Speaker 1: Welcome into the Bears Coaching Show with head coach Mattoneggie,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Whiply CPA's and consultant Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: with you until eight o'clock tonight here on news Radio
Speaker 1: one h five nine WBBM. Coach Naggie until the bottom
Speaker 1: of the hour, and then special teams coordinator Chris Tabor
Speaker 1: joins us as well, recapping a seventeen nine loss to
Speaker 1: the Vikings. So much about this game. Again, We've had
Speaker 1: these scenarios where if someone was not at the game,
Speaker 1: someone did not watch the game, someone did not listen
Speaker 1: the game, and you looked at just the stats and
Speaker 1: you wondered, how in the world could the Bears have
Speaker 1: not won this game. It'd be one of these games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it would be you know, it's the red zone, not
Speaker 1: being effective in there and trying to get points, and
Speaker 1: there was a lot of sudden change yesterday. I thought
Speaker 1: our defense did a phenomenal job, which a sudden change.
Speaker 1: We've been harpening on that all year. But offensively, it
Speaker 1: was just, you know, we were ineffective there and in
Speaker 1: the NFL, to be effective and to be a championship team,
Speaker 1: you got to be great in the red zone. You've
Speaker 1: got to score touchdowns, and when you score three points
Speaker 1: essentially in the game, you know that just that you're
Speaker 1: not going to win the games that way. It seems
Speaker 1: to me it's just such a fine line, as always
Speaker 1: of winning or losing. In the National Football League, everything
Speaker 1: turns on a player two in a game at a
Speaker 1: minimum a half dozen plays. But do you feel the
Speaker 1: player's frustration at all in those moments? Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: you feel it when you have penalties, the first penalty
Speaker 1: to start the game, ten yard run and a penalty.
Speaker 1: You feel it when there's turnovers. You you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's there's just you gotta be clean. You got to
Speaker 1: have effective plays. You gotta be We talk about at
Speaker 1: twelve of twelve. It's eleven of eleven players and then
Speaker 1: the coaching. The coaching part is the twelve aspect twelve
Speaker 1: and twelve. You can't have ten to twelve. You can't
Speaker 1: have eleven to twelve, and offensively we have knock been
Speaker 1: twelve or twelve. Simply put so, in order to be
Speaker 1: a great team to win games, you gotta be twelve
Speaker 1: to twelve and you can't have negative plays. If you do,
Speaker 1: you got to be able to recover, and we're not
Speaker 1: recovering right now. To have four third downs that were
Speaker 1: third and seventeen plus in an NFL game is hard
Speaker 1: to do. It's certainly hard as hell to convert. And
Speaker 1: you know, so you look at four downs, you look
Speaker 1: at third downs, you look at situational football, you look
Speaker 1: at protecting and respecting the football. If you look at
Speaker 1: getting touchdowns in the red zone, and you know, we
Speaker 1: just didn't do that. As a head coach and with
Speaker 1: your staff affecting that change to avoid these situations only
Speaker 1: go so far. You can't play the game. Is that
Speaker 1: a level of frustration that us as fans and us
Speaker 1: looking at this thing from a different perspective can't really appreciate.
Speaker 1: I hear what you're saying. I think we're all a
Speaker 1: part of this, and I know we are, And there's
Speaker 1: there's there's times as you go through these learning instances
Speaker 1: and these plays and scenarios and everything that goes on,
Speaker 1: it really makes you have to laser in as a
Speaker 1: player and a coach to be great. And we've proven
Speaker 1: that this year. We haven't been able to overcome negative yards.
Speaker 1: That's been a struggle for us. So when there is
Speaker 1: a third and one, you can't have a false start.
Speaker 1: You gotta be locked in. When when you you know,
Speaker 1: have the ball um and you're in a position to
Speaker 1: be able to try to make a good play call,
Speaker 1: you got to make a good play call right from
Speaker 1: from our own When you have a chance to make
Speaker 1: a catch, you gotta make a catch. When you have
Speaker 1: a chance with ball security, you know you gotta ball.
Speaker 1: You got to do it. And when when that's not happening,
Speaker 1: you score three points. And it's not a heart equation,
Speaker 1: it's really it's actually fairly simple. But good teams and
Speaker 1: good offenses do that. And when you don't do that,
Speaker 1: you score three points. What have you done with your
Speaker 1: staff to try to bridge that gap? Because players obviously
Speaker 1: want to be put in a position to succeed. If
Speaker 1: they feel they are, they play faster, they play better,
Speaker 1: they feel confident. Do you feel that connection has been
Speaker 1: solid there? Yeah? I think our coaches and players have
Speaker 1: really really good relationship hips. I just I think are
Speaker 1: you know the offensive if you're talking specifically about offense,
Speaker 1: the offensive coaches the relationships that they've dealt with these guys.
