Speaker 1: And a pleasure. Good even everybody, and welcome into another
Speaker 1: edition of The Bears Coaches Show, brought to you by
Speaker 1: Whipplely CPAs in consultant time Jeff Joniac with a head
Speaker 1: coach Matton Neggy as we break down yesterday's nineteen to
Speaker 1: eleven loss to the Indianapolis coach. Good evening, coach, how
Speaker 1: you doing and uh when you when you looked at
Speaker 1: the tape, anything pop out that that concerns you at
Speaker 1: the moment because you can't spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: at it, frankly because of Tampa Bay coming in on Thursday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, Jeff. I mean we had to bust through
Speaker 1: it real quick and just kind of see to confirm
Speaker 1: what we thought we saw and I think you know
Speaker 1: um stayed and the obvious you got to score more
Speaker 1: than eleven points. You just can't have that. It is
Speaker 1: a good defense we played against, but we can be
Speaker 1: a lot better Offensively. You couldn't get into a rhythm,
Speaker 1: struggled to establish the run game and then third down,
Speaker 1: you know, wasn't good enough for fourteen So that that
Speaker 1: was that special teams too many penalties, block punt, So
Speaker 1: we can be better there. I thought our kickoff return
Speaker 1: was just okay. And in defense it did you know,
Speaker 1: a couple of third downs that we gave up, But
Speaker 1: for the most part, Jeff, I felt them fine around overall.
Speaker 1: What types of things that you try to do, you
Speaker 1: just couldn't seem to get going in the right direction.
Speaker 1: That maybe some of what they did. I know, you
Speaker 1: always like to say you want to dictate, and you
Speaker 1: know you have to worry about what you guys do,
Speaker 1: now what they do, but they did do some things well.
Speaker 1: They seem to be very sticky defensively. Yeah, you know what, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I think you hit it on the head there. I
Speaker 1: think that they probably you walk out of this game,
Speaker 1: and at least for their their purposes on defense, they
Speaker 1: dictated a lot of what went on yesterday offensively, and
Speaker 1: so us it's back to the drawing boards for us.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you have these type of games that you got
Speaker 1: to use and you stay positive and you figure out
Speaker 1: the why part, and I think we'll do that. This
Speaker 1: is Matt Naggie and the Bears Coaches Show. Jason Lescauso,
Speaker 1: the strength and conditioning coordinator, would join the program at
Speaker 1: the bottom of the hour. Let's let's break down the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. I know we talked before the game
Speaker 1: in our pregame interview right before kickoff, and I suggested
Speaker 1: that this could be one of these trench warfares that
Speaker 1: it turned out to be that way where you to
Speaker 1: battle up your fist and try to fight your way
Speaker 1: out of it. It was. It definitely was, and I think, um,
Speaker 1: you know, when you look at it. Going into it,
Speaker 1: we knew that defensively we're going to have to stop
Speaker 1: the run. And really, for the most part, there was
Speaker 1: one or two runs, one of them being at the
Speaker 1: end of the game where they got a nice little
Speaker 1: chunk on it. But I really felt our guys up
Speaker 1: front except that challenge and do a great job of
Speaker 1: stopping the run overall from the course of the game. Offensively, again,
Speaker 1: I keep saying it, I know that we can be better,
Speaker 1: and I have no you know, no doubt we will.
Speaker 1: But we got to do it. You know, you have
Speaker 1: to be able to run the football, and you got
Speaker 1: to be able to get some chunks too. It can't
Speaker 1: always be second and eight, second and nine, and and
Speaker 1: our guys will understand that that's that's that's that's part
Speaker 1: of the game, and we just getting Then we got
Speaker 1: a scheme better as well. Now, one of the things
Speaker 1: that let's talk defense for a moment too, because they
Speaker 1: only allowed two point eight to carry that two long
Speaker 1: runs of sixteen plus are two plays of sixteen plus.
Speaker 1: That was really it. And you hold a team to
Speaker 1: nineteen points. Yes, everybody could play better, pass rush can
Speaker 1: get home better, make the hits on the quarterback better.
Speaker 1: But you know that's that's a pretty solid performance by
Speaker 1: the defense. Yeah, it is. And again that's what I
Speaker 1: felt yesterday at the end of the game. I thought, situationally,
Speaker 1: we've shown it all year long. Now, Jeff defensively when
Speaker 1: teams were kind of a bend, but don't break deal
Speaker 1: where teams getting in that red zone and we're not
Speaker 1: giving up touchdowns, we're making teams kick field goals. And
Speaker 1: so that's a credit to Chuck and those guys, those
Speaker 1: players playing hard and playing fast. It it's gonna end
Speaker 1: up helping us out in the long run. Let's break
Speaker 1: down Nick Foles. First start, he said, you know, I
Speaker 1: need to execute better, but overall, how did you look
Speaker 1: at his performance? Well, again, you know there's a calibration
Speaker 1: through this process. And when I say that there's a
Speaker 1: there's a calibration for him, uh, having his first start,
Speaker 1: you know since last year, getting into a groove and
Speaker 1: trying to figure out the best way that he plays
Speaker 1: with his teammates. And then there's also Jeff a calibration
Speaker 1: for us as coaches with Nick and how does he
Speaker 1: work And so you've you've heard me say it last week.
