Speaker 1: Welcome in Tom Bears Weekly, a Chicago Bears Network production.
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Speaker 1: Connie's Pizza, and Miller Liked. Here are your hosts, Jeff
Speaker 1: aka the Marow Bearsville and his sidekick, Tom the Surfmaster Theyer.
Speaker 2: Three weeks from the season opener of the Bears share
Speaker 2: the practice field with the Indianapolis Colts just outside Carmel, Indiana,
Speaker 2: with sold out crowds and an elevation and excitement, intensity
Speaker 2: and evaluation charged up. The best way to describe it.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, Jeff, Joniak and Tom there with you on
Speaker 2: this week's edition of Bears Weekly. Our producer is Justin
Speaker 2: Pottinger in the ESPN studios with Dan Brilliant Jordan tread Up.
Speaker 2: Our Bears producers coming up around six ' ten will
Speaker 2: be joined by running back Kylie ol Herbert and at
Speaker 2: six point thirty our Bears Radio Network sideline reporter Jason
Speaker 2: McKee makes his debut on this year's show. Tom a
Speaker 2: member of the Bears two two thousand and six super
Speaker 2: Bowl team. But I got the Super Bowl winning bear
Speaker 2: here nineteen eighty five version, and I've enjoyed the week
Speaker 2: so far just hearing YouTube telling stories.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, it's a great experience for the team
Speaker 3: because you know, I think when you become a football player,
Speaker 3: you're part of a team. You go through all the
Speaker 3: same practices against the same guys. You know exactly what
Speaker 3: their tendencies are, and they know a lot about you.
Speaker 3: But as we are down there talking to Cody Whitehair
Speaker 3: and now you have a chance to get some work
Speaker 3: against guys that really don't know your mechanics, they don't
Speaker 3: know your fundamentals, they don't know what you're going to
Speaker 3: try to do to them.
Speaker 4: It gives you a wider.
Speaker 3: Experience to work against opponents in the NFL, but also
Speaker 3: have you know, maybe one hundred and fifty plays in
Speaker 3: a couple day period against these guys to sharpen what
Speaker 3: you do well no matter what position you play.
Speaker 2: I think it brought the best out and everybody so far.
Speaker 2: Cole comet Roshawn Johnson said the same thing after Wednesday's practice.
Speaker 2: The same thing will happen after tonight's practice as well.
Speaker 2: You know, it's hard to settle time on just what
Speaker 2: to look at, though we touched on it in our Bears, Etc. Podcast.
Speaker 2: Just who's doing what and how well at some of
Speaker 2: these practices. And if not for your eyes peeled for
Speaker 2: just about anything, you know, you'd really have a hard time.
Speaker 2: Because somebody asked me, oh, you know who won the day,
Speaker 2: and that was on Wednesday's practice. Thursday's practice going on
Speaker 2: right now? Yeah, can't see. I mean there's wins and
Speaker 2: losses on both sides of the fence.
Speaker 3: Well, since we've been around enough of these practices, it's
Speaker 3: all about observational positioning, and I think we can put
Speaker 3: that term inside the glossary of the NFL because you
Speaker 3: really do have to stand in the position where Okay,
Speaker 3: for example, the Bears defensive line against Indianapolis offensive line
Speaker 3: is doing one on ones at a certain period or
Speaker 3: portion of the field. But then you have the seven
Speaker 3: on seven period going of the Indianapolis Colts offense against
Speaker 3: the Bears defensive backs and linebackers.
Speaker 4: So if you can get into.
Speaker 3: A position you can wash a one on one, you
Speaker 3: can turn immediately and watch the seven on seven play,
Speaker 3: but you can't watch both ends of the field. So
Speaker 3: you really do have to have, you know, be able
Speaker 3: to really be a positioned. Well, yesterday I focused on
Speaker 3: the Bears offense. Today I'm gonna focus on the Bears defense.
Speaker 2: That means you're gonna be watching Anthony Richardson. Yeah, the
Speaker 2: Florida quarterback. He walked down the field. You could just
Speaker 2: see this is a unique sized quarterback. He It's not
Speaker 2: like those guys haven't been around a don take hol
Speaker 2: Pepper and Cam Newton certainly, but but there's just something
Speaker 2: something unique about the guy. I really like the fact
Speaker 2: that he walked over and introduced himself to Justin Fields.
Speaker 2: He stuck his hand out, Justin turned around and then
Speaker 2: they you know, that was his rookie moment. I guess
Speaker 2: with a veteran quarterback and Justin Fields, but you're looking
Speaker 2: at the present day version of what an athletic quarterback
Speaker 2: looks like. In both cases.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, yesterday on the field, we also had
Speaker 3: a chance to sit and have a conversation with Chris
Speaker 3: ballor the general manager of Indianapolis, and we are talking
Speaker 3: about the combine for Anthony Richardson, and he knew where
Speaker 3: he was positioned in the draft and he was convinced
Speaker 3: that was going to be the guy that he was
Speaker 3: going to draft. So you know, it's nice to be
Speaker 3: convinced as a general manager, and they were, and they
Speaker 3: believe Anthony Richardson is their future. And you look at listen,
Speaker 3: Andrew Luck was a big quarterback, Peyton Manning was a
Speaker 3: big quarterback. Jacoby Brisker is a big quarterback. But there's
Speaker 3: nothing like Anthony Richardson. That dude is special with his side, speed, athleticism, strength, everything,
Speaker 3: And so it's going to be interesting to watch his
Speaker 3: career develop over time. And how unique is it to
Speaker 3: have probably two of the best quarterback athletes in all
Speaker 3: of the league on the same field at the same time.
Speaker 2: Jacoby Brussette still yes, But now that it's becomes now
Speaker 2: the sixth different starting quarterback in six straight years for
Speaker 2: the Cults.
Speaker 3: Well, hopefully they've hooked on somebody that's going to be
Speaker 3: here for the next ten because actually, when you look
Speaker 3: back at the life and the career of Andrew Luck,
Speaker 3: we probably thought that he would still be here if
Speaker 3: in fact that he stayed in the NFL, but he's not.
Speaker 3: Indianapolis was a able to move on. But you know what,
Speaker 3: we learned about justin last year. We need to watch
Speaker 3: him take the second step throughout his career, just like
Speaker 3: he's got to see what the initial stages of Anthony
Speaker 3: Richardson's going to be.
Speaker 2: Like, Bears waived injured linebacker Buddy Johnson. They picked him
Speaker 2: up really in camp from the Steelers and added another
Speaker 2: linebacker who also will be wearing number fifty. It's Davion Taylor,
Speaker 2: a former third round pick of the Eagles. Down played
Speaker 2: nine games and started six and twenty twenty one and
Speaker 2: then he suffered an injury practice squad all of last year.
Speaker 2: He is presently now the fastest linebacker the Bears have.
Speaker 2: He ran a four to four six forty. He is
Speaker 2: unique in that regard. He's got closing speed and he's
Speaker 2: a really good special teams player. So we'll see what
Speaker 2: he is. But clearly, you know, Ian Cunningham ties to Philadelphia,
Speaker 2: probably caught that attention there. So Davion Taylor with some speed.
Speaker 2: They've been adding speed throughout the entire offseason and continuing
Speaker 2: now just keep a speed.
Speaker 4: Davion Taylor's best friend is going to be t J. Edwards.
Speaker 3: Because if you have a player that used to play
Speaker 3: the same position, and he can feed you a lot
Speaker 3: of information as quickly as possible. Then you're going to
Speaker 3: be picked up the speed a lot quicker. You don't
Speaker 3: have to sit there with the position coach all day
Speaker 3: every day. Sometimes you can just have a little off
Speaker 3: the sideline conversations with a guy like TJ. Edwards and
Speaker 3: he can expedite your learning curve.
