Speaker 1: And a pleasant good even everybody, and welcome into Bears
Speaker 1: All Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The score,
Speaker 1: we get you set for Bears and Buccaneers in Tampa
Speaker 1: rematch from last year it Soldier Field when Tom Brady
Speaker 1: and the Buccaneers were stopped by DeAndre Houston Carson in
Speaker 1: the Bears defense and they went at twenty to nineteen.
Speaker 1: From there, the Bucks only got better and went on
Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl, and the Bears finished a
Speaker 1: playoff team and probably Tom there needed that win to
Speaker 1: get to the playoffs. In fact they know they did.
Speaker 1: So that turned out for the Bears. They did not
Speaker 1: go anywhere past New Warnings in the playoffs, but the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers had brought everybody back and they're ready to go.
Speaker 1: We'll break that all down for you. We'll also talk
Speaker 1: to a couple of individuals, one the veteran voice of
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers, Gene Deckerhoff, their radio analyst and play by
Speaker 1: play man. And then we'll also we'll be joined by
Speaker 1: Khalil Herbert, the Bear's sixth round Bunny back, Tom, how
Speaker 1: you doing and where you're at and where the Bears
Speaker 1: are at three and three? After that loss to the
Speaker 1: Packers headed down to Tampa. You know, I was still
Speaker 1: lingering effects from getting beat by Green Bay Packers. It's
Speaker 1: always a tough loss to take emotionally. But you know,
Speaker 1: the more I think out this game, I think this
Speaker 1: is one of the landmark games in the history of
Speaker 1: the Bears. If history I'm gonna I'm gonna explain myself.
Speaker 1: I think when you go down to Tampa Bay and
Speaker 1: you're playing the Super Bowl champion, if you beat them,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be one of the most talked about games
Speaker 1: around the NFL for weeks to come. Jeff. Since the
Speaker 1: beginning of the week, we've been twelve and a half
Speaker 1: point underdogs. It could be a landmark game and maybe
Speaker 1: one of the worst defeats ever. So what I just
Speaker 1: look at the opposite end of the spectrum here. It
Speaker 1: could be one of the greatest victories in the history
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears, or it could be one of
Speaker 1: the most devastating losses in the history of the Bears.
Speaker 1: Because again, I don't know how many teams I've been
Speaker 1: a part of that have been twelve and a point
Speaker 1: twelve and a half point underdog since the beginning of
Speaker 1: the week, right, Tom Fair. How do they go about
Speaker 1: doing it? You got to focus all your attention on
Speaker 1: making it the most uncomfortable afternoon for Tom Brady you
Speaker 1: can possibly put on his shoulders. You know, Tom Brady
Speaker 1: is not elusive. He's not going to run outside the pocket.
Speaker 1: He's gonna recognize your defense and try to attack it immediately.
Speaker 1: You gotta make that phone booth size area very uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: If he's trying to follow through a Keem Higgs has
Speaker 1: got to be pushing an offensive lineman into his lap,
Speaker 1: or any of the defensive lineman. If he's gonna try
Speaker 1: to set back there, one of those outside rushers has
Speaker 1: to get near his feet. They just have to make
Speaker 1: an uncomfortable form. If you can disrupt his timing, that's
Speaker 1: where you're gonna get that interception, that word, that's where
Speaker 1: you're gonna get that big incompletion. So it's about how
Speaker 1: you attack Tom Brady, and it's very difficult to do.
Speaker 1: Even watching him against the Eagles, he just hangs in
Speaker 1: that pocket as long as he possibly can, and he
Speaker 1: knows exactly where to go with the football, gets rid
Speaker 1: of it quickly. What he has to uses the screen game,
Speaker 1: which I think is deadly. They're using that a lot more.
Speaker 1: They'd like to go up top, but they're taking away
Speaker 1: things in that regard because they got playmakers to do it.
Speaker 1: But they lead the league in yards after the catch
Speaker 1: and they got three outstanding receivers. All could be Pro
Speaker 1: Bowls for Antonio Brown, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. Sean
Speaker 1: Desai had a conversation with the media earlier today, as
Speaker 1: he does every Thursday, and one of the big topics
Speaker 1: was tackling. Tackling in general. I know Eddie Jackson's gotten
Speaker 1: a lot of that to Sean Gibson at the safety
Speaker 1: position in terms of critiques, but he says this is
Speaker 1: up to him, It's up to the guys and it's
Speaker 1: team Why no, you're not. I don't believe in As
Speaker 1: a teacher, I'm believing threatening anything. I don't think threats
Speaker 1: are the way to go. So as a leader or
Speaker 1: a teacher now, I think as a leader and a teacher,
Speaker 1: you got to find unique ways to teach and make
Speaker 1: sure your message getting across to your players. We do
Speaker 1: that in a lot of different ways, whether it's in
Speaker 1: the film room or in practice, and we got to
Speaker 1: continue to do a better job of it. Like I said,
Speaker 1: from a teaching and coaching perspective and an execution perspective, right,
Speaker 1: this is not This is not just on one party
Speaker 1: in terms of player or coach. It's a collective effort.
Speaker 1: And ultimately, between the lines, we got to execute, and
Speaker 1: we got to give them a chance to execute, put
Speaker 1: them in good positions, and give them the proper techniques.
Speaker 1: In training well Sean's design, the coaches can try to
Speaker 1: put the players in the most perfect position they possibly
Speaker 1: can be at. However, when it comes down to a tackle,
Speaker 1: it's not the coaches have nothing to do with it.
Speaker 1: It's about your willingness, your desire, and your commitment to
Speaker 1: make that tackle, to run through that offensive player with
Speaker 1: the football, to make sure that you're fundamentally in or
Speaker 1: the right position if you're facing a running back through
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage or a wide receiver downfield. This
Speaker 1: is about player commitment. This is coach's preparation. Once they
Speaker 1: hand the ball off to you on that Saturday night
Speaker 1: team meeting or that Sunday morning meeting, then it's in
Speaker 1: the hands of the players. All right, So as of
Speaker 1: right now, we're not certain what the status is of
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn. What a great start to the year here
Speaker 1: in Khalil Mack the most dangerous do right now. In
Speaker 1: terms of sacks in the league, they haven't had a
Speaker 1: ton of pressures. Others have had more, but they're getting
Speaker 1: big plays and getting to the quarterback, which certainly does
Speaker 1: make things more challenging for an offense. But if they
Speaker 1: don't have him, it's an opportunity for a guy like
Speaker 1: Trevis Gibson. Oh, it's the biggest opportunity in a young
Speaker 1: man's lifetime because if Gibson's get the opportunity to go
Speaker 1: down to Tampa Bay and start a game and he
Speaker 1: gets his myths on to Tom Brady. A couple times
Speaker 1: we talked about a landmark type of game this could be.
Speaker 1: That could be a landmark type of performance for Trevis
Speaker 1: Gibson and Jeff I like you like, and I like
Speaker 1: what we've seen out of him since the beginning of
Speaker 1: training camp. Now to be able to parlay that into
Speaker 1: a productive start that could mean big things for the Bears.