Speaker 1: We've got some young guys, right now on offense, and
Speaker 1: I think it's great for them to learn through some
Speaker 1: of these experiences. These guys are playing hard. I think
Speaker 1: that's the one thing in all this as we talk
Speaker 1: through real talk, the one thing that we all need
Speaker 1: to understand is that these players are playing hard. And
Speaker 1: as a coach, when you see players that play hard
Speaker 1: in that care, that means that means a lot. And
Speaker 1: so now you've got to be able to play hard
Speaker 1: care and be successful and succeed and work together as
Speaker 1: a group. And you know that's where it's been a
Speaker 1: little bit hard for us. And so you go through
Speaker 1: particular scenarios and these guys they talk about it, they
Speaker 1: practice it, and we just got to do it. You're
Speaker 1: basically saying last night, in particular, with the defense included here,
Speaker 1: you felt you were in a fight and you had
Speaker 1: a bunch of guys behind you, no doubt. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean that was and anybody that was in that
Speaker 1: game to see it, we could feel it. Um, did
Speaker 1: the emotions get going and for sure what it was,
Speaker 1: you know what some of the personal fouls mine included. Um,
Speaker 1: But we all have to understand the balance of where
Speaker 1: to draw the line. And once once we had too many.
Speaker 1: Um then we had to pull that back in and
Speaker 1: we understand, like too many is one, right, I understand
Speaker 1: that that one is too many. But it it got
Speaker 1: to a point where it was important to talk to
Speaker 1: the guys and say, okay, let's be let's make sure
Speaker 1: that we're being smart and we're you know, this comes
Speaker 1: to an end, right, Every action has a reaction. Let's
Speaker 1: not be the reaction. Let's keep playing hard. We're in
Speaker 1: this fight, and offensively, we get that touchdown and make
Speaker 1: it a one score game. In seventeen to ten, we'll
Speaker 1: get another stop, we'll get the ball and go down
Speaker 1: to score. And we just couldn't. We couldn't catch up.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't that we were in in areas to
Speaker 1: do it because we were moving the football. It was
Speaker 1: just the situational red zone football wasn't good enough for you,
Speaker 1: and that as you're flashing through it in the moment.
Speaker 1: Is it a compilation of all of the frustration of
Speaker 1: an entire season coming out. I would say probably there's
Speaker 1: a little bit of that. And I also think that
Speaker 1: that that's okay, you know, I think that we're all
Speaker 1: a little bit human here and you get to a
Speaker 1: point where you know, you know me, Jeff. You know
Speaker 1: I'm an emotional guy, and that's the first one I've
Speaker 1: ever had. But at the same point in time, I
Speaker 1: think the players understood that just as much as they're
Speaker 1: fighting for us, we're fighting for them too. And you
Speaker 1: could feel the energy on the sideline pick up, and
Speaker 1: I think it's just there's a little bit there that
Speaker 1: it shows it togetherness. And again I'll be the first
Speaker 1: to tell you I don't regret it. I would if
Speaker 1: I was in the same situation and yesterday and you
Speaker 1: said hit the repeat button, I would hit the repeat button,
Speaker 1: plain and simple. I think snapback Cousins gonna laugh it
Speaker 1: down the right side going for Marcet Smith in complete
Speaker 1: fairy tight coverage. Thomas Graham again, the young rookie sixth
Speaker 1: rounder out of Oregon, is rising to the challenge of
Speaker 1: taking out the bike gags tonight. That's his second pass breakup.
Speaker 1: He set several tackles as well in the run game.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL, Big Boy, Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Bears coaching show, brought to you by a Whiffley CPAs
Speaker 1: and Consultants, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears learned
Speaker 1: more at whipfley dot com with Bears head coach Matt
Speaker 1: Naggie breaking down last night's a game against the Vikings
Speaker 1: and looking ahead to Seattle. Here in just moments, just
Speaker 1: had a compilation of plays right there from Thomas Graham.
Speaker 1: What a night. Seven tackles, three pass breakups. It never
Speaker 1: looked for one second like he hadn't played all year.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, I brought it up to Tom in
Speaker 1: the broadcast, Matt that during minicamp and training camp there
Speaker 1: were times he flashed and there were times he looked
Speaker 1: like he wasn't playing to his top speed. So therefore
Speaker 1: I was assuming he was thinking a lot. But he
Speaker 1: did not play like that last night. No, he didn't.
Speaker 1: I thought you should really tell he seemed like a
Speaker 1: gamer yesterday and we weren't really sure. You love seeing
Speaker 1: stories like that where a guy comes in and they're
Speaker 1: able to step up, and you know, he was going
Speaker 1: against some really good wide receivers and a great offense.
Speaker 1: So for him to be able to have that, I
Speaker 1: can only imagine what that means for his confidence. And
Speaker 1: that's how careers get started. So you know, we appreciate
Speaker 1: that from him, and there's other guys too behind the
Speaker 1: scenes is stepped up, but he was certainly one that
Speaker 1: had the production searching for the right chemistry on the
Speaker 1: back end of the defense pre COVID issues. Did he
Speaker 1: flash during his time throughout the course of the season
Speaker 1: on the practice squad and what he did for the
Speaker 1: look squad and so far, Yeah, he's done a great job.