Speaker 2: Went to Colorado. But get this, in high school, he
Speaker 2: could not play on a Friday or Saturday. His family
Speaker 2: was Seventh Day Adventist and so he was not allowed
Speaker 2: to play. And he begged his mother at some point
Speaker 2: in order to get a football scholarship, and she gave
Speaker 2: her blessing to go and do that. He missed. He
Speaker 2: was a sprinter, a state champion sprinter as well, and
Speaker 2: he missed championships and all that. So quite an interesting story.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, there was.
Speaker 3: You know, parents that handle their children in a lot
Speaker 3: of different waves. I admire, you know, the way he's
Speaker 3: stuck to it and the way his mom helped him.
Speaker 3: And now he's here on an NFL field fighting for
Speaker 3: a job like every one of the players out here.
Speaker 2: All right, Colts lost a really good player yesterday though
Speaker 2: to a torn acl wide receiver at Ashlyn Doolan had
Speaker 2: a great career, going All Pro Special Teams player name
Speaker 2: last year, but a torn ACL yesterday.
Speaker 3: I know, Hey, that's the unfortunate side of football, you know.
Speaker 3: And whether we see that practice at the at the
Speaker 3: Hallis Hall, if the Bears are practicing by themselves or
Speaker 3: just the happenstance of happening in a joint practice with
Speaker 3: the Bears in Indianapolis Colts.
Speaker 4: Unfortunate forever anybody.
Speaker 3: But you know the thing about it is, how does
Speaker 3: it challenge the mentality of the guy that's waiting in
Speaker 3: the wings, that's next in line. Is he going to
Speaker 3: be up to? You know, what the coaches are going
Speaker 3: to expect of him? And you know that's just the
Speaker 3: challenges of competition and depth in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Ashton Doolan really good player for the Indianapolis Colts. They
Speaker 2: had some other injuries as well, but nothing official from them.
Speaker 2: And the injured Bears that are working their way back,
Speaker 2: I'm interested to get your perspective. So Nate Davis impads
Speaker 2: yesterday had a few snaps and this progress now, I'm
Speaker 2: sure it's kind of a quote unquote a ramp up
Speaker 2: to get him back. He's missed the entirety. You know,
Speaker 2: that's first dam pads, so what you know.
Speaker 3: And again I've been one of the guys that have
Speaker 3: been really disappointed Nate Davis hasn't been out there because
Speaker 3: I think he was a type of guy that was
Speaker 3: going to come in here and immediately help Darnel write
Speaker 3: the first round right tackle. However, the snaps I did
Speaker 3: see out of Nate Davis, I was super encouraged. So
Speaker 3: it's probably the first guy that I'm mentally okay with
Speaker 3: giving him a ramp up period because I want him
Speaker 3: to be ramped up for Week one against the Green
Speaker 3: Bay Packers. I don't care about him playing in any
Speaker 3: preseason games, but if he can get you know, maybe
Speaker 3: two hundred and fifty to three hundred reps before the
Speaker 3: regular season gets gets here, you're going to have an indication.
Speaker 3: And it's great that he's playing a practicing against Indianapolis Colts,
Speaker 3: because I think you want an indicator against an opponent.
Speaker 3: You don't necessarily want an indicator against the controlled practice
Speaker 3: against your own personnel.
Speaker 2: Any concerns on your part, No Jaquan Brisker, Tremaine Edmonds,
Speaker 2: they're not back just yet. I'm trying to think who
Speaker 2: else would be. Oh and Chase Claypoll. Those three are
Speaker 2: certainly key components of what all you want to do here.
Speaker 3: Oh huge, They're a huge part of the Bears in
Speaker 3: the positions they play. Am I concerned, No, because they
Speaker 3: have veteran experience. Aside from Jakawan Brisker is just in
Speaker 3: a second year, but we all see what he's capable
Speaker 3: of and how well he's been doing in practices up
Speaker 3: until this point. But you know, I think they're fortunate
Speaker 3: that you have that two week opening before the start
Speaker 3: of the regular season, because if they don't come back
Speaker 3: until then, at least they're going to have three to
Speaker 3: five full speed practices before they get on the field.
Speaker 2: That's not there. I'm Jeff Joniakin coming up next, dude,
Speaker 2: you're running back. Khalil Herbert joins us on Bears Weekly
Speaker 2: here on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network. Is Bears Weekly with a voice
Speaker 1: of the Bears for twenty three years Jeff on the
Speaker 1: Radio network.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back to Bears weekly here on ESPN
Speaker 2: one thousand of the Bears Radio Network. Kind of enough
Speaker 2: to join us here in Indianapolis is Khalil Herbert, our
Speaker 2: Bears running back entering his third year from Virginia Tech.
Speaker 2: I love the way this guy plays the game. He
Speaker 2: plays the game the right way. He checks boxes as
Speaker 2: a Chicago Bear. We're talking grit, we're talking physicality, we're
Speaker 2: talking speed. You got it all, brother, and it's been
Speaker 2: fun to watch.
Speaker 5: You appreciate it.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 5: It's been fun. You know, these three years flying by.
Speaker 5: You know, I jok with my girl that you know,
Speaker 5: it feels like I just started and I'm already in
Speaker 5: year three. So it's been fun.
Speaker 2: So your first thirty NFL games, you're averaging five yards
Speaker 2: of carry that that number, just like in Neon lights
Speaker 2: hit you and you've caught eighty two percent of the
Speaker 2: passes throwing your way. So we're talking about complete by
Speaker 2: air by ground. But as you continue to grow in
Speaker 2: this system and this scheme and in your NFL career,
Speaker 2: aside from the obvious and victories, what matters to Khalil
Speaker 2: Hibbert when you hear numbers like that, I.
Speaker 5: Mean, really all of it just I think the biggest
Speaker 5: one for me is being a person that can help
Speaker 5: my team in any way. So it's trying to find
Speaker 5: a way to help the team where it's on the ground,
Speaker 5: in the air, whatever it is. I feel like that's
Speaker 5: that's one thing I always try to do and one
Speaker 5: thing I strive for.
Speaker 2: So you hit the gas on the screen. I believe
Speaker 2: it's one of the more deadlier plays in football. If
Speaker 2: you run a screen to perfection, it puts defenses in
Speaker 2: a whole lot of conflict and bam, we hit them
Speaker 2: with two screens back to back. Take us through that play,
Speaker 2: because this has been your m throughout your whole college career.
Speaker 2: You've always had big gains here with the Bears, You've
Speaker 2: had big gains. So you do have finishing speed when
Speaker 2: you get out there. But just the execution of a screen,
Speaker 2: a lot of things have to go right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, one hundred percent. You know, they ran a blitz
Speaker 5: the back, so it kind of worked out perfect us.
Speaker 5: You know, I just had a bluff the blitzer and
Speaker 5: the second guy was supposed to have be in man,
Speaker 5: but he got he got kind of tripped up, and
Speaker 5: then you know, I just I wanted to get out fast.
Speaker 5: Because I know they're blitzing, so justin you know, he
Speaker 5: made he got some extra time, rolled out to the
Speaker 5: left there and I seen the guys out in front
Speaker 5: of me before I even caught the ball, so I know,
Speaker 5: I know there was a lot of room to work with.
Speaker 5: And then after catching it, just you know, setting up
Speaker 5: my blocks downfield. We got a bunch of guys blocking downfield,
Speaker 5: Receivers blocking down field, old line blocking downfield, so it's
Speaker 5: pretty easy for me to just maneuver. And then you know,
Speaker 5: one thing I'm focusing on a lot was finishing my
Speaker 5: runs in the end zone, you know, not getting caught
Speaker 5: within the five. You know, we got a big fine
Speaker 5: for that. So I was trying to find any way
Speaker 5: to get an end zone, and you know I was
Speaker 5: able to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So when you talk about bluffing the blitzer, what
Speaker 2: what's the what's the what's the technique of that?
Speaker 5: Really just make it look like you're gonna block him
Speaker 5: and then last second get out the way. You don't
Speaker 5: really don't want to want to get any contact with
Speaker 5: him because it could mess up the time of the screen.
