Speaker 1: Good to be with you, everybody, and welcome into the
Speaker 1: Bears Coaching Show with Bears head coach Mattneggie Jeff Joning
Speaker 1: ac with you until eight o'clock tonight just after seven thirty,
Speaker 1: will be joined by Bear Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor.
Speaker 1: Get evening, Matt, How you hanging in there, buddy? You
Speaker 1: hit the bye week now, but not the way you
Speaker 1: envisioned obviously or hoped. Yeah, yeah, it's not you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's unfortunate, and you never want to hit the
Speaker 1: bye week into a loss, going in after a loss,
Speaker 1: let alone, you know, four in a row. So that's
Speaker 1: what we need to do, is we need to figure
Speaker 1: out why this you know, why this has happened, and
Speaker 1: we got to use this bye week for us. Is
Speaker 1: to make sure that we use it to help us
Speaker 1: off physically and mentally. Is the only thing we can do. Um.
Speaker 1: We have to make sure that we're critical of ourselves, um,
Speaker 1: the way that we're playing, the way that we're coaching,
Speaker 1: and try to try to, you know, come up with solutions,
Speaker 1: you know, and these solutions obviously something that is not
Speaker 1: easy to find when you're really stuck in the muck
Speaker 1: like this, what's your gut tell you? I mean, you
Speaker 1: must have some idea in your mind of what the
Speaker 1: what the main reasons are. Yeah, it's it's a good
Speaker 1: question by you, and I think that, Um, you know
Speaker 1: you're you're when you care as much as as we do,
Speaker 1: and you know that and you put a lot of
Speaker 1: time and energy into this. The word frustration can certainly
Speaker 1: pop in, But then you also got to be mental
Speaker 1: and strong, right. You got to be able to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: there's a reason behind all this. And as much as
Speaker 1: that stinks to hear that there, there's there's gotta be
Speaker 1: a reason somewhere. And for us to be five and five, um,
Speaker 1: and and have these six games ahead of us, we
Speaker 1: got to make sure that we realize what we have
Speaker 1: in front of us and we still control everything. But
Speaker 1: there's gotta be you know, changes that happen, and it's
Speaker 1: gotta it's got to happen on game day and it's
Speaker 1: got to happen. What I mean by that is there's
Speaker 1: gotta be more touchdown score. Um. The way that our
Speaker 1: defense is playing right now, they're getting takeaways and turnovers yesterday,
Speaker 1: which was great. That was a huge INSTIs for us
Speaker 1: our special teams put together a wonderful day and so
Speaker 1: we're we're missing that offensive element. And again, it's not
Speaker 1: it's not about even scoring thirty points or forty points.
Speaker 1: It's just about being more efficient in the red zone
Speaker 1: and more efficient on third down. And you know, it's
Speaker 1: all of us together, it's coaches and as players. You
Speaker 1: updated the status sense and injured players, but I think
Speaker 1: a lot of folks would like to know what the
Speaker 1: status of Nick Foles is after being driven into the
Speaker 1: ground last night in that fourth quarter you mentioned this morning,
Speaker 1: you don't see I hour as a possibility, So that's good.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna kind of have wait and see situation
Speaker 1: with him. And what would you call the injury? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so it's it's kind of that hip glued
Speaker 1: area where he landed on it really hard, and I
Speaker 1: think the initial concern at least mind was just listening
Speaker 1: to it down there on the field, and afterwards was
Speaker 1: making sure it wasn't anything significant. You know, where something
Speaker 1: pops out a joint or there's an issue with the
Speaker 1: hip or the lag and that's not the case. So
Speaker 1: in that hip glued area, just you know, being able
Speaker 1: to kind of kind of see where this thing goes
Speaker 1: the next couple of days end or a week and
Speaker 1: again with this by coming one it does. Things happen
Speaker 1: for a reason, and so we'll get him back on
Speaker 1: track hopefully and and keep a close by on that.
Speaker 1: And of course Mitch Trubisky obviously working through a shoulder injury.
Speaker 1: It wasn't considered to be a season ender at the
Speaker 1: time of it happening, and getting a second opinion, but
Speaker 1: is everything on the table at the quarterback position right
Speaker 1: now as well offensively, well, I think it is for
Speaker 1: for everybody, all all of us. It's we're at a
Speaker 1: point right now for between h two guys that are injured,
Speaker 1: we have to figure out, okay, with both their injuries,
Speaker 1: where are they, you know, And that's that's probably something
Speaker 1: you know that we're going to have to wait to
Speaker 1: see as this thing goes, what's best for us and um,
Speaker 1: you know, depending on Nick's injury, depending on Mitch's injury,
Speaker 1: where we're at and so that's going to be a
Speaker 1: little bit of a challenge. But we'll continue to work
Speaker 1: through that day by day. As you break down the
Speaker 1: tape and look at what they did on third down,
Speaker 1: to you and Matt Mike Zimmer has been one of
Speaker 1: the best third down steamers in the lead for a
Speaker 1: long time, long before it became Biking's head coach. It
Speaker 1: was challenging, obviously, and it's been challenging with all the
Speaker 1: different stunts and twists and things going to games up
Speaker 1: front for the offensive line. Some of it for good reason,
Speaker 1: because it's a bunch that has not worked together every
Speaker 1: single snap this season. Is that there in life some
Speaker 1: of the issues, I would say, yeah, that's some of it.
