Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
Speaker 1: and Chicago Bears dot Com. Download the Chicago Bears official
Speaker 1: mobile app for up to the minute Bears content every
Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Athletical
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy and CDW. Good to be with you, everybody.
Speaker 1: We're talking Bears again here on Bears All Access, a
Speaker 1: midweek version along with Tom Farmer broadcast partner from news
Speaker 1: radio one oh five nine w BBM. I'm Jeff Jonyak,
Speaker 1: the voice of the Chicago Bears, and I'm already missing
Speaker 1: football time. I want I was so interested just for kicks,
Speaker 1: to see the USFL draft last I just I don't want.
Speaker 1: I want football back already. Yeah. But you know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: for your own sake and your health and everything, I'm
Speaker 1: glad you got a second of downtime because you really
Speaker 1: need it. But now when you look at the near
Speaker 1: future here, when you get the combine ramped up, you
Speaker 1: talk about the franchise tag, all the rumors that are
Speaker 1: circular circulating around the NFL. Some of the biggest names
Speaker 1: in the business are being talked about of maybe their
Speaker 1: next location if they're gonna stay on location. So you're
Speaker 1: never starving for information. But it's the actual game played
Speaker 1: on Sundays, which is always fun and a big ramp
Speaker 1: up to the weekend. I'm watching as many college players
Speaker 1: as I can right now, and you know, you know me,
Speaker 1: I fall in love with guys right away. I see
Speaker 1: a highlight tape and boy, you start imagining, how would
Speaker 1: this guy fit? And then you realize you don't have
Speaker 1: a first round pick, so you got to put that
Speaker 1: aside and we'll just we'll talk about that as the
Speaker 1: weeks go on. But you know, I always, you know,
Speaker 1: probably one of the worst things you could do as
Speaker 1: a general manager or a vice president of a football
Speaker 1: operations or a scouts fall in love with somebody so
Speaker 1: much that you can't see the forest through the trees.
Speaker 1: And that's a lot of times with just average fans.
Speaker 1: We fall in love with guys, and you know, every
Speaker 1: year and then you remember them unfortunately and you remind me, hey,
Speaker 1: whatever happened to that guy? Well, you know he never
Speaker 1: made a time. Well, you know, the reason is is
Speaker 1: that we have access to highlight tapes, and so everything
Speaker 1: you watch is great. Whether it's a reaction to a catch,
Speaker 1: it's a big block, it's an open, open space tackle,
Speaker 1: things like that. To me, I would rather see a
Speaker 1: video of a bad play and then the next play
Speaker 1: and how would they rebound, How would they answer a
Speaker 1: poor a pass blocking on third down where maybe they
Speaker 1: gave up some pressure, how they how do they go
Speaker 1: about their business on first down? Or if they had
Speaker 1: a mental air, what did they do the next play?
Speaker 1: Because sometimes, Jeff, you get caught up in these highlight
Speaker 1: tapes and you know you never see a mistake may
Speaker 1: and that's just not the case when you're going against
Speaker 1: a two hundred and five pound college defensive end for
Speaker 1: a guy you'll never see in the future of your
Speaker 1: career going forward. How about a six two, two hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty one pound linebacker from Wisconsin LEO channel, where's
Speaker 1: number five? Check him out today? I just I watched
Speaker 1: as much of him as I possibly could. Love the guy.
Speaker 1: But again again this is getting way too off track.
Speaker 1: But this is bears All Access. It's brought you by
Speaker 1: Gus Energy with Tom There, Jeff, Joni, and Jim Miller
Speaker 1: from serious X, I'm out of l radio coming up shortly.
Speaker 1: But this is a guy in his scheme at was constant.
Speaker 1: They just he just attacked the line of scrimmage relentlessly
Speaker 1: and blitzed NonStop. But he's two hundred and sixty one
Speaker 1: pounds and he hurts you at the line. You know,
Speaker 1: you know there he'll hear you. Got it? Yeah, you
Speaker 1: got guys like that in the past. You look at
Speaker 1: the Levon Kirklands in the in the football life back
Speaker 1: playing in a four three defense in the middle where
Speaker 1: they are protected by two big defensive tackles and they
Speaker 1: could hold down the ford in the complete interior of
Speaker 1: an inside running game. So he you know, is there
Speaker 1: a position for a guy with those types of traits? Yes,
Speaker 1: but you have to have the right support behind you
Speaker 1: and in front of you to be able to use
Speaker 1: your traits on the NFL level. Coming up at the
Speaker 1: bottom of the hour, we'll be joined by special teams
Speaker 1: coordinator Richard high Tower. He gets the big job with
Speaker 1: the Bears. He was here back in twenty sixteen as
Speaker 1: an assistant, so we'll talk to him, and of course
Speaker 1: the combine starts next week. Tom, what position groups are
Speaker 1: you going to be keenly interested in as it relates
Speaker 1: to what the Bears needs are. What are you going
Speaker 1: to be focused on when you start popping on the
Speaker 1: TV this week, watching watching the forty, watching everything that
Speaker 1: goes on throughout the course of the week. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna pay attention to receivers that are over
Speaker 1: six feet. I want to bring in some size of
Speaker 1: this team to help justin develop the identity of bigger
Speaker 1: targets down field, maybe get them and better matchups against
Speaker 1: some of the passive or undersized cornerbacks there are in
Speaker 1: the division, around the league. So you know, that's something
Speaker 1: that our great stat guy in the booth, Doug Colettie,
Speaker 1: has been talking about all year, is that you need
Speaker 1: to have some size at the receiver position. So I
Speaker 1: want to see what direction they can go with that,
Speaker 1: because listen, man, I love Darnell Mooney. I liked what
Speaker 1: a Rob brought to the show. But when you look
Speaker 1: at the packages of the four and five and three
Speaker 1: receiver sets, you gotta have some size there. And you know,
Speaker 1: if they don't complete the defensive backfield for the Bears,
Speaker 1: and when you talk about the quarterbacks in the division,
Speaker 1: the new head coaches where they're gonna go. You know,
Speaker 1: you got to go out there and be able to
Speaker 1: hold your own and that means a physical presence from
Speaker 1: the safety position and the ability to cover at the
Speaker 1: corner position. And you're talking about all three right cornerback,
Speaker 1: left quarterback, cornerback at each side, and nickel corner because
Speaker 1: of their value to a team from what the Bears
Speaker 1: have suffered through maybe in the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: either having rookies and Jalen Johnson no offense to Jayalen Johnson,
Speaker 1: he is the one one guy that I feel I
Speaker 1: can count on back there. But you know, we gotta
Speaker 1: have we got to have the defensive backfields and you
Speaker 1: got to have them for the length of time. And
Speaker 1: the tackle position. This is a position that we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about throughout the entire season. Yeah, I surprise
Speaker 1: you didn't start with the oir line because I'm starting
Speaker 1: with the old line and going right to the defensive
Speaker 1: lines and see if they're going to a four to three,
Speaker 1: I want to know what their plan is. But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be looking at those two positions thoroughly. And then
Speaker 1: number three on my list is corner. I know everybody
Speaker 1: likes the sexy positions with the ball on their hand
Speaker 1: and who's gonna make the big play, you know, a
Speaker 1: wide receiver, tight end, running back. But right now those
Speaker 1: are positions of necessity right now, at least from my
Speaker 1: perspective and area. Well, we'll jump into the conversation with
Speaker 1: Jim Miller from Serious XM Radio, our weekly guest coming
Speaker 1: up next with our producer Brian Callahan. Also Dan BARRELLI
Speaker 1: one of our producers tonight, Tom, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you knew that or not. Jordan Trudup has the week off,
Speaker 1: so Dan's filling in tonight for Employee of the Year
Speaker 1: at one time up at Allis Hall on Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy the Score. Hey everybody, welcome back to
Speaker 1: Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose
Speaker 1: clean energy for your home at igs dot com because
Speaker 1: every good choice adds up to a better world. With
Speaker 1: Tom Payer, I'm Jeff Jonyak and our weekly guest, former
Speaker 1: Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Syria, Sexam, NFL Radio's moving
Speaker 1: the chains with Pat Kerwin joining us. Now, are you
Speaker 1: packed and ready for the combine? I know this is
Speaker 1: a long week. I know you're gonna have like three
Speaker 1: or four suitcases, some empty because you might have a
Speaker 1: few trinkets you might bring on back. You know, loads
Speaker 1: of information on the NFL Draft twenty twenty two. You're ready,
Speaker 1: big Jim, I am ready, and no I travel lights.