Speaker 1: He cares, you know, so when he's out there on
Speaker 1: the look on the look team, giving us looks on offense,
Speaker 1: he really does a good job. And you never know
Speaker 1: when your time is going to come, especially now with
Speaker 1: all the COVID protocols and guys missing games. So you
Speaker 1: got to give him credit. He was prepared, he was ready.
Speaker 1: He stepped up to the challenge. He said, next man up,
Speaker 1: I'm up. And that's what he did now that he
Speaker 1: started and faced, as you said, a premier offense in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. I'm not insinuating that he's not
Speaker 1: a good practice player, but do you know, uh that
Speaker 1: there are guys that are okay practice players and you
Speaker 1: have to trust they take of the Sunday or that
Speaker 1: there are some players that that's you know, I felt
Speaker 1: Brian Urlacher might have been a similar guy. He loves Sundays,
Speaker 1: So whatever happened during the week, you knew he was
Speaker 1: going to be there on Sundays. That's that's a play.
Speaker 1: That's a Hall of Famer. But do you know that
Speaker 1: you have some of those guys? Yeah, I mean you know,
Speaker 1: I would say the one that is that that practices
Speaker 1: one hundred miles an hour and it shows up on
Speaker 1: table on Sundays is Robert Quinn. I mean, he's that's
Speaker 1: one guy that you want to talk about how to practice.
Speaker 1: He only has one speed. And I'm so excited to
Speaker 1: be able to see what he's done this year and
Speaker 1: to see how how that works and for our for
Speaker 1: all of our younger players to see how you're supposed
Speaker 1: to practice. Um and Roque well Que that's been day
Speaker 1: one as well. So those are those two guys and
Speaker 1: then you see it on tape, and so I think
Speaker 1: it's been great for these younger guys to see that
Speaker 1: because practicing is how you're going to play. So are
Speaker 1: there a couple of guys Hall of Fame guys maybe
Speaker 1: here there that you get away with it when they
Speaker 1: get a little older. But these guys, they fly around
Speaker 1: and our young guys see that not to get too
Speaker 1: deep into it, you know, for obvious reasons, the referees,
Speaker 1: I think most observers felt it was some questionable situations there,
Speaker 1: and Robert Quinn after the game basically urging the refs
Speaker 1: to let guys play ball had you back in his statements.
Speaker 1: But is there an infuriating level here of guys just
Speaker 1: trying to make plays and it's more interpretation. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: I just think that again, there's a lot that goes on.
Speaker 1: There's a lot in that rule book. You know, there's
Speaker 1: a lot in there, and that's part of the rules
Speaker 1: and you've got to follow the rules. And then the referees,
Speaker 1: I'll also say that they have a difficult time because
Speaker 1: it's so fast. Everything is so quick when it happens,
Speaker 1: and so that's where you know, we're able to see
Speaker 1: the replays and seeing its slow motion and it makes
Speaker 1: it a lot easier for us to see. Um. But
Speaker 1: these are you know, these penalties can be plays that
Speaker 1: impact games, as we've seen throughout the year and years,
Speaker 1: and so you just gotta it's just again, I tie
Speaker 1: it back into it's an emotional game, it's a physical game.
Speaker 1: These guys are doing a lot of stuff out on
Speaker 1: that field. They're sacrificing their bodies. And you know when
Speaker 1: you when you have a penalty that goes a certain way,
Speaker 1: there's an emotion, that emotion attached to that, and there's
Speaker 1: a certainly a lot of rules under that. As you
Speaker 1: roll back the tape, do you stand by your feelings
Speaker 1: on some of them or can you see the dilemma
Speaker 1: for the officiating crew in some of those situations that
Speaker 1: hurt you last night? No, I think, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the unnecessary roughness with with with theon um, you know,
Speaker 1: I do stand by what I saw. Um. The one
Speaker 1: that's really unfortunate is the third and seventeen tackle by
Speaker 1: Tease Tabor, you know, but you know that's in the
Speaker 1: rule book with that, so that's again that the referees
Speaker 1: are own the rules there. And then you know the
Speaker 1: little issue on the side with the down and distance
Speaker 1: and be challenging and all that. So you know, it's
Speaker 1: just uh, I think there's the one thing that I
Speaker 1: will say is that I thought that that Scott did
Speaker 1: a great job of explaining everything to me in a
Speaker 1: really good job throughout the game of explaining to me
Speaker 1: everything that was going on and as heated as I
Speaker 1: was at times, he was very calm and did a
Speaker 1: great job too, and I appreciate that. You know, he
Speaker 1: understands from our side, so um, you know that's that's
Speaker 1: where that's at. I was Referee Scott Novac last night
Speaker 1: snapped the Cousins here on third down, jack the football,
Speaker 1: he goes down, he goes, yes, he does, and it's
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn on third and ten with the sack of
Speaker 1: eight yards. The pro bowler at it again has sack
Speaker 1: for the sick consecutive game. Download the Chicago Bears. You
Speaker 1: have to play our new predictor game Risk It, brought
Speaker 1: to you by Bette Rivers, for your chance to win
Speaker 1: two hundred fifty dollars in free. It's in a custom
Speaker 1: Bears jersey back with Bears head coach Matteggie. One of
Speaker 1: two sacks by Robert Quinn. Now with sixteen. Tracking down
Speaker 1: that single season record of Richard Dent at seventeen and
Speaker 1: a half, Tom Thayer got a text message from Richard
Speaker 1: Dent yesterday Matt saying that, you know, because Tom was wondering,
Speaker 1: you know, some of these records means something that to
Speaker 1: old Bears, old players, even at the high school level.
