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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
Speaker 1: Access passing to Chicago Bears football. Bears All Access is
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Speaker 1: Miller Lite and Ford. Time to talk a little Bears
Speaker 1: football For the next hour, walkome in everybody Johnny Ac
Speaker 1: along with Tom Fair from news radio seven eighty and
Speaker 1: one oh five point nine FM w BBM. Jim Miller
Speaker 1: will be along as well and cough it up. Shortly,
Speaker 1: we'll be joined by Well now he's out of his
Speaker 1: rookie year, Big Tom Balam Nichols, the defensive lineman for
Speaker 1: the Bears fifth round draft pick last year, so we'll
Speaker 1: talk to him about his season and what he's looking
Speaker 1: forward to. He's out in an NFL event and parts unknown,
Speaker 1: so we'll be talking to him. But we're just with
Speaker 1: you on Friday. But short turnaround. Not a lot transpired
Speaker 1: since Friday obviously when we met and talk with Bobby Massey,
Speaker 1: but there's always something going on in Today was the
Speaker 1: first day in the NFL, you can tag players. So
Speaker 1: nobody that I know of yet has been tagged any
Speaker 1: of the tags, but there's certainly a lot of names
Speaker 1: out there and a lot of other movement around the league. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, the franchise tag, it's it's kind of a
Speaker 1: fragile thing. Sometimes when you're franchising guys and you want
Speaker 1: to be a positive influence inside the locker room, they're
Speaker 1: disappointed that they're getting franchise or franchise because they want
Speaker 1: the long term, big money, guaranteed contract. So it turned
Speaker 1: out weird here for al Sean Jeffrey and that whole process.
Speaker 1: So I no team has the perfect franchise tag scenario.
Speaker 1: You look at what happened in the Pittsburgh Steelers with
Speaker 1: Levon Bell, So you know, that's just part of the
Speaker 1: growing process of how you develop a team, how you're
Speaker 1: going to spend your money, and where do you think
Speaker 1: you want to secure a position or a player the most.
Speaker 1: And you know a couple of guys that people have mentioned,
Speaker 1: certainly in the secondary because it is hard to find
Speaker 1: a really good nickel defensive back. So would the Bears
Speaker 1: be interested in doing that with Bryce Camahan. You also
Speaker 1: have Adrian Amos at the safety position. Things will discuss.
Speaker 1: I think we have Jim Miller with US now and
Speaker 1: Big Jim from Serious x MNFL Radio, Good Evening. What's
Speaker 1: what's made news today? Well, Antonio Brown, of course, of course.
Speaker 1: Finally you know you got should cry your way out
Speaker 1: of town. Now. That's that's what happens in the NFL.
Speaker 1: I mean, geez, it's as hard to believe. There's just
Speaker 1: so much drama. I was a part of that organization
Speaker 1: and never never once experienced They've never been shy about
Speaker 1: cutting the corda on players, whether it was Rod Woodson,
Speaker 1: Cornel Lake, There's been some great players, Kevin Green have
Speaker 1: moved on from there, and it sounds like finally they've
Speaker 1: they've had enough of Antonio Brown and we'll try to
Speaker 1: we'll try to seek a trade for him. You just
Speaker 1: wonder how much compensation they're going to get for him, right,
Speaker 1: But I mean, I saw headlines today that there's people
Speaker 1: are saying that he's not worth the first rounder, and
Speaker 1: he's got ability, but it's the baggage I think is
Speaker 1: making him decline in the terms of his value. It's
Speaker 1: just bizarre. Tom I mean what that guy has done
Speaker 1: literally over the last six months. I mean the issue
Speaker 1: down in Floridas, him throwing furniture off a balcony. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's still in court in legal proceedings. Then you've got
Speaker 1: the speeding issue. Then he goes a wall on his team.
Speaker 1: Not to mention the Facebook live posts that he had
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, but I mean, minim, just
Speaker 1: the guy flat out walked out on his team. You know,
Speaker 1: even Mike Tomlin just said enough is enough. That you know,
Speaker 1: his agent calls, Drew Rosenhous calls the day of the game,
Speaker 1: and Tomlin's like, nah, that's not how it works here.