Speaker 1: And you know, in the last two years, we've we've
Speaker 1: been one of the best teams in the NFL against
Speaker 1: the Vikings on third down. They've always been really really
Speaker 1: good on third down. That's that's schematically what they do.
Speaker 1: And the last two years they've had a defense in
Speaker 1: a unit that's played a lot of snap together on
Speaker 1: for down, so it means even better. We've we've been,
Speaker 1: you know, in four games, really good against them on
Speaker 1: third down until yesterday, and yesterday just it was a
Speaker 1: game where we weren't. And it's it's been a common
Speaker 1: theme this year right now in that area. And so
Speaker 1: again for us as coaches on third down, being able
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're putting our players depending on
Speaker 1: their strengths and weaknesses. What are we doing to help
Speaker 1: them out or what are we doing to her them?
Speaker 1: And so that's our job here bye week as well
Speaker 1: as to focus on that. I mean trigged by Eddie Jackson.
Speaker 1: Eddie Jackson, Um, I didn't hear his news conference after
Speaker 1: the game. I just saw some quotes, but essentially saying
Speaker 1: the leaders have to step up here and help the
Speaker 1: rest of the squad. You've indicated that you're going to
Speaker 1: meet with players here, what they have to say, what
Speaker 1: you typically do, How important is that and what do
Speaker 1: you want to hear well? So, first of all, I'll
Speaker 1: make this clear. I think that um, you know, when
Speaker 1: I made that comment yesterday and regards and talking to players,
Speaker 1: a lot of that is more it's more schematic, and
Speaker 1: it's more Okay, how can we help you or what
Speaker 1: are we doing that we're not doing enough of? Uh?
Speaker 1: And a lot of that was was geared towards the offense. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, there's no type of players meeting or anything
Speaker 1: like that or our call we've had. We do that
Speaker 1: every week. We we we work on that every week
Speaker 1: with our culture and so that I have zero issue there.
Speaker 1: But with Eddie and with what he's saying, I love that.
Speaker 1: I love the fact that he is a leader and
Speaker 1: this is now, you know, become his team with a
Speaker 1: lot of these other leaders on the team. And I
Speaker 1: just appreciate when leaders speak up because I think it's
Speaker 1: times ten of what coaches can say. I really value
Speaker 1: what they say, and I appreciated that. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: he focused in on the word accountability. And when you
Speaker 1: hear a player talk about accountability and it's not coming
Speaker 1: from a coach, it means more. And that's just kind
Speaker 1: of where that went last night. Do you want to
Speaker 1: hear from other guys like Eddie about that, I mean,
Speaker 1: making those kind of statements. Obviously, they can't step out
Speaker 1: of their own comfort zone. You know, a guy like
Speaker 1: Kelo Mack talks more on the field, but he's not
Speaker 1: a very vocal guy, I would imagine overall, but a
Speaker 1: guy who stands up like a team Hicks or other
Speaker 1: players like that. And on the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: there's got to be a few guys like Allen Robinson,
Speaker 1: of course. Yeah, And that's the thing as well as
Speaker 1: sometimes when that happens or when you have a player
Speaker 1: that says that at the end of the game, it
Speaker 1: kind of just talks about where we're at. These guys.
Speaker 1: These guys are grown men on this team, and so
Speaker 1: offensively when they hear that, they don't need to keep
Speaker 1: hearing it. They understand where they're at and they know that, Okay,
Speaker 1: one of our leaders is saying this, it's a little
Speaker 1: bit of a challenge, and they're going to accept that.
Speaker 1: We got guys that really want to do what's best
Speaker 1: for the team. They're not me guys, they're we guys,
Speaker 1: and so there you know that happens. You're right, there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of our other guys that are a
Speaker 1: lot of you know, once they hear Eddie say something,
Speaker 1: it kind of just stays at that. Cousin's gonna throw
Speaker 1: left side, daided through his hands and picked up pike.
Speaker 1: Cleil Mack down the right sideline map steps out of bounce.