Speaker 1: We kind of embraced those things and hope they never
Speaker 1: get broken. But you know, he's all about he said, hey,
Speaker 1: records are made to be broken, the old cliche. And
Speaker 1: a guy like that Quinn, who's been in the league
Speaker 1: a long time, has played the game the right way. Hey,
Speaker 1: if it happens, it happens. And he is tracking towards
Speaker 1: that and also named of the Pro Bowl. And how
Speaker 1: do you feel all about that it's the first Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl for him since twenty fourteen. Yeah. No, I'm really
Speaker 1: happy for Robert because he works so hard, you know,
Speaker 1: on the field and practice in the offin field as well,
Speaker 1: and so when you see the results on game day.
Speaker 1: It was really cool breaking the news to him yesterday
Speaker 1: that he made the Pro Bowl. If you know Robert,
Speaker 1: you understand that. The next thing he'll say to you
Speaker 1: is I'm just glad, I'm breathing, you know, and he'll
Speaker 1: just he's simple. He's a simple man, but he certainly
Speaker 1: plays art and he's having a great year. And to
Speaker 1: be able to bounce back to from all the stuff
Speaker 1: that he went through last year too, I think it
Speaker 1: just goes to show his uh, you know, mental fortitude
Speaker 1: and just his resiliency of being able to take all distractions,
Speaker 1: put it aside, come here and just every single day
Speaker 1: act like he's a rookie, and that's what you appreciate
Speaker 1: most about him. The shame of it all defensively, obviously,
Speaker 1: is the injuries. And you can't bemoan it. It's a
Speaker 1: part of the game. It happens. Every team's getting bit
Speaker 1: by it in some form or fashion. But with Khalil
Speaker 1: and Akeem Akeem, you know Van Jine was wrapped up.
Speaker 1: He made a difference. You could feel it throughout the defense.
Speaker 1: His emotion was there. He loves playing at home, loves
Speaker 1: playing in NFC North games, loves playing in prime time.
Speaker 1: You know, you wonder what would have been. It must
Speaker 1: leave you feeling and also wondering what if. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think he makes a good point. And as I was
Speaker 1: watching the tape last night, of all three sides of
Speaker 1: the ball, you could really really feel and it was
Speaker 1: it was really neat to see the swarm of the
Speaker 1: defense and I know what the energy felt like last
Speaker 1: night on that sideline, but then to see it on
Speaker 1: tape and just to see guys chasing down the football,
Speaker 1: to see guys trying to rip the ball out to
Speaker 1: see guys making a stop in the backfield, shooting the
Speaker 1: A gap and B gap and just you know, like
Speaker 1: you said, just these guys there's front seven set the
Speaker 1: tone and then the guys on the back end when
Speaker 1: they had to make the play. I just think, you know,
Speaker 1: I think about that third down throw that Kirk had
Speaker 1: across the middle to Justin and Marquis Christian made a
Speaker 1: good breakup on it, and uh, you know, we had
Speaker 1: a little delayed blitz by forty four with Ogletree, and
Speaker 1: it just was exactly it was a great call by Sean,
Speaker 1: and so getting those guys in a position to make plays,
Speaker 1: they made the play and got off the field. And
Speaker 1: the other part of that too was a sudden change.
Speaker 1: There was a lot of sudden change moments yesterday, whether
Speaker 1: it's an interception or fumble, a muffpunt, and the defense
Speaker 1: never they never blinked. And that's a sneaky, sneaky good
Speaker 1: trait that they had yesterday that I was really appreciative of.
Speaker 1: Sean decided to a heck of a job there. All right,
Speaker 1: let's turn to Justin Fields and talk about his performance.
Speaker 1: The good the bad and where he grew where he
Speaker 1: maybe still isn't growing. No, he you know, justin again
Speaker 1: you can see what he can do when he's outside
Speaker 1: of the pocket. He can make some really good plays.
Speaker 1: I thought his vision was good, a couple of progressions
Speaker 1: that he really did a good job of going from
Speaker 1: one to two to three. Um, and I think, you know, situationally,
Speaker 1: there'll be sometimes as he looks at the tape and
Speaker 1: just goes through, Okay, where are we at and how
Speaker 1: defenses are going to try to trick them with coverages,
Speaker 1: U with some with some stunts and blitzes. But for
Speaker 1: the most part, again, I thought he grew. And it's
Speaker 1: never easy, but he's he's done a good job. There
Speaker 1: was really no issues of in and out of the huddle. Um,
Speaker 1: he did a good job with that making plays. He
Speaker 1: just understands he's more competitive than anybody. You know, he
Speaker 1: wants to put more points on the board. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know he's a leader being the quarterback position to
Speaker 1: that offense, and the guys are gonna follow him. So, uh,
Speaker 1: you know he's got to continue to keep playing harder. Well,
Speaker 1: can't tell I'm about fumbling right now. Yeah, Well, he knew.