Speaker 1: He can't just not show up all week and then
Speaker 1: expect to play in the game. And then even today
Speaker 1: the bizarre post he had on Instagram. It's just I'm
Speaker 1: with you. I mean, what team wants to take on
Speaker 1: that baggage. To me, his value has gone down because
Speaker 1: he wants a new contract that's completely guaranteed. The team's
Speaker 1: not going to give up a lot. It's definitely not
Speaker 1: going to be first round compensation. I think it'll be
Speaker 1: a late round draft. It's kind of you know, Jim,
Speaker 1: it's kind of weird. What when Dallas Cowboys went and
Speaker 1: traded for Amari Cooper and what he did for the
Speaker 1: receiver position there in a short period of time. I
Speaker 1: do believe that's the influence of that that they think
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown is going to have on whatever team he
Speaker 1: goes to for the receiver. For the receiver group, you
Speaker 1: better have a strong personality at quarterback. But you know,
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper is kind of leaving a fresh thought in
Speaker 1: people's minds about what a receiver can come in to
Speaker 1: do a help a quarterback. Yeah, definitely think it's going
Speaker 1: to have to be a veteran quarterback that he's going
Speaker 1: to be dealing with. I mean, because Antonio Brown would
Speaker 1: absolutely walk over, walk all over a young quarterback that
Speaker 1: really probably doesn't have the strong fortitude to really stand
Speaker 1: up to him, is what I think. And you better
Speaker 1: have a veteran coach then too. I think this wave
Speaker 1: of new coaches has less tolerance for that me kind
Speaker 1: of activity. And I'm still shocked that it occurs. Now.
Speaker 1: This guy came from humble beginnings and worked his way
Speaker 1: into start him I get it, but wow, it's a
Speaker 1: total twist in his person ality and his way in
Speaker 1: his approach to this whole thing. Yeah, well that's what
Speaker 1: I think. I mean, that's what this shocks me about
Speaker 1: the Steelers. When you got le beyond Bell said, now,
Speaker 1: you know his I can understand, it's business right, it's
Speaker 1: a franchise tag. He had the choice not to show up,
Speaker 1: and he elected to go that route. But Steelers have
Speaker 1: always been about team, team, team, you know, it's kind
Speaker 1: of like, you know, the fans, it's just the heartbeat
Speaker 1: of the city and everybody has really rallied around that
Speaker 1: team and that's what it's always stood for. And then
Speaker 1: this is kind of just a typical of of how
Speaker 1: Steelers react. And I think, you know, Steelers fans are
Speaker 1: just like, yeah, just get rid of them. We're ready
Speaker 1: to move on. We don't we don't need him to win,
Speaker 1: and they certainly didn't need him the last week of
Speaker 1: the season, as they were able to still win that
Speaker 1: game without him, even though he went a wall gave
Speaker 1: up on his teammates. Jeff Jonny Actim Fair, Jim Miller
Speaker 1: with you here on Bears all the Access we brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy Here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to score. Jim, what are you what are
Speaker 1: you hearing on your end of the of the fence
Speaker 1: in terms of the Bears. Are people asking about here
Speaker 1: in this office early offseason? Well, I think for like
Speaker 1: anything here, you know, we talked to Bobby Massey last week.
Speaker 1: You know, will they free up when I heard here
Speaker 1: in Thom's conversation about Bryce and Callahan, who I think
Speaker 1: is a really good player. He really has performed well
Speaker 1: as a Chicago Bear. But then you look at how
Speaker 1: Sheriff McMahon is filled in late in the year. This
Speaker 1: is a really good draft in terms of safeties and corners. Again,
Speaker 1: so you just wonder how much, you know what the
Speaker 1: Bears elect to match the offers that are out there,
Speaker 1: whether it's for Adrian Amos or Bryce Callahan. A lot
Speaker 1: of safeties were scooped up early last off season. That
Speaker 1: was probably the position that was probably the hottest position
Speaker 1: that was scooped up the fastest in free agency. And
Speaker 1: again I think with market forces like good safeties coming
Speaker 1: out in this year's draft, you know, if those guys
Speaker 1: are off, you know, off the boards, and the Bears
Speaker 1: don't want to pay that highest dollary if it gets
Speaker 1: too steep, they'll have plenty of options come draft time
Speaker 1: is what I think? That's Jim Miller, Blond Nichols or
Speaker 1: the Bears. Would you want us coming back? After this break?