Speaker 2: And then with this fun business. So when you're saying,
Speaker 2: like I practice, you guys finishing the end zone throughout
Speaker 2: training camp. But you know that hasn't happened to you often? Yeah,
Speaker 2: they track you down inside the five, has it? I
Speaker 2: don't recall.
Speaker 5: Only one big one I know is Washington last year. Okay,
Speaker 5: that's the big one.
Speaker 2: Was that on a passer or a run?
Speaker 5: I was on a run.
Speaker 6: Okay?
Speaker 5: Other than that, no, But so, and.
Speaker 2: What do you do to accentuate or enhance that finishing speed?
Speaker 5: You just gotta find a way. You gotta find a way,
Speaker 5: whether it's you know, pushing extra five yards or running
Speaker 5: through somebody, you gotta find a way to get in
Speaker 5: the end zone. And you know, that's kind of one
Speaker 5: thing we practiced it every day and practice, like you said,
Speaker 5: and having that mentality of, you know, find a way
Speaker 5: to finish an end zone regardless of what happens.
Speaker 2: Hilbert our guest here on Bears Weekly on ESPN one
Speaker 2: thousand time. There will be long after this segment to
Speaker 2: rejoin us and talk Bears football. Here in Indianapolis practicing
Speaker 2: against the Colts. Let's talk about that, because you just
Speaker 2: were telling me it's your first time away in one
Speaker 2: of these dual practices. It looks like it's the wave
Speaker 2: of the future. So I mean the culture going to
Speaker 2: take on the Eagles next week. Same thing. You know,
Speaker 2: the Tennessee Titans. If you didn't know they were going
Speaker 2: to Minnesota, they get home day Tuesday, went up to Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Then after the Minnesota game they're going to New England
Speaker 2: to do the Patriots too. I don't know how you
Speaker 2: feel about that. I was talking to Cody White here
Speaker 2: today about that, and he e likes it is it's
Speaker 2: a little different. It gives you a little better, better
Speaker 2: test maybe for what you're going to face in a
Speaker 2: real game. But how do you feel bout it?
Speaker 5: I mean, I love them, you know. I don't know
Speaker 5: about doing two back to back like some other teams,
Speaker 5: but having one definitely just to switch up, you know
Speaker 5: who you're going against every day in practice and getting
Speaker 5: that competitive attitude and that competitive nature that you only
Speaker 5: usually get on game day during the week, you know,
Speaker 5: I feel like you get a practice and see different
Speaker 5: types of looks, see different types of things that you
Speaker 5: know you never usually get to go again. So it's
Speaker 5: fun and I love them.
Speaker 2: So yeah, from your experience, then does the game take
Speaker 2: on a different feel then? Because you're now you're face
Speaker 2: them for two days. You get to know them a
Speaker 2: little bit, not just from watching tape. And I don't
Speaker 2: even know how much tape you guys watch in a preseason.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm watching it because I have to, you know,
Speaker 2: identification purposes.
Speaker 5: But yeah, it's definitely different. The game is a lot,
Speaker 5: you know, especially preseasons, a lot slower. So practices is
Speaker 5: usually a lot more intense. They're calling their stuff that
Speaker 5: they would call in the game. You're getting a bunch
Speaker 5: of different looks, a bunch of different blitzes, and then
Speaker 5: preseason it's a lot down down.
Speaker 2: This is a weird question because every snap is on
Speaker 2: tape doesn't matter if you're in practice or walk through.
Speaker 2: So you have to mind your piece and q's and
Speaker 2: you got it because if it looks bad on tape,
Speaker 2: you're gonna get you're gonna hear about it. Right, But
Speaker 2: when you're practicing against somebody on tape, now they're watching
Speaker 2: you too, and they're taking a look at you in
Speaker 2: their rooms, does it just ratchet it up a little
Speaker 2: bit like game day? Yeah? Yeah, it does, right, Yes.
Speaker 5: It does, especially you know you're going against somebody else.
Speaker 5: It kind of reminds me of Little League. You have
Speaker 5: those like jamborees, okayo, the preseason games that they might
Speaker 5: not count, but it's still a game. You know, You're
Speaker 5: still going against a different opponent, opponent, and you still
Speaker 5: want to put on the show and do what you're
Speaker 5: supposed to do.
Speaker 2: You and I have talked to in other features we've
Speaker 2: done television or whatever. American Heritage High School here again,
Speaker 2: I'm preparing. I just finished my board and we got
Speaker 2: two more on the team over here for the Colts.
Speaker 2: Isaiah McKenzie over from Buffalo last year. Excellent player. So
Speaker 2: by Mike count, now there's twelve alumps and eleven are
Speaker 2: active from American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 5: A couple more on the way to.
Speaker 2: No kidding, So what's the story there, man? What is
Speaker 2: going on?
Speaker 5: I don't know. I mean, we just you know, especially
Speaker 5: South Florida, you know, we produced a lot of players,
Speaker 5: but you know, just American Heritage, the great football school,
Speaker 5: great academic school, and you know, we just all happened
Speaker 5: to be there at the same time and kind of started,
Speaker 5: you know. Sony Michelle is kind of the first one
Speaker 5: that started the pipeline. To college and the pros, and
Speaker 5: you know a lot of us follow suit. But now
Speaker 5: it's just on and ongoing program producing the conveyor belts
Speaker 5: and you know, hopefully some more of these guys in
Speaker 5: college right now.
Speaker 2: A pass rusher Carolina, Brian Burns, Patrick Surtan the second
Speaker 2: and James Houston, who's tearing it up there for Detroit.
Speaker 2: That's an excellent player. Dangerous, he's dangerous. Uh did you
Speaker 2: have to chip him or do? Were you were you asking?
Speaker 2: I know you were an ir last year but for
Speaker 2: a bit, but I forgotten. Now did you have to
Speaker 2: face him?
Speaker 5: I did?
Speaker 2: Yes, He's a mess to deal with.
Speaker 5: First play was funny because the play we ran, we
Speaker 5: scored on, but I had to go cut him. I
Speaker 5: was like, damn, I hate to do this, Like this
Speaker 5: is my dog. I gotta do what I gotta do.
Speaker 5: And you know, we were working out in the off
Speaker 5: season together, so I heard about it a little bit.
Speaker 2: But a couple of nuggets about its coach, David Walker,
Speaker 2: the Bears running backs coach. Did you know he coached
Speaker 2: a year in Carol City down in Miami.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, we talk about it. We talk about it,
Speaker 5: especially you know, we got three guys from South Florida
Speaker 5: in our room right now, So you know that connection
Speaker 5: and you know, everybody knows everybody and there's ties down there.
Speaker 2: So and did you know he also coached here in Carmel,
Speaker 2: Indiana in between jobs Colts to the Lions. Buddy coached here.
Speaker 2: Oh is that right?
Speaker 5: I believe it was?
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, but he was the offensive coordinator here in Carmel, Indiana.
Speaker 2: That's what we are. We're in Carmel.
Speaker 5: He got a house. I think he was like ten
Speaker 5: minutes away or something like that.
Speaker 2: That so, all right, what about your game? Did you
Speaker 2: really try to enhance in this offseason? As we want
Speaker 2: this interview up a couple other more questions.
Speaker 5: Ago, definitely, you know, being all around back finishing on
Speaker 5: my long runs, pass protection, catching out the backfield, just
Speaker 5: being able to do everything my mobility, you know, just
Speaker 5: to enhance, enhance my longevity, you know, working on different
Speaker 5: nicks and injuries that I had to prevent him. So
Speaker 5: just doing a lot of things, preventative work and uh,
Speaker 5: you know, all around work to get better.
Speaker 2: So do you believe you have good hands to be
Speaker 2: a good rice?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2: Do you believe you have the ability.
Speaker 5: To pass partes ser definitely do.
Speaker 2: I also agree with you. I think you know when
Speaker 2: the fun I don't want to be labored to this,
Speaker 2: but so justin completes three passes in a game that
Speaker 2: people were criticizing just because it was short catching runs,
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me? I mean, what what you cannot win?