Speaker 1: He just took it out of his hands and the
Speaker 1: Bears with a huge stop. Cleil mac with a swipe
Speaker 1: from Adam Feeling on a rare drop in a coverage
Speaker 1: man thirty three yards on the return. Welcome Back to
Speaker 1: the Bears Coaching Show brought to you by Whippley, CPAs
Speaker 1: and consultants. I think he was ticked off. He didn't
Speaker 1: take it to the house. He just ran out of
Speaker 1: real estate, tiptoeing down the sideline right in front of you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he did. It was right in front of me. I
Speaker 1: had a great angle and I can see that ball
Speaker 1: just kind of fall right in his chest and he's like, oh,
Speaker 1: here it is. You know, I got it. Let's go
Speaker 1: play football now, And that's what he and just have
Speaker 1: to step out of bounds. But you know, just knowing
Speaker 1: Khalil and how he works, he definitely would have wanted
Speaker 1: to try to score there. But well, it was nice
Speaker 1: to see that if he's not rushing the quarterback and
Speaker 1: they're going to drop him to be able to get
Speaker 1: an interception as a win win. Real Quan Smith, it's
Speaker 1: been a rising story, calling him rising real quand these days,
Speaker 1: but a fourteen tackle, three tackle for loss, one sack
Speaker 1: outing last night, tweeted this morning, every pain gives a lesson,
Speaker 1: and every lesson changes a person. He's been doing these
Speaker 1: inspirational things on his Instagram and Twitter throughout the course
Speaker 1: of the season, but right now number one with fifteen tackles,
Speaker 1: for loss and number tied for first in total tackles
Speaker 1: in the NFL right now on a defense that continues
Speaker 1: to make some big plays. So where would you put
Speaker 1: him And what does that statement mean to you when
Speaker 1: you hear that, Well, I understand and know that you
Speaker 1: know this guy, what a growth he's had, you know,
Speaker 1: in the last couple of years. And for him to
Speaker 1: be able to have the significance of really rise into
Speaker 1: the occasion and take being a team leader and understanding
Speaker 1: what it takes to be able to stop these these
Speaker 1: run games that we're seeing, he's making these tackles for
Speaker 1: losses that are putting them in second and long, etc.
Speaker 1: And that's um, you know, he's leading by example and
Speaker 1: to see his growth and for him to be at
Speaker 1: the top of the league like this right now, it
Speaker 1: doesn't surprise me. And I'm really proud of him. And
Speaker 1: you know, he does not change from week to week,
Speaker 1: day to day, practice to practice. He's the same guy
Speaker 1: and he's becoming a big time player. Do you like
Speaker 1: the fact that Chuck Logano is unleashing him a little
Speaker 1: bit in the blitz area? Yeah, yeah, we need to
Speaker 1: have that. And you know, the more we have that
Speaker 1: the better off we are because he'll be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, use his speed and his angles and leverage
Speaker 1: to be able to beat some of these offensive linemen.
Speaker 1: And then the good thing that he does is he
Speaker 1: makes a lot of tackles, uh, in the in the backfield,
Speaker 1: whether it's a quarterback, whether it's a running back, he's
Speaker 1: wrapping up And these are game changers now. You know,
Speaker 1: if it's a screen, they try to make a screen,
Speaker 1: they got alignment out there getting ready to block him.
Speaker 1: He lays alignment, tackles the back for a four year
Speaker 1: loss Like those are big time plays and he's consistently
Speaker 1: making those plays. Kim Hicks went out with a hamstring
Speaker 1: last night. What do you think the status is shorter
Speaker 1: long term? Yeah, I don't know yet. I think that
Speaker 1: it's a right now for him. Um, it's going to
Speaker 1: be one of those day to day things as we
Speaker 1: work through this, just to kind of see. I know
Speaker 1: he was bummed when he came out. You know, he
Speaker 1: felt like he knew he did it right away. Um,
Speaker 1: And that's any way you look at it, that's a
Speaker 1: that's a huge loss for us. So hopefully Andre and
Speaker 1: his guys can and his trainers can get him back
Speaker 1: asap because he's a big part of that defense. It
Speaker 1: makes sense when you say this, But chasing the lead
Speaker 1: all the time, how do you see it impacting the
Speaker 1: defense mentally? I know it does affect how they rush
Speaker 1: the pass or the ability to or to take the
Speaker 1: ball away. They're overcoming that and keeping teams out of
Speaker 1: the end zone. But mentally, how do you feel that's
Speaker 1: affecting them if at all? Well, yeah, it can. It
Speaker 1: can certainly get you, um, if it continues to happen
Speaker 1: over and over and over. But that's probably, Jeff, a
Speaker 1: really good point by you, and the fact that, um,
Speaker 1: that's something that most people think they can just go
Speaker 1: out and just turn it on and be okay. But
Speaker 1: there is the mental side of it, and there can
Speaker 1: be times when there's a sudden change. I mean they
Speaker 1: just they just got off the off the field and
Speaker 1: there's a punt return and we muff it and they
Speaker 1: get the ball and now they got to run back
Speaker 1: out there on the field. I know by the way,
Speaker 1: they're going to get it three and out. You know.
Speaker 1: So those are some some little parts of this game
Speaker 1: that a lot of people can miss out on, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, they're doing that right now, and that's why
Speaker 1: again the last the last three games, they've really played really,
Speaker 1: really well as a unit, and unfortunately losing these games
Speaker 1: is what makes it worse, right because you know, when
Speaker 1: you have that side of the ball that's really coming along,
Speaker 1: and then yesterday you're also going to get takeaways as well,
Speaker 1: which is what we've been harpening on. We're getting everything
Speaker 1: we're asking them to do, and that's that's where you know,
Speaker 1: that third phase of offense has to be able to
Speaker 1: step up. At one point. I believe in the first
Speaker 1: half fourteen different players had to tackle. And that will
Speaker 1: is not just because of Dalvin Cook and getting as
Speaker 1: Chuck mcgonnah likes to say, or as football coaches like say,
Speaker 1: as many hats to the ball as possible. It was
Speaker 1: on everybody and they were doing it to every Viking player.
