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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access, your all
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Speaker 1: playoff edition of Bears All Access. Here from panc Studios
Speaker 1: at HATA Saw Jeff Johnny Ac and Tom Fair were
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy, and the stage is
Speaker 1: set for Wildcard Playoff football NFC style at Soldier Field.
Speaker 1: You can hear the game on our flagship station, news
Speaker 1: Radio seven eighty and one or five point at FMWBBM,
Speaker 1: starting with a twelve thirty pre game at a three
Speaker 1: forty kickoff and Tom there, your level of excitement's got
Speaker 1: to be off the charts. It is. It's off the
Speaker 1: charts because again that we're just talking in the room
Speaker 1: here before the season has ever started. I don't think
Speaker 1: anybody expected the Bears to be in the playoffs. When
Speaker 1: you think about what was going on up at Green
Speaker 1: Bay you think of what was happening in Minnesota, going Wow,
Speaker 1: what are the chances the Bears would be in the playoffs?
Speaker 1: You just want to see a winning record. You want
Speaker 1: to see the culture turned around. You want to see
Speaker 1: this thing's changing, the change in a big way. And
Speaker 1: I think that's what's so exciting about everybody. When I
Speaker 1: drive around the city, I see every guy on loading
Speaker 1: trucks walking around the street. They got all their Bears
Speaker 1: close out, and I think it's super exciting for the
Speaker 1: city and it's just as exciting for me and you.
Speaker 1: So it's a big stage, no doubt about it, defending
Speaker 1: champions Philadelphia Eagles coming into town. But the Bears have
Speaker 1: been on big stages this year. From Week one against
Speaker 1: Green Bay. They went in there, got aggressive, did not
Speaker 1: finish the job. The return matchup at Soldier Field, they
Speaker 1: finished the job. They hosted Minnesota on a national TV game,
Speaker 1: finished the job. They did so against Seattle, they did
Speaker 1: so against the La Rams, and they went back to
Speaker 1: Minnesota in a big game, as it turns out, big
Speaker 1: game because they were going for the win and they
Speaker 1: finished the job there too. So this is not too
Speaker 1: big for this young team. Yeah, the intensity's going to
Speaker 1: be up, but I think they've played at a high
Speaker 1: level all year. I don't know how they're going to
Speaker 1: be in the beginning of the game. Will they beat
Speaker 1: two jittery? Will they beat two jacked up? Those are
Speaker 1: the unknowns. Those are the intangibles of evaluating playoff football.
Speaker 1: But I definitely think their feet will hit the ground
Speaker 1: at some point. Well. I think they're walking to this
Speaker 1: game with confidence because I went back the other day
Speaker 1: and I was watching the game against the Philadelphia Eagles
Speaker 1: last year between the Bears and the Eagles, and it
Speaker 1: was not a pretty sight. I was intimidated by the
Speaker 1: way that they played against the Bears. But I don't
Speaker 1: think there's any similarities between that team I was watching
Speaker 1: from last year and where they're at this year. I
Speaker 1: think when I listened to Matt and Aggie at the podium,
Speaker 1: when I listened to the coordinators at the podium, and
Speaker 1: even the players, they have a certain sense of confidence
Speaker 1: because they're prepared so efficiently. When they go through their practice,
Speaker 1: they understand that this is the way things are going
Speaker 1: to happen in the game, and they have to practice them.
Speaker 1: They have to get better at them. They have to
Speaker 1: understand the timing. And so I think it's the preparedness
Speaker 1: of this team that gives these guys a lot of
Speaker 1: confidence going into what any any stage that you describe
Speaker 1: this year. I got another word for you, because it's
Speaker 1: one you keep hearing about. Belief. Yeah, they believe. They
Speaker 1: believe in their coaches, they believe in each other. This
Speaker 1: is a selfless room. It's not just lip service. These
Speaker 1: guys really have embraced it. No one's asking for the football,
Speaker 1: no one's saying they're not getting enough of this or
Speaker 1: enough of that. And the guy that's probably the biggest
Speaker 1: in that regard as the quarterback, Mitch Drubisky. But I
Speaker 1: believe too. You know, Mitch Trubisky's got to believe because
Speaker 1: he's the He's the the stir that's, you know, the
Speaker 1: stir that straws the pot, the straw that stirs the pot.
Speaker 1: You know. So Mitchell Trubisky, he's gotta be all in,
Speaker 1: and he is. And the way it's spilled over to
Speaker 1: his teammates, and how that he's been threatening against his opponent,
Speaker 1: the way that he's willing to run the ball, and
Speaker 1: how effective he can be, the way he's um being
Speaker 1: able to scramble with his eyes downfield and find these
Speaker 1: scramble targets. But you know, you talk about belief, it's
Speaker 1: it's a belief that is spilled over to that stadium
Speaker 1: because when you talk about the atmosphere Soldier Field, the
Speaker 1: last couple times we've been in there, when is the
Speaker 1: last time we've seen it bad exciting? So when you
Speaker 1: talk about belief, Jeff, it's not only the roster up there,
Speaker 1: It's it's all of us. But this Eagles team is
Speaker 1: somebody not to mess around with, no question about it.