Speaker 1: It'll be just a carry on and I will be
Speaker 1: ready to roll. But it's always an exciting you know,
Speaker 1: I have as much fun now in the off season
Speaker 1: as I do during the regular season. I mean it
Speaker 1: truly is three hundred and sixty five days a year,
Speaker 1: and we've kind of kicked off the business season looking
Speaker 1: already right now. You guys mentioned franchise tags. Look at
Speaker 1: all the players released or restructure today. Pat calls them
Speaker 1: the three rs. Right, your restructure, you reduce your salary,
Speaker 1: or you're out. Released Anthony Hitchins released today by Kansas
Speaker 1: City Right saves about seven million bucks on the salary
Speaker 1: cap that we know is only going up about twenty
Speaker 1: million bucks. So the business season is already in full swing.
Speaker 1: Man Kenny Clark and Green Bay Tommy, we always circle
Speaker 1: him when we get ready to meet the packers. You
Speaker 1: gotta stop Kenny Clark, so you know they're trying to
Speaker 1: make room for you know, and Gudkin spoke today, you know,
Speaker 1: the football fans out there, the general manager, the Packers,
Speaker 1: so they've got a lot. That whole debate is about,
Speaker 1: you know, for what's gonna happen obviously with Rodgers, but
Speaker 1: you know, are you gonna be able to find a
Speaker 1: way to keep Davonte Adams boys? That's yes, He's their
Speaker 1: first domino that that has to fall. And you look
Speaker 1: at them, I mean, look at Davondre Campbell the year
Speaker 1: that he had. He's a free agent for them. How
Speaker 1: are they going to sign them all? When you look
Speaker 1: at Green Bay because Rogers is going to take a
Speaker 1: big chunk of it Adams minimum. They can put the
Speaker 1: tag on Adams if they if they want to go
Speaker 1: that route. But I mean, if Aaron Rodgers leaves, I mean,
Speaker 1: and he already said today Guten Kunst that we're probably
Speaker 1: not going to take any trade offers for for Jordan
Speaker 1: Love and it's you know, they would be in I
Speaker 1: think they would be looking for a quarterback if Rogers
Speaker 1: were to hang up the cleats. But I don't know
Speaker 1: how they're going to resign them all. I really don't.
Speaker 1: They're they're over the cap as it is right now,
Speaker 1: and they've got some huge decisions that they have to
Speaker 1: make in Green Bay. Yeah, they mean, they got all
Speaker 1: the drama that surrounds Aaron Rodgers and it's just getting overwhelming. Actually,
Speaker 1: it's even boring during the off season. But to me,
Speaker 1: the biggest shot across the bows when they went and
Speaker 1: hired Tom Clements. Tom Clements is not going to come
Speaker 1: out of retirement. Look, man, this guy's living a good
Speaker 1: life in California. He's an attorney. He's got a lot
Speaker 1: of different options in life in order to be come
Speaker 1: out out of retirement, and we want you to be
Speaker 1: part of our coaching staff. It's gotta be because I
Speaker 1: don't think they're trying to bring in Tom Clements to
Speaker 1: be incentive for Aaron Rodgers. It's a conversation they had
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers and what they needed to create incentive.
Speaker 1: So excuse me, I am concerned about that, and I
Speaker 1: you know, I everything else kind of overshadows it because
Speaker 1: you know, Davante Adams and all these other guys that
Speaker 1: doesn't matter because of Aaron Rodgers is not there. Then
Speaker 1: we are all fighting for the division championship. All four teams.
Speaker 1: So that to you is your hook, right, you feel
Speaker 1: that's the hook to bring him back. I really do,
Speaker 1: just because he's been out of Green Bay now for
Speaker 1: what three or four years? He had I think year
Speaker 1: in Arizona and then you know it was you know,
Speaker 1: had you know, I think he was doing some commercial
Speaker 1: or some real estate out in the West coast. But listen,
Speaker 1: you just don't bring a guy back into the mix
Speaker 1: after being out of the NFL for so long unless
Speaker 1: you have a player that has a role like Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers does in Green Bay. He's more important than any coach,
Speaker 1: any player in that organization right now, Jim, do you
Speaker 1: have Rogers fatigued? Huh uh. I'm unless taking this advice.
Speaker 1: I'll read a book. You know, you know I leaned
Speaker 1: with what Tom said. It It sounds like, you know,
Speaker 1: what looked like everybody was put on a happy face
Speaker 1: and kind of grinned and bared it, you know, throughout
Speaker 1: the season, and then you know, things started to happen.
Speaker 1: It seems like everybody relented a little bit. They soften
Speaker 1: their stance, even Rogers recently on his buddy the Pat
Speaker 1: McAfee show. You know, I think all the things Tom
Speaker 1: just talked about kind a lead you to believe that
Speaker 1: he will be returning to Green Bay. He's the first
Speaker 1: Domino to fall though big time. But even with him
Speaker 1: coming back, if they sweeten the deal, I mean minimum,
Speaker 1: he's gonna get probably add two years to his contract.