Speaker 1: Sukeners are getting some stuff done on the ground with
Speaker 1: Leonard Fournette Ronald Jones Junior, but it's Fournette the guy
Speaker 1: right Now, the Bears run defense did get hit a
Speaker 1: little bit by Aaron Jones and the Packers last week
Speaker 1: as the game wore on. They didn't earn the right
Speaker 1: to rush the passer. But it has to be the
Speaker 1: case against Tampa Bay. Although Brady's gonna throw it forty times.
Speaker 1: They like throwing the football, that is a fact. They
Speaker 1: don't run it as much as they throw it. But
Speaker 1: that run game, they've leaned on it a little bit here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it simplifies what Tom Brady has to do
Speaker 1: in order for Tampa Bay to be successful. But if
Speaker 1: you attack a running back like Leonard Fournette, how you
Speaker 1: would go up and try to attack Derrick Henry from
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans. You got to stop him before he
Speaker 1: starts his momentum. If you can get him to backtrack
Speaker 1: him in the backfield, you'll limit the success of Leonard Fournette.
Speaker 1: All right. So last year, Tristan Worf's the tackle for
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of Iowa as a rookie.
Speaker 1: He gave up one sack all year and he has
Speaker 1: not given up a sack since. The only sack was
Speaker 1: to Khalil Mack. And we remember what happened on that
Speaker 1: play afterwards, remember Khalil talk. Yeah, I mean that was
Speaker 1: some kind of power shown by Khalil. But something like
Speaker 1: that sticks in the mind of a rookie a year
Speaker 1: ago and now a season vet and a Super Bowl champion.
Speaker 1: But overall, that offensive line has some real good, nasty
Speaker 1: guys in there, including Jensen at center. Ryan Jensen will
Speaker 1: play through and to the echo of the whistle. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, they kind of compliment the commitment of Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady has high expectations on his offensive line. They
Speaker 1: need to be physical when they're run blocking, and they
Speaker 1: need protective when they're throwing the ball. So I just
Speaker 1: think that, yeah, some of these guys get a great
Speaker 1: reputation because they're playing with a quarterback as good as
Speaker 1: Tom Brady. However, when you think of Jensen the center
Speaker 1: and you look at the rest of those guys, yeah,
Speaker 1: they got a real nasty disposition about the way they
Speaker 1: go about their business. All right, So a lot of
Speaker 1: head here we'll talk to coming up next. Coming up next,
Speaker 1: we'll talk to Khalil Herbert, the Bears rookie running back,
Speaker 1: and then later in the show will break down the
Speaker 1: defense of the Buccaneers, coordinated by one of the best.
Speaker 1: He has done a great job over the course of
Speaker 1: his career time Bulls. With Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy.
Speaker 1: Choose clean energy for your home at igs dot com
Speaker 1: because every good choice adds up to a better world.
Speaker 1: This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. This
Speaker 1: segment of Bears All Access is brought to you by
Speaker 1: CDW people who get it. With Tom Fair, Jeff Joniak
Speaker 1: please to be joined by sixth round rookie running back
Speaker 1: Khalil Herbert playing some great football little how you doing man?
Speaker 1: And how much fun has this been? Here for the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks and frankly the whole season because
Speaker 1: it's dream come true to make it to the NFL
Speaker 1: and you're taking advantage of every opportunity. Yeah, definitely is
Speaker 1: definitely is It's great. Um, you know, I'm really enjoying
Speaker 1: the opportunity to be here, you know, play here. So
Speaker 1: just making the most of it, trying to make the
Speaker 1: most of you. You know. One of the things I
Speaker 1: watch is this Pro Football Focus, and they do a
Speaker 1: lot of detailed analysis and It's not always accurate in
Speaker 1: terms of how a team looks at it, but what
Speaker 1: you're getting after context speaks to your ability as a
Speaker 1: guy rides low to the ground, so to speak, gets
Speaker 1: small all the whole and then can break tackles with
Speaker 1: a low center of gravity. But they have you at
Speaker 1: two point eight eight average yards after contact, six forced
Speaker 1: miss tackles in one hundred and eight yards total here
Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks. Does it feel like that,
Speaker 1: you know those numbers did they reflect how you feel
Speaker 1: on the games that you've played so far. I'm not
Speaker 1: even sure. I have to go back and watch the
Speaker 1: film and count. I don't know how they're counting that stuff.
Speaker 1: But I'm just being able to break tackles and make
Speaker 1: people missing something we work on every day. So just
Speaker 1: going back to my roots and doing those kind of things, well,
Speaker 1: you know, it's pretty cool. As a play you ran
Speaker 1: in the Las Vegas game where you were running up
Speaker 1: the middle and you were continuing to churn your legs,
Speaker 1: but right alongside you was Jimmy Graham. You know, a
Speaker 1: guy that's been around for you know, fIF fifteen or
Speaker 1: plus years now in the NFL al and you know
Speaker 1: that's kind of cool, man, is when you get that
Speaker 1: immediate respect by a veteran like that to push alongside you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it definitely is. You know, me and Jenmy mess around
Speaker 1: every day, but just to see how him in the
Speaker 1: time it ends. They attack blocks and you know, they
Speaker 1: open up big holes for me and they help out
Speaker 1: anyway they can in the run game. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: very appreciative of them. Hey Clill, do you Number one?
Speaker 1: Do you play fantasy football? Number two? If you don't,
Speaker 1: are your friends playing fantasy football? And they gotta be
Speaker 1: on you about you know, you know, patting your stats
Speaker 1: to help them out? I did, I always did before,
Speaker 1: but this year, you know, I decided to take a break.
Speaker 1: But all my friends they play UM and the and there.
Speaker 1: Last week it was funny they're talking about picking me
Speaker 1: up and stuff. So just listening to them, it's kind
Speaker 1: of funny. It's kind of surreal. Hey, I want to
Speaker 1: circle back on Jimmy Graham because that's a great topic,
Speaker 1: great story. And the reason I bring it up because
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers they set out their team notes
Speaker 1: and you're going through all the notes and you're seeing
Speaker 1: the big bold colors. Rob Gronkowski's career and right there
Speaker 1: and all the career statistics is Jimmy Graham. I mean
Speaker 1: we're talking about catches by a tight end, yards, touchdowns,
Speaker 1: red zone and you say you mess around with him
Speaker 1: every day. What's his role over that rob blocker room?
Speaker 1: Definitely that you can tell he's been around along a
Speaker 1: long time. But he's definitely that vet leader in the
Speaker 1: locker room, you know, brings along the old the younger
Speaker 1: guys like me. Um, just kind of getting used to
Speaker 1: that day to day stuff, taking care of my body, um,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of getting my mind right before the game. Um.
Speaker 1: You could even see him in the interview with Mooney
Speaker 1: out of the mic. That would movie just again everybody
Speaker 1: ready to go smack him pretty good energy every day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he smacks it pretty good. Oh yeah, liked it too much. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I always think about you transferring because you know, you really,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of go all in in the poker
Speaker 1: terms when you transfer from one school to the next
Speaker 1: and then you contribute immediately. How did that process help
Speaker 1: you be more ready for this year? Because you come
Speaker 1: in as a rookie, you see who's in front of you.
