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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access, your all
Speaker 1: access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. All Right, welcome to September, everybody,
Speaker 1: ten days from the season opener at Soldier Field against
Speaker 1: the San Francisco forty nine ers on noon kickoff in
Speaker 1: a pleasant, good evening to everyone, back with you here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: the score. I'm up at house, so we're brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy, my broadcast partner from news Radio
Speaker 1: one oh five nine. Chicago Bear Great Tom Thayre knustled
Speaker 1: away there and Joliet. Good to be back and good
Speaker 1: to be talking out opener Tom, because I'll tell you,
Speaker 1: when you're in the Thicket training camp, it seems like
Speaker 1: it's gonna last forever. And you know you're going through
Speaker 1: the preseason that wrap up against Cleveland. Still you're still
Speaker 1: still weighs away still got another week, but now the
Speaker 1: vision is there. You can see it. The roster has
Speaker 1: been put together for at least the time being keep
Speaker 1: anning pieces and now ready to go. Tommy. You know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I sat there, and I sit in front of the
Speaker 1: flip card, and you study the names on the sheet
Speaker 1: in front of us, for both the Cleveland Browns and
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, and you kind of get a pretty
Speaker 1: good line on them. Because we've been going to practice
Speaker 1: every day. Have you ever heard the term revolving to
Speaker 1: our roster? Yeah, because that's what we're in. And I
Speaker 1: remember my last year in the USFL, we had so
Speaker 1: many bodies coming in and out of practice on a
Speaker 1: daily basis. They actually came onto the field during stretching,
Speaker 1: cut a guy to bring another guy in. And now
Speaker 1: it's almost like we as excited as we were about
Speaker 1: what this team was able to accomplish, what the assistant
Speaker 1: coaches have provided Ryan Poles and mattieber Fleus, the excitement
Speaker 1: of what the future holds for these guys. You almost
Speaker 1: have to have that roster in front of you to
Speaker 1: start re memorizing the names, of the numbers, the positions
Speaker 1: of the guys that have come in. It's exciting. I
Speaker 1: still have the same confidence I did when I left Cleveland,
Speaker 1: but it's just there's a lot of new names that
Speaker 1: are going to be on the roster for the San
Speaker 1: Francisco game. All right, we haven't seen some of these
Speaker 1: guys yet in uniform, so we're gonna have to do
Speaker 1: our homework as well. A new addition today again undrafted
Speaker 1: rookie from not rookie, but from Minnesota. Was from the
Speaker 1: University of Iowa, Amir Marsett Smith. He had one hundred
Speaker 1: and three had a touchdown against the Bears last season.
Speaker 1: Do you remember him? He twice had good games against
Speaker 1: the Bears last year. Overall production limited in terms of
Speaker 1: his targets and so forth. But another young player. And
Speaker 1: if you look at the ages of the guys Ryan
Speaker 1: Poles brought in and the undrest or in the claim
Speaker 1: market and the waiver market, they're all in that sweet spot,
Speaker 1: little bit of experience, but young. Twenty five, twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: twenty three years old. This team right now, average age
Speaker 1: on the roster is just over twenty five years old, right.
Speaker 1: You know, the NFL is a young man's game, and
Speaker 1: it's kind of just a level above college. And when
Speaker 1: you think of the names in the ages of some
Speaker 1: of these guys, there's gonna be a few guys that
Speaker 1: are always going to be the foundation of a team.
Speaker 1: You got your Cody Whitehairs and Robert Quinns and stuff
Speaker 1: that have been able to solidify NFL career. That is
Speaker 1: put them in a position that they're the old not
Speaker 1: the oldest guys on the team, the most experienced guys
Speaker 1: on the team. But this is something that we all
Speaker 1: have to get used to with the Collective Bargaining Agreement,
Speaker 1: the way teams and contracts are put together. So that
Speaker 1: leads us to a couple of days ago, Matt Hubert
Speaker 1: Fluce really expounded on this young young team, this idea
Speaker 1: that it's okay and almost needing to play young players.
Speaker 1: You can understand a coach that's like that. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a little bit gunshy, wants to play with the
Speaker 1: more experienced guy because he's know what he's doing and
Speaker 1: all that. But to me, if you've got the right guy,
Speaker 1: you know, and you have the right guys in there
Speaker 1: and they're young, you have to play them. You have
Speaker 1: to because the experience they get in that first season
Speaker 1: is playing. It's invaluable. You know, they're gonna get learned
Speaker 1: so much ball by being out there and playing rather
Speaker 1: than sitting on the sideline. And if they're good enough
Speaker 1: athletically and they're good enough players, you just got to
Speaker 1: put them out there and they'll they'll figure it out eventually,
Speaker 1: you know. And then you guys got to coach them
Speaker 1: up and coach them through the ups and downs of it,
Speaker 1: and you know, and keep their confidence up. But I
Speaker 1: believe in that because what you do is you build
Speaker 1: a faster, younger football team when you do that, and
Speaker 1: hopefully the guys that are less injury prone, potentially you
Speaker 1: know they're gonna be counted on the availability factor. So
Speaker 1: this sparked the conversation I had with you the other day,
Speaker 1: because you've always intrigued me with the notion that if
Speaker 1: you didn't think about it, you'd never know it and
Speaker 1: you'd have to be back there and involved with it.
Speaker 1: But the Bears, when you guys won the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: with the youngest team in the NFL that year, So
Speaker 1: I went back and looked at it. Twenty seven up
Speaker 1: lost something like that, whatever the averages are, So then
Speaker 1: they went deeper and I shared with you. The Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins had the youngest Super Bowl team ever at just
Speaker 1: over twenty six years of age in nineteen seventy one.
Speaker 1: They didn't win that Super Bowl, but they went unbeaten
Speaker 1: and won it in seventy two. The Seattle Seahawks just
Speaker 1: a few years ago, building the way the Bears are
Speaker 1: building with young, fast, physical players and taking their time
Speaker 1: to build it the right way, built a winning culture
Speaker 1: and then went to the Super Bowl as a young
Speaker 1: team lost at twenty six something average age, then the
Speaker 1: next year won the Super Bowl. You go down the
Speaker 1: list and you got the old Pittsburgh Steelers teams, the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills teams that repeatedly went to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: There are some thirty plus teams. As you pointed out
Speaker 1: George Allen over the Hill Gang. They wanted those guys,
Speaker 1: and they didn't care about draft picks. They wanted the
Speaker 1: older guys. There have been plenty of teams that won
Speaker 1: that way as well, but it's more of the twenty eight,
Speaker 1: twenty seven, twenty six average age football teams that eventually
Speaker 1: build into that time. Well, when you listen to what
Speaker 1: Matt Matt Eberl says, he says, it's the right guy, Jeff.