Speaker 1: U is the defense right now feeling in a zone
Speaker 1: a little bit in that regard? Yeah, you know, you
Speaker 1: know what I think, what they're doing right now, that's uh,
Speaker 1: that's really that I like the most is they're playing
Speaker 1: with a lot of energy. You know, when you play
Speaker 1: with energy, you see the guys out there in the
Speaker 1: TV timeouts and they're dancing right, they're they're just they're
Speaker 1: out there playing together as a team. There's a fun
Speaker 1: element to it, there's a confidence to it, there's a
Speaker 1: little bit of a swag to it. And then good
Speaker 1: things happen when you when you play with confidence. So
Speaker 1: that's the part that I like, and I think Das
Speaker 1: kind of goes back to the message that Eddie was
Speaker 1: trying to get across to the rest of the guys
Speaker 1: on the team is um, you know, it's okay to
Speaker 1: have that, and it's okay to go play loose. It's
Speaker 1: okay to have some fun, it's okay to have a voice,
Speaker 1: it's okay to you know, do all that. And again
Speaker 1: they're doing that on defense and you're seeing positive results
Speaker 1: that come from it. Welcome back to the Bears Coaching
Speaker 1: Show with Bears head coach Matt Nagge. The Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: and Proven It are supporting Chicago's small businesses. Small World
Speaker 1: Byron Grilled is this week's Small Business All Pro. Visit
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears dot com slash Small Business All Pros to
Speaker 1: learn more. Matt, the Special Team's play gave you feel
Speaker 1: position and gave you points coming out of the locker
Speaker 1: room at halftime. Cordarell Patterson has been wanting this for
Speaker 1: a while now. He's now the NFL co leader all
Speaker 1: time record for eight touchdowns in the kick return game
Speaker 1: and still plenty of left in his career to become
Speaker 1: the all time leader. At some point, did you think
Speaker 1: right there, okay, this is exactly the spark to light
Speaker 1: the fire for this football team. Yeah, I did. I
Speaker 1: thought that that was a just that, you know, especially
Speaker 1: with the struggles we've had coming out in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: you could feel the sideline, the energy on the sideline
Speaker 1: really jump up, and to be up by a touchdown
Speaker 1: and then let the defense go out and do their thing.
Speaker 1: That that's what I thought was was the coolest part
Speaker 1: of that. Again, CPS, but he's been waiting for that opportunity.
Speaker 1: I know, Coach Paber has been coached in and the
Speaker 1: rest of our guys that are out there blocking, and
Speaker 1: so to get that was good. We just gotta, you know,
Speaker 1: be able to take advantage of some of the fuel
Speaker 1: position that he gave us as well. I talked about
Speaker 1: this last night. No matter when he touches the ball
Speaker 1: or what he does, and he did a lot again
Speaker 1: last night. Obviously, with the touches, the wildcat hunt, return coverage,
Speaker 1: the kickoff return. He does everything with a reckless, abandoned
Speaker 1: He hits the whole heart. He hits and runs as
Speaker 1: hard and physical as possible. He's not unique in that
Speaker 1: regard of the NFL. Other players like that, but not
Speaker 1: everybody is. How special is that quality about him right now? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a toughness and he knows that. And so when
Speaker 1: you have the size and speed that he has any
Speaker 1: experience in this game, um, there's not a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff to hold you back. So he's a He's a
Speaker 1: really good football player. I mean, he had that big
Speaker 1: catch spreading him out there on third and third and
Speaker 1: six down in the red zone, and it made it
Speaker 1: look very natural with the hands catch. So he's a
Speaker 1: weapon for us, and we just want to make sure,
Speaker 1: you know, we use them the right way. With David
Speaker 1: Montgomer being out, he was going to get some more
Speaker 1: opportunities at the running back position. There's times he's running
Speaker 1: downfield as a gunner. So there's a lot of things
Speaker 1: that he's doing and I bet if you had a
Speaker 1: little tracker on him to see the amount of runs
Speaker 1: and where he was yesterday on that football field, it
Speaker 1: was certainly more than anybody in that game. So I
Speaker 1: give him credit. And you know, and he's also a
Speaker 1: team player, you know, he's he's just the guy that
Speaker 1: wants to do whatever he can to play hard and
Speaker 1: try to do what he can to help the team win.
Speaker 1: You got a couple of guys their feet wet in
Speaker 1: the run game. Could this lead to more opportunity for
Speaker 1: the mar Miller our Davis Pierce? I know David's a
Speaker 1: short term situation. He'll be back, But does that give
Speaker 1: you some hope of some diversity back there? Yeah, it does.