Speaker 1: You you know, you don't know how it's gonna go. Then. Also,
Speaker 1: now you're the starting running back of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: How did that go through that process of transferring and
Speaker 1: producing immediately? I say, just being ready expecting the unexpected.
Speaker 1: You know, especially with COVID happening last year. You know,
Speaker 1: we didn't know if we're gonna have a see and
Speaker 1: so the little film that I had, I had to
Speaker 1: produce and put something on film if we were gonna play,
Speaker 1: if we were if we're not going to play. So
Speaker 1: just really trying to produce and you know, expect unexpected
Speaker 1: and be ready to go immediately when my numbers called,
Speaker 1: I think helped me a lot. You always talk about
Speaker 1: is this running back? You know his vision? You know
Speaker 1: this running back canny pick up. Let's this running back
Speaker 1: Kenny catch. I think you need a more exposure in
Speaker 1: the passing game. You did a really nice job of
Speaker 1: the catch you made this week, converting into a first down,
Speaker 1: but it wasn't necessarily a real ready position to make
Speaker 1: the catch. So let's got to elevate your opportunities in
Speaker 1: the passing game. What don't you think? Oh yeah, definitely, um,
Speaker 1: you know that's all. It's the coaches. But you know,
Speaker 1: I'm ready to I feel like I could do everything
Speaker 1: out of the backfield. So just being ready and you know,
Speaker 1: getting ready for when my numbers called. Because well, Herbert
Speaker 1: our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access and it's brought to you
Speaker 1: by IGS Energy with Tom There, Jeff, Joni Clue. I
Speaker 1: gotta go talk about number, the number twenty one. It's
Speaker 1: seems to be significant in your life. And you brought
Speaker 1: this up I think during the draft or prior to
Speaker 1: the draft, but you always wore number twenty one because
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken with Dani and Tomminson, right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: And what did you love about his play? His I
Speaker 1: mean obviously the Hall of Fame back so I think
Speaker 1: you guys are probably pretty similar in height and weight too.
Speaker 1: Just his ability to do everything, you know, um short yardage.
Speaker 1: You know, he could take the ball at the distance,
Speaker 1: he can catch the ball at the battlefield, pick up
Speaker 1: puts is just whatever you need him to do, he
Speaker 1: was able to do it, and he did it at
Speaker 1: a high level. So just really that in a lot
Speaker 1: of his moves, you know, he did some stuff that
Speaker 1: a lot of people can't replicate. So and still to
Speaker 1: this day a classy guy, a guy's humble, and despite
Speaker 1: being in the Hall of Fame, do you still pop
Speaker 1: on his tape every now and again? Just for kicks? Definitely?
Speaker 1: Just you know, if if I'm wondering what I can
Speaker 1: do to set somebody up on a route, or if
Speaker 1: I'm if I'm one on one with somebody in space,
Speaker 1: just trying to add different things to my game that
Speaker 1: that you know, he may have used to help me out.
Speaker 1: Here's the other weird thing. So if you're a numbers
Speaker 1: guy like me, I find I find it interesting. So
Speaker 1: you were born on the twenty first, correct, you were
Speaker 1: twenty one, and you were pick two one seventeen. I
Speaker 1: know you'd like to be a lot higher, but did
Speaker 1: you did? I bet you didn't even see that number
Speaker 1: buried in the two seventeen. I didn't realize that one.
Speaker 1: But it's creepy. So yeah, but why not. We're twenty
Speaker 1: one now. I mean somebody had it when I first
Speaker 1: got here, you know, so, and I'm not really it's
Speaker 1: still available. I just took. I just took the number
Speaker 1: that they gave me. I kind of like the two
Speaker 1: board now you know, it's growing on me. I like it.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stick with it right, commit to the number. Man,
Speaker 1: It's got a lot of years in there for you,
Speaker 1: so you could always make the change. But this is
Speaker 1: what you got. Kind of an aggravating question. So all right,
Speaker 1: I'm a Bears alumni, you're a Bears player. I'm a
Speaker 1: season ticket holder. I've grew up in Chicago and my
Speaker 1: whole life and I've been a Bears fan. So when
Speaker 1: I see the Rogers what he said in the end zone,
Speaker 1: and then I see it carried over to Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: to me, it frustrates me because I don't want the
Speaker 1: Bears to be the butt of anybody's joke. Do you
Speaker 1: guys talk about that? Do you not pay attention to it?
Speaker 1: Is it a topic inside the locker room that says, hey, man,
Speaker 1: we got to write the ship. I didn't. I don't
Speaker 1: know what happened with Tom Brady, but um from Rogers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's something that you know, we we try not to
Speaker 1: let happen. We try to We definitely try to fix
Speaker 1: that and change that so things like that can't be said. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, we don't want to be taken as a
Speaker 1: joke to anybody. So it's definitely something you know, we
Speaker 1: take with a grain of salt and we try to
Speaker 1: you know, come back and you know, hopefully next time
Speaker 1: we played and we'll be ready. So at this stage
Speaker 1: of your young career, you look into the eyes of
Speaker 1: a guy like Jason Peters, you think, man, this this
Speaker 1: guy's thirty nine years old. He's seeing everything in football.
Speaker 1: Do you ever, you know, have a question or an
Speaker 1: opportunity to talk to him, to pick his brain about
Speaker 1: something that may be so far in the future for you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: especially you know with passpro just you know, seeing what
Speaker 1: he sees. Really, just any type of advice I can get,
Speaker 1: I try and you know, pick his brain and he's
Speaker 1: great with helping me out, slowing things down for me
Speaker 1: and allowing me to know who I got or you know,
Speaker 1: be aware of certain things that he might he might
Speaker 1: point out for me just to help me play fast
Speaker 1: and you know, pick things up. Honestly, it's like a
Speaker 1: coach on the field and not a bad guy to
Speaker 1: run behind her on that left side, right, Yeah, definitely, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Khalil Herbert our guest. We're gonna step away take our
Speaker 1: first break here on Chicago sports Radio six seventy The Score.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Bears All Access here on Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy the Score. This segment of Bears All
Speaker 1: Access brought to you by Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit athletical
Speaker 1: dot com to request an appointment in clinic or virtually
Speaker 1: and start feeling better tomorrow. Joined by Khalil Herbert, the
Speaker 1: Bears rookie running back. I'm no longer even gonna put
Speaker 1: around on yet, because once you're here, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: And you are proving that every single day, starting out
Speaker 1: with a kick return game and finding a way to
Speaker 1: get on the field. And that's really the first step
Speaker 1: in the processes, and it finding a way to get
Speaker 1: on the field and impressing your coaches and they all
Speaker 1: tell me how hard you work every day, one of
Speaker 1: the first guys in here, always on the field, working
Speaker 1: extra I mean, this is that's something that you're born with.