Speaker 1: On Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score to escape
Speaker 1: the cold and head to the Reu Palace, Coasta Majaris
Speaker 1: and Kancoon with your favorite Bears players in Putting Prince
Speaker 1: and Mulcamara, Roquan Smith and Bilal Nichols, plus Inside the
Speaker 1: Bears host Lauren Screeten and Anthony Adams visit Apple Vacations
Speaker 1: dot Com Slash Bears to book today and we're please
Speaker 1: to be joined by Bilal Nichols here on Bears All
Speaker 1: Access were brought to you by Igs Energy, Jeff Jony Actom. There,
Speaker 1: Jim Miller, you're looking forward to that Mexico trip my brother?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely, definitely excited about it. Can't wait to
Speaker 1: get there. Yeah, get some warmth going on? What are
Speaker 1: you up to these days? Man? Yet? Got some time
Speaker 1: finally to yourself a little bit because last year, obviously
Speaker 1: going from Delaware to the Combine and getting yourself ready
Speaker 1: for an NFL draft, it was all about getting your
Speaker 1: body right, meeting with teams, and there's really no break.
Speaker 1: Then you go right into rookie mini camp. And this
Speaker 1: is the plight of young young players. They don't really
Speaker 1: have time to address, you know, getting themselves stronger in
Speaker 1: the office season because it really wasn't one. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: definitely different. Uh, you know this this year, I kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, had some time to take off refresh my
Speaker 1: body and my mind and everything like that. And then
Speaker 1: now pretty much I'm just working out, you know, pretty
Speaker 1: much every day and then I give myself a couple
Speaker 1: of days off to regenerating my body. But it's definitely
Speaker 1: it's definitely completely different than last year. Like you said,
Speaker 1: last year it was it was a lot of my plate,
Speaker 1: had a lot of moving around to do a lot
Speaker 1: of working out. So you know, it's good. It's good
Speaker 1: to find the experience the NFL all season. Boy, it's
Speaker 1: so much different than last year. Because I was reading
Speaker 1: the combined results in the little story and that had
Speaker 1: a thing called prospect grade and it said blow Nichols
Speaker 1: five point three four and then it said NFL backup
Speaker 1: or special teamer. A lot has changed. How good does
Speaker 1: that feel? Just to give your sense of what you
Speaker 1: were able to accomplish in your first year and what
Speaker 1: you're going to accomplish in the future. US. It was good,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's it's definitely something that you know,
Speaker 1: I used this motivation and stood to this day. UM.
Speaker 1: You know that few of me. Um, you know, I
Speaker 1: know what I was capable of. You know, the coaching
Speaker 1: staff helped me out tremendously when I got to Chicago,
Speaker 1: to help me reach my reach my potential. And you
Speaker 1: know I'm not even nowhere close to where I want
Speaker 1: to be, which is which is awesome. You know. So
Speaker 1: it's it's just good saying the hard work that I
Speaker 1: put in pay off. Well. Blaal Jim Miller here and
Speaker 1: congratulations on a great year the three sacks. And I
Speaker 1: just remember when you talked about the style of defense
Speaker 1: at Delaware where you know, really it wasn't an attacking
Speaker 1: style and more like what you were asked to do
Speaker 1: as it's just Chicago bearing. How quickly did did you
Speaker 1: get that aggressive nature and the techniques that you were
Speaker 1: taught by the Bears defensive coaches and how they wanted
Speaker 1: you just more attacking. How long did it take to
Speaker 1: settle in where you got comfortable with it? Um, I
Speaker 1: was comfortable with it, you know after my first few days. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I always I always was pretty much used
Speaker 1: to playing I'm more of an attack style type of defense.
Speaker 1: Just happened when my coaches staff made to change my
Speaker 1: senior year in college. That was just the defense that
Speaker 1: they that they brought in and that they asked me
Speaker 1: to play. So you know, I had to really like
Speaker 1: kind of adjust my game. But I was so used
Speaker 1: to playing in an aggressive type of defense like I'm
Speaker 1: playing it now, so you know, it was pretty natural
Speaker 1: for me to go right back to it. Blow Nichols
Speaker 1: our guest here on Bears All Access with Jeff Jonning, Act,
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer, and Jim Miller on Chicago Sports Radio six
Speaker 1: seventy The score below. You're getting your first taste of
Speaker 1: a coaching change in the NFL. Not your head coach, obviously,
Speaker 1: but with a new defensive coordinate, VIC Fan Joe Off
Speaker 1: to Denver to run that program and Chuck Bugatto coming in.