Speaker 2: You can't win. But you know, out of the you
Speaker 2: know my favorite of the three. I get that, you guys,
Speaker 2: but Kyrie blasting game. He got a touch, he got
Speaker 2: eleven yards. That guy is a dangerous receiver if given
Speaker 2: the opportunity.
Speaker 5: He is, and you know, once he gets a full
Speaker 5: head of steam, it's good luck trying to tackle him him.
Speaker 2: All right, some quick whip rounds, all right? Ready? Pet peeves,
Speaker 2: pet peeves?
Speaker 5: People chewing with their mouth open.
Speaker 2: I've heard that more than one. Not about me. You
Speaker 2: got a favorite vacation spot?
Speaker 5: Definitely somewhere in the Caribbean. My family's from the Caribbean,
Speaker 5: so anytime I could get down there.
Speaker 2: Feels that home and we're again in the Caribbean.
Speaker 5: My dad's from the British Virgin Islands, Tartola. My mom's
Speaker 5: from Jamaica.
Speaker 2: All Right, your mentor my.
Speaker 5: Mentor give me more than one. That's a good question.
Speaker 2: I don't really we can revisit, yeah, pregame ritual.
Speaker 5: Pregame ritual. I mean I guess the ritual every time
Speaker 5: I get to the stadium. When I go out to
Speaker 5: warm up before the game, I run, I take a
Speaker 5: lap around the full field.
Speaker 2: One thing you can't live without.
Speaker 5: One thing I can't live without, probably my wife and
Speaker 5: my dog.
Speaker 2: Good answers, good asent. Okay, have a great week of practice,
Speaker 2: have a great game on Saturday night here against the Cults.
Speaker 2: And really appreciate you, man, sir, I appreciate you having
Speaker 2: got little Herbert our guest here on Bears Weekly. When
Speaker 2: we come back, Tom Payer and I break down the
Speaker 2: Bears and Cults here on ESPN one thousand of the
Speaker 2: Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
Speaker 1: the Bears Radio Network. This is Bears Weekly with a
Speaker 1: voice of the Bears for twenty three years, Jeff jon
Speaker 1: on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Speaker 2: Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request it
Speaker 2: in clinic or virtual appointment.
Speaker 4: That's dark.
Speaker 2: Feeling the better tomorrow, Jeff Joniak along with Tom Thayer.
Speaker 2: We've got Bears weekly rolling here. Just heard from Khlil
Speaker 2: Herbert Love talking to him. He was here with me
Speaker 2: visiting yesterday, and I like his attitude.
Speaker 1: Tom.
Speaker 2: I like how he runs the football and admit it,
Speaker 2: we made a big thing. As you heard in the
Speaker 2: interview just about and even afterwards, we were discussing about
Speaker 2: just finishing runs, finishing big runs, finishing any run. Just
Speaker 2: make sure you finish everything. And that's kind of the
Speaker 2: theme for this team actually, you know, finish your rep,
Speaker 2: finish your sack, finish your takeaway, finish your catch, play
Speaker 2: through the ball, get you know, all these things, and
Speaker 2: finish games which they couldn't do a year ago. I
Speaker 2: think that's a you know, I know, it's just it's
Speaker 2: normal NFL vernacular. It's cliche. Every coach in the world
Speaker 2: uses it finished. But to me this year, finish is big.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, yesterday standing behind the nine on seven,
Speaker 3: the run period and some of the team works and
Speaker 3: I was kind of in my left ear. I was
Speaker 3: listening to the pre snap comments by Chris Morgan, the
Speaker 3: offensive line coach, and then I was listening to the
Speaker 3: comments by the running backs coach, and.
Speaker 4: That's what it is about.
Speaker 3: It's about the offensive line have a good, powerful get
Speaker 3: off to make sure they get in control of their blocks,
Speaker 3: so the offensive running backs can make those types of
Speaker 3: finishing decisions. They have to see where the holes are
Speaker 3: going to open up and how they can anticipate the
Speaker 3: point of attack. So you know, Khalil Herbert, that guy
Speaker 3: is not afraid of contact at all. But it's got
Speaker 3: to start with the offensive line that finishes with the
Speaker 3: running back at the end of a positive run. So
Speaker 3: I think it's a team effort and it's interesting to
Speaker 3: listen to some of the comments made before the play
Speaker 3: ever gets started.
Speaker 2: David Walker is running backs coach. As we talked about
Speaker 2: in the interview, he coached Carmel High School here offensive
Speaker 2: coordinator one year. In between job, he's coaching his kids.
Speaker 2: So he left the Colts and he was going to
Speaker 2: go to the Lions for a bit before he came
Speaker 2: to the Bear and he was coaching here at Carmel.
Speaker 2: Isn't that interesting?
Speaker 3: It's awesome, you know, because you know that's one thing
Speaker 3: about coaches is uniquely enough they care about the players
Speaker 3: they're coaching, and whether you're coaching on a high.
Speaker 4: School level to college to pros.
Speaker 3: And it's interesting that a guy is willing to do
Speaker 3: that with the talent to come up to this level
Speaker 3: and be an NFL coach.
Speaker 2: All right with this is kind of the midpoint of
Speaker 2: what between the start of camp and when we're going
Speaker 2: to play the opener against the Green Bay Packers. So
Speaker 2: I thought we'd take the time, because we do it
Speaker 2: to preview the season. Let's do it right now, you know,
Speaker 2: from what we've seen to this point, because the training
Speaker 2: camp portion is over after this Colts thing and it's
Speaker 2: going to be more behind the scenes and media won't
Speaker 2: have eyes on what's going on. So we used to
Speaker 2: do these Bears reports all the time, you know, giving
Speaker 2: your camp balls and everything. So we're going to talk
Speaker 2: about some of that stuff. So get ready for that
Speaker 2: big time. But let's do the defense here. Let's start
Speaker 2: on the defensive line. DeMarcus Walker obviously has been injured,
Speaker 2: so I don't know when he's coming back, but rashiem Green,
Speaker 2: Dominique Robinson, Unik, and Goc Way, we know what he is.
Speaker 2: He's just getting his ramp up. Trevis Gibson, Terrell Lewis,
Speaker 2: Jalen Harris, some of the guys on the defensive line.
Speaker 2: Do you feel better about the defensive end position now
Speaker 2: with these additions?
Speaker 3: Yes, So the first three guys you mentioned, I have
Speaker 3: high expectations from them. I didn't know what to think
Speaker 3: about Trevis Gibson. I liked the length in the size
Speaker 3: of Terrell and Jalen, and those guys have really showed
Speaker 3: a good practice yesterday. It wasn't an anomaly that they
Speaker 3: got pressure on the quarterback against Tennessee and that resulted
Speaker 3: in sacks, that resulted an effort. But how do you
Speaker 3: carry that over into a practice in how does it
Speaker 3: filter against talent that haven't seen you yet?
Speaker 4: And you haven't seen so.
Speaker 3: All those guys, especially Trevis, I would really love to
Speaker 3: see him have a game as profitable as he did
Speaker 3: against Tennessee, because now you're talking about what is that
Speaker 3: seven defensive ends that we've talked about, and then you
Speaker 3: get a guy like Jervon Dexter. When you look at
Speaker 3: his size and his structure, he can move out the
Speaker 3: defensive end easily. So you know they're gonna have a
Speaker 3: whole slew of guys that are gonna, you know, make
Speaker 3: cuts difficult this year.
Speaker 2: Justin Jones, Andrew Billings, Javon Dexter, Zach Pickens, Travis Bell
Speaker 2: among the defensive tackles, all of them have flashed something
Speaker 2: of importance here obviously. So when you talk about what
Speaker 2: we've discussed at length about making sure the line of
Speaker 2: scrimmage is short up as best as you can right now,
Speaker 2: how do you feel about it as a group those
Speaker 2: defensive ends and defensive tackles. Do you feel the mix
Speaker 2: and match and a wave of seven to eight guys
Speaker 2: in a game can put some heat on a quarterback.