Speaker 1: It'll be forty million a year. How do you pay
Speaker 1: everybody you give Adams the tag, They're gonna have to
Speaker 1: restructure a lot more guys. I mentioned there's gonna be
Speaker 1: one of the Smith brothers isn't gonna be there. They
Speaker 1: can't resign to Andre Campbell. I mean, it's significantly gonna
Speaker 1: limit them with what they can do here this over.
Speaker 1: If they get rid of Kenny Clark, that whole defense
Speaker 1: becomes desfunt I mean even, I mean it's gonna be
Speaker 1: difficult for that defense to be successful on first and
Speaker 1: second down if they get rid of Kenny Clark, because
Speaker 1: he is the toughest guy, the toughest defensive tackle in
Speaker 1: our division. Unless a Kim Hicks is playing hard and healthy,
Speaker 1: you know he's he's right up there with him. But
Speaker 1: they have if they can't sign Kenny Clark, they don't.
Speaker 1: If they can't sign that Campbell and the Smith Brothers.
Speaker 1: Matt Defense is going to take a hit. Hey, they
Speaker 1: found Campbell as a free agent a one year deal,
Speaker 1: they can find another one. I mean, I know he
Speaker 1: had a great year and he went to the years
Speaker 1: in all Pro. But I saw this from Andrew Brandt
Speaker 1: today and he used to be For those who don't
Speaker 1: know him, he used to be in the Packers organization
Speaker 1: and he's a media person now he's got his own website.
Speaker 1: But he says, I think around this time of year,
Speaker 1: fans are more obsessed and worried about the salary cap
Speaker 1: than general managers and owners are. And maybe that's the
Speaker 1: case because you know, years ago we didn't talk about
Speaker 1: it like we do now, and we obsess. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: teams are in the red right now before the new
Speaker 1: league year starts. They gotta be. They gotta be above water.
Speaker 1: Otherwise you know you're not gonna be able to get
Speaker 1: this guy or do this or sign this guy. And
Speaker 1: things have a way of working themselves out, Jim. They
Speaker 1: seemingly always do. If you're part in company with somebody
Speaker 1: because of a cap thing, then you really didn't want
Speaker 1: him anyone. I mean, look at Atlanta last year. That
Speaker 1: what they were fifteen million dollars over. Oh, let's just
Speaker 1: trade Huliu Jones. Fifteen million came off their cap. I
Speaker 1: think Dallas is in kind of the same situation. Dallas
Speaker 1: is twenty million over the cap. Guess what Marie Cooper
Speaker 1: comes in at twenty million dollars. Mari Cooper, I am
Speaker 1: circled has gone. Yeah. Absolutely, But you can clear up
Speaker 1: a lot of cap space pretty quickly, is what Andrew
Speaker 1: Farrant is referring. You know, NFLA is also getting ready
Speaker 1: for the combine and just looking at teams and their needs.
Speaker 1: You know what's really sticking out and in some cases
Speaker 1: from some really good teams because of poor performances, because
Speaker 1: they are slotting guys in because of injury, or because
Speaker 1: of a lack of doe to pay somebody they wanted
Speaker 1: to keep them put in the year before. To me,
Speaker 1: it's always got to be this way, but for some
Speaker 1: reason it's sticking out more this year. How many teams
Speaker 1: are going to be looking for offensive linemen in the draft.
Speaker 1: It is gonna be a whole bunch of people, and
Speaker 1: it's all about protecting the And you go right to
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, who's been sacked over one hundred over one
Speaker 1: hundred times this past year with the playoffs, is that correct?
Speaker 1: Last year? Hundred hundred and two times he's been sacked.
Speaker 1: And the first guy I think of is David Carr. Yeah,
Speaker 1: same thing happened him early in his career. But it's
Speaker 1: not just him. It's Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. Gotta find it.
Speaker 1: He threw a career high in interceptions. Got he's injured.
Speaker 1: You gotta protect justin fields. He gotta make sure he
Speaker 1: feels So there's gonna be So you ready for this?
Speaker 1: You ready for this? So fifty eight offensive linemen are
Speaker 1: invited to the twenty twenty two combine, the most since
Speaker 1: as the most, so they know that, so I think
Speaker 1: that's why they they fudge the numbers that way. This
Speaker 1: will be the least amount of quarterbacks working out at
Speaker 1: the combine. Only fifteen guys we're invited. Uh, there's a
Speaker 1: dip in wide receivers. It's not as much talent as
Speaker 1: what they've been in the past. So there's only forty
Speaker 1: wide receivers. So that's one of the second fewest in
Speaker 1: the last twenty years that have been invited to the combine.
Speaker 1: But old lineman. This is a good year for old lineman,
Speaker 1: really good year. You know, offensive lineman. You know you
Speaker 1: talk about it, and I'm not making a joke about it.
Speaker 1: It always should be a priority because that's where your
Speaker 1: football team is going to start. And when you talk
Speaker 1: about these quarterbacks protecting being protected, justin fields has to
Speaker 1: learn how to protect himself. And that's going to become
Speaker 1: with knowledge of the offense, understanding of the protection, and
Speaker 1: then being able to look at the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: and understand where your vulnerabilities come from. But then when
Speaker 1: you do get outside the pocket, you have to learn
Speaker 1: how to slide efficiently, stay away from taking the unfortunate hits,
Speaker 1: and just make sure that you're improving your own protection.
Speaker 1: That's time there. Jim Miller, Jeff Joni Yak Coming up
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the hour, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.
Speaker 1: Let's sake, let's step away and take a break here
Speaker 1: in Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score well, come
Speaker 1: back to Bears and all access to this segment brought
Speaker 1: to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com
Speaker 1: to request an appointment in clinic or virtually and start
Speaker 1: feeling better tomorrow with Tom there, Jeff Jonahac Jim Miller,
Speaker 1: former Bears quarterback from Sirius XM's NFL radio, Moving the chains.
Speaker 1: Tom was just scribbling notes today, Jim, so I sent
Speaker 1: you some of them and wanted to have some topics
Speaker 1: to discussed today. And so let's go with the position priority,
Speaker 1: Position priority topic, position priority, Jim, We're gonna start with
Speaker 1: Tom since this was his baby anyway. So position priority?
Speaker 1: Are we talking combine draft? Are we talking free agency?