Speaker 1: But you did keep Jay Rodgers here, your defensive line coach.
Speaker 1: How impactful is that to you to be with him
Speaker 1: for another year? And have you had any conversations with
Speaker 1: coach Bugatto yet? Yeah, it's awesome. You know that coach
Speaker 1: Jenny is still here. You know, he's he's helping me
Speaker 1: out tremendously. I a lout of a credit to him
Speaker 1: and the bets on you know, my progress this year
Speaker 1: and the things I was able to do. He's a
Speaker 1: guy that always kept things straight up with me. You know,
Speaker 1: he would tell me what I need to work on
Speaker 1: and tell me what I did think he's good and
Speaker 1: tell me what I didn't bad. And you know it's
Speaker 1: love with respect there where. I really appreciate him and
Speaker 1: the coach and you know, he's one of those guys
Speaker 1: he prepares just like he's a he's a player or
Speaker 1: even better, you know, he's he's all in every weekend.
Speaker 1: You know, he comes in and he works hard just
Speaker 1: just like we do. So you know, I'm very grateful
Speaker 1: to still have him here. And you know he's he's
Speaker 1: my d line coach to it. He still continues to
Speaker 1: tell me things that I need to work on, which
Speaker 1: is which is which I appreciate. Hey, I'm sorry, Blo,
Speaker 1: go ahead, No, I was just gonna say that I
Speaker 1: did talk to coach Bagano. He reached out. You know,
Speaker 1: we changed some text messages. You know, it's good to
Speaker 1: hear from me, and I just can't wait to get
Speaker 1: started with it. You know, it seems the better you
Speaker 1: learn the defensive systems, the faster you play. And then
Speaker 1: you start learning the NFL the complex offensive systems. Now
Speaker 1: you do start filtering a little bit new system. What
Speaker 1: what was it more complicated for? Are you learning the
Speaker 1: defensive system so you could play faster or being influenced
Speaker 1: by the complex NFL offensive systems? That's that's a great question. Um,
Speaker 1: I would say learning the defensive system. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: you kind of got to learn that first to really
Speaker 1: get your seat wet, get yourself started. I feel like
Speaker 1: that's the most important thing learning and skinny a defense,
Speaker 1: how your coaches want want you to play in and
Speaker 1: you know what you're good at, what you can do
Speaker 1: to contribute to your team. Once you fully understand that
Speaker 1: and you understand like what type of mindset the defenses,
Speaker 1: whether it's you know, more aggressive or more conservative, you
Speaker 1: can really even get to play faster and just let
Speaker 1: the game come to you. And then uh, naturally or
Speaker 1: as a time goes on, you'll start to pick up on,
Speaker 1: you know, the things that the offense runs or tendency
Speaker 1: said they like to have that. That's kind of what
Speaker 1: happened to me drop my rookie years is the season
Speaker 1: went on, I started to notice certain things and you know,
Speaker 1: just that made me play faster with noticing things with
Speaker 1: the offense, like you know formations, would they like to
Speaker 1: run out of SA formations? Where were the cop plays
Speaker 1: in these formations and stuff like that. Well, getting better
Speaker 1: in the system that you just mentioned about. What what
Speaker 1: do you think here? If you talk to Chuck mcganna,
Speaker 1: what do you think you need to work on? Is
Speaker 1: it initial witness quickness? I love your hustle man, You're
Speaker 1: always hustling to the football, but you know, things like
Speaker 1: playing too high? Is it your techniques? What are things
Speaker 1: maybe you want to own it here on this offseason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: one of the things I've been really really focused on
Speaker 1: it is just my pad level. You know, it was
Speaker 1: tiling this year we're going on. You know I had
Speaker 1: when I played with great pad level, I was I
Speaker 1: was a very great player and it was Kyle's where
Speaker 1: you know, I could have played with better pad level
Speaker 1: and it would have made be a better player. Well
Speaker 1: explained that to the listeners. So what do you what
Speaker 1: do you mean by by pad level when you're going
Speaker 1: against an offensive linement, what you know, talk about where
Speaker 1: it needs to be where you like, you know plan
Speaker 1: was the most important thing for a defensive plan would
Speaker 1: just simply being lower than the man that you're going against.