Speaker 2: Because obviously the Bears were last in the league.
Speaker 3: So I was having a conversation about Joe Klecko, who's
Speaker 3: going into the Hall of Fame. And when you talk
Speaker 3: about the sack exchange of the New York Jackson, for you,
Speaker 3: some of the younger kids go look, go YouTube some
Speaker 3: of his highlights because before they had an identified three
Speaker 3: technique defensive tackle, those noseguard defensive time and when you
Speaker 3: talk about the guys on the inside for the Bears,
Speaker 3: they can be that Joe Cleco style of penetrating noseguard
Speaker 3: defensive tackle. And you have to have a wide variety
Speaker 3: of skills, and so I was just thinking of what
Speaker 3: he meant to the New York Jets sack exchange in
Speaker 3: what every one of these guys that you just mentioned.
Speaker 3: Although Billings isn't a huge guy, Travis Bell is not
Speaker 3: a huge guy. However, they play very powerful. They got
Speaker 3: good athleticism, and they bring power against their opponent, especially
Speaker 3: if they play against the tall offensive lineman that loses
Speaker 3: leverage immediately.
Speaker 2: Billing six to one, three eleven and Travis Bell six
Speaker 2: feet three ten. They also have braveon Roy they brought
Speaker 2: in here recently, six one, three thirty. He's a little
Speaker 2: on the heavier side of four year veteran that's competing
Speaker 2: to make this roster as well. I got a question though,
Speaker 2: so explain again for those who are interested in this
Speaker 2: kind of stuff. The deep xes and o's of which
Speaker 2: we love. The deep nose tackle over the center Andrew Billings,
Speaker 2: so he doesn't line up face up most of the time,
Speaker 2: he's landing out an angle. Why him? What benefit is that?
Speaker 3: George Perliss, a former defensive coach head coach throughout football,
Speaker 3: college and pro. He used to angle the noseguard because
Speaker 3: then you had to have two blockers dedicated to him,
Speaker 3: and sometimes if the play, if he was pointed to
Speaker 3: the point of attack, you had to try to get
Speaker 3: movement and that allowed the linebackers to have a little
Speaker 3: bit more freedom. So when I played against at Notre
Speaker 3: Dame against Michigan State, when George Perliss was there, they
Speaker 3: did it. When you come into the NFL, you play
Speaker 3: against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they did it. So it's just
Speaker 3: you know, trying to make more blockers dedicated to an
Speaker 3: angled position nose tackle instead of just having Okay, the
Speaker 3: center's going to be able to handle him all by
Speaker 3: himself and then you can get to that second level. No,
Speaker 3: if you're an offensive guard and you got a hip
Speaker 3: in a half of a button your way, now you
Speaker 3: have to get movement to him in order to get
Speaker 3: to that second level. So anytime you look at the
Speaker 3: positioning of a defensive linemen, it's what offensive linemen are
Speaker 3: dedicated to those defensive linemen and how does what affect
Speaker 3: the freedom of the linebackers.
Speaker 2: Right, let's lift to the linebackers Edwards Emmons, Sanborn, Noah Sewell,
Speaker 2: Dylan Cole, who's a little banged up DeMarcus Gates, Michael
Speaker 2: Baskerville and undrafted rookie Barrington Wade with the interception of
Speaker 2: the end zone and the game against Tennessee. And a
Speaker 2: couple of new linebackers added this week. Debian Taylor is
Speaker 2: one of them and Michael Walker from Atlanta. We don't
Speaker 2: know much about the latter two. Analyze that position, but
Speaker 2: then tie it into the front seven. Can the Bears
Speaker 2: stop the run which they could not do a year ago.
Speaker 3: Well, it's going to be because of the penetration or
Speaker 3: the ability for the defensive lineman to create stalemates on
Speaker 3: the line of scrimmage and I to allow these linebackers
Speaker 3: to run. But look at the size variety of those linebackers.
Speaker 3: You have the roster right there. You start with Edmunds
Speaker 3: and work its way down. You're talking about six '
Speaker 3: five plus and then you talk about TJ. Edwards six '
Speaker 3: to three and then right down the line. So they
Speaker 3: got line on this team that are two hundred and
Speaker 3: fifty pounds that can run all the way down to
Speaker 3: the two twenties that can run. And that's what the
Speaker 3: linebacker position is about. Predictability where the play is going
Speaker 3: to open up in how quickly? Can can you get there?
Speaker 3: And that's one of the main assets of a guy
Speaker 3: like Jack Sanborn. Hey, here's a free agent. Can he
Speaker 3: make the NFL? Listen, He's got as good as instincts
Speaker 3: as any linebacker in the NFL. And that's what quality
Speaker 3: linebacker play is about.
Speaker 2: Defensive back, let's start at corner. Jalen Johnson, Tyreek Stevenson,
Speaker 2: Kyler Gordon. Those are the assumed top three. Turoll Smith
Speaker 2: coming back from injury, competing for the other starting job,
Speaker 2: Jalen Jones special teams demon could be their best guy
Speaker 2: on kickoff return, and then there's a whole bunch of
Speaker 2: other guys. Do you feel good about what's going on
Speaker 2: at corner? And then we'll get to the safety position
Speaker 2: after that.
Speaker 3: I feel as good about the corner position as I
Speaker 3: have in quite a while. And you know, having a
Speaker 3: chance over the last few practices to talk to Charles
Speaker 3: Tillman and get some of his observations. But then only
Speaker 3: then watching the effort, watching the willingness of these guys
Speaker 3: to come up and make a tackle. I love their enthusiasm,
Speaker 3: but it's all it's more about tackle courage and every
Speaker 3: single one of these guys have it. I think a
Speaker 3: guy like John Hope, the defensive back corners coach, is
Speaker 3: the type of guy as that is his main requirement.
Speaker 3: And if you're not willing to do it, the likelihood
Speaker 3: of you being here, you're not going to be here
Speaker 3: just because you're a special teamer.
Speaker 2: Josh Blackwell is in that category, special teamer, but can
Speaker 2: play that inside nickel and keep an eye on Greg Stroman.
Speaker 2: He's made some plays. And there's always somebody that's going
Speaker 2: to come up in surprise you on the roster all right,
Speaker 2: Eddie Jackson, Jakwan Brisker at see you backed up right
Speaker 2: now by Elijah Hickson, AJ Thomas. You got Adrian Colbert
Speaker 2: and Kendall Williamson.
Speaker 3: Brisker and Eddie Jackson. You know they're going to have
Speaker 3: to have big years. Eddie Jackson may have to have
Speaker 3: a career year. He made some claims early on social
Speaker 3: media and now I have high expectations because he put
Speaker 3: him in my head. But I think the talent group
Speaker 3: of the safety position is stronger. I think when you
Speaker 3: talk about the guys that are behind Brisker and Eddie Jackson,
Speaker 3: they're all very willing hitters. But now It's about making
Speaker 3: sure to communicate the right responsibilities. Because if you look
Speaker 3: at the first game against the Tennessee Titans, there was
Speaker 3: a little bit of mental There's a couple of mental
Speaker 3: airs that resulted in big pass plays. If they can
Speaker 3: continue to develop their community communication, look for those guys
Speaker 3: to step up to the front.
Speaker 2: All right, that wraps up our look at the defense.
Speaker 2: If you had to give a camp ball, who would
Speaker 2: you give it to? On defense?
Speaker 3: Your guy ty well, you have you brought him up
Speaker 3: months ago. But however, he's flashed. He's been everything that
Speaker 3: you said he would be. He's a willing tackler against
Speaker 3: the run, on the edge. He's got real good coverage skills.
Speaker 2: All right, that's Tom's camp ball. Yes, it's Tyreek Stevenson
Speaker 2: coming on to the defense. We are joined by Jason
Speaker 2: McKee j mack our sideline reporter on ESPN one thousand.
Speaker 2: You're listening to Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand of
Speaker 2: the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Network.