Speaker 1: I feel it's not something that you just automatically show
Speaker 1: up and do. Hey, some guys do, but it sounds
Speaker 1: like this is always what you've always been about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's I feel like that's how I got here. Um,
Speaker 1: I was never like the most talented um, you know
Speaker 1: this freakish athlete. I just always had to put in
Speaker 1: extra work and always had to do things, you know
Speaker 1: when people aren't watching that to be where I am today.
Speaker 1: So just continuing it with that mindset and you know,
Speaker 1: trying to get better every day, trying to find something
Speaker 1: that I could get better at each day. You know,
Speaker 1: it's helping me out. So you know, Khalil, when Jeff
Speaker 1: and I saw you for the first time out of practice,
Speaker 1: you know you had development that you are either naturally
Speaker 1: gifted or you're dedicated to the weight room. When when
Speaker 1: we see it from the outside, what is it just
Speaker 1: something you've been blessed with or are you a weight
Speaker 1: room guy from years back? Definitely a weight room guy.
Speaker 1: When I was younger, I was, I was chubby, h
Speaker 1: I played online in Little League. So just continuing to
Speaker 1: you know, lose that and keep my weight off and um,
Speaker 1: lift weights is something that's helped me out a lot.
Speaker 1: So just definitely a weight room guys. Something I pride
Speaker 1: myself on and you know, I feel like I I
Speaker 1: love to lift, especially squads. So yeah, I was gonna
Speaker 1: ask you do you have a favorite lift? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it. I don't know. I just something about it,
Speaker 1: just I don't know. I love. We had big squad
Speaker 1: Fridays at my school and it was this whole big thing.
Speaker 1: So it was fun. What's your pr Oh? When I squat?
Speaker 1: We did two rep maxes so I think I did
Speaker 1: five thirty five twice A very good Yeah. It's a
Speaker 1: lot of weight moving a lot away. Hey, clear, I
Speaker 1: would just want to ask you a question about your
Speaker 1: kickoff return experience. When I'm a football fan, so I
Speaker 1: watched a lot of college football up and aggravates me
Speaker 1: more than the frequency of fair catches in college football
Speaker 1: on kickoffs. Yeah, so you really did you never your
Speaker 1: standard was set man if if I got a chance
Speaker 1: to catch it and I'm going, which I think that's
Speaker 1: what we have grown to admire around here. You know,
Speaker 1: what did you learn from that process? You know you
Speaker 1: were doing so well at it. Does it help you
Speaker 1: as a running back or is it completely different than
Speaker 1: a carry from behind center? Um? I feel like it
Speaker 1: definitely helps just especially that was my kind of first
Speaker 1: taste of real NFL speed in the real NFL game. Um,
Speaker 1: just getting the field for that speed, you know, getting
Speaker 1: the field taking those hits. So just getting me ready
Speaker 1: for when I'm when I'm behind center, just knowing what
Speaker 1: it feels like to be an NFL game. So just
Speaker 1: I say, from that standpoint, it does. And then it's
Speaker 1: kind of just like running the ball inside zone. How
Speaker 1: we blocked things so well. Then backtracking, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you're a fan of college football, if you were
Speaker 1: in college and you had kickoff returned opportunities, would you'd
Speaker 1: be a fair catcher or would you would be a
Speaker 1: guy that would take it off? Oh? No, I would.
Speaker 1: I'm taking it out every time, and all right, especially
Speaker 1: at VT. My coach he was very aggressive and he's like,
Speaker 1: if you're able to catch it, bring it out. So
Speaker 1: you know, I feel like coach Taves has the same mindset,
Speaker 1: and you know, I feel like we do a really
Speaker 1: good job return blocking. So Khalil Herbert, our guest here
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you watched College Game Day before your day
Speaker 1: gets started, but to me, it's one of the best
Speaker 1: shows on television. But last weekend they had JJ Weaver
Speaker 1: of Kentucky. If you've seen this feature that they did
Speaker 1: on him, because he was born with six fingers on
Speaker 1: his right hand. We know your story. You're born with
Speaker 1: twelve fingers. You have a sixth toe on the left foot,
Speaker 1: three R webbed. And the feature was about the abuse
Speaker 1: he took as a kid. You know, he was always heckled,
Speaker 1: he was bullied and said they used to call him
Speaker 1: an alien. So he went to an elementary school. Did
Speaker 1: you see this feature? I didn't see the feature, but
Speaker 1: I did see the picture. Yeah, So he went to
Speaker 1: an elementary school. One of the teachers there also had
Speaker 1: a similar condition. And I don't know what it's called.
Speaker 1: I can't pronounce it. Turns out one in every one
Speaker 1: thousand berths in the world, this this happens, but it
Speaker 1: was to these third grade kids who are also getting bullied.
Speaker 1: So my question, did you ever have to deal with
Speaker 1: that as a kid or and did you how did
Speaker 1: you handle it and what would you say to kids
Speaker 1: that have that same situation? Um, yeah, I did, But
Speaker 1: when I was younger, A lot of the time, you know,
Speaker 1: especially in Florida, like if somebody says something to you,
Speaker 1: kind of you just kind of figure out a way
Speaker 1: to say something back, or like something happens. But I mean,
Speaker 1: you mean you took care of business. You threw them
Speaker 1: out of the club, right. But you know, as I
Speaker 1: got older, you know, I kind of realized that it's
Speaker 1: something special about me. Um. You know, not many people
Speaker 1: have the same thing, so I gotta I kind of
Speaker 1: took pride in it and realized that, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: unique in a different way. Um. So that's how i'd
Speaker 1: say people to take to to think to think of that.
Speaker 1: It's just too you know, you're different in a good way.
Speaker 1: So hey, Claire, when you get ready to go into
Speaker 1: this atmosphere that you're gonna be down on Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: you know it's gonna be another hostile environment. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough to hear at the line of scrimmage. How
Speaker 1: has that timing been between basically where it transfers from
Speaker 1: Sam must defer to the quarterback to you depending upon
Speaker 1: your role per play? Has the volume of crowds been
Speaker 1: you know it affected you at all? Or is it
Speaker 1: just you know you wait for the momentum of the
Speaker 1: play to start and then get your get going. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't think it's it's been a it's been. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's it's messed me up at all? Really, Um,
Speaker 1: we do a great job in practice of communicating and practicing,
Speaker 1: um under loud volumes and they blast a speaker and practice,
Speaker 1: so we have to practice communicating in that type of scenario.
Speaker 1: But um, you know, the old line does a great
Speaker 1: job of community, communicating to me and justin and relaying
Speaker 1: whatever is going on up front, so we're able to
Speaker 1: you know, get the playoff in time and have a
Speaker 1: successful play. Coel Jeff will not give me any reason
Speaker 1: back for the next topic I'm gonna bring up because
Speaker 1: as an offensive lineman, we used to play down in
Speaker 1: Tampa every year and the first thing I did I
Speaker 1: would look up when do we play him? And how
Speaker 1: hot is it gonna be? And so I look up
Speaker 1: it's eighty six degrees for a highest game. Is that
Speaker 1: completely out of your mind already? Are do you ever
Speaker 1: think of those types of football issues? I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: from Florida, so I love that, right, I love that?