Speaker 1: You know, with with with us being bigger guys, um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's more natural for you to stand up
Speaker 1: and take on blocks instead of you know, getting low
Speaker 1: bity your knees and getting under your man, getting under
Speaker 1: his pad. So you know, for for bigger and taller guys,
Speaker 1: it's kind of more natural for you to stand up where.
Speaker 1: You know, in the in the NFL, if you're standing up,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're getting double team blocks or you're
Speaker 1: getting blocked block one person, you're gonna get knocked off
Speaker 1: the ball a little bit. So you know, it's all
Speaker 1: about that pad level, locking out, keeping that leverage. That way,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's a double team or one on
Speaker 1: one block, you're not getting moved at all, You're not
Speaker 1: getting pushed, you're not getting up in the ground. Hey block.
Speaker 1: Just a little bit about the fun side of football.
Speaker 1: Did you experience anything like postgame celebrations when you were
Speaker 1: in college and do you like the postgame celebrations and
Speaker 1: just the looseness that you get to have with this
Speaker 1: group of guys inside this locker room or something that's
Speaker 1: new to us and maybe as well as to you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know we uh, it was definitely new to me
Speaker 1: this year because you know, we we were able to
Speaker 1: have a twelve worst season, which which was wonderful. So
Speaker 1: you know, at the every game it was like a celebration.
Speaker 1: It was like, you know, Club Doug was really the
Speaker 1: thing going on. We're in college, but we would celebrate,
Speaker 1: but never to that extent, you know, only we would
Speaker 1: be like a top ranked team in a country or
Speaker 1: something like that. But you know, every week with us,
Speaker 1: it was like whenever we won, it was like, yo,
Speaker 1: let's get back to the locker room so we could party. Well,
Speaker 1: hopefully that I'll continue in twenty nineteen. Man, all right,
Speaker 1: before we let you go, you're a fifth round pick.
Speaker 1: Bears are not picking in the first or second round
Speaker 1: this year because of the deals that they made Kalil
Speaker 1: Mac included. There is a different mindset about guys that
Speaker 1: are drafted on the third day in the NFL. You're
Speaker 1: one of them? Is that almost a in this case
Speaker 1: because you don't have those top picks a positive because
Speaker 1: you're getting a player that has a lot to prove
Speaker 1: and they put chips on their shoulders. Yeah, I took it.
Speaker 1: That's exactly how I took it. You know, as a person,
Speaker 1: I can come in and just soak up all the
Speaker 1: information I wanted and just prove my work. I felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, I was one of the better players, and
Speaker 1: just just going on day three was just extra motivations
Speaker 1: for me. So you know, you know, it's kind of
Speaker 1: anxious to see what we do in those areas, you know,
Speaker 1: just to see how the new guys coming next year
Speaker 1: and what type of chip day I have on their show. Well,
Speaker 1: they'll be hungry, that's for sure. All right, But we'll
Speaker 1: let you go. We appreciate taking the time and we'll
Speaker 1: talk together here on the offseason. Good luck with everything, Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you, appreciate you guys. Have Bell Nichols our guest
Speaker 1: here on Bears All Access. When we come back, we'll
Speaker 1: take your phone calls three one, two, six, four four
Speaker 1: sixty seven sixty seven. This is Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago's Sports Radio six seventy to score. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: Bears All Access. Brought to you by IGS Energy, a
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Speaker 1: Jeff Jony Actom pair Jim Miller really enjoyable All Nichols.
Speaker 1: One of the very mature player, very mature guy in
Speaker 1: that locker room, coming from that smaller program at Delaware.
Speaker 1: But again, Jim, you pointed it out in time, you
Speaker 1: saw it. He had all the tools and the ship.
Speaker 1: He just played in a different style over there in college,
Speaker 1: and I think he was a good style for him
Speaker 1: here with a bear, you know. I, Jeff, I remember
Speaker 1: you and I were standing out of practice the first
Speaker 1: day at one on ones, and the first day at
Speaker 1: one on one he went over the center and they said, okay,
Speaker 1: he's going to develop into a nose guard. Maybe put
Speaker 1: some weight on him, and that's the position of that.
