. But you know,
Speaker 1: I've also really my eyes are telling me, okay, Zach
Speaker 1: Pickens can play football. He can play football for me,
Speaker 1: and I just love the idea of Pickens and Dexter.
Speaker 1: They get out there together, they walk around together. It's
Speaker 1: like your offensive lineman when they're all together. These two guys,
Speaker 1: they are joined at the hip and maybe they have
Speaker 1: great ten year careers here with the Chicago Bears. A
Speaker 1: defensive line, defensive tackle, nose tackle in this system. What
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on Pickens in Dexter.
Speaker 7: They don't have a lot of similarities in their.
Speaker 2: Style of play.
Speaker 7: When you look at Zach Pickens, you look at the
Speaker 7: immediate explosiveness that he gets in control of the offensive lineman,
Speaker 7: and he puts them in a defensive position that offensive
Speaker 7: lineman don't want to be in. Gavon Dexter has athleticism
Speaker 7: to move laterally and to move vertically, like he says,
Speaker 7: So I like the way that these guys are increasing
Speaker 7: their repertoire, their arsenal. And Travis Smith a defensive line coach,
Speaker 7: I think he's the perfect guy for them because he's
Speaker 7: got a variety of skills that he's been taught from
Speaker 7: other coaches, and then he does a really nice job
Speaker 7: of teaching.
Speaker 2: These guys on the move. So they put them in place.
Speaker 7: It's not something that they think about, it's just the
Speaker 7: way they react as defensive linemen. So I'm looking for
Speaker 7: the increased potential and growth of both of these guys
Speaker 7: in their own different skill sets.
Speaker 1: Here's Pickings on the potential he sees with Dexter. He's
Speaker 1: running mate.
Speaker 4: Oh yes, sir, we definitely do that, celebrate. We dap
Speaker 4: each other up every time we're about to go on
Speaker 4: the field. We give each other confidence. And that's the
Speaker 4: one thing I always want it. And if you believe it,
Speaker 4: he believe it, We're gonna be all right. And I
Speaker 4: feel like if we do our if we play our
Speaker 4: cards right, can't nobody stop us.
Speaker 1: And that being said, you know, Dexter, let's listen in.
Speaker 1: He feels that he's starting to prove people wrong. And
Speaker 1: when asked, well, what do you mean you know, he goes,
Speaker 1: I was a second round pick. He says, it's so calmly.
Speaker 1: Let's listen in.
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, completely opposite player now. I mean, I mean
Speaker 9: like getting off the ball, playing vertical and learning how
Speaker 9: to do some of those things. Even my rush ability
Speaker 9: has turned the whole different levels, so.
Speaker 3: Like lean and athletic ability more in college, it seems
Speaker 3: like a natural thing, and then you come up period
Speaker 3: to realize it takes more than that.
Speaker 5: If you come to that kind of realization.
Speaker 9: Right, Yeah, of course, I think like a guy like me,
Speaker 9: I can win someone on one is just with my
Speaker 9: god given But now there's guys who's just as big
Speaker 9: and just as strong. So it's a technique versus technique.
Speaker 9: Pad level hands, inside hands, it's a lot of little
Speaker 9: things that you gotta have to win.
Speaker 1: That's the kind of agitation you had, Right, he's agitated.
Speaker 1: He wasn't hurt. Yeah, but he what he's mad. He's
Speaker 1: not a first round pick, so therefore he feels people
Speaker 1: don't believe in him.
Speaker 7: Yeah, but drink that fourth round kool Aid like I've
Speaker 7: been drinking.
Speaker 2: I'm still bitter about it.
Speaker 1: So it's any good. It's not. It doesn't taste. There's
Speaker 1: no taste. Doesn't changed.
Speaker 2: Come on.
Speaker 7: But I admire these two defensive linemen because they're not satisfied,
Speaker 7: they're not happy. They know they have a lot of potential,
Speaker 7: but they need to work hard to you know, have
Speaker 7: that growth cultivate. And so, like I said, I'm excited
Speaker 7: to see him down the road. And I think they're
Speaker 7: on a good team. There's some good veterans here. And
Speaker 7: when you look at the front seven of any defense,
Speaker 7: you need that rotational defensive line that can keep your
Speaker 7: reps as fresh as they can possibly be. And I
Speaker 7: hope they're contributors on week one, day one.
Speaker 1: All right, So you got nine of them as of
Speaker 1: right now, DeMarcus Walker, you and Heke and Gockway, Dominique Robinson,
Speaker 1: Rashim Green, and Terrell Lewis. He makes the team, Justin
Speaker 1: Jones Andrew Billdings, then Zach Pickens and Javon Dexter Senior.
Speaker 1: Do you like the rotation the flexibility of these nine gentlemen.
Speaker 7: You need to see DeMarcus Walker where he's at. He
Speaker 7: hasn't shown me enough on the practice field other than
Speaker 7: you know, being a little chirpie, being a little instigator.