Speaker 1: And so when you go look at those young rosters,
Speaker 1: go down and look at that rosters and look at
Speaker 1: the star quality players of the young men that you
Speaker 1: have on that team that ended up contributing to super
Speaker 1: playing in the Super Bowl or Super Bowl victories. The
Speaker 1: coaches on those staffs made the choices for the right guys.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what really stands out with me
Speaker 1: when I hear Matt Eberflus talk about developing a roster
Speaker 1: in the modern day NFL. You're not just gonna put
Speaker 1: a guy in there because he was drafted in a
Speaker 1: certain position or he comes from this type of marketed school.
Speaker 1: It's the right guy. And when you think of a
Speaker 1: guy like Braxton Jones, Yeah, would you think he might
Speaker 1: have a guy from one of the marquee schools around
Speaker 1: the country, you know, But this guy is the right
Speaker 1: guy for the position. And even when you listen to
Speaker 1: Ian Cunningham and Ryan Poles speak at the party him today,
Speaker 1: they talk about how fast of a developer this guy was.
Speaker 1: They believed he could be a starter when they evaluated him,
Speaker 1: but even his development surprised them, right, And I think
Speaker 1: that idea that you're gonna be able to get on
Speaker 1: the field and play right away if you're if you're
Speaker 1: talented enough, and you have the the traits that they're seeking,
Speaker 1: the character that you're seeking. I'm thinking again, I use
Speaker 1: this analogy all the time, lobsters in a lobster pot.
Speaker 1: You know, you're trying to get on the field because
Speaker 1: you know you got a chance with these guys. And
Speaker 1: there are coaches that won't play young players, especially at
Speaker 1: specific positions. I mean some teams, some guys just won't
Speaker 1: put that trust in there. And you know, I find
Speaker 1: this to be a refreshing moment for Chicago Bears fans.
Speaker 1: You're gonna see a bunch of young guys with their
Speaker 1: hair on fire, and whatever they win, they win, whatever
Speaker 1: the record may be. You know, right now, let's find
Speaker 1: the best guys to foundationally build a fast, physical, nasty
Speaker 1: football team. That's my opinion on it. Tommy, before we
Speaker 1: go to break, I'll let you speak your mind here. Well, no, Jeff,
Speaker 1: you know, Joe, I want guys that want to play football.
Speaker 1: I don't want a guy that's going to be drafted
Speaker 1: by a team that's content with sitting around a couple
Speaker 1: of years waiting till the veteran in front of them
Speaker 1: moves on. I want a guy that's just chopping at
Speaker 1: the bit to get in that uniform and to be
Speaker 1: on a game day, you know, a game day participant.
Speaker 1: So to me, I think that's the most important role
Speaker 1: that any of these guys can desire to have on
Speaker 1: a football team, is to be a player. Immediately. All right,
Speaker 1: here's what's coming up on the show tonight. We do
Speaker 1: not have a player interview. We will be sitting down
Speaker 1: with Ryan Polser I did earlier today up at Hallis
Speaker 1: Hall after his news conference with the media, So we'll
Speaker 1: have some of that coming up in segment number three.
Speaker 1: And our good pal Jim Miller from Serious x M
Speaker 1: NFL Radio, former Bears quarterback, I'll be joining us in
Speaker 1: just moments. We'll hear snippets as well from a course
Speaker 1: of the interviews that we had this week. A lot ahead,
Speaker 1: Bears getting ready for the regular season opener. Can't wait.
Speaker 1: The season itself starts on September eight. Next week, Bears
Speaker 1: get a three day break. After a short practice today,
Speaker 1: they'll be rare and ready to go. Bears coming up
Speaker 1: against the forty nine ers. This is Bears All Access
Speaker 1: with Tom There, Jeff Joning, Act, Jim Miller ahead on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose
Speaker 1: clean energy for your home at igs dot com because
Speaker 1: every good choice adds up to a better world. With
Speaker 1: Tom There, Jeff Joning Act and please to be joined
Speaker 1: by our good pal and a regular during the course
Speaker 1: of the off season, I should say, but once the
Speaker 1: regular season starts, gets a little a little harder to
Speaker 1: get a hold of because he's so busy and we
Speaker 1: got some players on. But Big Jim Miller, former Bears quarterback,
Speaker 1: did a great job in the preseason telecasts of the
Speaker 1: Kansas City and Cleveland games. Big Jim, how you doing?
Speaker 1: And now what did you glean from those two games?
Speaker 1: Because you did the work, you did the in depth
Speaker 1: study and called the game. What what'd you learn about
Speaker 1: this team? Yeah, Jeff, Tom, I think you know you
Speaker 1: could see it. You know, I think factor of what
Speaker 1: players are being asked to do, and I think Coachieberflus
Speaker 1: has effectively gotten his messaging across. I mean, I saw
Speaker 1: a team that hustle I saw a team that would
Speaker 1: going discipline. Uh yeah, I think you see a young team,
Speaker 1: but you do see a much faster team out there.
Speaker 1: I mean, let's be honest, a lot of young players
Speaker 1: are going to play this year for the Bears. You know,
Speaker 1: we even pointed it out on the broadcast of the
Speaker 1: eleven draft picks. And then you know, minimum, I see
Speaker 1: nine guys, and then you factor in rookies like Jack
Speaker 1: Sanborn who's an undrafted free agent who makes the rush.
Speaker 1: The guy's going to be on all four core special
Speaker 1: teams plays you know, Trent and Gill. You know Vayleis
Speaker 1: Jones junior, he's gonna play, And so the list goes
Speaker 1: on and on, and it is. It's about a youth movement.
Speaker 1: It's about the growth and development of players. And we'll
Speaker 1: see where it goes. But yeah, I think the coach
Speaker 1: and the staff they effectively have reached these players of
Speaker 1: what their standard is because I saw a lot of
Speaker 1: hustle and a lot of discipline displayed by the Barras. Hey, Jim,
Speaker 1: I got two questions for you. The role of Luke Getsy,
Speaker 1: the play caller being on the field for justin fields,
Speaker 1: and then how long does that relationship take to develop
Speaker 1: in terms of, you know, the eye contact, the understanding
Speaker 1: what Justin does well with Justin wants there to be
Speaker 1: called in, how Luke starts understanding his strength of the
Speaker 1: specific game plan. Yeah, you know, you know, whether guys
Speaker 1: in the booths are on the field. I think the
Speaker 1: one benefit of the coach or the play caller being
Speaker 1: on the field is when you do go over the
Speaker 1: slides for the pictures on the sideline and you say, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe Justin says, why I saw this. I
Speaker 1: saw the backer back up he was he was on
Speaker 1: the line of scrimage and then he backed off. You
Speaker 1: know that maybe sometimes you can't communicate it to a
Speaker 1: coach and they'll be able to look through those things together,
Speaker 1: and then Luke can say, hey, here's what I'm thinking.
Speaker 1: Then this is what they're doing on first and second down.