Speaker 1: There's gonna take a little bit of time here trying
Speaker 1: to figure out how this thing goes with him. And
Speaker 1: that's where you know, with it being early on in
Speaker 1: the season, four weeks in, we need that's our job
Speaker 1: now is to get that calibrated as best as we can.
Speaker 1: And then how does that flip to the guys who's
Speaker 1: throwing the ball too? Yeah, the same thing again those guys,
Speaker 1: just the timing of where they're at with their routes
Speaker 1: and understanding schematically where we're at. Just all we're always
Speaker 1: going to talk about detailing routes and making sure we're
Speaker 1: exactly where we need to be. And the defense is
Speaker 1: always there's moving parts and sometimes you gotta just win
Speaker 1: and execute. That's just sometimes how this game goes. And
Speaker 1: I thought yesterday you saw that towards the end of
Speaker 1: the game. Our guys, our wide receivers, tight end made
Speaker 1: some plays and the biggest thing is going to be
Speaker 1: for us just to continue to stay positive and work
Speaker 1: through this. A guy like Anthony Miller, is that an
Speaker 1: area of where you gotta stay positive from his point
Speaker 1: of view because he's a guy that wants it. I
Speaker 1: can imagine him being frustrated. But I think he's like
Speaker 1: five or fourteen in terms of catches to targets here
Speaker 1: in the last a couple of weeks after making some
Speaker 1: big plays. Is there a way to get fine consistency
Speaker 1: for him somehow, just to have him feel some success
Speaker 1: and help out a little bit here and in taking
Speaker 1: the pressure off a rob in the tight ends. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And you know, Anthony's playing a lot in the inside
Speaker 1: in the slot, and so there's gonna be some some
Speaker 1: traffic in there, and there's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: contested catches, and so what we can do is find
Speaker 1: ways to kind of get him some some easier catches
Speaker 1: to get going. He obviously made that huge catch last
Speaker 1: week for the win, and we have a lot of
Speaker 1: faith in him, and I think that Nick's going to
Speaker 1: continue to just keep learning what he does and how
Speaker 1: he runs routes, and then we got we gotta execute.
Speaker 1: Hecula learning on the jab role for Darnelmoney right now
Speaker 1: is a fifth round draft pick. I know everybody's talked
Speaker 1: about it's not too big for him, and it's clearly not.
Speaker 1: He's gonna start seeing a lot more physicality. I get.
Speaker 1: I get this feeling because not only can run by you,
Speaker 1: but he's doing a great job in traffic as well.
Speaker 1: Made a great catch on a thirty three yard Where
Speaker 1: do you see his progress already after just one month. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's every week, Jeff, He's getting better and better, and
Speaker 1: that's what you love. I think that's the best part
Speaker 1: of that is being able to see his growth. He's
Speaker 1: really learning under a rob on the details of playing
Speaker 1: that position, and there's gonna be times where he makes
Speaker 1: a mistake here there, but for him to go up
Speaker 1: and make that big grab yesterday down the left sideline
Speaker 1: was definitely good to see. Hey, let's talk special teams
Speaker 1: a little bit. I don't know if you get into
Speaker 1: the intricacies of it, but on that partially deflected punt,
Speaker 1: that kind of set a poor tone for the day.
Speaker 1: I think you'd agree, right, right, out of the gate. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it did. And I know Coach Tabs again, I have
Speaker 1: a lot of so much faith in him and what
Speaker 1: he does, and he has so much passion back there
Speaker 1: with those guys, and we really feel like we have
Speaker 1: one of the best defense or special team junits in
Speaker 1: the game. And so we gotta, you know, get back
Speaker 1: and just understand the why parts. And I know Coach
Speaker 1: Tabs again will do that and our guys will, they'll
Speaker 1: they'll understand that we can't have that at all, let
Speaker 1: alone the first punt of the game. And so we
Speaker 1: got to bounce back there. And how do you feel
Speaker 1: about having a veteran back there in Ted Ginn Junior,
Speaker 1: because there are many options on your two return punts
Speaker 1: right now for the time being anyone. Yeah, there are.
Speaker 1: And Ted's the guy that we trust. We understand it.
Speaker 1: He's gonna, you know, for the most part, make good decisions.
Speaker 1: And uh and that's probably the biggest thing while he's
Speaker 1: back there. Alan Robinson with a second consecutive one hundred
Speaker 1: yard receiving day as the Bears fall in nineteen to
Speaker 1: eleven to the Indianapolis Colts at Soldier Field. That touchdown
Speaker 1: catch though, Uh, those are perfect examples of what he
Speaker 1: does in those areas. He gets fights for the ball
Speaker 1: fifty to fifty, go up and get a type of guy.
Speaker 1: And I think as the season goes on, more time
Speaker 1: spent with Nick Foles, I think, uh and I think
Speaker 1: you would agree that those are more possibilities there for
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson and and and his quarterback. Now, yeah, without
Speaker 1: a doubt, you can see that that that catch there,
Speaker 1: that's a little different than when the ball when the
Speaker 1: when the DB's face guarding him or face shield him
Speaker 1: and he's got to reach around him to get it.