Speaker 1: We'll get into that with Tom and Roe. Quant Smith,
Speaker 1: the rookie lineback who out an outstanding year, has great,
Speaker 1: great potential, great future coming up. He'll join the program
Speaker 1: as well. Pauls Range or engineer here at alas all
Speaker 1: and Den really helping us out as well. These Eagles
Speaker 1: team has won five of the last six. Nick Foles
Speaker 1: has been in charge of four those wins at quarterbacks
Speaker 1: for the injured Carson Wentz. The defense has had problems
Speaker 1: on the back end with injuries, but they're now jelling
Speaker 1: a little bit with who they have back there. The
Speaker 1: front is amazing, the offensive line significant and so is
Speaker 1: zach Ertz and Alshan Jeffrey at receiver in tight end,
Speaker 1: essentially another receiver for the Philadelphi Eagles. He had one
Speaker 1: hundred and sixteen catches this year. How do you break
Speaker 1: it down a little bit? You know, it's all by
Speaker 1: the eyes of their coach, you know, because the way
Speaker 1: Doug is not afraid to call a lot of passes
Speaker 1: and he's got the weapons to call it. And I
Speaker 1: think that's the threatening thing about him, is the fact
Speaker 1: that you have a great coach quarterback relationship there, just
Speaker 1: like you do here. But I think Doug Peterson he's
Speaker 1: got a certain courage about him when he's calling the
Speaker 1: plays that he's not thinking about what possibly can't happen.
Speaker 1: He's only thinking about what's gonna happen. All Right, we're
Speaker 1: gonna take our first break again. Roquan Smith, the Bears
Speaker 1: ricky linebacker, to join the program. This is Bears All
Speaker 1: Access with Tom Fair. I'm Jeff joning Ac. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to everybody. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: providing electricity natural gas in home warranty products to over
Speaker 1: one million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS
Speaker 1: Energy at IGS dot com. Jeff Joning ac in town
Speaker 1: Theory here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score
Speaker 1: from P ANDC Studios at Havasaw now joined by rookie
Speaker 1: linebacker Roquan Smith. How you doing, man, Doing very well?
Speaker 1: Thanks for taking the timing in the busiest of times.
Speaker 1: Playoff ready football? Right? How does that sink into you yet?
Speaker 1: First year? I think it's pretty awesome to say the least,
Speaker 1: you know, going to the playoffs first year and being
Speaker 1: drafted where I was drafted, and most teams don't get
Speaker 1: to the playoffs, but it's definitely it's pretty awesome. Did
Speaker 1: you see it coming as the season went on? Did
Speaker 1: you see it coming? Oh? Yeah, I've definitely seen it coming.
Speaker 1: I've seen it coming when I got drafted here, I've
Speaker 1: seen like all the pieces that we had on defense
Speaker 1: prior to me even coming ever coming, and then on
Speaker 1: the offense of bringing all the guys in in the
Speaker 1: offseason and then second year of Tubisky things like that,
Speaker 1: So I've definitely seen it coming all right, before Jeff
Speaker 1: gets too serious. I got a backtrack just a second.
Speaker 1: So I went to Notre Dame. You went to Georgia.
Speaker 1: Notre Dame got beat, Georgia got beat by Texas. Where
Speaker 1: you one of those Georgia guys complaining about Notre Dame
Speaker 1: being in that the four team tournament before, Because like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of Georgia people out there complaining about it.
Speaker 1: Was Roquan one of them. Roquan was not the one
Speaker 1: to tweet about it and whatnot, But I definitely thought
Speaker 1: it could have been a better game. Well what happened
Speaker 1: against Texas, well, I think it was more so of
Speaker 1: well Texas one so created the Texas, But I think
Speaker 1: it was more so like the guys seen the outcome
Speaker 1: of the playoff games and it was like, man, we
Speaker 1: should have been in there. So I felt like they
Speaker 1: kind of just relaxed a little bit in the sense,
Speaker 1: right as players do you have opinions on what the
Speaker 1: college football playoffs should be in the future. I like
Speaker 1: it the way it is, to be perfectly honest, you
Speaker 1: had the four teams. I think the four best teams.
Speaker 1: I like it that way. What about the guys that
Speaker 1: sit out bowl games? I don't know. If we've ever
Speaker 1: had a chance to talk about this, what you're thinking
Speaker 1: now that you're at this side of your career leading
Speaker 1: up to it before, what was your thinking about the
Speaker 1: whole playing a bowl game or not? If you're a
Speaker 1: star on your team, will definitely last year because it
Speaker 1: was competing for a national title. But I see from
Speaker 1: some guys standpoint of if they're not, if they're like
Speaker 1: in just a regular you know, not so much bowl
Speaker 1: game and doesn't really mean anything for the university. And
Speaker 1: if they like a for sure a lot first round pick.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot you're putting on the line.