Speaker 1: This is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears
Speaker 1: for twenty three years, Jeff Jonyak on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Want VIP access to every Bears home game, exclusive seating,
Speaker 2: sideline credentials, and more are now available. To get the
Speaker 2: ultimate VIP fan package of this season by visiting Chicago
Speaker 2: Bears vip dot com. Jeff Joniac, Tom Behar here on
Speaker 2: Bears Weekly at ASP in Chicago and the Bears Radio Network,
Speaker 2: and are brand new, spanking new, got his feet wet,
Speaker 2: dipped his toe in the pool, sideline reporter for the
Speaker 2: Bears and the network. Please welcome to the program for
Speaker 2: the very first time here on Bears Weekly, the fullback
Speaker 2: Jmak Jason McKee, you're you know, you're the one thing
Speaker 2: you're not inexperienced that is playing football and announcing, because
Speaker 2: you've been doing a lot of stuff, So welcome man.
Speaker 2: How you feeling. How do you think it went? I
Speaker 2: think you know your maiden voyage.
Speaker 6: Thinking went good. I listened to the re listened to
Speaker 6: the broadcast on the way here, thinking we're good. I
Speaker 6: just want to add a little spice to it. And
Speaker 6: you guys have been doing it for a long time,
Speaker 6: obviously do a great job, and just trying to bring
Speaker 6: the fans in and give him a different perspective in
Speaker 6: terms of sideline reporting.
Speaker 3: A full back is nothing but a guard that can
Speaker 3: catch passes. So to have J McK and I a
Speaker 3: part of the broadcast because it's not a glory position.
Speaker 3: You got to be dedicated to be a football player
Speaker 3: if you want to play full back or offensive guards.
Speaker 3: So I think it's a great choice and the best
Speaker 3: is you have to come.
Speaker 2: All right, we're gonna break down the offense. We just
Speaker 2: finished with the defense. We heard Khalil Herbert earlier in
Speaker 2: the program, so we might as well start at running
Speaker 2: back and how that breaks down. We'll start with Herbert,
Speaker 2: Roshawn Johnson, Deontay Foreman, Travis Homer, Trstan Ebner on that list,
Speaker 2: all of them aren't going to be on the roster,
Speaker 2: I would assume, But boy, it's a really good competition.
Speaker 2: What has sparked your intrigue with this group?
Speaker 6: It's a solid room. I think you have. Each individual
Speaker 6: guy has their own skill set. I think obviously Khalil's
Speaker 6: that home run guy. Deontay Foreman is your hammer. I
Speaker 6: think Roshan can do a little bit of everything. Travis
Speaker 6: Core you know, your forfaced special teams guy, but he
Speaker 6: also does bring some He can make plays on offense
Speaker 6: and I was really impressed with you know, we talk
Speaker 6: about Roshan, you know, his performance in preseason Game one.
Speaker 6: I was really impressed with Travis Homer. I think he
Speaker 6: hasn't gotten a lot of credit. I think he had
Speaker 6: a great game with the limited amount of carriers that
Speaker 6: he got. He played special team. So I'm excited. You know,
Speaker 6: it's a great room and that's a good thing. You know,
Speaker 6: make it hard. You know, the scouties always say make
Speaker 6: it hard for us, and I think with this group
Speaker 6: that you have, I think it's going to be some
Speaker 6: tough decisions that have to be made.
Speaker 2: Tom Rochean getting some first team snaps in the last
Speaker 2: two practices. We'll see what happens tonight. But I you know,
Speaker 2: we mentioned this on our Bears et cetera podcast yesterday.
Speaker 2: He really my ears perked up when he says I
Speaker 2: use my body as a weapon. I mean when I
Speaker 2: heard that, I was like, WHOA. I like where he's at.
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, you got to be convinced that
Speaker 3: you've done enough to your body in the weight room
Speaker 3: and in the off season to be able to use
Speaker 3: it as a weapon, because if you're not if your
Speaker 3: body's not accustomed to that.
Speaker 4: You're only going to be around for a little while.
Speaker 3: When I look at Roe Sean, he's the type of
Speaker 3: guy that has built his body and put it in
Speaker 3: position to use it as a weapon. And he showed
Speaker 3: evidence of it as what was the term you used,
Speaker 3: contact balance? Yeah, contact balance, and he has it. He
Speaker 3: puts it on display every time that he hits somebody
Speaker 3: up the middle. But you know j Maack, I like
Speaker 3: his inside vision, his instincts to hit the interior holes.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And it's just surprises me to think that, you know,
Speaker 6: coming out of high school he was one of the
Speaker 6: top quarterbacks in the country and then to make that
Speaker 6: transition when he goes to Texas and say, you know what,
Speaker 6: now you're going to be a running back, and it
Speaker 6: just shows that the God's football player. And you can
Speaker 6: tell he has that hunger to work on his craft
Speaker 6: because he made that transition from quarterback to being, you know,
Speaker 6: one of the solid running backs in the country last
Speaker 6: year behind Bejhon Robinson. And you know he's got all
Speaker 6: the tools. You know, I know you've you've been raving
Speaker 6: about his past protection obvious he could run the ball inside,
Speaker 6: you get run about out on the perimeter, but he
Speaker 6: can also be effective in the passing game. And the
Speaker 6: thing that was really impressed about that really got my
Speaker 6: juices flowing yesterday, was he called a check down from
Speaker 6: Justin Fields. He takes a hit from the coast linebacker.
Speaker 6: I don't remember his name, but he took.
Speaker 2: A shot and I was there with you when he
Speaker 2: jumped up and we.
Speaker 6: Talked about it. And the whole coat sideline, the defensive sidelines,
Speaker 6: they're chirping at Roshan. So he starts chirping back, and
Speaker 6: a couple of plays later, he rips off a nice
Speaker 6: run for some chunk yarders and then he gets up
Speaker 6: and he starts chirping back at the Colt sideline and
Speaker 6: that really, that really gave me goosebumps, And like, that's
Speaker 6: the type of guy that you know his he just
Speaker 6: infects like that energy just permeates the entire team, and
Speaker 6: that's what you want. You know, He's a Bears running
Speaker 6: back for sure.
Speaker 2: All right, let's talk quarterback. We're going to Justin Fields, PJ. Walker,
Speaker 2: Nathan Peterman, and Tyson Bagent. We've seen a lot of
Speaker 2: these guys. Obviously, it's all about QB one. We feel
Speaker 2: what progress is being made and it just got to
Speaker 2: continue to keep being made. I know we use the
Speaker 2: term incremental. I think sometimes that makes people crazy. They
Speaker 2: don't want to hear incremental. They want want to hear
Speaker 2: a huge jump, and we are expecting a huge jump.
Speaker 2: Where is he at halfway through training camp here?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think he's progressed well. I think you know,
Speaker 6: the beginning of training camp, you see him getting back
Speaker 6: in the swing of things, being away from the guys
Speaker 6: in the offseason. You see him get back and start
Speaker 6: taking command in the huddle, start taking command of that offense.
Speaker 6: You know with the day they had a lapse in
Speaker 6: practice where the defense really you know, shut them down
Speaker 6: in that training camp practice justin fields brought the offense
Speaker 6: up and say, you know what, this ain't us. Let's
Speaker 6: get it together. And that's the type of leader. Shouldn't
Speaker 6: command you want, you know, from your franchise quarterback. As
Speaker 6: he goes, this offense will go, but also as he goes,
Speaker 6: his team will go. So he's got to be that
Speaker 6: bona fide leader. He's thrust it in that position, whether
Speaker 6: he wants that responsibility or not. Because you are the
Speaker 6: face of the franchise. You have to be the you know,
Speaker 6: the franchise quarterback. You got to be the guy, and
Speaker 6: then we.
Speaker 2: Go to the trenches because this is where it's at.
Speaker 4: You know what.
Speaker 3: Just the last thing about the quarterback position, it's almost
Speaker 3: like Luke Gatsi has two pair. It's like a poker
Speaker 3: hand because he's got uh, you know, Justin and PJ.