Speaker 1: He knew it right away. When he came off the sideline,
Speaker 1: he said, he put his chest, said, my bad, my bad.
Speaker 1: That's something in this league the people are going to
Speaker 1: go after and when you put the ball in the
Speaker 1: ground and they see it and there it's on tape
Speaker 1: and they can show highlights to their defense, that's not
Speaker 1: going to stop. So we just have to be smart
Speaker 1: with how we use him, and then he's gonna have
Speaker 1: to be smart at all times understanding that ball security
Speaker 1: is huge in this league. And these guys hit a
Speaker 1: little bit harder and they run a little bit faster.
Speaker 1: You said, it starts with you, ends with you. Do
Speaker 1: you have more answers in the tank? Well, I mean
Speaker 1: it's it's for all of us and for me to
Speaker 1: understand that you know, everything that's gone on this year. Um,
Speaker 1: the only way that that I'm wired is to make
Speaker 1: sure that that I'm doing everything possible to give um,
Speaker 1: these players in all three phases an opportunity to win.
Speaker 1: And you know, being able to have that connectivity of
Speaker 1: all three is to win is not easy. And you
Speaker 1: got you gotta lock in and the four phases with
Speaker 1: the coaching staff. So, um, nothing's gonna change in regards
Speaker 1: to the fight. We just the results got to be different,
Speaker 1: and we're well aware of that, and so we just
Speaker 1: gotta put together, you know, really good days of practice
Speaker 1: and just keep keep throwing punches. Yattle's playing right now,
Speaker 1: so can't really get into them too much. We know
Speaker 1: what they are. Good coach team by Pete care On,
Speaker 1: a great quarterback in Russell Wilson, and that will begin
Speaker 1: your preparation for that on a Christmas holiday week, so
Speaker 1: it should be very interesting for sure. Yep. There they're
Speaker 1: you know, it's always difficult to play out there in Seattle,
Speaker 1: and they're gonna they're gonna be fighting, and they got
Speaker 1: a great quarterback in Russell. So we'll have our handsful boat.
Speaker 1: We'll be ready, all right, Matt, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you soon. See Jeff Hi snap pressure
Speaker 1: coming from Damian Williams. He partially blocks it. It's puzzling
Speaker 1: around at the thirty yard line and the Bears we'll
Speaker 1: get the football right there. Damian Williams, he's having a
Speaker 1: star role tonight on special team. Come watch the Bears
Speaker 1: game at Edison Park in in Chicago on Sunday night
Speaker 1: at this week's official Miller Light Chicago Bears watch party.
Speaker 1: Visit Chicago Bears dot com, slash fan Zone slash wash
Speaker 1: Parties for more information. Joined by Chris Tabor, the Bear
Speaker 1: Special Teams coordinator. After the loss of the Vikings last
Speaker 1: night at Soldier, Phil, welcome and Chris, obviously you are
Speaker 1: not there last night, could not get cleared to return
Speaker 1: because of the COVID situation. A Number one, how you feeling?
Speaker 1: And number two a unique experience for a coach? No way, no,
Speaker 1: how can you like that scenario? How'd you handle it? Uh? Well,
Speaker 1: feeling feeling well? Thank you? You know it's it's obviously
Speaker 1: this is a weird time, but you know, with regards
Speaker 1: to handle it last night, it was definitely weird. When
Speaker 1: I've turned on the had the pregame show going, and
Speaker 1: you can see him down on the sidelines, you know,
Speaker 1: Moss and Young and and everybody and and there, you know,
Speaker 1: you can see it, you can picture it, and I
Speaker 1: can see the people in the background, and I know
Speaker 1: exactly what's going on. You know, I see paddle down
Speaker 1: and those guys are starting to warm up and those
Speaker 1: type of things. But yet you're sitting in a room
Speaker 1: talking to no one. It is it's very surreal, doesn't
Speaker 1: it's it's just it's weird, probably the weirdest thing I've
Speaker 1: ever I've ever been through. And then uh, once the
Speaker 1: game started, I found myself just standing and pacing the
Speaker 1: whole time. And then uh, I think I finally sat
Speaker 1: down right at the end of the game. Did you
Speaker 1: did you feel like you felt the emotion of the
Speaker 1: game through that tube and were you getting up and
Speaker 1: pumping your fist and doing crazy stuff when things were
Speaker 1: going Okay, yeah, I did good and bad. You know, Uh,
Speaker 1: the you know, the roller coaster wasn't as extreme as
Speaker 1: obviously what it's like on the sideline. It's just you
Speaker 1: you feel helpless, and I guess that's maybe the best
Speaker 1: ways to describe it, at least when you're on the
Speaker 1: sidelines and whether things go good or add you're making adjustments,
Speaker 1: you're going you're in the now, You're in the moment
Speaker 1: when you're just watching it on television. Uh, you're in
Speaker 1: the I don't know what you're in. You're you're you're
Speaker 1: in a helpless uh area. You know you can there's
Speaker 1: there's nothing you can do, so you know, I you know,
Speaker 1: like before they kick off, I could see Minnesota's lineup.