Speaker 1: But I feel like if you're a second round pick
Speaker 1: or anything like that, if it was me, I would,
Speaker 1: person I would play. But if I was in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: if I'm top ten at whatever, I'm playing. Bears inside
Speaker 1: linebacker Roquan Smith here with us, I'm Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score. When you
Speaker 1: think about your season and your first snap getting a
Speaker 1: sack and how you slowly but surely worked your way
Speaker 1: into the starting lineup and became a big factor here,
Speaker 1: how much growth have you personally experienced beyond the cliche
Speaker 1: and it's not a cliche because the game does slow
Speaker 1: down deeper you get into your career, and certainly deeper
Speaker 1: in your first season. But how much growth do you
Speaker 1: personally feel you've had this year? Oh Man, can't really
Speaker 1: put it into words how much growth I feel, because
Speaker 1: like from when the first getting of the season, things
Speaker 1: just was going really fast, and I'm trying to still
Speaker 1: get accumated, trying to get myself into shape, and so
Speaker 1: there was so many things on my plate. But like
Speaker 1: I felt like each and every game I gained something.
Speaker 1: I kept gaining games and games, and I still feel
Speaker 1: like I'm doing the same thing, but it's definitely a
Speaker 1: little smaller things right now as we've gotten deeper into
Speaker 1: the season. How was it bend for you anticipating your
Speaker 1: blitz because you talk about that, you get a sack
Speaker 1: in the Green Bay game to start the season, so
Speaker 1: then they start calling identified blitzes for you. How do
Speaker 1: you hide the anxiousness? How do you deal with when
Speaker 1: you can not hear the snap count if you're playing
Speaker 1: at home, or if you can hear the snap count
Speaker 1: you're on the road. How does all that filter in
Speaker 1: when you break the huddle and you go man, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm bringing it here. I think it goes in. It
Speaker 1: changes the weekend and week out depending on the snap
Speaker 1: count from the team, and then there are certain mannerisms
Speaker 1: that the quarterback gives off. So I think all of
Speaker 1: those things come in, come up, and you have to
Speaker 1: take all of those things into consideration. How about the time,
Speaker 1: I mean the second Green Bay game, you were running
Speaker 1: a blitz but Khalil ended up getting the sack because
Speaker 1: of it because there was so much indecisiveness by the
Speaker 1: left tackle on who to block. And it's I think
Speaker 1: it's a key element that you don't show it too
Speaker 1: quick because there's a lot a lot of smart offensive
Speaker 1: lineman up there. If they start reading your balance or
Speaker 1: your anticipation, those are some of the things that you
Speaker 1: almost have to protect yourself from. Absolutely, I just uh
Speaker 1: probbed myself. I'm not showing my car. So if I
Speaker 1: don't have to show my cards, I definitely won't. One
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty two tackles, five sacks, and one interception.
Speaker 1: What when you think of back in this year, what
Speaker 1: did you miss most individual tackles? Did you have a
Speaker 1: sack there you could have got or maybe was there
Speaker 1: an interception, you think if you were a fingertip faster
Speaker 1: you would have got well. I felt like early in
Speaker 1: the year I missed a few tackles, so just getting
Speaker 1: those back, you know, when I was still knocking the
Speaker 1: rust off, no excuse at all, but I was missing
Speaker 1: a couple of tackles early in the year, so I
Speaker 1: definitely it would be dose. How about those crossing routes
Speaker 1: in the NFL, man, those are those are tough to
Speaker 1: deal with, aren't they for a linebacker because teams were
Speaker 1: doing that a lot, you know, probably testing you know,
Speaker 1: the defense out a lot and testing a rookie. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: you definitely expect that as a rookie linebacker. And then
Speaker 1: you know they expect a receiver on the linebacker the
Speaker 1: respect that as a mismatch. So um, yeah, you definitely
Speaker 1: have to work forward towards that. You've surprised a few
Speaker 1: of them though, because you can run with wide receivers, right.
Speaker 1: So that's the one thing that you know, when I
Speaker 1: went back and watch your tape at Georgia, I was
Speaker 1: just stunned. I was stunned at the ability to go
Speaker 1: all the way to the end zone with guys and
Speaker 1: that that's such a great quality to have with with
Speaker 1: teams you know want to get rid of the ball quick,
Speaker 1: they're gonna use those intermediate routes. Have you made subtle
Speaker 1: adjustments in your technique to defend those plays? I definitely do,
Speaker 1: I think, and that goes more to my base and
Speaker 1: like playing with leverage, So uh, playing a little lower
Speaker 1: because I've seen at some points I will I would
Speaker 1: get higher in my brakes and so the transition easier
Speaker 1: out with the lord base. It makes things a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot easier. You know, Danny Trevathan setting an
Speaker 1: article he can feel your speed when he plays next year.
Speaker 1: That's a heck of a compliment because Danny can run. Now,
Speaker 1: do you ever have to find yourself where you almost
Speaker 1: have to control your speed because with our pos or
Speaker 1: the different offenses face, you don't want to run yourself
Speaker 1: out of position and you want to make sure you
Speaker 1: stay in proper position against the blocker you're facing. So
Speaker 1: are you do you have to control your speed more? Oh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you definitely have to keep that in the back of
Speaker 1: your mom but not while not letting it slow you
Speaker 1: down at the same time, just keeping leverage on whatever
Speaker 1: whatever your job is for our particular play and Dan
Speaker 1: just following through and not getting ahead of the play
Speaker 1: and just more so just tracking things. Roquan Smith our
Speaker 1: guest here on Bears All Access. We're gonna step away
Speaker 1: for a break. We'll have more for you as we
Speaker 1: break down the Bears and Eagles wild Card weekend coming
Speaker 1: to Soldier Field on Sunday. For time there, I'm Jeff Jonahac.