Speaker 1: This is what I'm seeing on third down. We may
Speaker 1: go to more of this, or we may go to
Speaker 1: more bootleg game to take advantage of some of the
Speaker 1: things that they're showing us, and this really be right
Speaker 1: there for Justin fields to walk them along, to walk
Speaker 1: them through. Hey, this next series we're probably going to
Speaker 1: focus more on this, you know, whether it's a certain
Speaker 1: run game, we're going to try and set up these
Speaker 1: plays in the play action game and just really kind
Speaker 1: of talk him through what he expects to call and
Speaker 1: so he'll be prepared as the game goes along. Just
Speaker 1: being there down on the field and looking at the
Speaker 1: pictures with one another. You know, Jimmy, think when you
Speaker 1: look at last year's San Francisco game, is there anything
Speaker 1: that Justin or Luke can take from the way that
Speaker 1: they defens Justin in that game? Or do you think
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily a new scheme, but a new formula
Speaker 1: of how they want to go about their business against
Speaker 1: this specific type of offense. Yeah, I mean there could
Speaker 1: be certain things on passing down to where maybe they
Speaker 1: tried to do a mush rush against Justin fields just
Speaker 1: no one. He's got the escapability of the legs. But
Speaker 1: I honestly think the Bears are going to be far different,
Speaker 1: you know, game planning wise and how they attack San Francisco.
Speaker 1: I do expect the Bears to use utilize more twelve personnel,
Speaker 1: meaning two tight ends. I think that's going to be
Speaker 1: imperative because you've got a young left tackle on Braxton
Speaker 1: Jones and quite frankly, you know, I just think that's
Speaker 1: that's the Bears sweet spot. I thought in that final
Speaker 1: preseason game against Cleveland that was kind of their home,
Speaker 1: you know, and that's why they performed so well and
Speaker 1: Justin felt very good with the play action and stuff
Speaker 1: of it. Plus you still don't know right now what
Speaker 1: is the three wide package? Who does that entail? Is
Speaker 1: Pringle healthy? Is Valos Jones healthy? You know, the three
Speaker 1: wide package as yet to really display itself for the Bears,
Speaker 1: and health is going to be a big part of it.
Speaker 1: But I think running the football and that twelve personnel pack,
Speaker 1: it really was a nice place for the Bears to
Speaker 1: be in that final preseason game. Luke gets you this
Speaker 1: week the offensive coordinator, explaining this whole offensive plan remains
Speaker 1: a step by step process. When we got here in April,
Speaker 1: we had this very well thought out plan of how
Speaker 1: we wanted to go this process to look and we're
Speaker 1: gonna stay committed to that process. I don't think we're
Speaker 1: gonna This isn't link an elevation to a moment. This
Speaker 1: is part of the process. This is the stepping stone
Speaker 1: of you know, our goal was to get better into
Speaker 1: into you know, apply pressure to our team on our
Speaker 1: own and the way that we installed it, the way
Speaker 1: that we or the way that we implemented the offense,
Speaker 1: the way that we installed it, the way we came
Speaker 1: to training camp, the way that we performed in preseason.
Speaker 1: This is all. These are all the next steps. These
Speaker 1: are all steps to where we want to be um
Speaker 1: and so this next game, again, we're not We're We're
Speaker 1: still pedal to the metal and we're still challenging these
Speaker 1: guys every day, both mentally and physically to play the
Speaker 1: play style that we want to play. And that play
Speaker 1: style is going to be just like it is for
Speaker 1: special teams in defense, attack, mod mental focus. Jim No penalties.
Speaker 1: You know they did a nice job of the preseason.
Speaker 1: Uh those kind of penalties, pre snap penalties are aggravating
Speaker 1: to any coach. But I get the impression. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if you've talked to Getsy prior to him
Speaker 1: coming to the Bears, but just listening to him talk,
Speaker 1: it's a nonsense and nonsense guy. I think he likes
Speaker 1: to have fun on the field too, but he holds
Speaker 1: everybody accountable here. He wants what he wants and he's
Speaker 1: got it all drawn up the way he wants it,
Speaker 1: and I like his tough edge. He's not ready to
Speaker 1: all throw bouquets to everybody either. He's just holding everybody
Speaker 1: accountable because there is a long way to go. They
Speaker 1: got to figure a lot of things out offensively. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know you I heard you two talking
Speaker 1: about this team, and you know, and Jeff, you brought
Speaker 1: up obviously Tom's World championship team, and there's a big
Speaker 1: difference there. You know, the team that that that Tom
Speaker 1: played on. Look at the guys alone that just defied
Speaker 1: X is an oas you know. You got Richard Den,
Speaker 1: you got single tear. I mean we can get there's
Speaker 1: Jim get into the double digits. Jim. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: this team is that. No, you're misinterpreting what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: All I'm saying is it's a starting point to be
Speaker 1: this kind of team, what you're trying to build from
Speaker 1: the foundation, and maybe in a couple of years some
Speaker 1: of these guys develop. Who knows what they're going to
Speaker 1: be able to add next year. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Yeah, it's better to do this than have
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys that are not going to be
Speaker 1: here when they are competing for a Super Bowl. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I do. I think this whole year is about
Speaker 1: and we've been pretty consistent talking about this on Bears Axis.
Speaker 1: They're not done. The roster is going to continue to turn.
Speaker 1: You know, here everybody's talking about Alex Leatherwood. Here's the
Speaker 1: former first round pick. Now he's got a shot here
Speaker 1: with the Bearers. We'll see where it goes. But it's
Speaker 1: about the growth in development of young players. And I
Speaker 1: think again, it's got to start somewhere and it's got
Speaker 1: to build, and if all things are equal, typically you're
Speaker 1: going to play the younger player, and with their style
Speaker 1: of football of what the Bears want to play, they're
Speaker 1: gonna go and they're they're willing to accept these growing
Speaker 1: pains with these young players. And like you said, maybe
Speaker 1: there are some diamonds in the brush, because you've already
Speaker 1: seen some flashes from some players that look pretty positive,
Speaker 1: whether it's Valis Films Junior. Hey, I know it was
Speaker 1: a small sample size, but that was a nice put
Speaker 1: return out there in Seattle. You know, young players like
Speaker 1: Sanborn who's undrafted, he's out there making plays and we'll
Speaker 1: see what they Yet the rest of these young players do,
Speaker 1: and as coach said, you're going to coach up, they're
Speaker 1: gonna play fast. They know what the standard is and
Speaker 1: they're gonna fly around and play some football. And like
Speaker 1: you said, the foundation has to be built. It's got
Speaker 1: to be built somewhere, and it's got to be built
Speaker 1: with these young players and how quickly they grow and develop.