Speaker 1: When when he high points it he has a he
Speaker 1: does a really good job of going up and getting it.
Speaker 1: And you know, give credit to Nick for giving him
Speaker 1: a chance. And so we just need to do more
Speaker 1: of those and have more of that like we did
Speaker 1: at the end of the Atlantic game, and do it
Speaker 1: earlier in the first, second, third quarter. Um and these
Speaker 1: next games coming up. I want to talk about Dave
Speaker 1: Montgomery because uh, yeah, you set a point of attack
Speaker 1: and he was just trying to burrow his nose in there. Man,
Speaker 1: it was not happening. It's hitting like a brick wall
Speaker 1: a little bit with the running game, but he kept
Speaker 1: he kept trying, he kept trying. Are we under estimating
Speaker 1: this guy's physicality and his mental toughness and physical toughness
Speaker 1: to to know he's gonna get Claubert because that was
Speaker 1: a big, sturdy front wall yesterday that the Bears were
Speaker 1: haven't tried to move out of the way for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, Dave David is uh just he's a He's
Speaker 1: a ground and pale type running back that can do
Speaker 1: a lot of things. Um, you know, in between the
Speaker 1: tackles outside he breaks a lot of tackles, and yesterday
Speaker 1: it was just one of those days where they did
Speaker 1: a good job of trying to you know, shut down
Speaker 1: those lanes that he doesn't have. And so you know
Speaker 1: he'll David's gonna bounce back. I have all the all
Speaker 1: the faith in the world and him and and our
Speaker 1: coaches and our O line and our tight ends of
Speaker 1: getting that back on track. And this is a part
Speaker 1: of the game. You know, you get tested like this.
Speaker 1: It kind of tested you, test you a little bit
Speaker 1: and makes you say, okay, how do we get better?
Speaker 1: And it's good time and so our guys will be ready.
Speaker 1: I always go back to you on this, Yes, you're
Speaker 1: the head coach, but you're the play caller. What was
Speaker 1: your level of frustration throughout the course of the game yesterday?
Speaker 1: As we use this term rhythm. Last week we had
Speaker 1: a bunch of ours, relentlessness, you know, all kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: But this, I think, I think that would be a
Speaker 1: fair thing, is the rhythm. Even as a play caller, Yeah,
Speaker 1: there there wasn't any rhythm. I think that's probably the
Speaker 1: best word to use for our offense yesterday, is that
Speaker 1: there was no rhythm, and um, it is difficult as
Speaker 1: a play caller, and that's my job as a play
Speaker 1: caller to try to find ways to get rhythm and um,
Speaker 1: you know whichever way that is. Whether it's it's running
Speaker 1: the football, you get a rhythm and you hit some
Speaker 1: play actions and some screens, and or if it's throwing
Speaker 1: the football and then you pop some runs and you
Speaker 1: know there, once we started losing time, when we were
Speaker 1: down two scores, we had to become more one dimensional
Speaker 1: yet again, so we I think rhythm's probably a good word.
Speaker 1: Head and into this next week the tough defense because
Speaker 1: there were a couple of potential takeaways. Obviously, Khalil Mack
Speaker 1: will be thinking about that one for a while. I
Speaker 1: know he's gotta, he's gotta get rid of it, but
Speaker 1: those are probably not as easy as they look. And
Speaker 1: Roquan with a terrific attempt to get that interception just
Speaker 1: by a hair. A great play there by Deshan Gibson.
Speaker 1: Do as you look back at it, with those two
Speaker 1: plays make a big difference. Yeah, they would have situationally
Speaker 1: with where they occurred at You know, I know Khalil
Speaker 1: Khalil's an unbelievable athlete and he probably couldn't sleep last
Speaker 1: night just being able to watch that just fall right
Speaker 1: into his lap. And uh and then Roquan, what a
Speaker 1: special play. It's just you know, you talk about a
Speaker 1: game of inches. Literally his you know, his foot just
Speaker 1: being out by an inch is tough. But we gotta,
Speaker 1: we gotta bounce back from those. And again I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna go back to you know, there was a couple
Speaker 1: third downs where Philip Rivers threw the ball up just
Speaker 1: and it wasn't like he was wide open. They just
Speaker 1: made a better play than us. It was good defense,
Speaker 1: it was great offense. But if we have those back,
Speaker 1: I thought the defense played really well. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: Roquan because legian tackles. I think he had twelve or
Speaker 1: thirteen tackles, but he was playing physical downhill, sniffing out
Speaker 1: things and uh really with his hair on fire yesterday
Speaker 1: in the face of a loss. I mean, I would
Speaker 1: think that that would be bune of your prime players yesterday.
Speaker 1: That was important for him to play like that. And
Speaker 1: again you felt that the defensive find the outside linebackers
Speaker 1: getting you know, putting some pressure on Philip and then
Speaker 1: he's getting the ball out to the backs and making plays.
Speaker 1: The one that jumps out to me in particulars when
Speaker 1: they threw the little hat back screen and he just
Speaker 1: shot out, you know, like a missile and just made
Speaker 1: a great tackle. And so that's where you felt him.