Speaker 1: And those guys were excited for these opportunities. And we
Speaker 1: didn't know how many carries each one of those guys
Speaker 1: would get. And there's different reasons they're up there, just
Speaker 1: for different parts of the game, but they all handled
Speaker 1: it really well. And again, when you lose a player
Speaker 1: like David, it's never are going to help you. But
Speaker 1: that's a part of the game. And I thought those
Speaker 1: guys did a good job stepping up and being a
Speaker 1: good unit. And I thought Charles London did a good
Speaker 1: job of getting those guys ready. And so now we
Speaker 1: just got to focus on trying to get David back
Speaker 1: a sap. If you would look in the broad scope
Speaker 1: of ten games, and you'll talk about this with your
Speaker 1: team and coaches, would you say, in addition to just
Speaker 1: shooting yourself on the foot over the course of the
Speaker 1: season at key moments, the missed opportunities for big plays
Speaker 1: is really the headline for the current situation you're in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think obviously specifically you're talking about offense there, you know,
Speaker 1: even all that said in that game yesterday, all that
Speaker 1: said on fourth down, we had an opportunity to catch
Speaker 1: the ball and either score or get it within the
Speaker 1: five yard line and kick an extra point, win the game,
Speaker 1: all that said, and so that's the part that you realize, Okay,
Speaker 1: where is this season going right now? Well, you're five
Speaker 1: you were five and one, you're currently five and five
Speaker 1: with six games to go. So and oh by the way,
Speaker 1: four of those six are going to be division opponents
Speaker 1: that you play. So that's a good thing. But we
Speaker 1: can't worry about anything other than what happens after this
Speaker 1: buy And again we've been through this. It's not easy,
Speaker 1: it's not fun. When you do get that one win,
Speaker 1: it gives you a little momentum. It's it's it's getting
Speaker 1: that one win and we're going to be doing it.
Speaker 1: The next opponent is going to be one of the
Speaker 1: best teams in the NFL with pretty pretty good quarterback.
Speaker 1: So there's different ways that we're being challenged, whether it's
Speaker 1: a run game, whether it's a quarterback, whether it's a defense,
Speaker 1: and we got to do whatever we need to do
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to win. We got to
Speaker 1: do it. Lastly, you know, that fourth and ninth pass
Speaker 1: from Poles de Millier to me as a metaphor because
Speaker 1: the games for the most part have been close, and
Speaker 1: it's a fingertip and that must feel more aggravating and
Speaker 1: frustrating because those plays have been there at times this
Speaker 1: season and that could have changed the whole situation with
Speaker 1: two or four to go. Sure, absolutely, and that's that's
Speaker 1: kind of what we're talking about, like you said, a
Speaker 1: metaphor for where we're at. Um. You know, it takes
Speaker 1: one of those plays to click, especially early on in
Speaker 1: the game, and if you have an opportunity to make
Speaker 1: a big play, we make the big play. And that's
Speaker 1: kind of the spark that we're looking for right now
Speaker 1: and that's what we're searching for, and that's what we're doing.
Speaker 1: Everything we tend on our end is to make sure
Speaker 1: that we focus in on that and we continue to
Speaker 1: stay positive. As hard as that can be. Sometimes we
Speaker 1: gotta stay positive. We have to. You have another choice,
Speaker 1: and that's what we're gonna do. All right, Matt, thank
Speaker 1: you so much. Good luck with the work week, on
Speaker 1: the buy and on the time you'll get off a
Speaker 1: little bit to spend with family. We'll talk you next week,
Speaker 1: all right, Jeff, take care. That's Bears head coach Matt
Speaker 1: Naggi coming up next. We'll join by Chris Tabor, the
Speaker 1: Bears Special Teams Coordinator. This is the Bears Coaches Show,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Whippley Cepas and Consultants, a prod
Speaker 1: partner at the Chicago Bears. Learn more at Whippley dot com.
Speaker 1: Cordarrell Patterson, we'll have an opportunity about five yards. He
Speaker 1: comes out on the right, hash angles to the ten
Speaker 1: to the fifteen of the twenty, gets a pluck twenty
Speaker 1: five thirty thirty ft forty gets by Bailey. There goes
Speaker 1: to pony down the sideline ten five tensode touchdown, touchdown,
Speaker 1: Bears had a record time touchdown by Cardarrell Patterson ties
Speaker 1: the NFL record with his eighth kit return touchdown. Josh
Speaker 1: Cribb is one of those guys that our guest right here,
Speaker 1: Chris Tabor knows very well. As we get you set
Speaker 1: for the second part of the Bears Coaches Show, it's
Speaker 1: brought to you by Whippley CPA's end consultants with Chris Tabor,
Speaker 1: the Bear Special Team's coordinator and calling out Bears fan
Speaker 1: Jad's five to twelve to join the Chicago Bears Kids
Speaker 1: Club brought to you by Jewelasco. For exclusive content and sweepstakes,
Speaker 1: visit Chicago Bears dot com slash Kids Club. Well, the
Speaker 1: pony did it. He got there. He's been talking about
Speaker 1: it for almost two years now. No, I was really
Speaker 1: happy for him. You know, he's such a he works
Speaker 1: so hard at it and he's obviously been really good
Speaker 1: at it for a really long time. But finally he's
Speaker 1: had some big ones this year. But finally to be
Speaker 1: able to to hold onto our blocks a little bit
Speaker 1: longer and spring him through that, that was big, especially
Speaker 1: you know, open up the second half like that. That's
Speaker 1: that gets you going. Yeah, that was a big box
Speaker 1: needed for the football team, no question about it. To
Speaker 1: break down the return overall, who gets some credit on
Speaker 1: the blocking front, because sometimes those guys don't get the glory.