Speaker 1: This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. This
Speaker 1: Sunday's game is brought to you by the Bears Premier
Speaker 1: playoff partners Advocate Healthcare, CDW, PNC, and Verizon. Here on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventies Score Bears All Access coming
Speaker 1: to you from PNC Studios at Hattlesaw. So please to
Speaker 1: be joined by the rookie linebacker roal Quant Smith. Heck,
Speaker 1: you're not a rookie anymore. Forget about it. You are
Speaker 1: a starter on a defense has blown people's doors off
Speaker 1: in every way. You know, you think Tom about the
Speaker 1: different things this defense has really done to offense. It's
Speaker 1: not just one thing, and that to me separates this defense.
Speaker 1: You have pressure, but you're also taking the ball away significantly.
Speaker 1: You're shutting down the run completely. Guys are playing fast
Speaker 1: and they're tackling everywhere across the board. I look at
Speaker 1: Adrian Amos for example, unwritten story this year, just how
Speaker 1: physical he's playing hitting guys. You guys are in the
Speaker 1: right place at the right time. So it's everything, and
Speaker 1: an offense has to look at the whole package here
Speaker 1: and know that you guys are dangerous at every different level.
Speaker 1: Do you agree with that? I absolutely agree with that, because,
Speaker 1: like you know, we obviously have great d lineman you know,
Speaker 1: exceptional outside linebackers to pretty solid inside linebackers as well,
Speaker 1: and then you know, pretty good guys on the outside
Speaker 1: as well, and then on the back end Eddie Jackson, Amos,
Speaker 1: those guys. So I think it's a it's a it's
Speaker 1: a really good groups. What's the perfect matchup? Because you
Speaker 1: guys have been so limiting to yards after the catch,
Speaker 1: and it seems like every time an opponent comes in
Speaker 1: you talk about while statistically looking at them, their yards
Speaker 1: after catch, you know, is one of the biggest assets
Speaker 1: of their game, but you guys seem to control that.
Speaker 1: Is it because you know the defense is so well,
Speaker 1: the defensive scheme so well, or is it that you
Speaker 1: know the offense so well that you guys are in
Speaker 1: more efficient place earlier. I will say it's a little
Speaker 1: bit of all of those. And then I think it's
Speaker 1: running to the ball as well. Like we when a
Speaker 1: guy catch the ball at the balls out of the
Speaker 1: quarterback hand, there's a living guys chasing the ball. So
Speaker 1: I think that definitely help helps eliminate yours at the catch.
Speaker 1: You know, I mentioned Danny Trevathan. He says sometimes he
Speaker 1: can feel your speed out there, and then he's also
Speaker 1: said that you guys aren't in a competition. You guys
Speaker 1: want to play well together, and that kind of that
Speaker 1: says a lot about Danny because you are the young guy,
Speaker 1: he's got Super Bowl experience, and you guys can help
Speaker 1: each other if you are not competitive but you're playing
Speaker 1: well together. Do you believe that? I absolutely believe that.
Speaker 1: Each and every day come out to practice. He's just like, hey,
Speaker 1: just needs your best to dad, and you know, and
Speaker 1: I say the same thing to him. So it's more
Speaker 1: so like we just demanding the best out of each
Speaker 1: other and just want the best for each other regardless
Speaker 1: who has a great game, and we just try to
Speaker 1: motivate each other like one have a bad player or
Speaker 1: something like that, just like wash it and things like that.
Speaker 1: So he've definitely helped me out, especially early on when
Speaker 1: I was you know, I'll have a bad play here
Speaker 1: or there. Have you had a haunting mental areat because
Speaker 1: we all have him. I mean, you're not going to
Speaker 1: be exempt from ed It's either gonna come an hour
Speaker 1: later in your career. Have you had one from your
Speaker 1: rookie year that you know you kind of played over
Speaker 1: in your head and you go, I know this will
Speaker 1: never happen again. Well, I wouldn't say it was actually
Speaker 1: a mental I would say it's more so like a
Speaker 1: little physical Well it could have been mental however you
Speaker 1: put it. But on the first time we played Minnesota
Speaker 1: when Diggs caught a little crosser right before halftime and
Speaker 1: I like completely missed it and like I wrapped him up,
Speaker 1: but like he ducked under and Danny gang like forty
Speaker 1: yards after that, and then luckily play later Andrew Amos
Speaker 1: called an interception, So that kind of washed it away.
Speaker 1: But when you watch tape of it, what is your correction?