Speaker 1: You know, Jim, when you talk about a foundation, let's
Speaker 1: talk about the offensive side of the ball, because there
Speaker 1: could be guys that might have some reps from the
Speaker 1: receiver position or whatsoever, that haven't had any reps so
Speaker 1: far in the preseason with the Bears. And when you
Speaker 1: talk about Luke getsy in an offensive coordinator trying to
Speaker 1: build a foundation, man, you're gonna have to be doing
Speaker 1: it on a fly. And some of these guys, even
Speaker 1: though they have a couple of days off, they might
Speaker 1: have to be up at that facility every day going
Speaker 1: through meetings to just get semi caught up to speed
Speaker 1: so they can get a handful of plays in their
Speaker 1: hip pocket. If they're not contributing on special teams or
Speaker 1: those types of phases, they totally agree, because again, I
Speaker 1: think it's pretty clear there are no sacred cows, you
Speaker 1: know other than justin Fields and Jayalen Johnson and Quinn
Speaker 1: and probably Roquan, there's just a handful of guys that again,
Speaker 1: if if guys aren't in the building in taking the
Speaker 1: time to ensure that their spot on that roster is
Speaker 1: going to be there, because when their name and their
Speaker 1: number is called and they can't perform, there could be
Speaker 1: somebody else coming in there the following week that will
Speaker 1: take the extra time to get it done. I think
Speaker 1: it is that vollable of a roster where they're going
Speaker 1: to continue to turn it. And like you said, right now,
Speaker 1: there's and that's why I say that about the three
Speaker 1: Wives package because the receiving position has been so banged
Speaker 1: up with Pringle and Vealis Jones hasn't been in there.
Speaker 1: It's still been undecided. So that's something that's going to
Speaker 1: develop and grow and really show itself as the season
Speaker 1: goes along. And you would like to think the younger
Speaker 1: player in Valis Jones Junior is going to continue to
Speaker 1: grow and develop and hopefully earn one of those roles
Speaker 1: to be a starting receiver by the end of the season.
Speaker 1: I would think we already know we can kick in
Speaker 1: punt return, but with his role increases that receiver, then
Speaker 1: maybe Tristan Abner now goes back to do the kick
Speaker 1: return now that Valis Jones responsibilities have changed. So we'll
Speaker 1: see how it all shakes out. But again, it's got
Speaker 1: to start somewhere, and the Bears are willing to go
Speaker 1: through this challenge. Really like the body time of Velis
Speaker 1: Jones too, because he's got the speed obviously, thick, thick
Speaker 1: guy just getting a chance to meet him for the
Speaker 1: first time. This is not some one hundred and ninety
Speaker 1: pounds skinny receiver running fast routes out there. He's got
Speaker 1: some meat on the bone to break tackles and hopefully
Speaker 1: be a slippery receiver with the ball in his hands.
Speaker 1: How we're gonna take a break coming back, We're gonna
Speaker 1: hear from Ryan Pole's interview I did with him today
Speaker 1: up here at Hollis Hall. We'll talk to the general manager.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access. It's brought to you by
Speaker 1: IGS Energy with Tom Thayre and Jimmer. This is Jeff
Speaker 1: Joning Act on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy score. This
Speaker 1: segment of Bears All Access is brought to you by
Speaker 1: Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request an
Speaker 1: appointment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Earlier this afternoon, up at Hallishaw, after his news conference
Speaker 1: to the media, along with assistant Gimmy and Cunningham, Bears
Speaker 1: General manager Ryan Poles sat down for a conversation about
Speaker 1: where things are headed. Just ability to adapt and adjust.
Speaker 1: Things constantly change and move. You can have plans, but
Speaker 1: oftentimes that's not what's going to play out. So I
Speaker 1: think just always staying on our toes, always staying on
Speaker 1: our toes at the front office, and being able to
Speaker 1: maneuver and adjust and continue to grow our roster. The
Speaker 1: other pieces, you know, it's trusting the people around us.
Speaker 1: You know, I have a great staff with Ian, Jeff King,
Speaker 1: Trey Cooziel and just leaning on each other to build
Speaker 1: us roster the best we can. Did you guys approach
Speaker 1: this almost like draft weekend? Yeah, yep, that's that was
Speaker 1: the That's something I learned back from my past. You know,
Speaker 1: we see this as an opportunity to you know, improve
Speaker 1: our roster and we stay active in the preseason film.
Speaker 1: We grind the tape. Like I said before, there was
Speaker 1: very little sleep going on. We were in the in
Speaker 1: the in the draft room, and we just were buzzing.
Speaker 1: Every game. We were flashing guys. We had board that
Speaker 1: we went off based on value. It's very similar and
Speaker 1: we executed it really well. About some really good ages
Speaker 1: on these guys too. Fit what you're trying to do here, right,
Speaker 1: It was that important. It was very important just you know,
Speaker 1: young talent that can be developed and help us over
Speaker 1: a long period of time. All Right, I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: this delicately because you know what it's like to be cut. Yes,
Speaker 1: So now that you're in the position of cutting, how
Speaker 1: did that work for you? Now that you're doing it?
Speaker 1: That was something I was exposed to, you know, in
Speaker 1: years prior. But when you have a whole class and
Speaker 1: you kind of look at those guys as yours, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's difficult. It's a difficult conversation. I always have
Speaker 1: been empathetic in that moment because I've been there and
Speaker 1: I understand what it means. And I think the other
Speaker 1: thing is just to give real feedback to the guys
Speaker 1: and be honest and upfront. I think they appreciate that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: did you get some interesting responses without getting any specifics. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there was guys that just want to know where they
Speaker 1: stand and where they could get better, and giving them
Speaker 1: that feedback goes along. Ways. You had some really high
Speaker 1: praise from Matt Eberflus and you're gonna smile. I mean
Speaker 1: you said you love that, dude. Yeah, tell us why
Speaker 1: it's leadership. It's leadership. I got asked that question a lot.
Speaker 1: Why did you pick Matt Eberflus In my first response
Speaker 1: most of the time, if not every time, was his
Speaker 1: leadership skills. It's how can you be demanding but have
Speaker 1: empathy with your players at the same time, And you
Speaker 1: can feel the buy and you can feel the energy.
Speaker 1: It's authentic. It's real, and I know all of our
Speaker 1: players feel that, and that's what you want to play for,
Speaker 1: that's what you want to work with, and that's him
Speaker 1: to a t. So I've been really really happy with him.
Speaker 1: Think that word authentic is the critical piece because coaches
Speaker 1: can come in here with a lot of different phraseology
Speaker 1: and Ray Ryan whatever, but you are so on point
Speaker 1: with that. It's just you can feel it in the building.
Speaker 1: If the players are just coming back you see any
Speaker 1: same things. Was that important for you to hear it
Speaker 1: from the players too? Yeah, it is important. You know.
Speaker 1: You read these interviews, you watched these interviews, and the
Speaker 1: players talk about Matt and it makes you smile because
Speaker 1: you know that you have a good leader in place
Speaker 1: and you know we're ready to kick this season off.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure you get into specifics about who's left
Speaker 1: from past or not, but there's only nineteen and I
Speaker 1: think three or four on the practice squad, so that
Speaker 1: is a mighty big turnover. It speaks to the overall
Speaker 1: plan to a find the exact Bear player you want
Speaker 1: to identify for the future, but also again in that
Speaker 1: certain age category. How did that work out in the
Speaker 1: end for you? Do you believe? Yeah, I think it
Speaker 1: works out. It worked out really well. There's core players
Speaker 1: on this team, you know when I walked in the
Speaker 1: door that we're still excited about and they're going to
Speaker 1: help us win games for a long long time. And
Speaker 1: then you know, part of the challenges is building the
Speaker 1: rest of the roster, and we attack down on many
Speaker 1: different levels for agencye. The draft and then the waiver wire.