Speaker 1: Oh boy, they all do. I mean from you know,
Speaker 1: start off with a nice double team with Iggy and
Speaker 1: and Ridley over there on the right hand side, and
Speaker 1: then a lot of guys just getting their single blocks,
Speaker 1: which is really really hard, Bush and DHC. I mean,
Speaker 1: the list could go on and on. And then the
Speaker 1: back end guys eighty six Demetrius, he did. He did
Speaker 1: a great job of kicking out the two and and
Speaker 1: really the thing that he did, he's just he stuck
Speaker 1: with his block for so long and really drove his
Speaker 1: guy for a really long time as opposed to just
Speaker 1: having a good block and then the guy kind of
Speaker 1: falls off and makes the play down the field. He's
Speaker 1: just stuck with him the whole way. And then obviously
Speaker 1: the pony, I mean, he just run so strong and
Speaker 1: if you can just get him started and get him
Speaker 1: going downhill, you give yourself a chance. Well, he's put
Speaker 1: up now four one hundred plus yard return games this year,
Speaker 1: I think it's seven and now in two years, which
Speaker 1: is rare air. Indeed, he's two hundred yards ahead of
Speaker 1: the next closest pursuer in the NFL and the kick
Speaker 1: return game. Uh, he's just flat out the best right
Speaker 1: now in this current era of football. He is, I mean,
Speaker 1: and you know he works at it. He does, and
Speaker 1: he's so big and strong and has has speed for
Speaker 1: for that size of a man, not a lot of
Speaker 1: people have. And we're fortunate that he's here and for
Speaker 1: him to be able to be one of the great returns. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this franchise has always had great returns and it's great
Speaker 1: to put him right in there with those guys. So
Speaker 1: it's that means a lot to our unit, and our
Speaker 1: unit takes pride in that. And he's still you know,
Speaker 1: we got a lot of work to do. Well. You're
Speaker 1: certainly aware of all these returners in NFL history. So
Speaker 1: Josh Cribbs, Leon Washington and are the two guys that
Speaker 1: he's uh there with with eight and given the opportunities
Speaker 1: that will come, I think he has a very good
Speaker 1: chance of becoming the all time leader with a ninth
Speaker 1: at some point in his career. How do these three
Speaker 1: guys compare, I mean, they're all kind of different. He's
Speaker 1: the biggest one, right, He's the biggest one. When I
Speaker 1: was in Cleveland, I had I had Cribsy and their
Speaker 1: running style is very the same though. They they're both
Speaker 1: downhill players that could run strong, breakthrough tackles, and we're
Speaker 1: fearless and that and really, you know, I've I'm describing
Speaker 1: great return those two guys as great returns. But that's
Speaker 1: that's the description. If you want a really good kick return,
Speaker 1: there's your description. And uh, you know in Leon Washington,
Speaker 1: I remember playing against Leon Washington. You know, he was
Speaker 1: a smaller guy, but but very stout. He was a
Speaker 1: running back and he could break tackles and those things.
Speaker 1: And it's you know, we played Detroit, Leon on his
Speaker 1: he's coaching for the Lions, and it was pretty neat
Speaker 1: and pregame, I was talking to Leon and he came
Speaker 1: up to the pony and told him. He said, he goes, Hey,
Speaker 1: really enjoy watching you change the game. And I thought
Speaker 1: that was from one grade to a player that is great. Also,
Speaker 1: I mean, I thought that was pretty cool. And I
Speaker 1: just kind of stood back and just kind of took
Speaker 1: it into his knee. The Chicago Bears Network presents Inside
Speaker 1: the Bears brought to you by Horizon, Anthony Adams and
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Speaker 1: Here with Chris Tabor, the Bear Special Teams coordinator, This
Speaker 1: is the Bears Coaches Show, brought to you by Whippley
Speaker 1: CPAs and Consultants. Picking up the conversation on the attitude
Speaker 1: and the approach of Cordarrell Patterson, who did just about
Speaker 1: everything last night that you possibly could that put the
Speaker 1: GPS on him. I'm sure the mileage was way up there,
Speaker 1: and he still was fresh and still running with a reckless,
Speaker 1: abandoned and downhill with a fury run on the ball,
Speaker 1: wildcat covering punts, kicker off or turn touchdown, which takes
Speaker 1: some emotion and I'm sure adrenaline that that could whoop
Speaker 1: you out a little bit, right, No, no question. But
Speaker 1: you know what's what's so unique about this player, He's
Speaker 1: just a good football player. The things that you just
Speaker 1: describe right there, whether he's he's playing offense or covering
Speaker 1: kicks or returning kicks. Me does everything at a very
Speaker 1: high level. And he's a guy that when he touches
Speaker 1: the ball, he impacts the game. And I think when
Speaker 1: when you say that, obviously that's that's a good football player.