Speaker 1: He'll try to get his foot wet first. And then
Speaker 1: I think they started understanding they had he had better
Speaker 1: athleticism traits to be with the ability to move up
Speaker 1: and down the line of scrimmage. So he wasn't a
Speaker 1: one position player. He wasn't like an Eddie Goldman who
Speaker 1: could be a nose guard in a thirty four defense
Speaker 1: or in this defense. Bill Nichols could play defensive end
Speaker 1: in anywhere, and so I think that was the nice
Speaker 1: thing about him. Jay Rodgers defensive line coach, he has
Speaker 1: a really good working relationship with a Kiem Hicks, and
Speaker 1: it pays off that critical right. Yes, a Keem had
Speaker 1: his back all year, showed him what it takes in
Speaker 1: the locker room, on the field, on the practice field, Jimmy,
Speaker 1: he took him under his arm, man, he really did.
Speaker 1: And I thought that was a veteran leadership move for Balah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think you know, when you tell about somebody,
Speaker 1: you're trying to emulate your game after. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: no quit in a Keen Hicks. The guy fights to
Speaker 1: the end. And that's what I noticed about Balal Nichols.
Speaker 1: The guy's got a ton of hustle. Man. That guy
Speaker 1: really fights to the football, doesn't give up on a play.
Speaker 1: I thought his initial quickness definitely got better as the
Speaker 1: season went along and he started to be impactful and really,
Speaker 1: you know, just make those explosive plays where he's kindetrating
Speaker 1: in the backfield ultimately gets three sacks, and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, as for a later round pick, like he said,
Speaker 1: and especially guys that contributed. I mean, I think pretty
Speaker 1: much all the Bears young draft picks, other than the
Speaker 1: young linebacker Eway, you know, really having an impact. His
Speaker 1: was more on special teams, but all of them I
Speaker 1: think contributed quite well. But you know, again, I think
Speaker 1: for a mature team and following veterans, I mean, they've
Speaker 1: got a good group to learn from. You know, a
Speaker 1: guy's like a key that they are great leaders that
Speaker 1: really help out the young players. So you can see
Speaker 1: they've been soaking up everything that they could long and
Speaker 1: they're going to soak up what Kalel Max says and
Speaker 1: does too. Now from the day the offseason program begins,
Speaker 1: unlike a year ago, you get them off through training camp.
Speaker 1: I mean, we saw his impact at practice. I'm very
Speaker 1: encouraged to see and excited to see what it is
Speaker 1: from day one of twenty nineteen. What do you consider
Speaker 1: day one of twenty nineteen first team meeting. Okay, so
Speaker 1: that's the interesting thing about it is because of how
Speaker 1: many uncertainties there were going on that first team meeting
Speaker 1: last year, and Allen Robinson has talked about it in
Speaker 1: the past how they felt that they were setting the
Speaker 1: right motion from that first meeting and things continue to
Speaker 1: stay in motion. Now. Man, you finish a season, you're healthy.
Speaker 1: You got a couple, you know, a couple of guys
Speaker 1: that are gonna have to work on stuff. But everybody
Speaker 1: else is in a position, in a positive position where
Speaker 1: they're going to be in the initial stages of development,
Speaker 1: not making you know, not trying to get guys healthy
Speaker 1: and develop at the same time. Yeah, guys like Allen Robinson,
Speaker 1: Kyle Long, Adam Shaheen, Danny Javathan, Leonard Floyd, these guys
Speaker 1: are all healthy, Jim, They're ready to hit the ground running.
Speaker 1: I don't see any real serious injuries to overcome from
Speaker 1: this football team right now. No, there's gonna be that
Speaker 1: much further ahead, you know, just with the install what
Speaker 1: they're want. It's granted defensively, it's gonna take you know,
Speaker 1: obviously the mission statement of Chuck Pagano, but we know
Speaker 1: the system that is in place there, what they're gonna do.
Speaker 1: He'll have some different tags and some things that he's
Speaker 1: gonna tweak and how he wants things done, and again
Speaker 1: he's a different play caller, but the talents there, and
Speaker 1: Chuck's called defense a long time in the NFL. I
Speaker 1: don't expect any drop off from that standpoint. And I
Speaker 1: just think just offensively alone, they're gonna be much further
Speaker 1: along just what they're going to be able to do.