Speaker 1: Here at the cutdown day, and I think we did
Speaker 1: a good job. Two great storylines among many this camp,
Speaker 1: and they're on the offensive line. Start with your fifth
Speaker 1: round pick out of Southern Utah, Braxton Jones. Yeah, Braxton
Speaker 1: just continues to develop and grow, and he hasn't sometimes
Speaker 1: with young players, you're waiting for the moment where it
Speaker 1: looks a little bit too big right now, and he
Speaker 1: continues to just blow through those gates and prove that
Speaker 1: he can handle that position when the lights come on
Speaker 1: in preseason games, when the pads come on, versus vets
Speaker 1: like Robert Quinn, and he shows resilience to keep fighting,
Speaker 1: to have a short memory and just keep going. So
Speaker 1: his development has been outstanding and I love seeing that that.
Speaker 1: You get excited. You look at your buddy like did
Speaker 1: you just see that? You know that Braxton had and
Speaker 1: then you see it day after day after day, and
Speaker 1: he's coming along. So I'm excited about him. He's authentic too,
Speaker 1: in my opinion. He gets up there at the podium,
Speaker 1: he tells you everything he's done wrong. Then he needs
Speaker 1: to work on No, that's a good point. I brought
Speaker 1: him in my office just probably a week ago, and
Speaker 1: I wanted to make sure. I said, nothing's gonna be
Speaker 1: give into you past this, but I hope you take
Speaker 1: a moment to at least patch yourself on the back
Speaker 1: a little bit because what you're doing is really really
Speaker 1: good and you continue to perform. So just take the
Speaker 1: moment to one be proud of yourself, be happy with
Speaker 1: yourself a where and continue to work, continue to get better,
Speaker 1: don't settle. Will be proud of the progress that you've
Speaker 1: made in a short time. And I think even for him,
Speaker 1: hearing that I was proud of him went along ways
Speaker 1: and we all are. So you know, I think he's
Speaker 1: going to keep working, keep running and become a really
Speaker 1: good player for us. I would assume the same conversation
Speaker 1: could be had with your right guard right now, Tevin Jenkins. Yeah, yep.
Speaker 1: We moved you know Tevin around, and you know the
Speaker 1: beginning of his career, you know, it was a little
Speaker 1: bit choppy, but he keeps coming back and he keeps fighting.
Speaker 1: I think the thing that I'm proud of him is
Speaker 1: he got to the guard spot and he just went
Speaker 1: and he went hard. When he watched the tape, the
Speaker 1: thing that makes all of us excited about Tevin is
Speaker 1: his finish and his strain, and when you have that,
Speaker 1: that's contagious for the whole the whole group of five
Speaker 1: to to play in that similar fashion. All right, big picture,
Speaker 1: heading into this season with your own roster, a ton
Speaker 1: of salary cap space, first round pick, still a whole
Speaker 1: season to play. But this doesn't all come together overnight.
Speaker 1: How excited are you for the future of this franchise.
Speaker 1: I'll start with just the season. I'm excited to see
Speaker 1: these guys perform. Um. I talked about it before, but
Speaker 1: just be resilient in moments of adversity. I just want
Speaker 1: this group to stay tight all the way through this
Speaker 1: season and just continue to get better. And then for
Speaker 1: the future, we'll keep doing what we do, which is
Speaker 1: add talent, you know, and and get better in every
Speaker 1: way that we can. You know, we're gonna hit the road.
Speaker 1: Ian and I are going to go to Colorado and
Speaker 1: watch a game there, go to Georgia, go to Louisiana,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna start the process of, you know, getting
Speaker 1: ready for the draft and fre agency for next year.
Speaker 1: I use the type of guy that wants to be
Speaker 1: in these stadiums to see guys with your own eyes.
Speaker 1: All year. Yep, and I gotta have a lot of
Speaker 1: frequent flyer miles power. Yeah, and I got that advice.
Speaker 1: You know. I had a really experience and very talented
Speaker 1: former GM asked me like, do you plan on hitting
Speaker 1: the road and getting out there still when you're a
Speaker 1: general manager? And I said absolutely. He said, yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't ever lose that. You gotta get your eyes on
Speaker 1: these guys. You gotta walk up on him, you gotta
Speaker 1: ask questions and get to know them. So that's the plan,
Speaker 1: all right. Matt kept telling players, hardest thing they're ever
Speaker 1: gonna do. He said it again this week at the
Speaker 1: podium for the new guys coming in, hardest thing they're
Speaker 1: ever gonna have to do. How did they overall accept
Speaker 1: the challenge? And do you assume now that the foundation
Speaker 1: is set for that anybody coming in here is gonna
Speaker 1: have to because that locker room will hold them accountable
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah. Yeah, I think the standard that he
Speaker 1: talked about on how we're gonna practice, how we're gonna play,
Speaker 1: the toughness that we need to have, you know, finished.
Speaker 1: He's always talking finish every video if you stand next,
Speaker 1: going to practice constantly about finishing, So that's the expectation
Speaker 1: though for anyone that comes in is we're gonna finish
Speaker 1: or play hard. We're gonna play fast. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think the group has done a really good job,
Speaker 1: you know, adapting to that because it's not easy. And
Speaker 1: I think through that and Mats talked about this, there's
Speaker 1: a there's a mental toughness that comes along with it
Speaker 1: when you're tired. Can you still perform? Can you still think?
Speaker 1: Can you make calls and communicate? So that has affected
Speaker 1: our culture for sure, you'd always like it to be
Speaker 1: the case. But all eleven rookies are still here, Doug
Speaker 1: Kramer unfortunately on injured reserve, and then some undrafted guys
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, that also speaks hitting the ground running
Speaker 1: to find these guys, make some moves on draft day,
Speaker 1: and now look what you got on your roster building
Speaker 1: the future of what you want to see embarrassed. How
Speaker 1: promising is that for you? And that your scouts and
Speaker 1: your personnel department and your coaches all are on the
Speaker 1: same page to net that kind of outcome. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: speaks volumes about everyone across the board. It's about the
Speaker 1: front office, the scouts that we have in the building,
Speaker 1: it's about the process and the time put into it.