Speaker 1: Are we talking both? I'm talking look into the future
Speaker 1: of the Chicago Bears when you think of the conclusion
Speaker 1: of the season, the new coaching staff coming aboard and
Speaker 1: what they have in place and where they need to
Speaker 1: go a position wise. All right, so you want you
Speaker 1: already touched on it really in the second second. But
Speaker 1: receiver with size are complete rather the secondary with five
Speaker 1: guys you can trust. And then okay, so let's pick
Speaker 1: on this one. The offensive tackle starters with depth. Yeah,
Speaker 1: these starters are right now, No, because first of all,
Speaker 1: you got to allow the offensive line coach to get
Speaker 1: in front of the athletes he has and then where
Speaker 1: does in his mind as he feel they fit the best,
Speaker 1: they give you the best opportunity to win. To me,
Speaker 1: I'll still hold my ground, and I think it's bore
Speaker 1: Um left Jenkins the right tackle to start the season.
Speaker 1: And that's why I say offensive tackle position with depth
Speaker 1: because I want guys to come in here and compete
Speaker 1: against these two young guys. I don't want to hand
Speaker 1: either of them a job. I want them to earn
Speaker 1: it from some guys that are are fighting for that
Speaker 1: position themselves. Jim, do you want to pay for a
Speaker 1: tackle or are we gonna go with young guys and
Speaker 1: try to develop them. I think you go with young guys,
Speaker 1: but you sign a veteran so that you're covered, is
Speaker 1: what I think. So free agent said, you know that
Speaker 1: are out there. Obviously the bearers aren't gonna say signed
Speaker 1: Toronto Armstead. You know, obviously he'd be the starter if
Speaker 1: that were the case. But there's some guys out there
Speaker 1: that you know that that have experience, that have played.
Speaker 1: But I think you want to go young. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a new coaching staff, it is a young quarterback,
Speaker 1: and that's why I think you would want to bring
Speaker 1: in a savvy veteran from the free agent point of view.
Speaker 1: So that you're covered if you go with these young guys.
Speaker 1: I like the athleticism of both of them. I think
Speaker 1: they'll play. You know, Tevin, it's unfortunate he had to
Speaker 1: have the back surgery and didn't get in the mix
Speaker 1: till late in the year, but he was kind of
Speaker 1: thrown right in there, and obviously he knows he's got
Speaker 1: a lot of work to do and what's going to
Speaker 1: be counted on for him moving forward. And then where
Speaker 1: else you're looking, what's your number one and number two?
Speaker 1: I'm probably with you. You got to put more around
Speaker 1: justin field. So receiver, it's going to be a big one,
Speaker 1: you know, with Marquis good one being a free agent
Speaker 1: and Alan Robinson being free So receiver, I would think
Speaker 1: safety and corner, probably another corner first and then a safety.
Speaker 1: But the Bears don't have that first round pick, right,
Speaker 1: They're not taking to what thirty nine, thirty nine I think,
Speaker 1: So you're gonna be looking, you know, at the at
Speaker 1: the second round guys that are available, So everybody's gonna
Speaker 1: throw out, oh, that can get the number one corner. No,
Speaker 1: they're not. The Bears will not be in that. You know,
Speaker 1: They're still gonna be good players there, like I think
Speaker 1: the Penn States safety will be their Briskers is one
Speaker 1: I like that Jalen Petree from Baylor un down and Mobile.
Speaker 1: I think he was voted one of the voted the
Speaker 1: player of the week for the safety position down a Mobile.
Speaker 1: So there's some talented players that will be there in
Speaker 1: the second round for the Bears. And of course they
Speaker 1: can trade up, trade down if they need to to
Speaker 1: target the guy that they're looking for. But I'd say receiver,
Speaker 1: H corner and safety because Sean Gibson, I don't think
Speaker 1: we'll be there, and they've got to be guys that
Speaker 1: can run run for you before I give you my
Speaker 1: three real quick? Do you get influence because you're at
Speaker 1: the senior boat you watch all the practices. There is
Speaker 1: not that luxury. You can see workouts only with the
Speaker 1: combined guys, the underclassman that come in and now you're
Speaker 1: project acting a little bit interviewing them seeing them work out.
Speaker 1: Do you get influenced heavily by senior boat players? And
Speaker 1: do you think teams do versus just saying okay, I
Speaker 1: know there's a lot of guys the underclassmen get going
Speaker 1: in the first round but do you get do you
Speaker 1: get personally, personally as your own scouting eyes to get
Speaker 1: influenced by what you saw. Sure, absolutely, because they're competing
Speaker 1: against the top talent in the country, So that's a
Speaker 1: bonus that you get to see. You get to see
Speaker 1: how they practice and evaluate that all week again, you
Speaker 1: can get a lot out of the practices. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not just about the game, it's just how they
Speaker 1: conduct themselves in practice. The interviews, teams are already able
Speaker 1: to interview those guys down there. So all thirty two
Speaker 1: teams where they're granted, the teams that were coaching the
Speaker 1: Lions in the Jets probably get the most intel because
Speaker 1: they you know, they're they're they're coaching the guys, so
Speaker 1: they get the most intel in the meeting rooms and
Speaker 1: things like that. But the interviews, you're getting ahead of
Speaker 1: the game on these guys, and you can fall like
Speaker 1: you know who, I fell in love with that Boston
Speaker 1: College offensive lineman, Zion Johnson. So that's gonna be He's
Speaker 1: gonna be incredible. Yeah, he's he'll blow it away in
Speaker 1: the interview. He will knock it out of the park. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he definitely is somebody that I'm keeping my eye on,
Speaker 1: but remind me before the show's over, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about underclassman as it relates to what you see
Speaker 1: at the senior ball. All right, my three not too
Speaker 1: much different from Tom and Jim. But okay, is there
Speaker 1: a way to find a playmaker offensively, a go to
Speaker 1: chain mover, third down machine who scores touchdowns? You know,
Speaker 1: those guys can be found. They can be found outside
Speaker 1: the first round. A dual threat receiver that's dangerous can
Speaker 1: put him in the slot three three position type of
Speaker 1: receiver or a tight end. Also is somebody and then
Speaker 1: a defensive line dominant at every spot coming at you
Speaker 1: in waves. Offensive line settle with some angry young men,
Speaker 1: powerful to built guys and that can move in space.