Speaker 1: I knew exactly what was coming, and you know that
Speaker 1: guy's a really good returner, and it's just it's just
Speaker 1: a it's just a different feeling. And then obviously on
Speaker 1: special teams, the camera angles what television does, it it
Speaker 1: hides a lot of things, so it's sometimes harder to
Speaker 1: see things. Yeah, you can't see the intricacies. And you
Speaker 1: have to compartmentalize when you're on the sidelines because that's
Speaker 1: what you do. It's your unit broad scope. You see
Speaker 1: the game from different lens, don't you. Yeah, I really did.
Speaker 1: That was you know, I guess it took me back
Speaker 1: to probably you know, my dad was a long time
Speaker 1: high school football coach, and I remember after Friday nights
Speaker 1: and then on Saturdays and Sundays, we'd watched college football
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and you you know, you sit down
Speaker 1: and you're talking, and you're you're talking the situations and
Speaker 1: how the team's playing, and it's a big general overview.
Speaker 1: That's kind of how it felt last night. It was
Speaker 1: just it was it was different. Are you confident you'll
Speaker 1: be back this week? Yes? Yeah, because you know I'll
Speaker 1: definitely hit my ten day window, so I will you know,
Speaker 1: I'll be available. All right, sounds good coming into this.
Speaker 1: We heard the black Punt by Damian Williams and boy,
Speaker 1: he played with his hair on fire last night. He
Speaker 1: has a unique skill set that you know, he's a
Speaker 1: good football player, you know, besides you know, he's a
Speaker 1: really good running back. But he's he's a good football
Speaker 1: but he gets football. Uh you know, he stepped in
Speaker 1: for us at personal protector, uh for DHC, who obviously
Speaker 1: we think the world of. But but d Dubbs is
Speaker 1: a guy that I mean, he was Tob's personal protector
Speaker 1: in Kansas City and and uh Toe braved about him,
Speaker 1: and you know, he jumps right in for us and
Speaker 1: he's he's always been as a backup because he's been
Speaker 1: playing offense and those type of things. But just jump
Speaker 1: right in and knows exactly what to do. So it's
Speaker 1: it's very comforting from our end. And then we always
Speaker 1: knew that, uh he he can he can put pressure
Speaker 1: on a punter. Now he's talented. He almost got another
Speaker 1: one too. Yeah, No, he's uh, he just he has
Speaker 1: a you know, some guys have it and and some
Speaker 1: guys don't. He has it. He he you know, he
Speaker 1: can go speed to bowl, he can go up and under,
Speaker 1: he's good with his hands, and then just just that
Speaker 1: whole common sense, uh factor of you know, I got
Speaker 1: a shot to get this one right, don't and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm buzzing the tower or I'm committed to it, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean, he just he's he's good football player. So
Speaker 1: I'm glad he's here, and uh uh, you know, he
Speaker 1: really he helps our group quite a bit. Selet Single
Speaker 1: game Bears tickets are available to cheer on the Monsters
Speaker 1: of the Midway live at Soldier Field this season. Visit
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears dot com slash tickets for more information. With
Speaker 1: Bear special teams coordinator Chris Taber Jeff Joni acc with
Speaker 1: you until the top of the hour. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: the changes that were necessitated when Jachim Grant went out
Speaker 1: with a concussion. Demere Bird goes in. There has been
Speaker 1: upon returner in his career. Let's break down the muff
Speaker 1: on that one that's always a tough spot to go into.
Speaker 1: Has to catch the football. I mean, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, we got to have we got to
Speaker 1: have possession of the football. And you know, he had time,
Speaker 1: He had plenty of time. He's chasing it over towards
Speaker 1: our sideline. I assume that's the way the wind was
Speaker 1: going last night, the way everybody was kicking. But you know,
Speaker 1: the mistake that he that that has made that we
Speaker 1: got to get corrected. You know, we always say, don't
Speaker 1: chase the ball. The ball's chasing you. And you can
Speaker 1: see that he's chasing the ball as opposed to and
Speaker 1: what I mean by that you want to get to
Speaker 1: your spot and be waiting for it and get your ball.
Speaker 1: Read that means that the ball is coming to you,
Speaker 1: it's chasing you. And that's the mistake that we made there.