Speaker 1: Or we can have hard conversations and we can get
Speaker 1: to the truth and make good decisions. And that's why
Speaker 1: we do what we do. And then the coaches, we've
Speaker 1: talked about this at length. They're teachers when when they
Speaker 1: bring we bring a player in, they take that as
Speaker 1: a challenge to teach them and maximize their abilities. And
Speaker 1: we're seeing that with this first group. Expectations for Justin, Yeah,
Speaker 1: in terms of what he's showing you now stairs stepping
Speaker 1: where he's at. How optimistic, Ay, I'm very optimistic. I
Speaker 1: love what I've seen from start to finish. He's coming
Speaker 1: along and you can see things happening faster. You can
Speaker 1: see the poise and control that he has. You can
Speaker 1: see the athletic ability that he has, and that, paired
Speaker 1: with how Luke you know in his offense is going
Speaker 1: to be I think Justin's going to be really, really
Speaker 1: good and we'll see it play out. I know he's tough,
Speaker 1: I know he's resilient, I know it's smart. We've learned
Speaker 1: all that. So I'm excited for him and will continue
Speaker 1: to keep growing around him and get better. That's Paris
Speaker 1: general manager, Ryan Poles, Jim Miller, Tom, theyre Jeff, jonnyak
Speaker 1: Fellas have at it. You heard the press conference, Now
Speaker 1: you heard that. I think a little bit of a
Speaker 1: sense of relief to get to the fifty three. And
Speaker 1: now you just cherry picked throughout the course of the
Speaker 1: season where you need bodies, where you fill in with injuries. Overall,
Speaker 1: what do you think, Tom? And then Jim jump right in.
Speaker 1: You know, Jeff, when you hear Ryan Poles talking, you
Speaker 1: hear him talk about the cuts, it's almost like he
Speaker 1: sees a little bit of himself and Braxton Jones. When
Speaker 1: you look at the template of Ryan Poles, he's that
Speaker 1: similar size, a tall offensive tackle, and no matter what
Speaker 1: happens to us throughout our career, we always have the
Speaker 1: desire to play. And I was cut and I know
Speaker 1: what it's like to go through that. So I like
Speaker 1: everything Ryan Poles has said. I like how Ian Cunningham
Speaker 1: has complimented him up at the podium, and so now
Speaker 1: what they said, it's got to take action on the field.
Speaker 1: And the way he concluded the last question to you
Speaker 1: is he's excited to see what happens next Sunday, just
Speaker 1: like all of us. As X Bears or Bears fans. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, it's pretty evident as we've touched
Speaker 1: on this whole program, they're going to play a lot
Speaker 1: of these younger players. And so again I don't think
Speaker 1: Bears fans out there can just you know, there's gonna
Speaker 1: be growing pains, you know, but you need to see
Speaker 1: these players, say at different increments of the season, whether
Speaker 1: it's the end of the first quarter, at the end
Speaker 1: of four games, whereas fields from week one to week four,
Speaker 1: whereas fields from week four to week eight. You know.
Speaker 1: So there's gonna be a process as this goes along
Speaker 1: throughout the entire year, and part of it is going
Speaker 1: to be the guys around justin fields, and these young
Speaker 1: players are gonna be thrown into the fire and they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to adapt and adjust pretty quickly. And then
Speaker 1: I think the coaches will continue to add more things.
Speaker 1: You know. That's another reason why I probably said, you know, early,
Speaker 1: as I say, against the San Francisco forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: when you've got Nick Boston and you've got Eric Armstead
Speaker 1: on each side, maybe that's a good two tight end
Speaker 1: set game, because I would think I wouldn't want to
Speaker 1: throw Braxton Jones to the Wolves, and not just yet.
Speaker 1: You know he's gonna be facing a pretty good pass rusher.
Speaker 1: So they're gonna do some things to subtly help these
Speaker 1: young players as they grow along. But where it started,
Speaker 1: you can see it's a discipline team. They play extremely fast.
Speaker 1: I think they play hard. They've got more speed, and
Speaker 1: I love the way Justin Fields ended the preseason against
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Browns. Got the offense feeling good. They score
Speaker 1: on the drives that they were out there, so that
Speaker 1: they're building something and it's really the build up to
Speaker 1: Sunday is what they're trying to do, and they're going
Speaker 1: to try and do that every single week with these
Speaker 1: young players, it's going to be critical all season long.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, we're gonna take a break. Great seats
Speaker 1: available here Chicago Bears this season at Soldier Field. Get
Speaker 1: your tickets at Chicago Bears dot com, slash tickets. More
Speaker 1: ahead with our producer Adam Stadzinski. Thanks for listening, everybody.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access, brought to you by Ges Energy.
Speaker 1: Back with more in a moment. This segment of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access is brought to you by CDW, people who
Speaker 1: get it. Jeff Joniac along with Tom Thayer Jim Miller
Speaker 1: from Sirius XM NFL Radio moving the chains. Hey, let's
Speaker 1: go buy positions here, fellas. Let's let's take a look
Speaker 1: at some things. Jim, let's start with you. We could
Speaker 1: talk all day long obviously about justin fields. We've been
Speaker 1: talking position by position over the course of this entire offseason.
Speaker 1: But now we know pretty much what we got. So
Speaker 1: let's talk offense. And I want to begin with the
Speaker 1: tight end position because I personally think that Cole Commetz
Speaker 1: ready for a big one. Now he's got a block too.
Speaker 1: There's got to be this blocking component for in fact, everybody.
Speaker 1: Jim's got a block on this team. I'm going in
Speaker 1: that direction. Let's break down the tight end position. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna give time to the offensive line, but let's go
Speaker 1: tight end running back here, Jim take it away. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. They picked up a big time
Speaker 1: blocking tight end that Tray bob lest Go from the
Speaker 1: New York Jets. That guy is essentially a six tack
Speaker 1: is what he is, and so that's kind of what
Speaker 1: he was at West Virginia. And I think it'll it'll
Speaker 1: definitely help, and it just tells you the Bears are
Speaker 1: going to stay in that sweet spot of running the football. Okay,
Speaker 1: Cole Commet is is I think can do it in
Speaker 1: all three phases in line, they can split him out,
Speaker 1: he can do certain things. I expect his impact for
Speaker 1: the Bears to make another big jump. You know, he
Speaker 1: got up to sixty receptions last year. He needs to
Speaker 1: be a red zone threat, and I believe he will
Speaker 1: be factored in with how like the green Bay Packers
Speaker 1: use Robert Tonyan, I think Cole Commet is more than
Speaker 1: capable to fill in that type of effort at the
Speaker 1: tight end spot. And then I think Griffin. I think
Speaker 1: Griffin's the solid guys, a nine year pro, similar to
Speaker 1: how he was utilized with the Jets. I think the
Speaker 1: Bears are set there and they've got tight ends that
Speaker 1: can help out young tackles. I think the Bears are
Speaker 1: going to run a lot more twelve and thirteen personnel
Speaker 1: than anybody realizes because Green Bay did it a season ago,
Speaker 1: and I think lou GUESSI has the same plan store
Speaker 1: for the Chicago Bears. You know, for me, when I
Speaker 1: look at the offensive line, obviously you have to go
Speaker 1: with the guys that have jelled the most throughout this
Speaker 1: process of training camp. And when you have Braxton and
Speaker 1: you have Cody, you have Sam at center, Tavin at
Speaker 1: right guard, and Larry Boram at right tackle, you have
Speaker 1: that group that has has enough reps that you get
Speaker 1: an indication of how well that they can play and
Speaker 1: kind of mature together. The key ingredient here to me
Speaker 1: is is where is Lucas Patrick. If he's the type
Speaker 1: of guy that can come in and contribute as an
Speaker 1: interior while his thumb is still healing up, he might
Speaker 1: be the type of guy that could be active during
Speaker 1: the beginning of the regular season and be a legitimate
Speaker 1: backup at all three positions on the interior, or if
Speaker 1: if his thumb's not healed up enough, he could be
Speaker 1: a legitimate backup at both right guard and left guard.