Speaker 2: I like that side of them. I think the team
Speaker 2: needs that.
Speaker 7: But I need to see DeMarcus Walker healthy and have
Speaker 7: multiple reps on the field, be in full pads to
Speaker 7: show me what he's going to contribute to the outside position.
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Speaker 1: Tremaine Edmonds had that twenty day absence from training camp
Speaker 1: get in a few snaps in the preseason finale, so
Speaker 1: we haven't seen him in his entirety with this defense
Speaker 1: as well with his running mate TJ. Edwards, Eddie Jackson
Speaker 1: of course, and Jakwan Brisker at safety. So Kyler Gordon
Speaker 1: was asked if he's concerned about that lack of continuity
Speaker 1: as they head into the opener since.
Speaker 10: The beginning of camps, and OTA is like, we've been
Speaker 10: in moments that we all juled together, and I've seen
Speaker 10: the way that we've all played and how dominant can
Speaker 10: be kind of like what I was talking about a
Speaker 10: little bit earlier, and so you know, being able to
Speaker 10: have that in that chemistry and stuff, and even to
Speaker 10: be able to go through walk throughs and do stuff
Speaker 10: and the communication be so smooth that when you know
Speaker 10: we're going through play, it's like, I don't know, it's
Speaker 10: just smooth, and especially compared to last year at least
Speaker 10: for me, and you know, being able to talk about
Speaker 10: players and we can do this, we can do that.
Speaker 5: Okay, let's just make sure we.
Speaker 10: Talk it up and like I don't really have any
Speaker 10: doubts as far as the way we're gonna Jel. I've
Speaker 10: seen each player, you know, do something special individually and
Speaker 10: add and contribute to this defense and stuff like that.
Speaker 10: So I think a lot of people are curious about it.
Speaker 10: But as as a defense and people that have been
Speaker 10: here in the building, like I don't have a lot
Speaker 10: of doubts in the players that we have and stuff
Speaker 10: like that, So I feel good about us.
Speaker 1: All right. Gordon says he's not worried about it because
Speaker 1: he's seen it throughout course of the offseason and practice
Speaker 1: that when they were healthy, these guys were playing a
Speaker 1: certain style of defense, and they did. They looked good,
Speaker 1: They looked better at times than the offense did throughout
Speaker 1: certain practices in the offseason and training camp. What is
Speaker 1: your take and concern at all for the starting defense
Speaker 1: as it prepares for the Packers.
Speaker 2: Well, this is my concern.
Speaker 7: When Kyler Gordon was at the mike, communication inside the
Speaker 7: classroom was a lot different than chemistry out in the
Speaker 7: field when you have moving part against your opponent, I
Speaker 7: do when the whole defense was out there, I think, Jeff,
Speaker 7: that was the most impressive element of training camp force.
Speaker 7: In the first four or five days of camp when
Speaker 7: they were all out there, they were fast on their feet,
Speaker 7: They're athletic, they moved well, they're taking the ball away,
Speaker 7: they're putting pressure.
Speaker 2: On the quarterback.
Speaker 7: I like that Kyler Gordon feels that they're in a
Speaker 7: better place now than they were a year ago.
Speaker 2: Obviously when some of these kids were rookies.
Speaker 7: But if they have all these guys stay healthy, they
Speaker 7: have depth in the defensive backfield. They're more athletic at
Speaker 7: the linebacker position. With depth, they got a better rotation
Speaker 7: a defensive lineman. If they can stay on the field together.
Speaker 7: What did k Kyler say at the end of it
Speaker 7: that they could be scary. This is a good group.
Speaker 7: This is a good group. So I'm excited to see that.
Speaker 1: Now. We need the offense to feel the same way
Speaker 1: about itself with Justin Fields pulling the trigger for DJ Moore,
Speaker 1: Chase Claypole, Darnell Mooney, Echuamenia, Sam Brown, Tyler, Scott Baylis Jones,
Speaker 1: Junior Cole Comet, Robert Tunyan, Mercedes Lewis, and the running backs.
Speaker 1: He kept five running backs, including Kyrie blasting game. So
Speaker 1: you've got a lot of weaponry and a lot of
Speaker 1: mismatches you could create if everything falls into place. But
Speaker 1: of course, the offensive line's got to come out healthy.
Speaker 1: So these are all all things, a lot of questions.
Speaker 1: Yet with two weeks to go before the start of
Speaker 1: the season, opener.