Speaker 1: And that's uh, you know that hurts. That's critical because
Speaker 1: I think that you know, maybe he gets a maybe
Speaker 1: that first first down that we're looking for, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, even if he didn't, we
Speaker 1: got to have the football. So that's a mistake that
Speaker 1: has to get corrected and we'll work hard at that
Speaker 1: this week. Can I go deeper into that just to
Speaker 1: understanding for people who who have never caught a punt,
Speaker 1: simplified it even a little more for us because they
Speaker 1: you can't control where they're kicking. The football. No, But
Speaker 1: but what I mean by that. For example, let's say
Speaker 1: the winds blowing over towards our sideline, and we have
Speaker 1: him said at whatever that number was last night, depending
Speaker 1: upon you know what what Barry's number is going into
Speaker 1: the game, and then you watch him in three game,
Speaker 1: then you factor win and all those type of things.
Speaker 1: So he set but just for him to anticipate that, yes,
Speaker 1: the ball, mother nature is going to take her over there,
Speaker 1: so I have to beat that. Let's say we think
Speaker 1: that the ball is going to land at the forty
Speaker 1: year hardline, Well, then I need to at the top
Speaker 1: of the numbers. I need to sprint to that spot.
Speaker 1: And I'm waiting for it. I'm beating the ball to
Speaker 1: the spot. And and I think that's the that's the
Speaker 1: critical thing for any punt returner, and that's always uh,
Speaker 1: catching upon it is a lot harder than it is
Speaker 1: catching a kick. It really is the those of the
Speaker 1: football and the wind and those type of things. Then
Speaker 1: obviously you don't have as much time as what a
Speaker 1: kick returner would. But uh, you know, you can see him,
Speaker 1: he's he's catching it sideways, so you there. Therefore it
Speaker 1: tells you I never and he's still movie. So there there, there,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of problems that just kind of uh,
Speaker 1: you know, stacked stacked itself there. And then when that happens,
Speaker 1: bad things are going to take place. And that's what
Speaker 1: that's what happened. I may have told you this before,
Speaker 1: and you can have a good chuckle if you wish,
Speaker 1: But I'm a non athlete wearing uh wingtips and a suit.
Speaker 1: And I tried to catch bred Mannard punts in the
Speaker 1: Walter Peyton Center and he had the tail down spiral
Speaker 1: going and I could not, ever, not one time negotiate
Speaker 1: where that ball was going on. He kept diving away
Speaker 1: from me. I would dare say that a taildown spiralal
Speaker 1: is harder than a tumbler out of the air. What
Speaker 1: do you think is there's there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: And that's why when you see those punt returners, like
Speaker 1: you know Jachem when he takes a chance, or when
Speaker 1: you saw Devin take a chance, it really makes you
Speaker 1: appreciate how good at catchers they are and how fearless
Speaker 1: that is. Because obviously, like I said, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, we have to have the football at
Speaker 1: the end of the play no excuses. That's what has
Speaker 1: to get done. And when you do, you got a
Speaker 1: bunch of people coming around you, and you're trying to
Speaker 1: read all that and the wind and those things. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's a tough deal. Jachim goes out with a
Speaker 1: concussion on the day he was named to the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: The ninety seven yard return certainly put him on the
Speaker 1: national spotlight. In a game against the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: What's he meant to this team? Well, he's meant a lot.
Speaker 1: He's obviously he's a He's a guy that I think
Speaker 1: that opposing coordinators when they go home at night to
Speaker 1: lay their head on their pillow, they don't have sweet
Speaker 1: dreams because they're, you know there, they are worried that
Speaker 1: this guy is going to take a shot on goal
Speaker 1: and h and has the ability to what I say,
Speaker 1: has long speed and finishing speed. And that'll leave you
Speaker 1: up at night as as a coach. And I think
Speaker 1: that when you have those things, I mean, then you
Speaker 1: can you can get bad punts from from the punter.
Speaker 1: I mean he might not field it or might not
Speaker 1: be able to field one, but if it's a short punt,
Speaker 1: that's a direct reflection of him being a good returner.
Speaker 1: So you picked up let's say the guy's punting the
Speaker 1: ball forty five yards and all of a sudden he
Speaker 1: hits a thirty five yard or a thirty two yard
Speaker 1: or I mean, you just picked up a thirteen yard
Speaker 1: or ten yard return. In my opinion, at least, that's
Speaker 1: how I view it. I've always viewed it that way,
Speaker 1: And you know, I think guys take pride in that.
Speaker 1: So he's meant a lot to us. I'm really proud
Speaker 1: of his honor. But I think that honor he'd be
Speaker 1: first to tell you he's proud of the guys that
Speaker 1: are block and form and giving him an opportunity. Final
Speaker 1: segment of the Bears Coaches Show tonight, here with Chris Tabor,
Speaker 1: Bear special teams coordinator kind enough to join us. Not
Speaker 1: at the game last night, he'll be back. They're coming
Speaker 1: up on the trip to Seattle. So to amplify we're
Speaker 1: talking about but with Jachem Grant and just your history
Speaker 1: with you know, Devin Hester and Josh Cribs in Cleveland
Speaker 1: and Johnny Knox here with the Bears, Devin Hester, Cordell Patterson,
Speaker 1: a lot of different playmakers on your special teams units,
Speaker 1: and that must be a great deal of pride for you.