Speaker 1: So Lucas Patrick is an interesting cog in the whole
Speaker 1: game day roster. And then you're gonna have to figure
Speaker 1: out who was the best fit to be the backup
Speaker 1: tackle right now? Isn't Riley Reef? Is he gonna come
Speaker 1: along where he can back up bowl tackles. But I
Speaker 1: think when you have the five guys that have had
Speaker 1: the most reps together, Chris Morgan, the offensive line coach,
Speaker 1: who I think has done a fantastic job. He's got
Speaker 1: a good line right now. Put together all right now,
Speaker 1: Darnell Mooney. As you look at the receiver position this week,
Speaker 1: you know in that preseason finale Jim and Tom fourteen
Speaker 1: different players caught the football and that was impressive, and
Speaker 1: that Fields wants the whole offense to touch the ball.
Speaker 1: That means you have to cover everybody. Can't eye on anybody.
Speaker 1: I mean, somebody's maybe having a good game the week
Speaker 1: before and you feel like you gotta eye on that guy,
Speaker 1: and there's another guy that shows. So I got to
Speaker 1: make sure you have oyes on everybody, especially ashould be
Speaker 1: around the leader. Everybody's like, we don't have anybody. I
Speaker 1: don't have anybody for justing the throw too or whatnot.
Speaker 1: But that you're just gonna have to pick somebody, kick
Speaker 1: somebody to, you know, close up, and then somebody else
Speaker 1: is gonna go off. And so it's jur choice who
Speaker 1: you want to defend. So if you choose to cover
Speaker 1: that guy and this guy destroys you, then you got
Speaker 1: to go back and deal with that So, like I
Speaker 1: said before, we have a lot of elite players, not
Speaker 1: a lot of known name guys, but not there's always
Speaker 1: guys that don't have names when they first came to
Speaker 1: lead or or when they're trying to progress and grow
Speaker 1: so and they make a name for themselves. So we
Speaker 1: got a lot of guys that, uh, you know, can
Speaker 1: play very very well and they're gonna make names for
Speaker 1: their self as them as well, including me, And they
Speaker 1: like he's got the confidence. I like that confidence. Another
Speaker 1: guy I like and I can't wait to see what
Speaker 1: else can be done here in terms of getting him
Speaker 1: involved in having a second crack at an opportunity. Gym
Speaker 1: is Dante Pettis and even as a punt returner, smooth
Speaker 1: with the hands. Uh, he has had that baseball background
Speaker 1: that's helped him considerably in that regard. But again I'm
Speaker 1: not ruling anybody out here. And again Ryan talked about
Speaker 1: Is today because he was asked about, you know, the
Speaker 1: perspective from the national folks and even here in town
Speaker 1: that did he do enough to help justin field surround him,
Speaker 1: And that is a fair question. But he also wasn't
Speaker 1: going to just blow it out to sacrifice the overall
Speaker 1: future of this football team. And I think that there's
Speaker 1: plenty of guys there that they're going to be able
Speaker 1: to to mold into players. Well, there's there's guys that
Speaker 1: have played right Bayron Pringle is considered an ascending player
Speaker 1: with what he's done in Kansas City. Darnell Mooney, I
Speaker 1: think we all would consider him an ascending player with
Speaker 1: what he's done the first couple of years. Dante Pennis
Speaker 1: was a good player when San Francisco had him. His
Speaker 1: issue has been injury. It's not his lack of ability,
Speaker 1: you know, his injury not only with San Francisco, but
Speaker 1: the last year with the Giants, he got hurt. Valis Jones.
Speaker 1: We'll see where it goes. Sat Quantimus or Quantimus Saint Brown.
Speaker 1: He kind of fell out of favor for Green Bay.
Speaker 1: But his asset is knowing the offense and how he
Speaker 1: could help the room out overall. That's was his greatest
Speaker 1: asset here this offseason. This is no different than when
Speaker 1: I started with you know, with Marty Booker and the
Speaker 1: young players, David Terrell and the guys that we had
Speaker 1: there and even Marcus Robinson. All right, I didn't care
Speaker 1: about you know, the play calls or anything like that,
Speaker 1: though the defense will decide whether guys get open. I
Speaker 1: used to go down before with a snack or anything
Speaker 1: like that. I would always open up the wide receiver door,
Speaker 1: and I just say the guys, and it became a
Speaker 1: running joke. If you get open, you get the rock.
Speaker 1: I don't want to hear anybody crying at me about,
Speaker 1: oh I was open on that play, because coverage is
Speaker 1: going to dictate where I go with the football, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to read the coverage correctly to get it
Speaker 1: to the right guy every single time. And the more
Speaker 1: they saw that unfold, the more they knew they were
Speaker 1: always alive. They were always alive on every route and
Speaker 1: dependent on the coverage. They knew as soon as they
Speaker 1: came out of their stands that ball's coming my way
Speaker 1: because Jim's gonna get it to where the ball needs
Speaker 1: to go. Now, it's my job to get open. So
Speaker 1: no player is ever dead on any single play. So
Speaker 1: Dez White, Marty understood it, Marcus Robinson understood it, Bobby
Speaker 1: Ingram understood it, and all those guys got open when
Speaker 1: it was their time against that coverage. They got opened,
Speaker 1: and that ball was headed their way every single time.
Speaker 1: I like it, Jim, I like it. All right, we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk defense. You're willing to sticker off for one
Speaker 1: more you gotta go? Yeah, No, I'm sticking roll Man
Speaker 1: all right, an all day sucker. I'm like, we'll talk
Speaker 1: defense in our final segment as we get you set
Speaker 1: for the opener. Bears All Access brought to you by
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Speaker 1: Two guys that are in that category, Tim there, Jim
Speaker 1: met her with me former offensive lineman and quarterback. We're
Speaker 1: gonna break down the Bears defense here before we let
Speaker 1: you guys go for the nights and get you set
Speaker 1: for a long weekend. I hope you have good plans, Jim.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna be tied up just working all the time.