Speaker 1: Those are those are my? All right? Coming up next,
Speaker 1: we'll be joined by Special teams coordinator Richard high Tower
Speaker 1: back with the Bears. Coming back here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access were brought to you by IGS Energy with Jim
Speaker 1: Miller and Tom There. I'm Jeff Jony acc on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy the score. This second of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access is brought to you by CDW people who
Speaker 1: get it. With Tom Bear Jeff, Joni Ac, Jim Miller
Speaker 1: from Serious Sex and NFL Radio's Moving the Chains, our
Speaker 1: weekly guest and our special guest. Tonight we walkome in
Speaker 1: Special Teams coordinator Richard high Tower. Are we doing? Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us? How's everything going up there at
Speaker 1: Hall us all? You certainly didn't need a map, right
Speaker 1: because you've been here before. Yeah, definitely. How you guys
Speaker 1: doing doing great? Doing great? Has it been fun to
Speaker 1: wear the new colors again? And what's it like now
Speaker 1: after being away for a few years and being in
Speaker 1: this position for yourself and if you had time to
Speaker 1: get your feet on the ground a little bit and
Speaker 1: and take stock of how far you've come and the
Speaker 1: more you've landed here. Yeah, well, I'll tell you what,
Speaker 1: Jeff has been outstanding being back and thank you guys
Speaker 1: for having me on tonight. This has been an outstanding
Speaker 1: transition so far. Excited to be back and definitely put
Speaker 1: the colors on again, and excited about the opportunity to
Speaker 1: work with these players and this organization. So it's been
Speaker 1: an outstanding so far, and and I can't wait to
Speaker 1: get started when we do get that opportunity to get
Speaker 1: with the players. Hey, Richard, this is Tom Fair. Congratulations
Speaker 1: and welcome back to Chicago. It's it's it's nice to
Speaker 1: have you back. So I have a question. I was
Speaker 1: watching the sit down interview on the Bears website between
Speaker 1: you and Jeff, and Jeff asked you a question, give
Speaker 1: me a description of yourself, and you said that you're
Speaker 1: a teacher and a mentor. But I want to know
Speaker 1: one thing. Are you an encourager for the kickoff recurrent
Speaker 1: guy to be able to take it out of them
Speaker 1: all the little of the end zone a little bit?
Speaker 1: Because me, I was on kickoff return my entire career
Speaker 1: through my last game in the NFL. Richard, and I'm
Speaker 1: kind of disappointed in the college game, but I've been
Speaker 1: encouraged by the Bears and their willingness to bring it
Speaker 1: out of the end zoner make that decision by the
Speaker 1: kick returner. What's your philosophical thinking about that. I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what, Tom, that's a great question, and he's always
Speaker 1: good to talk to a Super Bowl champ. I know
Speaker 1: you were going that kickoff returned team. It depends on
Speaker 1: it depends on what kind of guy you got back there.
Speaker 1: You got a playmaker back there, all right? You can
Speaker 1: help the offense, and you want to get that ball
Speaker 1: in a really good field position and not take it
Speaker 1: to the house yourself. Hey man, you gotta you gotta
Speaker 1: bring it out right, tom of course I'm with you. Hey, Richard,
Speaker 1: what's your what's you're thinking about using starters on special
Speaker 1: teams because it seems like that goes a lot of
Speaker 1: different directions, and just to getting to know you a
Speaker 1: little bit, what's you're thinking about that? Yeah, well, you know,
Speaker 1: when it comes to using starters on special teams or anybody,
Speaker 1: obviously that goes. All of that stuff goes to the
Speaker 1: head coach. But if they got a helmet on and
Speaker 1: they're available on Sunday, then you never know, we might
Speaker 1: have use them. So they objective is to win and
Speaker 1: win at all costs, you know, so if they got
Speaker 1: a helmet on, you never know you might see them
Speaker 1: out there. Well, coach Jim Miller here, welcome back to Chicago.
Speaker 1: And everybody always says, don't take the foot out of football,
Speaker 1: but you took the foot out of Green Bay twice
Speaker 1: in the divisional route. I mean, did you know going
Speaker 1: into that game because you know we cover obviously the
Speaker 1: Barrison watched jakeem Grant have a ninety seven yard punt return,
Speaker 1: you end up getting the punt block for a touchdown
Speaker 1: and the block field goal that we're huge. I mean,
Speaker 1: it really was the deciding factor in a huge playoff
Speaker 1: game on the road in Green Bay. Yeah, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what. It was important to get that win in
Speaker 1: advance to the NFC Championship. And I know none of
Speaker 1: us like Green Bay, you know and I but it
Speaker 1: wasn't about Green Bay, you know. It was we wanted
Speaker 1: to come away with a win against every team we
Speaker 1: face and rather if it's in the regular season or
Speaker 1: the postseason, just wanted to come away with a win.
Speaker 1: But I'll tell you what that one, that one felt
Speaker 1: good for obviously, and it felt good for the players,
Speaker 1: and I was just happy for the players. You know. Well,
Speaker 1: touch on too when you put the special team. We
Speaker 1: say it all the time here on Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: Special Teams. Coach is an interesting coach because you kind
Speaker 1: of got to know everybody on the roster, whether it's
Speaker 1: the backup linebackers that are on you know, core special teams,
Speaker 1: or receivers who are gunners and you know, maybe just
Speaker 1: touch on that getting to know everybody on the roster
Speaker 1: because it's so important for you to accomplish your job. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's one of the things that
Speaker 1: I just really thoroughly enjoy about my job is that
Speaker 1: I get to talk to and coach everyone on the team.
Speaker 1: So it's really it's really a privilege to be able
Speaker 1: to do that. Obviously, I've coached on offense and coached
Speaker 1: on defense before, but I just really enjoy getting to
Speaker 1: know that backup linebacker, getting to know even some of
Speaker 1: the starters that you have to use situationally. But to
Speaker 1: get a guy that's on the practice squad, or get
Speaker 1: a guy that was drafted in a six or seventh
Speaker 1: round and take those skill sets that the scouts saw
Speaker 1: and develop those and make those guys go out and
Speaker 1: just accomplish their dreams and eventually become starters. Like give
Speaker 1: you a couple examples that just I really feel great
Speaker 1: about for those kids, or like a Dre Greenlaw or
Speaker 1: a ridem Moster, or those guys that have had a
Speaker 1: chance to work within the pad, you know that go
Speaker 1: on and do something special. It's all about teaching those
Speaker 1: guys and inspiring those guys and motivating those guys and
Speaker 1: getting them to put a great product out there to
Speaker 1: help the football team win. I just I mean, that's
Speaker 1: why coach seems so I could go I could go
Speaker 1: on and on about that, but I love it. I
Speaker 1: love your question and that's why I do it. Richard
Speaker 1: hight Tower our guest here on Bears All Access. It's
Speaker 1: brought to you by IGS Energy with Jim millertomp there,
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniac with a new Bears special teams coordinator.