Speaker 3: Walker that they have a simpler, templess, similar style of place,
Speaker 3: similar athleticism, and then they got Peterson Badget they have
Speaker 3: similar styles that look at the same you know, So
Speaker 3: you kind of run the offense in a different type
Speaker 3: of tempo with the four different quarterbacks, but they're all
Speaker 3: progressing equally as well. It's going to be an interesting
Speaker 3: decision at the end. But like you said, you want
Speaker 3: to make those decisions difficult.
Speaker 2: To the trench as we go. Yes, just instead of
Speaker 2: going piece by piece here, what do we got? What
Speaker 2: are we looking at?
Speaker 3: Super super excited about Cody. Obviously he's a true leader
Speaker 3: of this football team. He's got that veteran type of
Speaker 3: quiet leadership that every offensive line needs. But then they
Speaker 3: got two bookend offensive tackles. Hopefully that we're all sitting
Speaker 3: in a different hotel room at a different joint practice
Speaker 3: in ten years, and we're talking about the development of
Speaker 3: Darnell Wright in Braxton Jones. But I still think because
Speaker 3: Nate Davis has just come back on the scene and
Speaker 3: Tevin Jenkins is at the left guard position, they still
Speaker 3: are going through the evaluation process. But Chris Morgan offensive
Speaker 3: line coach, and maybe some of the most difficult decision
Speaker 3: is who is going to be that sixth, seventh and
Speaker 3: eighth man, And I think the competition is still wide open.
Speaker 3: There's nobody out there that's head and shoulders above everybody,
Speaker 3: so that could probably be one of the most difficult
Speaker 3: decisions left to be made on this team.
Speaker 2: And we just signed the Logan Stenberg, so we haven't
Speaker 2: seen much of him yet too bring to the mix.
Speaker 2: Unless you got a thought about the O line, I'd
Speaker 2: like to go on to wide receiver where Dj Moore
Speaker 2: and Darnell Mooney, Moore and Money are one to two,
Speaker 2: Chase Claypool working his way back. You got Tyler Scott,
Speaker 2: the rookie has been impressive, battles with guys like Doris Fountain,
Speaker 2: Symba Webster and of course Veaalis Jones junior. That's just
Speaker 2: a handful of the receivers. Dante Pettis working his way back,
Speaker 2: Isaiah Ford is to the time. I like this player.
Speaker 2: There's something, there's some juice to this player. I like
Speaker 2: the way he plays the game. You got Echlamenia, Saint Brown,
Speaker 2: a lot of receivers to choose from his that position group,
Speaker 2: as advertised, better than it was a year ago.
Speaker 6: Definitely. I mean there's a lot of guys making plays
Speaker 6: and out of evidence. Yesterday in the one on ones,
Speaker 6: I mean there was all kind of guys making plays.
Speaker 6: Isaiah Ford you mentioned as symbol. Webster did really well.
Speaker 6: It was good to see Vayala's rebound after what he
Speaker 6: did in preseason with that muff punt. We all know
Speaker 6: what happened there, but to have the mindset to say,
Speaker 6: you know what, I have to respond. I've got to
Speaker 6: make plays in the passing game. And he made two
Speaker 6: huge casses yesterday in the joint practice. So I was
Speaker 6: encouraged to see that. I want to see more of
Speaker 6: Tyler Scott, you know, I think Dante Pettis is good
Speaker 6: to see him out there, you know, working his way
Speaker 6: back in getting ramped back up in practice. But you know,
Speaker 6: we're light years ahead. Of where we were last year
Speaker 6: in terms of this wide receiver room.
Speaker 3: Who of the wide receiver group is not going to
Speaker 3: play special teams? So that's dj In, probably Darnell. Every
Speaker 3: other one of those guys, including Chase e Q Saint Brown,
Speaker 3: they may have to be contributors to the special teams.
Speaker 3: And again when you talk about the difficulty of decision
Speaker 3: for coach High Tower, the special teams coach, the wide
Speaker 3: receivers coach, and the head coach, you gotta figure which
Speaker 3: one of those guys can contribute.
Speaker 2: Take tight end Buddy cole Comet, Robert Tunyan, Marcedes Lewis,
Speaker 2: and then a choice between guys like Jared Pinkney, Stephen Carlson,
Speaker 2: Lackland Pitts, who's new to the mix for the Bears
Speaker 2: at tight end? Well, all right?
Speaker 3: Can I group carry blasting game in with this group?
Speaker 3: And the only reasons making a team, the only reason
Speaker 3: I am is because when you talk about every one
Speaker 3: of those tight end candidates, Jay Mack and Jeff you
Speaker 3: know that these guys play h back, backside tight end,
Speaker 3: they can play full back, they can be in the
Speaker 3: short yardage goal line, multiple tight end sets.
Speaker 4: You're not going to teach Mercedes.
Speaker 3: Lewis a lot about with football. He's going to teach
Speaker 3: all of us a lot what he's already learned.
Speaker 2: Hey, we got to go here in thirty seconds. But
Speaker 2: you and I coming back from breakfast this morning, walking
Speaker 2: down the hall and Marcedes Lewis walks by and he
Speaker 2: grabs your attention.
Speaker 6: He's huge, He's huge in it. Just one of his secrets,
Speaker 6: like what did you do to stand in the league?
Speaker 6: As long he's a guy.
Speaker 2: This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by CDW.
Speaker 2: People to get it. One more segment to go have
Speaker 2: some fun. Segment five with two Super bowlers, one who
Speaker 2: happen to win one the other one probably thinks about
Speaker 2: it to this minute about that loss here in Indianapolis.
Speaker 2: I know he doesn't really like the Colts. That's j
Speaker 2: Mack and Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniak ESPN one thousand
Speaker 2: of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 1: Is Bears Weekly with a voice of the Bears for
Speaker 1: twenty three years Jeff Jack on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Bears Weekly, and this segment is brought
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Speaker 2: to requested in clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling
Speaker 2: better Tomorrow with Tom and ies Jason McKee, our new
Speaker 2: sideline reporter, getting you set for the start of the
Speaker 2: regular season. Breaking down the camp, Tom shows Tyreek Stevenson
Speaker 2: as the defensive camp player of twenty twenty three. We're
Speaker 2: gonna put Jason on the spot as well. But Tom,
Speaker 2: what about offense and special teams?
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go special teams first because when you look
Speaker 3: at the effort by Jalen Jones in the preseason game
Speaker 3: and he made three tax on kickoff coverage, you don't
Speaker 3: have a chance to work that full speed when you're
Speaker 3: in camp, So you really don't know how a player
Speaker 3: is going to react to his opportunity until you get
Speaker 3: to see him in a preseason game. In that, I
Speaker 3: don't think it's any secret who I'm going with in
Speaker 3: the offense because he means so much to the benefit
Speaker 3: and the building block of this football team. And it's
Speaker 3: Darnell right because he can make an entire position which
Speaker 3: concludes five guys better, he can make the tight end better,
Speaker 3: and he can make the offense better. So I know
Speaker 3: that you guys may see the field differently, but for
Speaker 3: some reason, my eyes gravitate from offensive line backwards.
Speaker 2: All right before I did Jason Stotts to give him
Speaker 2: a little more time to think, I'll give you My
Speaker 2: offense had to be Dj Moore just a tremendous impact
Speaker 2: right out of the gate. It's a field stretcher, it's
Speaker 2: a tackle breaker, it's a speed machine. He gives justin
Speaker 2: somebody can really rely on on the defensive side of
Speaker 2: the ball. I'm gonna have to go. I can't. I
Speaker 2: can't do the same as you. But I'm gonna give
Speaker 2: it to Kyler Gordon because he came back ready to go,
Speaker 2: and that secondary has really got my attention. If Tremaine
Speaker 2: Edmonds would have been stayed healthy, I would have probably
Speaker 2: gone in that direction because he means so much of
Speaker 2: the defense. He become a leader there talking defense with
Speaker 2: everybody on that roster and uh special teams. Because I'm
Speaker 2: going with Patrick Scales because he just keeps coming back.