Speaker 1: And uh, I say, he's just so excited that that
Speaker 1: he's on our team because we know that when we
Speaker 1: faced him a few years ago, it didn't go well
Speaker 1: for us, you know, So I like seeing him with
Speaker 1: the sea on the helmet. Yeah, and a full circle
Speaker 1: given that he was drafted by the Vikings, know as
Speaker 1: many of those players has respect for them, did it
Speaker 1: in a Viking uniform at Soldier Field as well. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of a neat story and still growing chapters.
Speaker 1: I hope he's going to be here for a long
Speaker 1: time because I think he's a guy who puts his
Speaker 1: hand up. I'll do anything you want. Just tell me
Speaker 1: what to do and I'll go and do it. He's
Speaker 1: got he's got a great attitude. Chris Tabor, our guest
Speaker 1: here on the Bears Coaches Show, let's talk about the
Speaker 1: punt return game. Obviously, Dwayne Harris suffered an injury. It
Speaker 1: wasn't on the muff I don't know, to be honest
Speaker 1: with you, I think it maybe possibly could have occurred there,
Speaker 1: but it happened right before we really kind of he
Speaker 1: did something on the sideline right before we went out
Speaker 1: and and he wasn't able to go, So we just
Speaker 1: had to make a quick sudden change substitution right there
Speaker 1: on the fly. And you know, credit to Anthony Miller
Speaker 1: coming in. I mean, he's a he's a good football player.
Speaker 1: He's a tough kid, and coming in and field and
Speaker 1: the ponds that it wasn't super windy, but there was
Speaker 1: some wind down there, and just to be able to
Speaker 1: do that and then give us production and set up
Speaker 1: field position, it's really proud of him, especially on the
Speaker 1: last one the thirty two yard or where he got
Speaker 1: around the corner just to set us up there to
Speaker 1: give us a chance. And you know, it's uh, it's
Speaker 1: it's good that we had an option like that to
Speaker 1: go to. I'll tell you he impressed me. The footwork
Speaker 1: and a phone booth. Basically he was he was making
Speaker 1: making some really really good cuts in the open field,
Speaker 1: no expect you know, on that first one, uh, he
Speaker 1: took he was aggressive with it, took a chance the
Speaker 1: gunner was right there and made a miss and he
Speaker 1: makes two sudden movements kind of to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: TC style to Cohen, you know, Tariq style there, Uh
Speaker 1: sudden movements and made guys miss and then got the
Speaker 1: ball around on the outside for I don't know if
Speaker 1: it was maybe I think it might have been ten yards,
Speaker 1: but it was a it was a well learned uh
Speaker 1: first down right there that he gave us. It's always
Speaker 1: a risky thing and the punt return game, certainly, even
Speaker 1: in Dwayne Harris's situation and coming down with a triceps injury. UH,
Speaker 1: to put a starter player out there, would it be?
Speaker 1: Then you guys are gonna think about long and hard
Speaker 1: here during the bye week about that position. Or do
Speaker 1: you prefer as a special teams coordinator to have more
Speaker 1: of a return specialist. I think that's something that you
Speaker 1: you know, those decisions are based upon the makeup of
Speaker 1: your team and where you're at with your team, and
Speaker 1: I think you know it's a this is a good
Speaker 1: time for us going into the bye you know, we
Speaker 1: need we need to heal up a little bit and
Speaker 1: then we can kind of see where where those those
Speaker 1: things take us. By the way, did you do you
Speaker 1: name your plays for a kick and punt return, especially
Speaker 1: kickoff return like offensive coaches do. Was there a name
Speaker 1: for that kick return or is it simply a return left,
Speaker 1: return right or turn middle? No? We we you know,
Speaker 1: we give a direction in the blocking scheme is involved
Speaker 1: with it all. It's not as worthy as what offensive
Speaker 1: plays are, but it does. It signifies what we're doing,
Speaker 1: and then there's rules based off of that, you know.
Speaker 1: But no, no, no fancy names, no funny names. No, no,
Speaker 1: we don't know. It's private. Yeah, it's it's kind of blog.
Speaker 1: I don't think. I only maybe really excited about it.
Speaker 1: Nothing like, hey it's the Pony Express, right, No, huh yeah,
Speaker 1: all right. Cairo Santosh is on a roll period. He's
Speaker 1: really proven himself right now. He's doing a nice job.