Speaker 1: He also felt him on the little flare route down
Speaker 1: in the red zone. So all around, good game by Roquan. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well he is the missile. He's the Minezuma missile. There
Speaker 1: you go. Yeah, that's you know, I talked to him
Speaker 1: before the game and a feature interview and you know,
Speaker 1: just talking about more splash plays because he piles up
Speaker 1: the tackles. He's got the rain sideline to sideline. Would
Speaker 1: you agree that the next level for him is making
Speaker 1: those splash plays like blowing up plays like that or
Speaker 1: taking an interception, or if he's calling on a blitz,
Speaker 1: get home and get the sack and get an interception,
Speaker 1: or I don't think he has a force mumble in
Speaker 1: his career yet. Yeah, yeah, that would be that. But again,
Speaker 1: you know that play that he made down there in
Speaker 1: the red zone almost had an interception. And you just
Speaker 1: as long as you feel him, and then when they're
Speaker 1: running the football, he's closing up gaps and he's helping
Speaker 1: out other guys. Sometimes there's plays that are made when
Speaker 1: he's not making plays, and so that other stuff will come.
Speaker 1: But I'm really proud of the way that he's playing
Speaker 1: right now. I think Coach Da Leon's doing a great
Speaker 1: job with those guys on the inside, and you just
Speaker 1: feel those guys playing fast. How did because we haven't
Speaker 1: talked about this, how did the change in start time
Speaker 1: affect you guys in any way, shape or form on
Speaker 1: Saturday in terms, Yeah, it didn't affect us at all.
Speaker 1: You know, initially the guys are a little bit surprised
Speaker 1: by it, but then you just you explained to him that, hey,
Speaker 1: we talk about expect the unexpected. We got to be
Speaker 1: able to adapt an adjust. The cults are going through
Speaker 1: the same thing, and so as as they understand that
Speaker 1: this week right now they trust us and taking care
Speaker 1: of their bodies and making sure that we give them
Speaker 1: time to get their rest and heal up and get
Speaker 1: ready for Thursday night, they're okay with it. I refer
Speaker 1: to it as contingency twenty twenty in my lead in,
Speaker 1: because that's the word you've used all along. I think
Speaker 1: I think it's probably not the last time this might happen. No,
Speaker 1: without a doubt, they'll they'll be more. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: that's just the way this year is going right now.
Speaker 1: And then if you get up in arms in it
Speaker 1: and you get frustrated and you get you know, out
Speaker 1: of sorts, it doesn't do any good. So we just
Speaker 1: rolled the punches. Well, what was your conversation like in
Speaker 1: the locker room with the fellas, what do you what
Speaker 1: do you gotta tell them? Yeah, you know what it was, Jeff.
Speaker 1: It was just um letting these guys know that hey,
Speaker 1: this is uh, we're four games in, we're currently three
Speaker 1: and one. Uh, it doesn't matter how you get to it.
Speaker 1: That's the simple facts. And so it doesn't feel good
Speaker 1: right after the game when you're in there because you
Speaker 1: lost the game and you're frustrated. But what we have
Speaker 1: is a bunch of good guys that have been through
Speaker 1: these moments before, and now we got to you know,
Speaker 1: rally back together. And the good thing of a short
Speaker 1: week is that when you lose the game, it's a
Speaker 1: it's uh. I mean, we're already on to Tampa Bay,
Speaker 1: and before you know, we're gonna be back at the
Speaker 1: hotel and back at Soldier Field and get back out
Speaker 1: there again to try to go to four and one.
Speaker 1: So that was really the biggest message. There was no
Speaker 1: yelling in the screaming. It was just let's just stay composed,
Speaker 1: let's stay together, and let's get back on track. How
Speaker 1: did you guys get out of the game healthwise? Pretty good?
Speaker 1: You know, I think, uh, in regards to to Dion Bush,
Speaker 1: he has a has a hamstring, But other than that, um,
Speaker 1: I think that, uh, we're really in good shape. So
Speaker 1: knock on wood. You know, the addition of Tyler Bray
Speaker 1: to be active in terms of a fifty three man
Speaker 1: roster set up some flares out there. What was behind
Speaker 1: the thinking of that because it certainly created a lot
Speaker 1: of questions. Uh, just it's the way it is right
Speaker 1: now at the quarterback position. Yeah, no, there there's absolutely
Speaker 1: nothing to it. It's just a it was ability to
Speaker 1: to flex him up and get him up to the
Speaker 1: active He can be down there on the sideline with
Speaker 1: us and literally nothing to it. You know, Mitch had
Speaker 1: a really good week. He was really supportive and great
Speaker 1: all week long. Uh, in the quarterback room and so uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I I totally understand why there's people that
Speaker 1: are questioning, you know and figuring out what's going on,
Speaker 1: But there was absolutely nothing to it. All right, let's
Speaker 1: take one more look at the idea with no fans
Speaker 1: in the in the sound thing, because clearly the league's
Speaker 1: blowing up. Point wise. Um, we've talked about it now
Speaker 1: every single week. Are the benefits Are they gone for
Speaker 1: home field advantage right now? In a sense, Yeah, they're gone.