Speaker 1: I'm always happy for those guys. I'm happy for the
Speaker 1: guys to block form. I mean, those are some of
Speaker 1: those names you've listed, I mean, Jerike and Tariq. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you feel fortunate and you feel lucky to be around
Speaker 1: players like that, because as a coach, you're always looking
Speaker 1: to grow yourself and there's no better way to learn
Speaker 1: than from learning from the player and to have I mean, obviously,
Speaker 1: Devin Uh. You know, when I came here in two
Speaker 1: thousand and eighteen, I remember studying Tarik, but I had
Speaker 1: never had a player like Tarik, a smaller, dynamic, strong,
Speaker 1: fast uh type player. It was a totally different skill
Speaker 1: set because when I was in Cleveland, I had Cribbs,
Speaker 1: who was a bigger guy like Cordell, and then we
Speaker 1: had a Travis Benjamin also who is built more like Mooney.
Speaker 1: So it's it's been it's been fun just to be
Speaker 1: able to coach different guys with different skill sets and
Speaker 1: then being able to learn from them, and so hopefully
Speaker 1: as you're developing returners, you can maybe see some of
Speaker 1: those qualities and players that you're trying to developer and
Speaker 1: also be able to say, hey, you know, Tarik did this,
Speaker 1: Jachine did this, Devin did this, Cordell did this. You know,
Speaker 1: Josh Cribbs love doing this right here, This fits your
Speaker 1: game right here. This might be something that we can
Speaker 1: expand upon on and grow. Uh. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: I want the player always to be himself, you know.
Speaker 1: I think it's our job as a coach to identify
Speaker 1: the skills that put them in the position and then
Speaker 1: and then keep growing them. And and I think the
Speaker 1: players always they'll they'll tell you how fast they can
Speaker 1: grow by what they do on the field. So it's
Speaker 1: like I say, I've I've been I've been blessed to
Speaker 1: be around a lot of guys that can impact the game.
Speaker 1: How many of you guys around that unit last night
Speaker 1: that hadn't played for you this season? There were some,
Speaker 1: There were some guys. But I'll tell you what, I
Speaker 1: sure was proud of them, you know, just the opening
Speaker 1: kickoff itself. I think they got it to the twenty two.
Speaker 1: No one ever, you know, no one says anything, and
Speaker 1: I'm good with all that. That That returner, you know,
Speaker 1: has two touchdowns on the year, and he's electric and uh,
Speaker 1: and we got guys on the back side that they
Speaker 1: haven't played together. Now there's there's a bunch of guys
Speaker 1: that haven't played a lot. But but they came in
Speaker 1: and the thing I was really pre they understood what
Speaker 1: they needed to do. I've got coach again, did a
Speaker 1: great job throughout the week with with those guys and
Speaker 1: they and they responded and they played well and they said,
Speaker 1: you know what, here's our standard on special teams and
Speaker 1: we need to we need to play to this standard
Speaker 1: and keep it there because in our room, we always
Speaker 1: like to think that we're always playing for something and
Speaker 1: that's set in field position and trying to make a
Speaker 1: positive impact. And then you know, now we got work
Speaker 1: to do. We gotta get rid of those negative plays
Speaker 1: that took place last night. So it'll be another fun
Speaker 1: week with regards of trying to get better. Now it's
Speaker 1: time to look ahead, brought to you by Bette Rivers,
Speaker 1: the official sports book partner of the Bears Seattle. On
Speaker 1: the docket, they get two Pro Bowlers announced, including Michael Dixon.
Speaker 1: The punter Nick Bellar is on the special teams unit
Speaker 1: as well. For the Seattle Seahawks. What's our early prognosis
Speaker 1: they're playing right now as we speak. Belower you mentioned
Speaker 1: he's been in the league a long time, very well deserving,
Speaker 1: and then obviously the punter. He's a guy that he's
Speaker 1: an Awese player that can move the ball all around,
Speaker 1: has all the kicks. So kind of going back to
Speaker 1: our earlier discussion with regards to fielding the ball and
Speaker 1: beating the ball to the spot, it becomes even more
Speaker 1: important this week because you're not always going to know
Speaker 1: where this guy's going to put the football. Another big task,
Speaker 1: but I think our guys will be up for it,
Speaker 1: so it'll be a lot fun. Appreciate it all your time,
Speaker 1: Good luck this week, and welcome back. All right, thank you,
Speaker 1: all right. That's gonna do it for tonight's show. Want
Speaker 1: to thank Lisa Fielding, Tama Really, Jordan tread Up and
Speaker 1: Katie Tuber our producers for head coach Matteggie and coach Tabor.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Joniak. Will bring the Bears and Seahawks from
Speaker 1: Seattle noon pregame three h five kickoff from the Great Northwest.
Speaker 1: That'll do it for tonight show. Thanks for listening, everybody,
Speaker 1: Marry Christmas, Happy holidays. This is news Radio one oh
Speaker 1: five nine WBB. I'm good night, everybody,