Speaker 1: Really proud of him stepping in and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he's performing at a high level. And uh, that's that's
Speaker 1: been That's been very comforting because you know, when we
Speaker 1: go out and we need to get our points, he's
Speaker 1: given he's given us points and he's given us a
Speaker 1: production there, so hopefully we can can keep that going.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Bears. Coaching show with Bears Special
Speaker 1: teams coordinator Chris Tabor were brought to you by a
Speaker 1: Whippley CPA's in consultants. As you hit the bye week
Speaker 1: and yourself scouting, there's so much discussion about it offensively
Speaker 1: and defensively. Uh, do you do the same thing and
Speaker 1: what are some things that you may have already highlighted
Speaker 1: that you'd like to see some more to more of
Speaker 1: an emphasis that you'll need to work with your guys on. Well,
Speaker 1: I think you know, we'll we'll do a deep dive
Speaker 1: into where we're at where we need to improve. I
Speaker 1: think I know that's kind of coach speak, but I'll
Speaker 1: really get going into and I and I try to
Speaker 1: do it every few weeks of just studying our own
Speaker 1: players and trying to view them as if I was
Speaker 1: the opponent and giving them some tips so that let
Speaker 1: them know how they're viewed so that they can make
Speaker 1: adjustments in their game. And then we can if there's
Speaker 1: some tendencies we need to break those things. But the
Speaker 1: weather is going to be changing, so you know, we
Speaker 1: need to get better in our in our cover game.
Speaker 1: And uh, that's that's an area of emphasis that we
Speaker 1: want to hit. You know, they only they had one
Speaker 1: return last night for zero yards and Bush made a
Speaker 1: great play. But we're gonna, you know, as we continue
Speaker 1: here through these next games, there's there's gonna be some
Speaker 1: guys that are going to give us problems. So we
Speaker 1: got we gotta be sounding our fundamentals right now. Twenty
Speaker 1: ninth and parintment return average nineteenth and kickoff return average
Speaker 1: in coverage. So those are numbers that you're not comfortable
Speaker 1: with right now. Are any players that people you know
Speaker 1: only focus really fans look at the gunners. There's so many,
Speaker 1: so many other components special teams, right down to protecting
Speaker 1: a field goal, kick or snap of the football. Any
Speaker 1: guys that you like to say that have risen over
Speaker 1: the course of this first ten games of the year
Speaker 1: that maybe people haven't noticed. I know, Joel Ye Booney
Speaker 1: Way is your leading tackler on special teams for example. No,
Speaker 1: the guys have been doing a nice job, you know.
Speaker 1: And I don't never like to single out guys because
Speaker 1: then I always feel like I missed somebody. But because
Speaker 1: I am proud of him and I think that I
Speaker 1: think that we're growing, We're still not where I want
Speaker 1: us to be. But guys like DHC DeAndre Houston Carson,
Speaker 1: I mean he's a player, uh that you know, he's
Speaker 1: our personal protector in pun I mean he's he's making
Speaker 1: calls and setting everybody up for to be successful. And
Speaker 1: you know the answer your question. Fans don't see that part.
Speaker 1: He's you know, so he's a as I say, he's
Speaker 1: the he's the straw that stirs our drink. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, not everyone sees that, but I am. I'm
Speaker 1: proud of all our guys. They're they're you know, we
Speaker 1: just got to keep getting better, you know, because we
Speaker 1: have we still have a long ways to go. No
Speaker 1: penalties yesterday, I think only one for the whole game
Speaker 1: for the whole team, so, but none on special teams
Speaker 1: that had cropped up a couple of times here during
Speaker 1: the course of the season. So is that area that
Speaker 1: you're more optimistic about to clean that up? No, I
Speaker 1: think so. I think we had penalties early in the
Speaker 1: year and we've addressed that. And I know that, you know,
Speaker 1: if you if people were looking at statistics, you'd say
Speaker 1: that you're high and I'd always you know, high in
Speaker 1: the you know, penalties, But I always say, you know,
Speaker 1: stats are just ideas about numbers. I think we've had
Speaker 1: one penalty in the last four games on special teams,
Speaker 1: so we're proud of that. That's that's where we need
Speaker 1: to be. But at the same time, we've got to
Speaker 1: be able to play aggressive. It's it's the self inflicted
Speaker 1: penalties that we cannot live with. We're gonna let you
Speaker 1: go appreciate it. Good luck in your preparation of the course. Byway,
Speaker 1: hope you get some time allway as well. All right,
Speaker 1: thank you. It's a wrap on tonight's Bears coach a show.
Speaker 1: Want to thank our producers Jordan trud Up, Dan Burrelly
Speaker 1: Andy Gersher and Lisa Fielding on the board. Most of
Speaker 1: all to you for listening Bears at the Bye Packers
Speaker 1: away on November twenty ninth on Sunday Night Football for
Speaker 1: Bears head coach Matt Naggie and special teams coordinator Chris Taber.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniak, wishing you a pleasant, good evening. This
Speaker 1: is News Radio seven eighty and one oh five point
Speaker 1: nine FM WBBM. Good night, everybody,