Speaker 1: There's there's no home field advantage. It doesn't matter where
Speaker 1: you play. It doesn't matter. Um when you get down there,
Speaker 1: you know, third and one, fourth and one, Um, you're
Speaker 1: inside the five yard line. UM, when the crowd typically
Speaker 1: if you're at home and the defense is up and
Speaker 1: it's it's it's you know, the offense is on the
Speaker 1: road and you have the crowd cheering. You don't have
Speaker 1: that anymore. So it's just a major advantage offense. And
Speaker 1: so when people want to say, okay, they want you
Speaker 1: know that we got these great pass rushers over the night,
Speaker 1: they're not piling up sacks and hitting quarterbacks routinely every week.
Speaker 1: You have to give that a little bit to this reason, right,
Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, I think so. And again, the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks that use their cadence that you get free plays.
Speaker 1: You know, we we've fortunately, we've gotten four straight games
Speaker 1: now being able to get a defensive all sides, which
Speaker 1: which helps. And and so it's without a doubt, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a weapon if you use it the right way,
Speaker 1: and it's certainly an advantage for the offense on the road.
Speaker 1: All right, let's look ahead, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming in
Speaker 1: and you're in a cramming session right now. But we
Speaker 1: all know what Tom Brady is still capable of at
Speaker 1: his age. It's really remarkable when you consider he's in
Speaker 1: the same draft class as Brian Urlacher's already in the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame, and he's still throwing five touchdown games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's just what he does, you know. I mean, here's
Speaker 1: a team that was losing twenty four to seven with
Speaker 1: forty five deconds ago in the second quarter, and all
Speaker 1: of a sudden to try to get out of the
Speaker 1: half fumble that goes back to Tampa and a touchdown
Speaker 1: is twenty four to fourteen, and then they just take
Speaker 1: over from there. And that's what happens when you have
Speaker 1: him a quarterback. He's one of the best, if not
Speaker 1: the best, to ever play the game at that position.
Speaker 1: You're never out of it. He's only going to get
Speaker 1: better with that team. And you know, um, I just
Speaker 1: think that whenever you have him a quarterback, you're gonna
Speaker 1: have a chance to win. So I guess one of
Speaker 1: the preach points for you this week was no mistakes,
Speaker 1: no no easy giveaways. To give that guy a short
Speaker 1: field at any point in the game. Yeah, if you
Speaker 1: do that, you're gonna be in trouble. It's got to
Speaker 1: be something where you're able to affect a pocket like
Speaker 1: any quarterback, but you want to be able to affect it.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a tall quarterback, so he can he
Speaker 1: can see over those those linemen and over the middle
Speaker 1: of a field. And but you got to do that.
Speaker 1: And then offensively, we have to score more than eleven
Speaker 1: point and their defense is nothing to sneeze at. They
Speaker 1: get after it and they will be coming your your
Speaker 1: friend Todd Bowles likes to dial up the blitz and
Speaker 1: they got a big, beefy front line. Don't think, yeah,
Speaker 1: so eat up. He likes to do that and it
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter when or where he's going to do it.
Speaker 1: And I think that that front line that they have
Speaker 1: is is playing really well together. Again, there's there's when
Speaker 1: you have that those guys up front, it can get
Speaker 1: after the quarterback. It's always advantage. It helps out those dbs.
Speaker 1: All right, matt enjoy your preparation this week. Good luck
Speaker 1: can thank you so much. Thanks, Jeff, appreciate it. Man.
Speaker 1: Does your Chicago Bears fandom go beyond the game. The
Speaker 1: NFL Fan of the Year contest aims to celebrate extraordinary
Speaker 1: fans who inspire others through football. Visit NFL dot com
Speaker 1: slash Fan of the Year. Welcome back to the Bears
Speaker 1: Coach Show. Please to be joined by Jason Lescauzo, the
Speaker 1: Bear strength and conditioning coordinator. Good to have you alongside tonight,
Speaker 1: and uh, this is something that I enjoy doing with
Speaker 1: with you and the and the and the rest of
Speaker 1: that side of the building and football operations of staff
Speaker 1: because it's it's so interesting. We don't hear about a
Speaker 1: lot about what goes on other than you know, hearing
Speaker 1: about the blood, sweat and tears that's put in that
Speaker 1: weight room and just getting ready for a season. But
Speaker 1: in the in the in the big sense, big picture sense,
Speaker 1: Now that you look back a little bit, what did
Speaker 1: you think of the challenges of this offseason. It's a
Speaker 1: little but it was difficult. It was a difficult offseason,
Speaker 1: difficult for everybody across the league. But when you don't
Speaker 1: get to see the guy's part of you know, part
Speaker 1: of the whole thing about strength and conditioning is you know,
Speaker 1: the relationships you have with the players and then the
Speaker 1: relationships you have to build with the new players and um,
Speaker 1: you know, the relationships you have with the uh, with
Speaker 1: the vets that are coming back. And it's hard when
Speaker 1: you can't have that one on one interaction with guys,
Speaker 1: especially during the working of stuff. But you know, we
Speaker 1: got through it. We uh, you know, we fought our
Speaker 1: way through it. Um, and I was. I was happy
Speaker 1: with the with the results that we got with you know,
Speaker 1: under the circumstances, how do you have to reprogram yourself? Uh?