Speaker 1: So you know, you interview a coach who wants to
Speaker 1: have you on their staff as much as they interview you,
Speaker 1: I'm certain, because that's how every walk of life. It's
Speaker 1: what they tell you you're supposed to do. What with Mattieberflus,
Speaker 1: he's a defensive guy that's now the head coach of
Speaker 1: a football team for the first time. How do you
Speaker 1: evaluate where his impact is in terms of dedication to
Speaker 1: time on task for special teams? Because some coaches they
Speaker 1: all look at it a little differently. Some put a
Speaker 1: huge emphasis on it, others, you know, maybe lesson you
Speaker 1: gotta make use of a limited time. Well, what's the
Speaker 1: takeaway on what his feeling is about special teams and
Speaker 1: what it means to the Bears from your p active. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think first of all, Coach Fleus is an outstanding
Speaker 1: leader and a great teacher of been working with him
Speaker 1: here now since I started, and he just really has
Speaker 1: a really detailed plan and he knows how he wants
Speaker 1: to execute its planned. So that's been a great deal
Speaker 1: working with him. He has a really good vision for
Speaker 1: special teams and it's a high priority for him, and
Speaker 1: obviously it's a part of the football team that really matters.
Speaker 1: So just hearing the way he talks about having speed, physicality,
Speaker 1: guys that strike, guys that finished the hits principle that
Speaker 1: we believe in, it's really got my blood boiling and
Speaker 1: and and really got me going and want to want
Speaker 1: to be here and work with him. So he's been
Speaker 1: awesome with that stuff. You know, Richard and your return
Speaker 1: visit your return time here at Soldier Field. When you
Speaker 1: talk about the kicking conditions down there, when you're talk
Speaker 1: about it on a game day, is it something that
Speaker 1: you'll go down there with your kickers and punters and snappers,
Speaker 1: or is it that you'll go down there in game
Speaker 1: day you'll kind of take the conditions in and then
Speaker 1: talk to your specialtists about it, because you know you've
Speaker 1: been here enough. You're gonna have nine home games this year,
Speaker 1: and you never know what the condition is going to
Speaker 1: be on any given Sunday. So how helpful will your
Speaker 1: experience be that you've been here before? But how much
Speaker 1: details coming to play on game day? Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's a wonderful question. I mean, it's the conditions or
Speaker 1: so much of a factor when it comes to special teams.
Speaker 1: I think more than people realize when you're kicking the ball,
Speaker 1: like what type of wind or you getting or you're
Speaker 1: getting a down win or you're getting a cross win.
Speaker 1: You know, is it blowing to your bench? Is it
Speaker 1: blowing opposite? Can you punt the ball this way? Can
Speaker 1: you kick a field goal and hit it in this spot?
Speaker 1: You know, those those things that be advantages for disadvantage
Speaker 1: for you if you don't know what's going on with
Speaker 1: the weather. So obviously, well we'll talk about that a lot.
Speaker 1: We'll practice down there, and then obviously on game day
Speaker 1: we'll go out and check the conditions before and talk
Speaker 1: about it quite a bit, and check the conditions throughout
Speaker 1: the throughout the game, quarter to quarter, minute to minute
Speaker 1: you know it changes well, coach, obviously special teams, they've
Speaker 1: they've had all these new rules. We see a lot
Speaker 1: more touchbacks on site, kicks have gone down in terms
Speaker 1: of recovery. Are you worried because they still want to
Speaker 1: make it more safe? I mean, how in tune are
Speaker 1: you with it if there could be more changes or
Speaker 1: what's coming down the pipeline, because it sounds like it
Speaker 1: will be discussed again at the NFL owners meetings, And
Speaker 1: how you how challenging it is for all your special
Speaker 1: teams coaches that have to adjust to the new rules
Speaker 1: that are in place. Yeah, I think I think that's
Speaker 1: the fun part about the job, because you know, all
Speaker 1: thirty two teams have to play by the same rules,
Speaker 1: and you have to develop your game plan. You have
Speaker 1: to implement your game plan, and you have to see
Speaker 1: what works and what doesn't work. Um, I really I'm
Speaker 1: all for safety, you know, I think the league has
Speaker 1: done a great job with player safety and and by
Speaker 1: still taking care of the players, but by still keeping
Speaker 1: the game fun and exciting. You know, we had some
Speaker 1: kickoff return this year. You know that that we're really
Speaker 1: big returns, you know, so some of that stuff is
Speaker 1: good we're keeping it safe but still having excitement in
Speaker 1: the game. So I'm not too concerned about it. But
Speaker 1: I mean I'm all for players safety first and foremost
Speaker 1: so by the wallets with Richard Hightower, our guest here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access, he's the Bear Special teams coordinator.
Speaker 1: All right, just uh, this is a moment of gratitude
Speaker 1: maybe for you because you know, going back in your history,
Speaker 1: and we'll leave you with this, if I'm not mistaken you,
Speaker 1: you really entered the league and you played to Texas
Speaker 1: and you're a great special team's player. You came out
Speaker 1: of a tough a tough inner city part of Houston.
Speaker 1: You walked out of Texas and Charlie Casherley hired you
Speaker 1: as a marketing intern with Houston Texas. Is that was
Speaker 1: that your entry to the National Football League? Do I
Speaker 1: have it right? And how the heck did you get here?
Speaker 1: You do have it right? I mean, breath, Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, it's you know my you know, my father,
Speaker 1: I mean, God rest his soul, but he always told me,
Speaker 1: you know, you just try to get your foot in
Speaker 1: the door wherever you can, and you work hard and
Speaker 1: if you want to be successful, try to attach yourself
Speaker 1: to successful, successful people and learn from those people, and
Speaker 1: just try to work hard. So that's really I mean,
Speaker 1: in long and short of it, really that's all I did,
Speaker 1: and just was lucky to be around some really good coaches,
Speaker 1: and Charlie Casserley was instrumental in my development and really
Speaker 1: just taking a chance and giving me a shot. So
Speaker 1: I don't ever think I can repay him for what
Speaker 1: he did, but I just want to try to, you know,
Speaker 1: bust my tail to make him as proud as I can.
Speaker 1: And everybody else I was lucky enough to work with
Speaker 1: along the way, well well said. And it's exactly why
Speaker 1: I'm friends with Jim Miller and Tom Fair. You know
Speaker 1: you attach yourself at Winters so well, Richard, It'll be
Speaker 1: good to see it. It will be good to see
Speaker 1: you around the building and certainly at the combine next week.
Speaker 1: I know you guys have a lot of work to do,
Speaker 1: and I have been meeting every day to get this
Speaker 1: thing rolling for twenty twenty two. Thanks for taking all
Speaker 1: the time, appreciate it. Take care. Special Teams Coordinator Richard
Speaker 1: Highttower or the Bears. Let's take a break one more
Speaker 1: segment to go. Jim and Tom join me next here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access here on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score up until the
Speaker 1: time of the hour and they will hand it off
Speaker 1: to our good pal hub arc Is. It's top there,
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac, Jim Miller with you and Jim want to
Speaker 1: touch on the combine because that's the build up this
Speaker 1: this week. Obviously, everybody heads out there and spends the
Speaker 1: entire week gathering information and opinion, and it is a
Speaker 1: great time. Is the It is the big It's the
Speaker 1: best way to describe it to people. It's a convention, right,
Speaker 1: it is a football coach and player convention. But one
Speaker 1: thing I want to bring up, and there's some things
Speaker 1: I know they're they're tweaking the drills and stuff. And
Speaker 1: maybe we've talked about this in the past, So it
Speaker 1: goes back to that Senior Bowl discussion in our second segment.