Speaker 1: But um no, I never did think about it. But
Speaker 1: it's you know, guys are hydrating getting ready for that heat.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think you ever really could get
Speaker 1: ready for it. You just gotta be hydrated. And you
Speaker 1: know it's a mind thing. Well you know, he'll think
Speaker 1: about the snow maybe you know right, Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: different scenario if you played in a snow game in
Speaker 1: your life. I've played when it like not deep snow,
Speaker 1: but i've played when it's been snowing. But I played
Speaker 1: in really cold games too, So yeah, well, get ready,
Speaker 1: that's coming. That is coming. The wind whips off of
Speaker 1: Lake Michigan. Pretty good there and sold your field, as
Speaker 1: you're gonna find out, you build up a resistance to it. Yeah, yep, yep.
Speaker 1: A couple of things and that will let you go.
Speaker 1: We'd like to have fun with the guys and we'll
Speaker 1: do a five packup of interesting questions. Whatever pops in
Speaker 1: your mind. Let her rip. But before I do that,
Speaker 1: I gotta go back to your English teacher five years ago,
Speaker 1: before the draft. I think it's a fantastic story. She
Speaker 1: had you write letters to yourself where you might be
Speaker 1: in five years. Without knowing all the details of that
Speaker 1: letter you wrote to yourself, I'm sure it was a
Speaker 1: list of goals. One of them was being in the NFL.
Speaker 1: So now does it give you goose bumps? You know
Speaker 1: that that letter came to Fruition, It definitely does. It's
Speaker 1: It's something I forgot about and I got in the
Speaker 1: mail and I didn't even know, Like, I'm like, who
Speaker 1: is this? My dad and my stepmom they decided that
Speaker 1: they were gonna wait to read it till draft day,
Speaker 1: so I didn't even read it. I had got it
Speaker 1: a couple of months before when I was training back home,
Speaker 1: and I didn't even read it, so I completely forgot
Speaker 1: about it. And then they brought it out. So it
Speaker 1: was those kinds of surreal And it's one of those
Speaker 1: things you know, you just keep in mind as you
Speaker 1: go through day to day and it gets a little hard.
Speaker 1: M just you know, this is something you always dreamed
Speaker 1: of being here. Um, you know, don't take it for granted.
Speaker 1: You know it's a blessing. So maybe you'll keep writing
Speaker 1: yourself letters every five years. Ye right right. I meant
Speaker 1: to do another one for another five years. I haven't
Speaker 1: done it yet. Yeah, I'll get to it. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: Here we go, first of the five Okay, most embarrassing
Speaker 1: moments in your life, and maybe you're lucky enough to
Speaker 1: never have had one. No, I can't think of one
Speaker 1: most embarrassing moment. We'll pass. We'll pass, all right. If
Speaker 1: not football. What I'd like to be probably run track,
Speaker 1: favorite book, favorite book, the Bible. There you go. Hey,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm still waiting. I read one book
Speaker 1: like every ten years. So any hobby, any hobbies, probably
Speaker 1: just games. I really just watch TV and movies a lot.
Speaker 1: There you go, and then your most memorable moment. Most
Speaker 1: memorable moment probably beating UVA at BT. All right, back
Speaker 1: to the college game. Hopefully you make many, many, many
Speaker 1: big moments here in the national football We appreciate all
Speaker 1: your time and thank you for joining us. Continued success. Kalil,
Speaker 1: thank you, appreciate it. Bears and Buccaneers on Sunday, it's
Speaker 1: in Tampa, Khalil Herbert a big part of that picture
Speaker 1: for the Bears offense. Coming up next, we had a
Speaker 1: bird's eye view of the Bucks from their veteran play
Speaker 1: by play voice, Gene Deckerhoff. It's all just ahead with
Speaker 1: Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniac and this is Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: It's brought to you by IGS Energy here on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Please to be joined
Speaker 1: by the veteran voice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The
Speaker 1: inimitable Gene Deckerhoff nineteen eighty nine. I believe it started.
Speaker 1: He's also a voice of Florida State seminole football and basketball.
Speaker 1: I think that started in nineteen seventy nine with Tom there.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniac Jean Do I do I have the
Speaker 1: numbers right? Yeah, the numbers are right right on target.
Speaker 1: I started basketball in seventy four in Florida State, and
Speaker 1: then five years later started fu football. To ten years
Speaker 1: after that, Tampa Bay Buccaneers come a calling, and we've
Speaker 1: been able to put together Saturday Sunday weekends for the
Speaker 1: last thirty three years. And I crossed my figures and
Speaker 1: say a little prayer, Jeff, because you know, airline travel
Speaker 1: is not what it used to be. No, it's not,
Speaker 1: and we're experienced it for the first time flying without
Speaker 1: the charter. We didn't go anywhere last year except driving
Speaker 1: up to Detroit. So my guy Tommy's lost all his
Speaker 1: hair because of commercial travels. It's been a challenge, but
Speaker 1: United staking good care of us well hopefully you know.
Speaker 1: Knock out on Wood. I don't know how you've pulled
Speaker 1: it off, Gene, How have you done this over all
Speaker 1: these years about the dual weekend trips, it's been it's
Speaker 1: been tough to The trip to London has always been
Speaker 1: especially tough. I did at one quarter of a Clemson
Speaker 1: Florida State game two years ago and then got a
Speaker 1: little play food to Atlanta, called the Big Plane and
Speaker 1: food to London and arrived at uh to Tottenham Hops
Speaker 1: for Arena about an hour before kickoff. So that was
Speaker 1: that was one of the toughest way. Hey, Tom, stay
Speaker 1: out of middle seats on airplanes. You talk to talk
Speaker 1: to the general manager of your network. Be sure to
Speaker 1: get a first class seat. Will you Your hair will
Speaker 1: grow back, Tom, I promise you no middle seats. First
Speaker 1: class hair grows. When we think up here and we
Speaker 1: admire the Tampa Bay Bucks from far. I started the
Speaker 1: admiration I think in the last year's defensive effort because
Speaker 1: I think everything you want to hear about Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: Bruce Arians and how great and the weapons you have
Speaker 1: on offense. I think the defense played such a huge
Speaker 1: role in winning that Super Bowl that you know is
Speaker 1: that still is that still the lifeline of your football
Speaker 1: team even though you have Tom Brady, Well, Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: it begins with Tom, and he's the goat. He is
Speaker 1: the absolutely it is almost he's surgical in at forty
Speaker 1: four years old, he plays like he's twenty two. And
Speaker 1: he is the reason why the Buccaneers won Super Bowl
Speaker 1: fifty five and the reason why the Buccaneers are five
Speaker 1: and one. Without Tom Brady, we're probably average, even though
Speaker 1: the defense is exceptionally good. You know, defending the ass
Speaker 1: has been a problem this year because of injuries. Our
Speaker 1: defensive numbers would be a whole lot better if we
Speaker 1: could stop with the team's passing attack. But when you
Speaker 1: lose Sean Burphy Bunning on the first game, Carlton Davis
Speaker 1: goes out, we played the last two games without Antoine Winfield.