Speaker 1: You know it was I had to think outside the
Speaker 1: box the heck of a lot more than what I
Speaker 1: did because again, I'm you know, I'm more of a
Speaker 1: relationship guy, you know, the one on one or the
Speaker 1: group setting, just having guys there, that the personal interaction
Speaker 1: you have with the players, and um, you know, finding
Speaker 1: out what makes them tick, finding out what makes them motivate.
Speaker 1: Did you know the things that they liked, the things
Speaker 1: that they don't like. Um, So I had to do
Speaker 1: some different things to try and cultivate that. It's harder
Speaker 1: too over zoom, but um, you know again, we got
Speaker 1: through it and we figured it out. Jason Lescazo our
Speaker 1: guest here on the Bears Coaches Show, the Bear Strength
Speaker 1: and Conditioning Coordinator and this has brought to you by
Speaker 1: Whippley CPAs a consultants a proud partner of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: Learned more at Whippley dot Com. I gotta say, because
Speaker 1: of the way the season's gone so far, the game's
Speaker 1: been going down to the wire, in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: for the most part, and requiring you know, full effort
Speaker 1: for the full sixty minutes. Um. These guys, you guys,
Speaker 1: everybody did a great job. Yeah, you know, I'm really
Speaker 1: proud of the players and the way they came back.
Speaker 1: They came back better than I expected. Um. And that's
Speaker 1: a testament to them. It's a testament to their work ethic,
Speaker 1: testament to to their to their motivation this offseason. UM.
Speaker 1: I'm really happy with the way we set up how
Speaker 1: coach helped uh, you know, me and my staff and
Speaker 1: how Ryan Pace and and Coach Nagy, they helped us
Speaker 1: set up that you know, the ramp up period that
Speaker 1: we had this year that was different than any other year. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I was really happy with how that worked out.
Speaker 1: And Um, I think it was a big time benefit
Speaker 1: for our players coming back and again just kind of
Speaker 1: ramping into it. We didn't just go full bore right
Speaker 1: into it. I think the NFL did that right. Um.
Speaker 1: And then on top of that, the way we set
Speaker 1: the schedule up and the way we the way we
Speaker 1: put it together. I really think that was a benefit
Speaker 1: to us and how we started the season. I think
Speaker 1: that was a definite benefit physically. I'm sure you heard
Speaker 1: from players, you know, their own concerns about hey, am
Speaker 1: I gonna really be ready for football here? Did you
Speaker 1: get any of those conversations in And how do you
Speaker 1: handle that as a strength coach and a and a
Speaker 1: guy that has to you know, they gotta trust you
Speaker 1: and you gotta trust them to do the work. That's
Speaker 1: the big thing is trust. And yes, we did have
Speaker 1: those discussions, you know, one on one with some players
Speaker 1: and even within the group. We let them know from
Speaker 1: the get go though, hey, we're here for them, this
Speaker 1: is this is for them, this is a player centric league.
Speaker 1: We got to make sure that these guys are ready
Speaker 1: to go. We got to make sure that these guys
Speaker 1: feel comfortable. UM. We got to make sure that they
Speaker 1: know we have their back and then we have their
Speaker 1: best interests at heart. Uh. And I think they saw
Speaker 1: that once they saw the schedule and they saw how
Speaker 1: I worked. I think they saw that we were a
Speaker 1: couple of days into it and a lot of guys
Speaker 1: were excited about the way we did it. Um. There
Speaker 1: they you know, they gave their full effort. They gave
Speaker 1: us everything we asked plus more. Um. And I think
Speaker 1: that's shown through the beginning of the season, not only
Speaker 1: physically but also mentally. I think the guys, you know,
Speaker 1: staying mentally tough and um and and staying in games
Speaker 1: and and you know, we're we're right where we want
Speaker 1: to be in terms of physically. Obviously we have a
Speaker 1: few injuries that that nobody likes, but that's just the game,
Speaker 1: and that's the way it goes. Joined Bears Care and
Speaker 1: Advocate Healthcare and raising funds for programs supporting Chicago area
Speaker 1: breast cancer patients in their families. Purchase You're Real Bears
Speaker 1: Fans were pink shirt at Chicago Bears dot com slash pink.
Speaker 1: Jason lescous for the Bears, coordinator of Strength and Conditioning
Speaker 1: our guests today. So we're hearing a lot of this
Speaker 1: now from from around the league that, Okay, you've just
Speaker 1: completed the preseason first four games in the rearview mirror.
Speaker 1: Even though starters don't play in games, they do prepare
Speaker 1: over the course of training camp for those four weeks
Speaker 1: before the season opens. Do you are you in that
Speaker 1: camp that it feels like the preseason is now over
Speaker 1: and this is week one coming up? In some sense,
Speaker 1: um for me, you know, it's a strength coach, not really.