Speaker 1: Gotta have some funnier, Gotta get ready because it's a
Speaker 1: grind labor day weekend. Brothers. After this weekend, that's when
Speaker 1: it really starts right Well, yeah, I'll take smart art
Speaker 1: all right after. He's got eleven kids, he's got no time. Hey, listen,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know if time cared. Am I
Speaker 1: allowed to say what happened over the weekend? Sure? Okay,
Speaker 1: so time a complaint of his stomach ache, and I
Speaker 1: was I was calling him soft. I say, come on,
Speaker 1: knock it off. Ready, Okay, maybe he ate too many
Speaker 1: pistachios or something. I don't know, but I can't consider continue, continue, continue.
Speaker 1: I call him Sunday night, Hey, how are you feeling?
Speaker 1: He goes, I'm in the hospital. So he had his
Speaker 1: appendix out, his appendix on the verge of blowing up,
Speaker 1: So he go. So the first thing I thought of
Speaker 1: was Oland missed one game in two thousand and two
Speaker 1: with a pendix, So you better not miss a day
Speaker 1: of work because two days later we had to tape
Speaker 1: a TV show. So he showed up, Dutifulice here right
Speaker 1: now feeling a whole lot better show he got it
Speaker 1: out that whole trip to Cleveland. I give him a
Speaker 1: pat on the back, Jim, Yeah, I'd say, so, um
Speaker 1: talk about all day suckers, man. I mean, he doesn't
Speaker 1: he doesn't need any time off he's right back in
Speaker 1: there in the light up. So I knew Tom was tough,
Speaker 1: but that just kind of proves it right there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all I know, Tom, if it were me, you would
Speaker 1: have been calling me so many names. I can't even.
Speaker 1: I can't even right now. You just I'm not listen.
Speaker 1: I'm not giving up my reps to anybody for any reason.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk defense here. Uh, we gotta do
Speaker 1: this quick. We got about four minutes, so Tom, let's
Speaker 1: start at the defensive front. You're got your you're a
Speaker 1: blocker by trade. How you dealing with this front? You
Speaker 1: know Quinn and Alquitine Muhammad on the ends, you got
Speaker 1: Jones at the three technique and Angelo Blackson on the nose.
Speaker 1: I think this is a really good defensive line. I
Speaker 1: think the instincts of al Quinn Muhammad is as good
Speaker 1: as any defensive end as I see the speed and
Speaker 1: the rushing ability, and Quinn we know what he can provide.
Speaker 1: Jones is just has to have that determination of a
Speaker 1: three technique inside defensive player. And I think Angelo Blackson
Speaker 1: hasn't about as good as in eight instincts as a
Speaker 1: big man in the defensive front as you can have
Speaker 1: so I think they'll be super complimentary to the linebacker position.
Speaker 1: And the addition of Armanda Watts, who was looking like
Speaker 1: a starter in Minnesota and three to four there though,
Speaker 1: So he's backing a forty three. That's somebody to keep
Speaker 1: an eye on. Jim, I'm giving you the linebackers. Roe
Speaker 1: kwant Smith first feels he'll flourish in this defense. Oh, man,
Speaker 1: I flourish in any defense. It'll you know, you just
Speaker 1: line me up and tell me you'll play and him there. Oh,
Speaker 1: it's It's definitely sweet. Allows you to play in space
Speaker 1: more and I feel like that's one of my biggest attributes,
Speaker 1: playing in space vision. Didn't get to do a lot
Speaker 1: of that in the past, but being able to do
Speaker 1: that now, I think it's gonna be good and I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna pay dividends for me. Big Jim, how
Speaker 1: do you look at the group? Yeah, I think, well,
Speaker 1: Marl can he can run too. Now he plays with
Speaker 1: great effort. Roquan I think he's going to settle in
Speaker 1: very nicely at the weak side linebacker position. We even
Speaker 1: talked about this when Niberflus was hired as the head
Speaker 1: coach that I said, hey, man, maybe Roquan will be
Speaker 1: moved over to the week side backer. That's who he is.
Speaker 1: He's a run and hit guy, so he'll be a
Speaker 1: heat Sinki missile and look for his tackles to be
Speaker 1: every bit of one hundred and forty eight that he
Speaker 1: got a season ago. And then you've got guys that
Speaker 1: have been in this system, obviously Matt Adams before and
Speaker 1: Jack Sanborn is gonna be coming along underneath them there.
Speaker 1: But I think that's a good group of linebackers and
Speaker 1: the Bears have to speed now. I think Nicholas and
Speaker 1: with Roquan, these guys will be able to apply to
Speaker 1: the football. But essentially Roquan he's the new Lance Briggs's
Speaker 1: that's who he needs to be in this Bears defense,
Speaker 1: and that's a lot of places are gonna get funneled
Speaker 1: to him. There. There's no question about that. That's been
Speaker 1: said many times. Where the belief in this defense starts
Speaker 1: from Alan Williams, the defensive coordinator. He was very a
Speaker 1: thorough in his analysis today. I think that this defense
Speaker 1: is opportunistic. We're jelling together as a as a unit,
Speaker 1: as a team, and when you have a group of
Speaker 1: guys that have a purpose that's bigger than themselves, and
Speaker 1: they believe in that purpose. You know. We One of
Speaker 1: the things we like to say is we want volunteers,
Speaker 1: not hostages. We want guys that want to be here.
Speaker 1: We want guys that believe in what we're doing, and
Speaker 1: they do believe. I feel they got a little bit
Speaker 1: of swagger. So let's go into the secondary. I'll take
Speaker 1: that with Jalen Johnson. He's on the verge of something
Speaker 1: great in my opinion, Kindle vill Door and then Kyler
Speaker 1: Gordon Fellas. They rave about his athleticism, they rate about
Speaker 1: his balance, his feet, his ability to get to the
Speaker 1: football has been thorough. He's just gotta stay healthy. And
Speaker 1: then the Bears are ten and oh, and Eddie Jackson
Speaker 1: swipes a football in his career ten and oh, so
Speaker 1: he hasn't had one in thirty one games. I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a nice year for Eddie. I think
Speaker 1: they's gonna be bouncing around. And you already have a
Speaker 1: brisker jersey, so you don't need to hash over about him.
Speaker 1: I have a brisk Yes, you've about you from the
Speaker 1: moment they drafted him. You've been on Jikwan Brisker and
Speaker 1: I see you in that jersey, and I know you'll
Speaker 1: wear it proudly. I know eleven he's being facetious. I
Speaker 1: definitely have not purchased that jersey, but I get it.
Speaker 1: You know, I love safeties and what else do I love?
Speaker 1: I love the corner blitz As we know, we'll end
Speaker 1: the show on that, so I'm expecting Kyla Gordon to
Speaker 1: get some corner blitzes this year from playing inside Nicol
Speaker 1: whoever else plays that physician, Jim, thanks so much, appreciate
Speaker 1: you coming on, buddy. Thank you, Jim. Always fun to
Speaker 1: be with you. Guys, Jim Miller, Tom Thare, Thanks to
Speaker 1: Adams Tazinski and our other producers, Dan Brially and Jordan Tredup.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, everybody. This has been Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: It's brought to you by IGS Energy here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Talk you next week night, everybody.
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