Speaker 1: Those are three. Those are the three best defensive backs.
Speaker 1: And then we pick up Richard Sherman who comes up
Speaker 1: with a hamstring issue. So the Buccaneers we may be
Speaker 1: last in the league and defending the past all season
Speaker 1: long until we get some healthy bodies back there. The
Speaker 1: linebacker crew, I wouldn't trade them for anybody in the world.
Speaker 1: They look like those Chicago Bears linebackers crews in days
Speaker 1: gone by. But Devin White is the real deal in
Speaker 1: Levante David's he's hampered with a high ankle injury, although
Speaker 1: coach Bruce Arian said in his presser on Tuesday that
Speaker 1: he has hopes he might be able to play. But
Speaker 1: those two together or as good as any tandem of
Speaker 1: inside linebackers in the conference. And what we're trying to
Speaker 1: figure out without front five why we can't get more sacks.
Speaker 1: We should have double the sacks that the Buccanteers have had.
Speaker 1: Maybe it has to do with the quarterbacks we have faced,
Speaker 1: but your mobile quarterbacks to to sack, and you know,
Speaker 1: by the time you get up to them, it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, what's Patrick Mahomes. Every time he's almost sacked,
Speaker 1: he throws the ball away. And so that may be
Speaker 1: the reason why our sacking numbers are down, but it
Speaker 1: should be way up there. But yeah, the secondary is
Speaker 1: gonna be. That's gonna be. I hate to use the
Speaker 1: term Achilles heel because we have a tight end coming
Speaker 1: back off of achilles injury, but that's the Achilles heel
Speaker 1: of the bucket or defense. You know, you talked about
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks you face so far, but what about the
Speaker 1: quarterback you're gonna face this week? Because opposite the end
Speaker 1: of the spectrum where you have a rookie that's trying
Speaker 1: to develop his skills along the way. I mean, is
Speaker 1: this the you know, the perfect quarterback for your defense
Speaker 1: to play against on her these circumstances. Well, I don't
Speaker 1: know if there's a perfect The only quarterback that's beaten
Speaker 1: the bucceteer, there's yours, Matthew Stafford. You know, he's like
Speaker 1: a statue backer. He's not mobile, but he's the quarterback
Speaker 1: that beat the bucceteers. You know, we both have played.
Speaker 1: Bears have played and the Bucks have played the La Rams.
Speaker 1: They beat us. It was really a two touchdown score.
Speaker 1: They beat They beat the Bears obviously handily at Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: That's a tough venue to go in and win, particularly
Speaker 1: we have to go east coast or the Midwest to
Speaker 1: the far far West, i'd call it. But that's the
Speaker 1: only lost the Bucks have and at five and one,
Speaker 1: the Bucks have never been six and one. A chance
Speaker 1: to do that on Sunday, So the Bucks will give
Speaker 1: the Bears a really good fight, I would imagine. And
Speaker 1: uh oh, by the way, I have a feeling the
Speaker 1: memes are all over the place in Chicago Land about
Speaker 1: what down is it it's third down, fourth down is
Speaker 1: the fifth down? You know, I'm sure that's flying around
Speaker 1: because I'll promise you this, Tom Brady has not forgotten
Speaker 1: that he forgot what down it was. And now you
Speaker 1: know that was one of those nail biders. We won
Speaker 1: games like that last year. And for some reason on
Speaker 1: that Thursday night at Chicago, number one, we turned the
Speaker 1: ball over number two. We had about a million penalties.
Speaker 1: If we'd had one more penalty, that put the whole
Speaker 1: team in jail. But those were the reasons why you
Speaker 1: know we lose twenty to nineteen. Oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham does it. They he always beats the Bucks
Speaker 1: and Nick Foles for some reason. Nick Foles, as I'll
Speaker 1: promise you he's got a wedding record. Well, I had
Speaker 1: a fear that Brady is not going to forget that
Speaker 1: the only loss was last year. Right, He's going to
Speaker 1: remember that one for sure. Gene Decker haff Our guest
Speaker 1: here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. This
Speaker 1: is Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: with Tom Fair. I'm Jeff JONAHAKA. Let's talk more about
Speaker 1: Brady because there's one ball but there's many weapons, and
Speaker 1: that's always a fear when you have a team with
Speaker 1: a lot of great players, and especially at that receiver position,
Speaker 1: they've got big, some big egos. Not necessarily your guys
Speaker 1: down to Tampa, but in general we've experienced that over
Speaker 1: the course of time. But he is, as you say,
Speaker 1: surgically deciphering exactly what defenses are trying to do. But
Speaker 1: he's extremely accurate right now, and they're basically letting him
Speaker 1: pick away because they're not allowing you to get the big, big, big,
Speaker 1: big play. They're playing defense with everything in front of him.
Speaker 1: But you're making everybody happy. He's spreading it around almost
Speaker 1: perfectly across the board. How do you come well, Jeff
Speaker 1: and Tom, there's a reason. There's a reason why everybody
Speaker 1: that started against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl
Speaker 1: fifty five resigned to play with the Buccaneers. Here. That's
Speaker 1: dounheard of generally. You know, you lose four or five guys,
Speaker 1: they take the big money go as a free agent.
Speaker 1: Don't blame him. But everybody returned from the team that
Speaker 1: beat Kansas City and won the Super Bowl and they
Speaker 1: want to play one for head coach Bruce arians and two.
Speaker 1: They want to play with a winning quarterback and they
Speaker 1: feel like they got they got the right guy. And
Speaker 1: Tom Brady I agree with him, and about the weapons.
Speaker 1: Think about this last year, going into the season, you
Speaker 1: didn't have Antonio Brown, you didn't have any four net
Speaker 1: Rob Gronkowski had committed, but he'd been retired for a
Speaker 1: year and Antonio Brown was not. But those guys came
Speaker 1: around later in the season. The Bucks were seven and
Speaker 1: five going into the bye week, and something happened either
Speaker 1: the rest to get away from the grind, maybe maybe
Speaker 1: a little more work in the playbook. But the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: then went unbeaten throughout the month of December, ran the
Speaker 1: table in the playoffs, won the Super Bowl, and started
Speaker 1: this year with a big win, two big wins before
Speaker 1: we sort of stubbed our toe at Los Angeles. But
Speaker 1: this team is still I don't think this team is
Speaker 1: playing at the level it played out to win the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl last year, but I think it's getting close.