Speaker 1: I mean for us, it's you know, we're when we
Speaker 1: start the season, you know, we're we're we're going, we're
Speaker 1: ready to go. Like you know, the whole thing with
Speaker 1: strength and conditioning is if you've got to pump the
Speaker 1: brakes when the season starts, you've done something really wrong.
Speaker 1: So we've got to be we've got to be careful
Speaker 1: and we've got to be a cognizant of the things
Speaker 1: that that we're doing physically to make sure the guys
Speaker 1: are ready to play every week, no matter what week
Speaker 1: it is. Um So, you the one thing you can
Speaker 1: see those you can see guys getting in better shape
Speaker 1: as we go. That's that's a definite first four games.
Speaker 1: You can see the guys are definitely getting in better
Speaker 1: shape as we go, especially those those upfront guys, which
Speaker 1: you just can't mimic that conditioning level for the D line,
Speaker 1: O line and just when you're pushing against bodies at
Speaker 1: full force, that that that's something that you have to
Speaker 1: do in order to get in shape in shape four.
Speaker 1: Um So, as through these first four games, you can
Speaker 1: see that our our D line offensive line, they're starting
Speaker 1: to gel a little bit they're starting to get in
Speaker 1: better shape. Um, you know, they always play hard, they
Speaker 1: always work hard, but again it's that that level of
Speaker 1: conditioning that they need that they can only get through playing.
Speaker 1: So we are getting in better shape and um, you know,
Speaker 1: but as a strength coach, we really don't see preseason
Speaker 1: versus in season, just basically how we set our workouts
Speaker 1: up and the mentality we need to have when we're
Speaker 1: when we're working out. What did you have to do
Speaker 1: more of and what did you have to do less
Speaker 1: of with the guys when he got him back. We
Speaker 1: had to do more movement type stuff. We had to
Speaker 1: do more movement conditioning stuff. We had to do more
Speaker 1: movement assessment because we hadn't seen these guys all off season,
Speaker 1: so we had to find out, hey, where does this
Speaker 1: guy move well? Where's his deficiencies? Where is he good?
Speaker 1: Where is he bad? Where are the things we need
Speaker 1: to improve? Um, So we had to do a lot
Speaker 1: more of that, uh, in the in the ramp up period,
Speaker 1: in the in the quote unquote preseason period, what we
Speaker 1: had to do less of was probably more of our
Speaker 1: of our and we did less in season type lifting
Speaker 1: during camp because we're not playing games. We're not playing
Speaker 1: any preseason games, so we almost had a little bit
Speaker 1: of a three or four week offseason program going. So
Speaker 1: you know, we did we did a little less of
Speaker 1: the maintenance quote unquote that we typically do in a
Speaker 1: camp where we have games coming up. So, um, it
Speaker 1: was just a different offseason. Man, it was just really
Speaker 1: it was really different, and uh, I enjoyed it. I
Speaker 1: think that the players enjoyed it. I mean it's just
Speaker 1: one of these things that's everybody's going through it. And
Speaker 1: if you can't enjoy it, why are you doing it?
Speaker 1: You know, everybody has something to complain about. I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, this is we're in the NFL, this is
Speaker 1: we're having fun. We're we're getting out that we're trying
Speaker 1: to win a Supper Bowl. Um, and you know we're
Speaker 1: competitive and and let's go. Let's let's line it up
Speaker 1: and let's go embracing the challenge. Jason lescaz our guest
Speaker 1: that Bear strength and Conditioning coordinator here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access on wbbm Uh. With that being said, you know,
Speaker 1: when you when you look at how you typically set
Speaker 1: up the weightlifting schedule during in season, then so are
Speaker 1: these guys still tapering now from what they would do
Speaker 1: to get ready for the season, or do you have
Speaker 1: them still doing things that they maybe are still catching
Speaker 1: up on a little bit. Um. You know, we're we're
Speaker 1: we're kind of right in where we like to be um,
Speaker 1: And every team is different. I mean, if you go
Speaker 1: back to to you know, when I first got here
Speaker 1: in twenty eight team, we were a really young roster,
Speaker 1: really young roster, and then you fast forward to now
Speaker 1: we're a veteran roster. We haven't We have a little
Speaker 1: bit of an older roster and we got guys in
Speaker 1: their thirties on this team that we have to do
Speaker 1: things differently because of that. So every year is a
Speaker 1: little bit different, every year set up a little bit different.
Speaker 1: So with that being said, you know, we're it's hard
Speaker 1: to compare you here because you know, the way we
Speaker 1: do our workouts, the way the way I set things up,
Speaker 1: it's based off of week to week. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna look back at twenty eighteen and say, well,
Speaker 1: we did it in this way in twenty eighteen, so
Speaker 1: we're gonna do that now. That's not the way this works.