Speaker 7: Down chemistry, Jeff, and I keep I'm going to repeat
Speaker 7: that word until I get one hundred reps of the
Speaker 7: offensive line together, of the same five guys, and I
Speaker 7: think that's when you can start scratching the surface of
Speaker 7: the chemistry that you ultimately need. So you know, Jeff,
Speaker 7: take for example, the first three games of the year,
Speaker 7: and you think of the defense Green Bay runs, you
Speaker 7: think of the defense Tampa Bay runs, and then you
Speaker 7: think of the defense that Kansas City runs. There are
Speaker 7: subtle differences to every one of those defenses, and you
Speaker 7: don't have time to talk on the line of scrimmage
Speaker 7: about the communication of responsibilities. You got to get to
Speaker 7: know each other so well that it's a blink of
Speaker 7: an eye, it's an elbow tap in the huddle, it's
Speaker 7: a head nod, it's a code word at the offensive
Speaker 7: line that everybody knows exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 2: So, uh, you.
Speaker 7: Know, my opinion, is still out there, and I'll give
Speaker 7: you that opinion after hopefully I see those hundred snaps.
Speaker 1: All three of those defensive lines have impressive players on it,
Speaker 1: assuming of course, that Chris Jones returns and avoids a
Speaker 1: holdout there for Kansas City. I hope not all right,
Speaker 1: Big Time did anything on the final roster as we
Speaker 1: know it right now, A surprise you and you know,
Speaker 1: take the injuries aside. There were a few guys banged up.
Speaker 1: Of course, that practice squad will feature players that are
Speaker 1: from other rosters, but a number of rookies that did
Speaker 1: not make the final roster will be on that practice squad.
Speaker 2: You know, surprise.
Speaker 7: No, I'm just waiting to see the guys get into
Speaker 7: their place, to see how they developed on this team,
Speaker 7: because you know, you make you talked.
Speaker 2: About the absence of tremade Edmunds.
Speaker 7: You know, we talk about the absence of Chase Claypool.
Speaker 7: So there's veterans on this football team that haven't been.
Speaker 2: Around for a little while.
Speaker 7: DeMarcus Walker that they're going to play a significant role
Speaker 7: on this football team, Jeff. So when you talk about
Speaker 7: these next days leading up to the Green Bay game,
Speaker 7: it's almost like they have to speed up their process
Speaker 7: of contributing to this football team mentally, physically, and you
Speaker 7: know in the meeting rooms in every way that the
Speaker 7: Bears are going to be asking of them. So I'm
Speaker 7: excited to see. It's not the finished product before the
Speaker 7: Green Bay game. It's the product before the Green Bay game.
Speaker 1: And just taking a glance at the Packers a roster, Obviously,
Speaker 1: the biggest change is the most important one to Jordan Love,
Speaker 1: but a lot of the same names that we have
Speaker 1: dealt with over the years are on that roster. It's
Speaker 1: a young receiving corps. It's a veteran defensive line with
Speaker 1: the veteran defensive players in the secondary, and a veteran
Speaker 1: offensive line with a pair of running backs that can
Speaker 1: cause you some damage.
Speaker 2: Why they cut your guy? Who is that trick O'Donnell?
Speaker 1: I know they cut him Monday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm surprised about that, Patrick O'Donnell.
Speaker 7: Will he'll end up on an NFL roster as an
Speaker 7: active player maybe Week two.
Speaker 2: But you know, I mean there was a.
Speaker 7: Lot of kickers around the league traded in moving around
Speaker 7: teams at this part of the season.
Speaker 2: So I'll listen.
Speaker 7: You know, in Green Bay I don't like Green Bay,
Speaker 7: that's no secret. But I like Patrick O'Donnell and I
Speaker 7: was surprised when I saw his name.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Lastly, one bit of nugget that is important for the
Speaker 1: season to come, Tommy. Eight of the bears thirteen losses
Speaker 1: came down to a single score and they had led
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter in some of those games. That's
Speaker 1: how much excitement there was in the season that became
Speaker 1: a fourteen loss season despite that fact they were So
Speaker 1: how do they bridge that gap?
Speaker 5: Now?
Speaker 7: How do they win those You know, they have to
Speaker 7: have more sustainability time sustainability that leads to score on offense.
Speaker 7: They have to keep their defense fresh late in the
Speaker 7: game because when you look at the analytics and the
Speaker 7: statistics of the defense, you know it's got to go
Speaker 7: hand in hand, Jeff. It's got to be a contributing, scoring,
Speaker 7: time consuming offense that allows the defense to play fresh.
Speaker 7: Because we just talked about all the assets the defense has,
Speaker 7: and if they're allowed to go out there in the
Speaker 7: fourth quarter and play a fresh brand of football, then
Speaker 7: you're going to see them winning those types of games.
Speaker 7: And you know, so we need probably more explosive plays
Speaker 7: in the fourth quarter as well.
Speaker 1: All right, that's going to wrap us up. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Miller Lte, the official beer of the Chicago Bears, tastes
Speaker 1: like middle time Chicago. Tommy, We'll talk to you in
Speaker 1: a couple of days.
Speaker 2: Gotta boy, Jeff.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Everyone. Please subscribe now on the Chicago
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Speaker 1: We'll talk to you in a couple of days. This
Speaker 1: is Bears et cetera with Tom Theare. I'm Jeff Joniek.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.