Speaker 1: And you add those defensive players who had big plays
Speaker 1: defensively in our run to the Super Bowls championship, and
Speaker 1: then you get robbed back. I mean, Tom I think
Speaker 1: is still trying to find to find his way without
Speaker 1: having Rob Gunkowski in there. He was a much better
Speaker 1: quarterback when Rob was in there during that Super Bowl
Speaker 1: run than he has been without Rob Runkowski. Rob had
Speaker 1: a rib injury in the LA game. Don't think you'll
Speaker 1: see him on Sunday, and I wouldn't be a bit
Speaker 1: surprised that he misses another game. But you can't fiddle
Speaker 1: around with fractured ribs and punctured lung. Just take it easy, Rob,
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, O J Howard and starting
Speaker 1: to get back into the flow of thing. Had a
Speaker 1: touchdown catch last week, and so maybe he can fill
Speaker 1: that tight in slot until we get robbed back. But yeah,
Speaker 1: big keys to the big keys to the rest of
Speaker 1: the season. Rob Wronkowski healthy and secondary healthy, and oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, keeping Tom Brady vertical, upright and throwing
Speaker 1: the football. We're facing two of the best sack artists
Speaker 1: in the league this weekend, and the offensive line is
Speaker 1: going to answer the bell. They've got to protect Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: Your running back position is kind of unique because Fournette
Speaker 1: came on and it has really burst on the scene,
Speaker 1: especially this year. But Jones was a good running back
Speaker 1: last year. So most of the running backs that Jeff
Speaker 1: and I have seen so far has been kind of
Speaker 1: a two headed monster. Or is this a one running
Speaker 1: back team? No, this is this is this is running
Speaker 1: back by committee. We even saw Jivanni Bernard run the football.
Speaker 1: He had been primary the third down pass catching running back,
Speaker 1: but two games ago we had a chance to see
Speaker 1: him run the football against the Minamie Dolphins. He had
Speaker 1: Blaine Gabert at quarterback and so the second unit was
Speaker 1: in there, but Geo he could run the football. So
Speaker 1: I think that Rojoe is the home run hitter. Leonard
Speaker 1: Fournett's the guy that's going to get you the first down.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get you a touchdown when you need one,
Speaker 1: and you hit up his yards. I mean, he's having
Speaker 1: a he's having the best game he's had since he
Speaker 1: left jack the best season he's had since he left Jacksonville.
Speaker 1: Five hundred and sixty five all purpose yards of rushing
Speaker 1: and receiving combined. That's almost one hundred yards a game.
Speaker 1: And the last three he's had over one hundred yards
Speaker 1: from scrimmage and those ball game and they have all
Speaker 1: resulted resulted in Tampa Bay wins. So yeah, he's he
Speaker 1: is the guy that keeps Tom Brady safe in the backfield.
Speaker 1: He's a pretty good blocker, I'll tell you this. He's
Speaker 1: the best blocker of the running backs. So he's got
Speaker 1: a job to do to protect Tom, a job to
Speaker 1: do to run and score touchdowns. He's got three of
Speaker 1: them this year. And oh, by the way, get us
Speaker 1: another one hundred and twenty yards total from scrimmage and
Speaker 1: that's a winning formula for the Bucks. Keep getting Leonard
Speaker 1: Fournette in the ball. Playoff Lenny. We called him, make
Speaker 1: this a playoff game against the Bears, and left playoff
Speaker 1: Lenny go to work. So yeah, it's Rojoe's not going
Speaker 1: anywhere he was. He was drafted to be the prime
Speaker 1: time Bucketeer running back, and all of a sudden, you
Speaker 1: got to gather's hot reliantly. Without Lenny Fournette, the Bucks
Speaker 1: don't win the Super Bowl. Without Lenny Fournette, the Bucks
Speaker 1: don't even get the Super Bowl. Rojoe took a handoff
Speaker 1: and went ninety eight yards against Carolina last year. I'd
Speaker 1: like to see him do that again. Well we wouldn't.
Speaker 1: We want to play some DEFENSEE Gene We're gonna see
Speaker 1: you on Sunday. Always good to see you and good
Speaker 1: to talk to you, and good luck the rest of
Speaker 1: the way. Luck's Bears. That doesn't get a whole lot better, No,
Speaker 1: it does not. We'll see in Tambo with Gene Deckerhoff,
Speaker 1: Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniac. One more segment to go
Speaker 1: tonight and Bears All Access after this time out on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Download the Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears App to play our new Predictor game or Risk It,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Bette Rivers for your chance to
Speaker 1: win two hundred and fifty dollars in free bets and
Speaker 1: a custom Bears jersey with Tom There Jeff Joniac. Our
Speaker 1: final segment tonight, We're gonna focus on the Buccaneers defense
Speaker 1: and now the Bears and rookie quarterback Justin Fields will
Speaker 1: attack that defense. Bears have run the ball as much
Speaker 1: as anybody in the league, think third in the league
Speaker 1: since the last three weeks in terms of rushing attempts.
Speaker 1: People don't run on the Buccaneers. They are thirty second
Speaker 1: and runs allowed through over the course of this season
Speaker 1: so far. I don't know how you break that downtime
Speaker 1: as if they don't want to run it, they haven't
Speaker 1: tried to run it. They fall behind, so they don't
Speaker 1: run it. But teams are not running on the Buccaneers.
Speaker 1: Is it out of fear? Is it out of fear
Speaker 1: that there's no way you can do it because you
Speaker 1: got the big guy Vitavey in there and Domkan Sue
Speaker 1: and that aggressive front. I think it's a combination of both.
Speaker 1: I think when you talk about vitave and Domica Sue,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of power up front. So to me,
Speaker 1: if I was going to run the ball, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: run directly at him. I would make him chase from
Speaker 1: sideline to sideline every pay. I would have pitches, I
Speaker 1: would have sweeps. I would have immediate you know, on
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage screen. So those guys are running
Speaker 1: and you're trying to create fatigue, but you have it's
Speaker 1: so inviting to throw the ball downfield because they've had
Speaker 1: so many injury issues in the defensive backfield. So I
Speaker 1: think some of these great inventors of offensive game plans,
Speaker 1: they look at Oh my god, they got third stringers.
Speaker 1: They got a vet a thirty thirty seven year old
Speaker 1: guy they picked off on the street and inserted him
Speaker 1: in starting lineup, talking about Richard Sherman who's injured. So
Speaker 1: it's inviting for these guys to say, Okay, we can
Speaker 1: protect man, we can beat these guys down field, and
Speaker 1: so it's just that invitation. You can answer it. But
Speaker 1: he's still got to run, all right. Offensive coordinator Bill
Speaker 1: Lazier talking about Vita Vea earlier on Thursday, Oh, just's
Speaker 1: such a great job holding the point in the run game.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's usually when you double team someone, you
Speaker 1: feel like, well, if we double team him, at least
Speaker 1: we can get a little bit of movement. We can
Speaker 1: control him. It's just a matter of how long do
Speaker 1: we have to stay on to get it before someone
Speaker 1: can get up to the linebacker. But he can destroy
Speaker 1: double teams so well that it's hard to get off
Speaker 1: for the linebackers. And then in the past game, I
Speaker 1: think he has a rare ability to push the pocket.
Speaker 1: But you've played against guys like this, how difficult would
Speaker 1: it be to churn out Vita Vea and make sure
Speaker 1: he doesn't get off of those double teams. Well, you know, reg,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna you know, if I have forty running
Speaker 1: plays during the course of the game. Thirty of them
Speaker 1: aren't going to be point of attack. Vita vey my
Speaker 1: point of attack. It's gonna be a Donica sewer to
Speaker 1: the outside. So you know, when you're talking about sustaining
Speaker 1: a double team, you know you're not talking about a
Speaker 1: half hour job. You're talking about maybe two and a
Speaker 1: half seconds to make sure you stabilize him and get
Speaker 1: that next flock to the second level. So don't it's
Speaker 1: not unrealistically it can be done. However, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: move him a significant amount of space if you do
Speaker 1: double team him. But that's not what his job is.