Speaker 1: So you watch the seniors and you watch these guys
Speaker 1: that you know are invited to kind of prove themselves
Speaker 1: in front of coaches in that kind of environment. But
Speaker 1: we don't do that with the underclassman I guess the
Speaker 1: biggest question is would that ever be allowed, permitted, begged
Speaker 1: upon to do that with underclassmen and just have their
Speaker 1: own little version of Senior Bowl to get the same
Speaker 1: kind of knowledge you're getting on the guys that you
Speaker 1: bring in that have played four years of football there.
Speaker 1: That has been to discuss that would they just do it?
Speaker 1: You know, like you said, an underclassman Bowl, and that
Speaker 1: has been brought up. I mean, because right now at
Speaker 1: the Senior Bowl, underclassmen they have to graduate in order
Speaker 1: to play in that game. So there are guys that
Speaker 1: do it for that very reason to get showcase. Because
Speaker 1: ninety eight percent of the guys in Mobile, they will
Speaker 1: they get drafted. Now, so that's one hundred and fifteen
Speaker 1: man roster for for both teams, or like a total,
Speaker 1: I should say, so basically over a hundred of them
Speaker 1: are getting drafted. So I mean it's kind of a
Speaker 1: lock for that game. But yes, that I talked to
Speaker 1: Jim Nagee about it, the executive director of the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 1: One either they change their rules to allow underclassmen in there,
Speaker 1: which I think is going to be hard to do,
Speaker 1: or they just have an underclassman bowl. Yeah, now you're
Speaker 1: gonna get you know, the first thing that's going to happen.
Speaker 1: Based on what we heard this week time from agents
Speaker 1: that you know, took exception to the rules because of COVID,
Speaker 1: still a bit of a problem in terms of what
Speaker 1: they were able to do for their workouts and who
Speaker 1: they could bring with them, because you know, they got
Speaker 1: a lot of different people working around these high priced
Speaker 1: athletes that are underclassmen and likely first and second rounders.
Speaker 1: Many well there's only thirty two first rounders, but many
Speaker 1: of these guys are potential elite players, and so the
Speaker 1: agents would have a fit more than likely putting their
Speaker 1: player in jeopardy of injury. You look at the bowl
Speaker 1: game situation and a lot of these guys are pulling
Speaker 1: themselves out of that to get ready for the combines.
Speaker 1: So I'm thinking it'll never happen. Well, you know, Jeff,
Speaker 1: the agents aren't running next to them at the forty
Speaker 1: yard dash. Tell them to slow down if they feel something.
Speaker 1: I think they should just keep the distractions away from
Speaker 1: these guys, let them commiserate with all the other guys
Speaker 1: that are there. Because to me, when I went to
Speaker 1: the combine. That was the fun of it. It was
Speaker 1: the camaraderie. It was kind of learning about guys that
Speaker 1: you read about, maybe from a different program, and you
Speaker 1: finally got a hands on or eyes on approach. I
Speaker 1: don't think an agent being there. You're not going to
Speaker 1: have a trainer that's doing any extra work with you.
Speaker 1: Why you're so exhausted from the work that the NFL's
Speaker 1: asking you to do. To me, it was just as
Speaker 1: soon as the NFL said we would like to protect
Speaker 1: these guys, then all of a sudden, the agents got
Speaker 1: involved and started whining because they're more concerned about themselves
Speaker 1: than they are the players. And I just think if
Speaker 1: they would let the players go to a four day combine,
Speaker 1: do what's asked of them, and then if they don't
Speaker 1: want to do it, you know, address it, then sounds plausible, Jim,
Speaker 1: sounds plausible. What do you think about some of the
Speaker 1: changes and what they need to do? Again, you heard
Speaker 1: a lot of opinions about what people think of the
Speaker 1: combine that are in and around the game, and I
Speaker 1: still think it's vital. I mean, you're making some major decisions,
Speaker 1: but you know they don't. There's a lot of people
Speaker 1: and including the players union unfortunately that are not big
Speaker 1: fans of it. Yeah. Well, first and foremost, it is
Speaker 1: about the medical you know, so you know all those tests,
Speaker 1: and you know all the NFL teams share that that information.
Speaker 1: And let's be honest, the NFL has actually saved players lives.
Speaker 1: I mean, we always bring up Star Low to lelee here.
Speaker 1: He's a first round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1: He goes to Indianapolis, they do the heart tests on him,
Speaker 1: they find a heart defect. He is sent home, not
Speaker 1: allowed to work out because it's too dangerous for him
Speaker 1: to work out. He has to get a procedure on
Speaker 1: his heart, and then he comes back for the combine
Speaker 1: you know, check up, like where you come back and
Speaker 1: they check up again, and then he's able to go
Speaker 1: out and work out for teams knowing that he's fully
Speaker 1: healthy from that standpoint. But so it's done that through
Speaker 1: and through. I mean, every year they catch a guy
Speaker 1: with a broken bone. Julio Jones, remember him, fifth metatarsal.
Speaker 1: He went out there and started to work out with
Speaker 1: a broken fifth metatarsal, and the NFL doctors came out
Speaker 1: there said, no, he's done. We just got his test back.
Speaker 1: He's got a broken foot, and Julio Jones, I just
Speaker 1: I remember him because it was called he goes man.
Speaker 1: I was wondering why my foot was bothering me. He's
Speaker 1: out there, He's out there running around with a broken foot.
Speaker 1: So it is about the medical. Yeah, I'm sure that
Speaker 1: they can change and do some different drills, but there
Speaker 1: are certain drills that do have those common core tests,
Speaker 1: whether it's change your direction and all the drills that
Speaker 1: you do from that stated point, and the fluidity, you know,
Speaker 1: the tracking of the ball for the receivers over there
Speaker 1: over their shoulders, you know how a quarterback throws. I
Speaker 1: like it because you can compare apples to apples. Well,
Speaker 1: that's just it. You got, you got some standardization, right, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: and go back for decades to look at it. But
Speaker 1: do you ever, you know, I'm Tom, what do you
Speaker 1: get out of it? I mean, do you do you?