Speaker 1: You know? Because our offensive flying coach Dick Staffeldt said, hey,
Speaker 1: I can coach you so much, but you have to
Speaker 1: start coaching yourself. So when you go back and you
Speaker 1: watch a play like that, what do you tell yourself
Speaker 1: about the next go around? Or I gotta be more
Speaker 1: in a broken fundamental tackling position, That's what I was telling.
Speaker 1: That's what I tell myself. I need to be more
Speaker 1: in like a fundamental tackling position when I see him
Speaker 1: like that, And I need to be lower in my
Speaker 1: stance and just explode through more so than just trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, slightly. Other things you could get away with
Speaker 1: at the college game, because everybody's not a star here
Speaker 1: in the league. You earn your way. You're an impact
Speaker 1: player that you can't get away with at this level.
Speaker 1: I would definitely say. I would say sometimes in college
Speaker 1: you can get the guys with like the shoe screen
Speaker 1: tackles and different things like that, Whereas on this level
Speaker 1: you have to make sure you wrap up because if
Speaker 1: you don't wrap up, you'll be in for a long haul.
Speaker 1: How about these tight ends in this game nowadays? I mean,
Speaker 1: you look at what you know George Kittle can do
Speaker 1: now with Gronk and he didn't get to play against
Speaker 1: the Bears, but and now you're gonna face you know,
Speaker 1: another outstanding almost wide receiver type of tight end, and
Speaker 1: zach Ertz just what they're capable of doing with their
Speaker 1: speed and physicality and what you guys have to do.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's not just one guy. It's not a safety,
Speaker 1: it's not a linebacker. It's everybody, you know, even bumping
Speaker 1: them a little bit to get them off their rhythm.
Speaker 1: It's it's a whole project now with tight ends, isn't it.
Speaker 1: I would definitely have to agree with you and the guys,
Speaker 1: you know, they're like you know, Hugh, So you know
Speaker 1: they're normally like six three and taller two forty five
Speaker 1: or more, and you know, create mismatches on the outside
Speaker 1: and run great routes and can overpower some dbs and
Speaker 1: different things like that. So but I think it just
Speaker 1: gets back to more of trusting your technique and then
Speaker 1: going into trusting your technique each and every plate and
Speaker 1: you know, bringing your best. You know, a couple of
Speaker 1: guys you had to be excited for last week, Javan
Speaker 1: Whims and Nick Quitkowski, Nick making those a big catching
Speaker 1: that two point conversion that he made, because you see it,
Speaker 1: you're running practice Yeah, it's a liminus speed, but now
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna get hit right in the chest
Speaker 1: as soon as you make the catch. It had to
Speaker 1: be fun to see a fellow linebacker go out there
Speaker 1: on the officsing side and and make some points for you. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: that was screamly happy for Nick and we definitely expressed
Speaker 1: that on his way coming off the field, jumping on
Speaker 1: him hot five and different things like that. And for Javon,
Speaker 1: UH been sending him doing it. Oh, you're a long
Speaker 1: so the guys. Guy's a great player. Been seeing him
Speaker 1: doing it Georgia, and so for him to just step
Speaker 1: up when his numb was called like that, it was
Speaker 1: pretty awesome and happy for right. I was excited that
Speaker 1: Mitchell Chubisky, he went to Kevin White, he went to
Speaker 1: Javon Wims. Here's these guys an opportunity to play late
Speaker 1: in the season with injuries and stuff. But it seems
Speaker 1: like every time Javon's gotten on the field, he's capitalized
Speaker 1: on his opportunity. And I think for those who are
Speaker 1: to trust throws too, you know, first down, first down catches,
Speaker 1: and I think the best is yet to come out
Speaker 1: of a young guy like Javan I would have to
Speaker 1: mar that, you know, from Georgia, you see it more
Speaker 1: than we yes, I've seen him for a little while
Speaker 1: and now I'll see him here with us here now.
Speaker 1: So it's it's pretty sweet ro Quan Smith with us
Speaker 1: here and our many moments and this segment of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access brought to you by Igs Energy. With a
Speaker 1: guy like Whims, I'm certain nobody's patient. They want to
Speaker 1: get on the field, but has he been as he is?