Speaker 2: Tom He's mister reliable back there at training camp. He
Speaker 2: probably is the guy who.
Speaker 4: Signing bonus every contract.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, come on, I'm going Patrick Scales. How about
Speaker 2: you what he got Jason.
Speaker 6: Thinking about that pick? No disrespect? I think no disrespect,
Speaker 6: all right, So I'm gonna go offense and and and
Speaker 6: my pick was DJ Moore. You took it away from it,
Speaker 6: and I gotta go to DJ. I think he's been
Speaker 6: he's been better than advertising. A lot of pressure with
Speaker 6: him coming here. You know, you're the bona Fie number one,
Speaker 6: but he's made plays every single day at camp. In
Speaker 6: his first touch as a Bear, we saw what he did.
Speaker 6: He took it to the house. I mean, that's unbelievable.
Speaker 6: I think he's he's going to elevate the play of
Speaker 6: all the receivers in that room. And I'm just excited
Speaker 6: that he's here. Special teams wise, I've got to with
Speaker 6: you know, Jalen Jones, it's it's the first three tackles
Speaker 6: on kickoff in preseason game one. He's a guy who
Speaker 6: you know, we overheard coach Hye Tyler Raven about his
Speaker 6: playmaking ability on special teams yesterday during that joint practice.
Speaker 6: So I'm excited for him, excited to see what he's
Speaker 6: going to continue to do here in camp. And defensively,
Speaker 6: it's tough, you know, I think I'm gonna go with
Speaker 6: Trevis Gibson. Now here's a guy who there. I don't
Speaker 6: think they were happy with the production last year. Comes out,
Speaker 6: you know, that depth chart thing comes out, he says, Hey,
Speaker 6: I don't have social media. I'm not looking at this.
Speaker 6: I'm just gonna play ball, and what are you do?
Speaker 6: In preseason game one, he was a wrecking ball. He
Speaker 6: was in that Titans backfield each and every place. So
Speaker 6: I'm excited about him because I gotta go with the
Speaker 6: underdogs myself. I was an underdog and he's and he's
Speaker 6: he's in an underdog roy now right now, but he's
Speaker 6: making the most of it. I'm excited about, you know,
Speaker 6: seeing what he does here in preseason game number two.
Speaker 2: All right, So we've had the occasion to have shared
Speaker 2: a breaking bread here a few days, and the stories
Speaker 2: are endless, and one of the ones that caught my
Speaker 2: attention time that we got to dig a little bit
Speaker 2: deeper into just the routine of what players did. And
Speaker 2: you told me some funny stories over the course of
Speaker 2: your career, and it spanned many many years. You didn't
Speaker 2: really have many. You just wouldn't let anybody mess with
Speaker 2: your business.
Speaker 3: I never took a team bus to an awake again,
Speaker 3: That's what it was. I took a cab every single
Speaker 3: game up until my last game with the Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 3: I like getting to the stadium just abusively early, like
Speaker 3: I still do. I wanted to take my time. You know,
Speaker 3: we didn't have offered massages when I was with the Bears.
Speaker 3: We didn't have the luxuries that they have these days.
Speaker 3: And hey, I'm glad that they have them, but I
Speaker 3: never have been in a hot tub. I never said,
Speaker 3: oh my god, my body feels so bad. I got
Speaker 3: to sit in the hot tub for a while, because
Speaker 3: it just I like, if my body's in a working condition,
Speaker 3: then leave me alone, give me the weight room, give
Speaker 3: me the practice field, and just you know, leave me alone.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it was I superstitious, no, but you know,
Speaker 3: I just had a routine. I mean, man, there's plenty
Speaker 3: of guys that were crazy, and they're Cavin Butler, ar Kicker,
Speaker 3: Steve McMichael stretching every sock out. Just some of the
Speaker 3: routines that these guys had. And listen, every guy is
Speaker 3: an individual on game day, get out of their way,
Speaker 3: leave them alone, let them do what they want to do.
Speaker 4: And get ready, however you get ready.
Speaker 6: My deal was I had to listen to James Brown
Speaker 6: The Big Payback before. No kidding James Brown. For some reason,
Speaker 6: I just I've always been to James Brown fan. I've
Speaker 6: always listened to his music before, you know, high school games,
Speaker 6: college games, and brought there here with.
Speaker 2: Me to can you give us a little James Brown?
Speaker 2: Can you give me a little get down?
Speaker 6: I'm my girlfriend. That ain't right, but that was That's
Speaker 6: my guy, and and you know it's it's a lot
Speaker 6: guys do a lot of different things. So my locker
Speaker 6: was next to Adrian Peterson. And Adrian Peterson, you know,
Speaker 6: you're in the locker room, so you got your headphones on.
Speaker 6: So Adrian would he'd be, he'd be, you know, he'd
Speaker 6: be listening to music and then he would start rapping
Speaker 6: it out allowed him like what is he listening to?
Speaker 6: Like ap, what are you doing? But it was just
Speaker 6: fun to see all the guys different pregame rituals. You know,
Speaker 6: I can recall Rubyen Brown in the locker room. He
Speaker 6: had his war chant. He's beating his chest and you
Speaker 6: knew when Ruby Brown walked across your locker and he
Speaker 6: starts beating his chest and he would yell out this
Speaker 6: little like this barbaric roar.
Speaker 2: You knew it was time.
Speaker 6: You know what we're calling. We talked about it. You
Speaker 6: know what plays we were calling?
Speaker 2: A gunli He took two showers before every game, get
Speaker 2: out he working, Yeah, two showers, had to have the
Speaker 2: two otherwise he just wasn't going to be right. I
Speaker 2: mean that's kind of interesting.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know Michael Jordan's think I did. I did a
Speaker 2: feature on this long time ago, his Anita Baker. He
Speaker 2: hit a big Anita Baker song for him was I
Speaker 2: think given you the best that I've got. Was his pregame.
Speaker 6: When I first got in the locker room, the first
Speaker 6: thing I would do is I wanted to put my
Speaker 6: game pants on, because you know, our pants back then
Speaker 6: were real tight. Had to stretch him out and had
Speaker 6: to get you know, get used to it. So the
Speaker 6: first thing I would do is put on my pants.
Speaker 6: And everybody looking at me like you're going out right now? What? No,
Speaker 6: I just's my thing, James Brown, my game pas, Yeah,
Speaker 6: getting my mind right.
Speaker 3: You know all right, I'm going to divulge a little
Speaker 3: secret here. So I I like so dramatic. I like
Speaker 3: my uniform super tight because I was a sweater and
Speaker 3: the more I sweat, the looser.
Speaker 4: God.
Speaker 3: But back in the day, back in the eighties, our
Speaker 3: jerseys went all the way in between our legs and
Speaker 3: we had five buttons underneath that we would button them.
Speaker 4: It would be like a big onesie.
Speaker 3: And so because now in a defensive lineman tried to
Speaker 3: grab and tuggy you to use a move, your jersey
Speaker 3: wouldn't move and most of the time they slipped off.
Speaker 3: So as you look at those pictures of the back
Speaker 3: in the eighties, just know that underneath our our body area,
Speaker 3: we had five buttons that were holding our jerseys tucked dead.
Speaker 2: I mean, the things you learn. All Right, we're out
Speaker 2: of time, but thank you so much, fellas a good
Speaker 2: time had by aud Jason. Hope to have you back again.
Speaker 2: We'll see you on Saturday. Don't be late, yes, sir,
Speaker 2: I'll be The Bears and Colts kick off at six o'clock,
Speaker 2: seven o'clock Eastern time. Justin Pottinger in the ESPN studios
Speaker 2: helping us out, Dan Brillly, Jordan tread Up and thanks
Speaker 2: to Khalil Herbert as well as our guest coming up next,
Speaker 2: Tyler Acki and Jeff Miller take you the rest of
Speaker 2: the way tonight. This has been Bears Weekly on ESPN
Speaker 2: Chicago and The Bears Radio Network.
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