Speaker 1: We have a different team, dude. The rookies get the
Speaker 1: short shift in terms of this offseason and then their
Speaker 1: own ability to grow NFL strength or is that just
Speaker 1: kind of whitewashed because that typically isn't the case really
Speaker 1: until your first true full offseason with the rookies. No,
Speaker 1: I think they got short changed. Yeah, you know, I'll do,
Speaker 1: I really do. It's tough when they come in the
Speaker 1: first NFL competition they see is in camp. Uh, they
Speaker 1: don't have any um any ability to come in and
Speaker 1: and and work out in our facility and do the
Speaker 1: things that we want them to do. And again we
Speaker 1: have to communicate those things over zoom and phone calls
Speaker 1: and text messages and that just that's just not the same. Again,
Speaker 1: we did the best we could. I'm proud of where
Speaker 1: those guys came in. But yeah, I think I think
Speaker 1: that was that was tough for those rookies. When a
Speaker 1: two hundred fifty dollars jeweled Osco gift car to the
Speaker 1: Bears home gating sweepstakes to keep the snacks flowing on
Speaker 1: game day and at Chicago Bears dot Com, our final
Speaker 1: moments with Jason the scouts of the Bears strength and
Speaker 1: conditioning coordinator as he gets ready to get his guys
Speaker 1: on a Thursday night schedule for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Speaker 1: coming to Soldier Field. We'll have it for you starting
Speaker 1: at nine am. Excuse me, nine am, how about four
Speaker 1: twenty pm? Off at seven twenty See I'm still shaking
Speaker 1: out the cobwebs after su turnaround for broadcasters to Jason, Hey,
Speaker 1: you're right exactly how how important are your eyes right now?
Speaker 1: What I mean by that is as you watch your
Speaker 1: players daily, hour by hour when they're in the building,
Speaker 1: what they're doing and how they're doing it as as
Speaker 1: a sense of relying on what you need to maybe
Speaker 1: inject into their performance or just their their moment, their
Speaker 1: their their mental aspect of things. I think that's one
Speaker 1: of the most important things as a strange coach is
Speaker 1: being able to see what these guys need, see where
Speaker 1: they need help, see where they are excelling, see where
Speaker 1: they're starting to fall a little bit. Um So I
Speaker 1: think any time of year, no matter what time of year,
Speaker 1: I think that's the most important thing to see, um
Speaker 1: you know, And that's the only way guys improve is
Speaker 1: when you find the areas that they're they're starting to
Speaker 1: fall a little bit in because everybody does. Everybody has deficiencies.
Speaker 1: No matter how good you are where you sit on
Speaker 1: the totem pull in terms of talent, everybody has deficiencies
Speaker 1: and we have to find those and sometimes they change
Speaker 1: week to week. The deficiencies can change week to week
Speaker 1: depending on injury status or banged up or you know,
Speaker 1: you know what they're doing mentally and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I think eyes as a strength coach and making
Speaker 1: sure you're seeing your guys, knowing your guys, understanding what
Speaker 1: they're going through, understanding what they need to do. That
Speaker 1: to me is the biggest part of the game for us.
Speaker 1: Are there are a couple of players you could throw
Speaker 1: at us right now in terms of who gained strength
Speaker 1: that has helped their performance. I know there's been talk
Speaker 1: about James Daniels and his lower body strength. This is
Speaker 1: a big guy and a lower body that I thought, Oh,
Speaker 1: that's that's surprising to me to hear because I thought
Speaker 1: he was always just you know, maybe that natural strength
Speaker 1: and the lower body. But is that a guy who
Speaker 1: helped himself in the weight room this offseason? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think James did a great job. Cody Whitehair did
Speaker 1: a good job. I think you're seeing a keem Hicks
Speaker 1: come back on a mission. And the guy that I've
Speaker 1: really that I'm really proud of is Roquan. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's come back, he came back, He came back a beast.
Speaker 1: That guy put in a lot of work this offseason
Speaker 1: and um, you know, so coming off of his injury,
Speaker 1: you know, he was able to come in, were able
Speaker 1: to work together because of the rules in the NFL,
Speaker 1: we were able to work together a little bit most
Speaker 1: of the off season. So he's he's he's really come
Speaker 1: back strong. But you know, most of our guys, we
Speaker 1: really didn't have anybody that came back again. You know,
Speaker 1: it came back better than I thought. We didn't really
Speaker 1: have anybody that came back and said, oh, this guy's
Speaker 1: in trouble. I was impressed with the team as a whole.
Speaker 1: But yeah, we had a few outliers, but Roquan probably
Speaker 1: sticks out the most, definitely showing up that way because
Speaker 1: he does look like a beast. He's playing like one
Speaker 1: too all over the field, and it's given him confidence,
Speaker 1: I think in a way that is going to really
Speaker 1: bounce the rest of his career. All Right, Jason, appreciate
Speaker 1: it all the time. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Speaker 1: That's a rap tonight on the Bears coaches showing to
Speaker 1: thank our producers Jordan tread Up, Dan Barilli, Andy Gersher,
Speaker 1: Lisa Fielden and Keith Johnson, and most of all you
Speaker 1: for listening well. The Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Speaker 1: starting at four twenty on Thursday night, kickoff at seven twenty.
Speaker 1: We'll join you then for Bears head coach Matt Nage,
Speaker 1: strength and conditionating coordinator Jason Lescauso. I'm Jeff Joniak, wishing
Speaker 1: you a pleasant, good evening. This is News Radio seven
Speaker 1: eighty and one oh five point nine FM WBBM. Good night, everybody,