Speaker 1: It hard for a guy like he knows he can
Speaker 1: bring something and bring an element to the offense, plus
Speaker 1: got to wait his turn a little bit. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: one of those guys that trust the process. And he's
Speaker 1: more so not just waiting on his opportunity, but preparing
Speaker 1: for his opportunity day in and day out and weekend
Speaker 1: and week out. And he challenges himself each and every
Speaker 1: day he goes out to practice. So when a guy
Speaker 1: like a guy does that each and every week, good
Speaker 1: things normally happened. All right, let's take another break, Jeff
Speaker 1: and time with him with Roquan Smith here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score,
Speaker 1: Escape the cold and head to the Riu Palace cost
Speaker 1: Up mujaris in Cancoon with your favorite Bears players, including
Speaker 1: Princey Mukamara, Cody Whitehair, and Rokuan Smith. Inside the Bears
Speaker 1: hosts Lauren Screeden and Anthony Adams will also be on
Speaker 1: the journey. Visit Apple Vacations dot com. Slash Bears to
Speaker 1: a book today that will feel good after this season,
Speaker 1: after this run, huh, because you haven't had a second
Speaker 1: to take a breath, have you? Absolutely not, So I'm
Speaker 1: definitely looking forward to it out of the season. Have
Speaker 1: you been able to now after you, as you said
Speaker 1: at the start of the program, at the outset, now
Speaker 1: that you had time to, as you say, get in
Speaker 1: shape early in the season, get adjusted to the speed
Speaker 1: a little bit, get to know your teammates, get to
Speaker 1: know all the intricacies of Vic Fangio's defense, and your
Speaker 1: responsibilities and the responsibility at ten of the guys to
Speaker 1: now be yourself, be the player you envision you'd be
Speaker 1: when you got to the NFL. Absolutely, I feel like
Speaker 1: it definitely has been a road, but I've trusted it
Speaker 1: all along and then you know, had to support all
Speaker 1: my guys, So that's definitely huge. When you transition into
Speaker 1: like a new area in your life. So I definitely
Speaker 1: feel great about it. It's hard for a lot of
Speaker 1: people to understand what you've been through since the beginning
Speaker 1: of your college season last year, and you won't end
Speaker 1: until the end of this football season this year. A
Speaker 1: lot of times we hear more about how the quarterback,
Speaker 1: how the things start to slow down for him when
Speaker 1: they repetitiously do things or they get to see defenses.
Speaker 1: It's the same true for a linebacker. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the slowing down process would be for you, learning
Speaker 1: the understanding the call out of the huddle, or just
Speaker 1: watching offensive formations in front of you. It doesn't slow
Speaker 1: down for a defensive player. I definitely feel like it
Speaker 1: slows down for a defensive player because at moments there's
Speaker 1: only like some things this offense like out the film.
Speaker 1: So much of film study you can realize, okay, out
Speaker 1: of this formation, offense can only do a couple of things,
Speaker 1: So you put those couple of things in your head
Speaker 1: and then it's pretty much you just read and react
Speaker 1: after that. So I definitely feel like things have slowed
Speaker 1: down throughout. Do you feel that you need to take
Speaker 1: advantage of the technology on the sidelines of games, or
Speaker 1: do you just kind of like to think about the
Speaker 1: last series you came out of and let's talk about
Speaker 1: adjustments for the next one. Or do you like looking
Speaker 1: at the plays you just ran? What all depends if
Speaker 1: I felt like I could have done something better, or
Speaker 1: coach felt like I could have done something better, or
Speaker 1: if it got someone else. I'll try to take a
Speaker 1: look at it, so make sure they don't get me
Speaker 1: if that comes around to me next time. Real quant
Speaker 1: Smith our guest here on Bears All Access Jeff and
Speaker 1: Time with You on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to
Speaker 1: score Man. Naggie's very open. So if guy has something
Speaker 1: to say, something in terms of a play or an idea, boom,
Speaker 1: you can go to him offensively or I'm sure the
Speaker 1: whole team in general. But is Vic Fangio like that?
Speaker 1: Do you do you say, hey, Vick, if we thought
Speaker 1: about this. I mean, that may not be that, that
Speaker 1: may not be who he is, but I don't know
Speaker 1: because he doesn't really tell us. Is he that kind
Speaker 1: of open minded guy? Have you come up with ideas
Speaker 1: as a group or do you see things that you
Speaker 1: share with him? If I see something I was sharing
Speaker 1: with him, but I don't I don't come up and
Speaker 1: try to say, hey, big, have you thought about doing this?
Speaker 1: He's the guyfather. Yeah, that might be bad news. I
Speaker 1: don't know what the reaction might be. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: But you know, in terms of his seriousness, certainly it
Speaker 1: appears that way, and Tom and I have had many
Speaker 1: conversations with him, and he is who he is. But
Speaker 1: in meetings, how would you explain him? How would you
Speaker 1: characterize him in actual meetings showing your tape coming up
Speaker 1: with a game plan? I would say screamingly focused. He's
Speaker 1: one of those guys and uh, you know, like there's
Speaker 1: a time for joking around, then there's a time for business.
Speaker 1: And I would say he's business, um, and then just
Speaker 1: try to put you in the best position to succeed. Hey, um,
Speaker 1: A lot of us from the outside end of being
Speaker 1: an old has been football player in the modern day. Guys,
Speaker 1: this dancing thing. Did you dance in college? And have
Speaker 1: you probably? Have you danced more in the locker room
Speaker 1: this season? And you have up you know, throughout your
Speaker 1: career up unto this point. I would definitely say so,
Speaker 1: because like in college, high school, I never danced so
Speaker 1: like this year was club dub dancing in there as
Speaker 1: well as on the field without the touchdown celebration. So
Speaker 1: I haven't danced like this in a while. It's it's
Speaker 1: got to be a great deal of fun because you
Speaker 1: know you're in a room with your closest piers at
Speaker 1: this time in your life, and to see everybody getting involved.