Speaker 1: His job is just to hold the point of attack.
Speaker 1: Suffered a nasty injury in Week five last year at
Speaker 1: Soldier Field, found a way though the comeback to play
Speaker 1: two playoff games, including the Super Bowl. Justin fields the
Speaker 1: rookie quarterback getting the start once again, it'll be facing
Speaker 1: a blitz happy defense, a pressure pack defense, and there
Speaker 1: is growth in areas of importance. According to Laser, with
Speaker 1: a rookie quarterback, the quarterback's opinion matters. You know, it's
Speaker 1: just a fact that there's veteran receivers and they have
Speaker 1: the ways they've done things, but in the end, the
Speaker 1: quarterback has the ball in his hand that has got
Speaker 1: to be the one to trust it to throw it.
Speaker 1: So I think he's just as as he goes, has
Speaker 1: grown in his confidence and his ability to communicate it
Speaker 1: to the players, and I think that's that's been good
Speaker 1: to watch. I think his play speed over time just
Speaker 1: keeps getting better and better, and it shows up obviously
Speaker 1: in practice quite a bit, and sometimes on game day,
Speaker 1: you know, we can check off boxes and sometimes we
Speaker 1: see things that we still need to pick up the
Speaker 1: play speed, But that's that's the process. Everything is this
Speaker 1: incremental development that we all see and we understand it happening.
Speaker 1: But sometimes you have to match incremental development with the
Speaker 1: team you're playing. So if Justin Fields is not going
Speaker 1: to drop directly behind center for a majority of the
Speaker 1: passes and then get rid of the ball, he's going
Speaker 1: to have to use his athleticism like the runs I say,
Speaker 1: and get outside and get away from B to bay.
Speaker 1: The protections they got to meet, you know, moving pockets.
Speaker 1: That that play that was so simple last week, that
Speaker 1: early bootleg to Cole comet I, you know I would
Speaker 1: run that five or six times until they stopped it,
Speaker 1: until they figured out a way that they were gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, have an interruption of the success of that play.
Speaker 1: So to me, Justin has to be on the outskirts
Speaker 1: when he's throwing the ball, and I think it challenges
Speaker 1: these defensive backs who are inexperienced to cover even longer
Speaker 1: outstanding linebackers. The stellar play of Devin White. Their tackle leader.
Speaker 1: Shack Barrett has four sacks on about David. David working
Speaker 1: back from an ankle injury. Joe Tyron, a draft pick
Speaker 1: in the first round, Joe Tyron Shoyinka. He's shown some
Speaker 1: burst as well. Overall, Cole Comet likens this front time
Speaker 1: to the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, I mean, obviously they both
Speaker 1: got really good defensive fronts. Um Tampa's best in the league.
Speaker 1: Got stopping in the run, and you know, it's something
Speaker 1: we've been really good at. So that'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see how that goes. And you know, for us, just
Speaker 1: about you know, it's tight ends really really affecting the
Speaker 1: front anyway we can, whether it's CHIPsters, you know, same
Speaker 1: protection to help Justin and things like that. So we
Speaker 1: just gotta be active on the edge, like that and
Speaker 1: you know it should be should work out well for us.
Speaker 1: And the other thing about that too. Justin admits, Yep,
Speaker 1: I gotta be smarter about it when it comes to pressure.
Speaker 1: I can't take sex that are going to result in
Speaker 1: you know, ten twelve thirteen yard losses against a team
Speaker 1: like Tampa Bay. Well, you know, if cole come out
Speaker 1: in the tight end position, is gonna compare Cleveland defensive
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay defense. The tight end position really didn't come
Speaker 1: alive until the next game. So I'm interested to see
Speaker 1: how the Bears coaches incorporate the tight end position in
Speaker 1: blocking the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because to me, Todd Bowles
Speaker 1: is one of the most creative defensive coordinators in the league,
Speaker 1: being able to use the multiple facets of talent he
Speaker 1: has in that defense. I know he's hindered because of
Speaker 1: the defensive backs, but creativity upfront, he's still one of
Speaker 1: the tops in the league. And they got to score points.
Speaker 1: It's a big emphasis. It always has been, always will be.
Speaker 1: You got to score points to win games. You can't
Speaker 1: count on the defense shutting teams out, no matter how
Speaker 1: good it may be. They're gonna have some days when
Speaker 1: they're gonna give up points, especially in this league right
Speaker 1: now and against good teams. Mannaggie's emphasized it, and Alan
Speaker 1: Robinson even before the season began, way back in the offseason,
Speaker 1: he keeps reiterating the need for explosives big time. Those
Speaker 1: are plays of twenty or twenty five yards or more.
Speaker 1: Being able to stay ahead of the sticks is definitely
Speaker 1: important and I always think important, which I feel like
Speaker 1: we were able to do on some of those jars,
Speaker 1: and be able to get some explosive runs, able to
Speaker 1: get some explosive passage, you know, and being able to
Speaker 1: kind of shorten the field in that sense, you know,
Speaker 1: because again, if you get an explosive, explosive run or pass,
Speaker 1: you know, that's a fifth of the field, you know,
Speaker 1: if you get a twenty yarder, you know, So being
Speaker 1: able to get a couple of plays like that, you know,
Speaker 1: it really shrinks the field down. You really start to
Speaker 1: put the fresh on the defensive and which Tampa is
Speaker 1: really good at. They get a lot of explosives offensively,
Speaker 1: but you know, it's about the Bears and that's what
Speaker 1: they need. For Bears Game Day Live. My key to
Speaker 1: the game is explosive chunk plays because I think if
Speaker 1: you could ever be invited to expose the speed that
Speaker 1: you have on your team, Marky's good when Damon Bird,
Speaker 1: Darnell Mooney and a Rob for that matter, can you
Speaker 1: get multiple chunk plays though, Jeff the campy one or two,
Speaker 1: it's got to be five or set. All right. We'll
Speaker 1: break it down for you throughout the course, so the
Speaker 1: rest of the week you'll do so as well. Here
Speaker 1: on the score and we'll bring the game to you
Speaker 1: from NewsRadio one oh five nine w BBM, starting with
Speaker 1: a noon pregame with Ron, Jim and Jay, Tom and
Speaker 1: I take over the controls for the kickoff at three
Speaker 1: twenty five. That's gonna wrap us up for today's show.
Speaker 1: I want to thank our guests Khalil Herbert, the Bears
Speaker 1: rookie running back, also the voice of the Buccaneers, Gene Deckerhoff,
Speaker 1: for our producers, Jordan Trutup, Dan Berilli, and the folks
Speaker 1: here at the score. I'm Jeff joni Ac for Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to everybody we'll talk to down the
Speaker 1: radio Sunday. This has been Bears All Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: The score, good Night, everybody,