Speaker 1: I mean, are you worried that maybe it'll go away
Speaker 1: and they will just be medical and it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: to you? Um? No, it means I mean, listen, if
Speaker 1: you just wanted to go to Indianapolis and get the
Speaker 1: medical out of the way and have these interviews and
Speaker 1: get a you know, kind of like I said, an
Speaker 1: eyes on approach to some of these players, because all
Speaker 1: these guys go home and say, oh, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to run a forty. I'll do it at my senior day.
Speaker 1: So to me, you know, again, it was it was
Speaker 1: about the combines and very few times did guys come
Speaker 1: to you, you know, and work out. I think the
Speaker 1: only offensive line coach that came to Notre Dame and
Speaker 1: worked me out my senior year was Jerry Woffler, who
Speaker 1: was the offensive line coach at the time for the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. So you had everything taken care of at
Speaker 1: the combines. And if you did everything, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't need to put that on display again at my
Speaker 1: college day. I did it enough for you at the combine, Jim.
Speaker 1: But it won't go away when you stop. It's it's
Speaker 1: now become a big moneymaker for the NFL. An event. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna start. They're gonna you know, travel it around.
Speaker 1: It'll be much like the Super Bowl. I think teams
Speaker 1: are going to bid on it. They'll move it around,
Speaker 1: dependent on you know, if you've got all the places
Speaker 1: that can do the TESTA normally every downtown, Like say,
Speaker 1: if the Combine was in Chicago, I mean, you've got
Speaker 1: all the medical facilities there where they could do it downtown.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's what I think's going to happen. And
Speaker 1: you know, this could be the last year it is
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis. I mean, some don't want that to happen
Speaker 1: because typically the NFL has been pretty traditional. Obviously, you
Speaker 1: know here we're just talking about the Senior Bowl. It's
Speaker 1: always been down in Mobile, Alabama. But I think the
Speaker 1: NFL is open to moving not only that, but moving
Speaker 1: the Combine around and to other cities. That way other
Speaker 1: fans could experience it. You know, we've already seen them.
Speaker 1: They open up Lucas LL Stadium, a certain amount of
Speaker 1: fans are in there just watching guys work out and
Speaker 1: running forties and catching footballs and things of that nature.
Speaker 1: So I think the NFL is all four all right.
Speaker 1: A couple quick hitters before we go, bears related only here.
Speaker 1: First of all, happy forty first birthday to Charles Panet
Speaker 1: Tillman still blows my mind. Number one in NFL history
Speaker 1: most forced fumbles by a dB with forty four. The
Speaker 1: closest guys are Charles Woodson. And Brian Dawkins at twenty
Speaker 1: eight force fumbles. So that's crazy for a non defensive
Speaker 1: end edge rusher who's sacking the quarterback and ripping the
Speaker 1: ball out of the waist. So Charles, happy birthday? All right?
Speaker 1: Does Montgomery and Khalil Herbert need increases for the offense
Speaker 1: to work in bigger chunks? That's a top there line.
Speaker 1: What are you referring to from big place? Well, no,
Speaker 1: you know, David Montgomery is a really good receiver, and
Speaker 1: I think Khalil Herbert is too, but he didn't get
Speaker 1: enough of an opportunity. If you take a guy that
Speaker 1: has the athleticism of justin fields and he could stretch
Speaker 1: a defense in one direction and rely on a receiver
Speaker 1: like David Montgomery or Khalil Herbert, maybe you can get
Speaker 1: those bigger chunk plays if you have defensive awareness about
Speaker 1: the tight ends and the receivers that they're facing. So
Speaker 1: where does Dave Montgomery excuse me, need to go in
Speaker 1: this offense? Is it more rushing yards per attempt? Or
Speaker 1: is it being more of a reliable receiver after a
Speaker 1: pass blocking responsibility on second, long or third third down.
Speaker 1: I think I think David is a heck of a receiver,
Speaker 1: and you could probably get more profit out of him
Speaker 1: if you were willing to use them more. Jimbo Uh,
Speaker 1: I think, just judging by the you know, just how
Speaker 1: Indianapolis ran the football, I think it's going to be
Speaker 1: a hot hands situation. You know, I do I think
Speaker 1: any of these guys got breakaway beat like a Jonathan Taylor. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think that. But I do think it's going
Speaker 1: to be heavy on running the football to protect their
Speaker 1: young quarterbacks. So I think it's going to come down
Speaker 1: to the hot hand who's ever feeling it are going
Speaker 1: to get more carries from From that standpoint, and I
Speaker 1: think both are talented. I really love David Montgomery. I
Speaker 1: do think you'd like to get him about twenty carries.
Speaker 1: It seems to be twenty carries or more. But I
Speaker 1: think Herbert is going to earn more opportunities. I like
Speaker 1: what I saw from Khalil this past season, and if
Speaker 1: you need different flavors, you talk about offensive lineman numbers
Speaker 1: at the Combine. I think it's a record for running
Speaker 1: backs right showing up at the Combine this year. They
Speaker 1: have thirty six running backs. It's the most since twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: where they also invited thirty six running backs. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a lot plus a bunch of free agency. All right,
Speaker 1: the last one then, are we okay with Mac quinn
Speaker 1: and Travis Gibson being defensive ends in this style of
Speaker 1: a defense that Mattiberfluss bringing uno the table? Or do
Speaker 1: they need more size start with Jim and we only
Speaker 1: have two minutes. Yeah, I would say, well, Quinn's played
Speaker 1: in both and I think Mac's goodenough athlete more than
Speaker 1: a good enough athlete. Yeah, he'll be fine as a
Speaker 1: defensive end. Or you know, if they're looking for specifics,
Speaker 1: like I said, I still think they need to address
Speaker 1: a three technique. You know, could any of those players
Speaker 1: be trade bait? You know it's I really believe that
Speaker 1: because you look at when the Indianapolis really started to
Speaker 1: turn the corners when they made that trade for Horse Buckner.
Speaker 1: I think Bear's got to focus on that first. Get
Speaker 1: the interior, and that's really going to set up the outside.
Speaker 1: I think Khalil and Quinn can both play the position.
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure about Gibson the at at this level.
Speaker 1: But if you want size in that position, you're Neil,
Speaker 1: You're gonna have to get bigger, all right, Good job boys.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you next week. Jim. We'll see in
Speaker 1: Indianapolis and Tom will tell you all about it behind
Speaker 1: the scene story with Miller and Joni Yac. I'll be
Speaker 1: watching it. Thanks again to our producer Brian Callahan and
Speaker 1: our guest Richard Hyower. For Tom there, Jim Miller, I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joni Ac. You've been saying that the Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears
Speaker 1: All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot Com
Speaker 1: and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app.
Speaker 1: Bears all Access has been brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy and sponsored by Miller Lite