Speaker 1: It's got to be fun to know that as soon
Speaker 1: as you leave a field that you just want that
Speaker 1: you're going to go into an atmosphere that's a lot
Speaker 1: of us haven't seen in our life or in our careers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely pretty special. Uh sorry, most people have to
Speaker 1: mix out miss out on it. But it's definitely a
Speaker 1: sp Well we could talk to Tariq. Yeah, you can
Speaker 1: track the VIP. I ask everybody, have you seen anybody
Speaker 1: dance that should never dance again? I would probably have
Speaker 1: to say myself, really glad, I don't I don't buy that.
Speaker 1: Oh man, Well, hey, you know it's it's called self scouting. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, you self Scott to be honest with yourself.
Speaker 1: That's the first step in the honesty process. Lick yourself
Speaker 1: in the mirror and see where you're at on that. Uh,
Speaker 1: I highly doubt it, though there's some guys in there
Speaker 1: that I would see, you know. But you know, it
Speaker 1: has the feel of a college atmosphere a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know, And I think it's befitting of a young
Speaker 1: team and a young coach. She's not that far removed
Speaker 1: from all of this. And it's under the title of
Speaker 1: bu You know, he wants you guys to be this way.
Speaker 1: He has emphasized it for as himself. He's got it
Speaker 1: on his play sheet, be you and bold letters. Do
Speaker 1: you appreciate how he's gone about his business as a
Speaker 1: head coach and in the game knows you guys must
Speaker 1: know you're always going to be aggressive. Absolutely. I love
Speaker 1: that about him saying be you because everyone get to
Speaker 1: express their own personality and I feel like when each
Speaker 1: and every individual it's being themselves, it just brings out
Speaker 1: the best in each and everyone around him. And I
Speaker 1: really think these last two draft classes, you guys came
Speaker 1: in positive and came in believing that you guys are
Speaker 1: going to be a part of the big change. And
Speaker 1: that started with Mitch's class. I really believe that and
Speaker 1: now with your class, like Kim Hecks paid you guys
Speaker 1: the best comprom all you guys, James, you know these
Speaker 1: are really well adjusted rookies, like they get. It's not
Speaker 1: nothing's too big for you guys. You know your draft class,
Speaker 1: you guys are tight. Would you agree with that? I
Speaker 1: definitely would agree with that. And I'll give credit to
Speaker 1: the guys upstairs like putting a class together like this,
Speaker 1: A lot of level headed guys that came in not
Speaker 1: just like got really good on the football field, but
Speaker 1: guys that are good off the field as well. So
Speaker 1: I definitely think that's pretty great good. It's like a
Speaker 1: puzzle in that locker room, no doubt about a Roe
Speaker 1: Quant Smith. One more segment coming up here on Bears
Speaker 1: All Access with Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniac. This is
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score Special. Thanks to
Speaker 1: Roquant Smith, the Bears inside linebacker, for joining us to
Speaker 1: out on Bears All Access. Ruth's Chris would like you
Speaker 1: to have this one hundred dollars gift card to enjoy
Speaker 1: it one of their Chicagoland area steakhouses. Ruth's Chris. This
Speaker 1: is how it's done. This is procedural. Tom has to
Speaker 1: open it up and look at it just to make
Speaker 1: sure he's not missing something or all the eyes and
Speaker 1: teaser dot is it proper? Is it? Yes? I just
Speaker 1: good to go. I just think of the one hundred
Speaker 1: dollars Orfice that I help ro Quan. You stay gang,
Speaker 1: you like it? There, you go, well, you enjoy that,
Speaker 1: That's for sure. We do appreciate you taking the time
Speaker 1: because you know, Matt Naggi's talked about it consistently every week.
Speaker 1: You know, don't change. This is how you prepare prepared
Speaker 1: the same way this week. But there's a lot more media,
Speaker 1: there's a lot more stuff going on, and you could
Speaker 1: easily drift into that. He even admitted that, uh today
Speaker 1: that you know, it's it's you fight that with yourself.
Speaker 1: You know that you have to do more to get
Speaker 1: ready for the same game you're playing really from a
Speaker 1: mental standpoint, and you've played in big bowl games, in
Speaker 1: National championship for Crantolat when it is one and done
Speaker 1: and Tom, you know, the mental part of it is
Speaker 1: really the most significant to understand what you're about to
Speaker 1: go into. Yeah, but you know, I think in roll
Speaker 1: Quant's case and all the rookies case, it's a little
Speaker 1: bit different because the veterans have it, they've already been
Speaker 1: through this and they understand what the NFL season entails.
Speaker 1: You know, for a guy like yourself, Roll Quant, there
Speaker 1: had to be as much mental stress on you when
Speaker 1: you were sitting out training camp as physical stress that
Speaker 1: you go through every day in practice. Does it seem
Speaker 1: long to you right now? Are you mentally fresher? Where
Speaker 1: do you feel that you're at Because we hear so
Speaker 1: much about the rookie wall and everybody faces at one
Speaker 1: time in the year career, but your rookie year has
Speaker 1: been a little bit of a little unique because of
Speaker 1: the just the mental stress that you go through when
Speaker 1: you're going through a business decision. Absolutely, and I would
Speaker 1: say I'm like riding a fine line right now. I've
Speaker 1: yet to see the rookie wall. So I feel fresh
Speaker 1: and I feel I feel great. So um, I don't
Speaker 1: know if it was from, like, I don't really know
Speaker 1: what it's from, but like I'm I'm feeling great in them.
Speaker 1: I'm screening well, your practice schedule sensible, you're the food
Speaker 1: opportunities for you on a daily basis is second to none.
Speaker 1: The facility is great. So everything that's asked of you
Speaker 1: is rewarded back to you in the facility and the
Speaker 1: way that Matt Naggie is getting you guys parents. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of nice. It's like being in a college
Speaker 1: atmosphere with no classes except four hours a day. What's Danny,
Speaker 1: I would say, Danny's he's a real cool I feel
Speaker 1: like he's cool coming collective, Like he don't say much
Speaker 1: all the time. He say he say enough, but he
Speaker 1: don't say too much or anything like that, and just
Speaker 1: always out like he'll give you his last and he's
Speaker 1: just always out to help in any way he can,
Speaker 1: regardless if it's on the field off the field. Like Danny.
Speaker 1: He was like when I first got up here, like Danny,
Speaker 1: you know, didn't know me from anyone. He was just
Speaker 1: like I didn't have a carb here at the time
Speaker 1: or anything. He was just like, yeah, you can borrow
Speaker 1: my car, man, you can. It'll get you around, uh
Speaker 1: for the two weeks you're up here and whatnot, And
Speaker 1: like you know, didn't ask for anything, Like he's saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll put gas in it for you if you need that,
Speaker 1: because I've yet the signing things like that. So little
Speaker 1: things like that speaks major volume, and like I can't
Speaker 1: thank the God enough for who who he is. Well,
Speaker 1: that makes it makes a first year player feel at
Speaker 1: east right, welcome into the family, so to speak. That's
Speaker 1: that's not well he on Brian Urlacher used to do
Speaker 1: that all the time. Danny knows that he's going to
Speaker 1: be a better player if ro Kwan is a better player,
Speaker 1: and it's that's what he said reading that article about him,
Speaker 1: is we're not in a competition with each other. We
Speaker 1: want to make each other better. I feel Roquan Smith
Speaker 1: or why I feel a speed when he runs, and
Speaker 1: I think that's um. Yeah, it says a lot for
Speaker 1: Danny Trevathan, but he also understands the big picture, and
Speaker 1: this is the big picture. You're getting ready to play
Speaker 1: a playoff game. And if if you guys were kind
Speaker 1: of at odds or weren't in there trying to help
Speaker 1: each other, it would be difficult to on the defense,
Speaker 1: I definitely would have to agree, because like a divided
Speaker 1: room never brings much success, and it's hard. But luckily,
Speaker 1: you know, he's a great guy, you know, and he's
Speaker 1: always out to help and I feel the same way
Speaker 1: about him, So it's definitely great. So we take a
Speaker 1: look at the Philadelphi Eagles here. What are we looking
Speaker 1: at offensively? I would say a very spirits offense. You know,
Speaker 1: you got weapons on the outside in Jeffrey's Nielson quarterback
Speaker 1: of a lot of spirits quick release, make a lot
Speaker 1: of high percentage throws, so I think, and with a
Speaker 1: great offensive line. So I think it'll definitely be a
Speaker 1: challenge for us, but we wouldn't like it any other way.
Speaker 1: Did you ever watch Darren Sproles play when he was
Speaker 1: a young guy, and maybe you are a young guy
Speaker 1: through high school and college, because you know, he's an
Speaker 1: interesting guy. He's kind, he's kind of pre ture calling,
Speaker 1: you know, and he has a lot of the elements
Speaker 1: that Trek does doing offense, and you know, what do
Speaker 1: you think about him and how how special he can
Speaker 1: be here? What he can add to an offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would definitely say that guy's been doing it for
Speaker 1: a very long time. And he can split out, get
Speaker 1: in the backfield, so he can create a lot of mismatches.
Speaker 1: So he'll definitely present some challenges, but we love it
Speaker 1: that way and we're very excited. The Mina Zuma missile
Speaker 1: will be introducing himself to mister Darren Sproles. That's uh
Speaker 1: Mina Zuma, Georgia's real Kuan Smith. Hey, it's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1: We've enjoyed you this year. You're heck of a football
Speaker 1: player and the best is yet to come. And go
Speaker 1: have fun on Sunday. Man. These these these things don't
Speaker 1: always show up on the radar, so it'll be fun
Speaker 1: to watch you guys play as a team. You guys
Speaker 1: have earned every bit of it. Absolutely, ro Kuan Smith
Speaker 1: our guest here on Bears Our Access for Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Johnny Ac. Thanks to Dan BURRELLI Paul's Ranger engineer,
Speaker 1: and all you at home for listening for Roquan Smith,
Speaker 1: Jeff and Tom have a great night at everybody. This
Speaker 1: is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot com and on
Speaker 1: iTunes or download the official Bears mobile app. Bears All
Speaker 1: Access has been brought to you by IGS Energy and
Speaker 1: sponsored by CDW, Athletico Physical Therapy and Ford