Speaker 1: You know, I know Coach Nagy talked about football one
Speaker 1: oh one. Now it's going to the higher levels, so
Speaker 1: to speak, in terms of their education and what they're
Speaker 1: going to be asked to do. And I just think
Speaker 1: it's going to be at such an accelerate the pace
Speaker 1: now knowing what the what the coach expects from them offensively,
Speaker 1: and I think they're just going to continue to grow improve,
Speaker 1: young players that are going to be exciting to watch,
Speaker 1: and I think they're best footballs ahead of them. All Right,
Speaker 1: we have a first phone call the night. By the way,
Speaker 1: it numbers three, one, two sixty four, sixty seven, sixty
Speaker 1: seven out to Brian and Edison Park and evening. Welcome
Speaker 1: to Bears All Access. Every guys. I'm enjoying the show.
Speaker 1: I've been. I'm sixty five and been a Bears fan
Speaker 1: since I was eight. Well, you sound like you're twenty one.
Speaker 1: You're not sixty five. There's no way, Brian, Oh no,
Speaker 1: it's just going on going on thirty five. Anyway. Bryce
Speaker 1: Callahan is a player who I've enjoyed watching immensely over
Speaker 1: the past couple or three years and watching him grow
Speaker 1: as as a player. I hope we can keep them.
Speaker 1: And what do you know about our chances to do that, Jeff, Well,
Speaker 1: listen the nickel position and you two can talk about
Speaker 1: it much better. And Jim as a quarterback looking at
Speaker 1: defenses and what is put on the shoulders of a
Speaker 1: nickel defender nowadays? It is intense and need an elite mind,
Speaker 1: an elite mindset, and a guy that really understands what
Speaker 1: offenses are doing because they have to understand all the
Speaker 1: other ten responsibilities around him. They got to deal with
Speaker 1: tight ends, backs out of the backfield, read the quarterback,
Speaker 1: in Callahan's case, an outstanding blitzer. And you know, I
Speaker 1: used to say, remember I used to I used to
Speaker 1: love the play of Antoine Winfield, Right, I would crow
Speaker 1: toughest guy in the whole power pound, the toughest you know,
Speaker 1: defensive back in the NFL. And while Bryce has not
Speaker 1: been able to stay completely healthy throughout his career. He
Speaker 1: is a tough kid mindset and physicality, so I put
Speaker 1: a lot of value on him. I do too, But
Speaker 1: you know, I need a guy that's going to be
Speaker 1: in there throughout OTAs the development of this defense, and
Speaker 1: because he's considered a starter because they use that defense
Speaker 1: so frequently, he's got to be on the field and
Speaker 1: he's got to be one of those guys with a
Speaker 1: new defensive coordinator and a couple of new pieces in
Speaker 1: place that he's got to be out there for day
Speaker 1: one because I think his role in the defense is
Speaker 1: equally as morton as any football player out there. So
Speaker 1: I don't know if you want to go out there
Speaker 1: and have a nickelback who's not participating in practice, I'm
Speaker 1: sure Bryce is going to be healthy. Ones OTAs are
Speaker 1: on your feet action starts, So it's just, you know,
Speaker 1: I just need that body in there till the end. Jim. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And it's just we've talked about a numerous times eleven personnel,
Speaker 1: which is three wides. It's just more and more prevalent.
Speaker 1: I mean, look at a team like the Rams, that's
Speaker 1: all they run probably eighty five percent of their offensive
Speaker 1: plays or out of three wides, and a lot of
Speaker 1: coaches say it now and a lot of GM say it.
Speaker 1: A lot of your base defense is your forty two nickel,
Speaker 1: you know, So your nickel guy is almost you know,
Speaker 1: has to be a starter, and they've got to be
Speaker 1: able to prepare it for you know, two way goals
Speaker 1: basically on every single play because you're going to be
Speaker 1: going against one of the cat quick receivers on offense.
Speaker 1: So imagine a nickelback going against Julian Edelman right, a
Speaker 1: lot of change of direction, all the short routes that
Speaker 1: he runs, and it's so nifty at what he does.
Speaker 1: So your nickelback's got to be a hell of an athlete.
Speaker 1: He's got to be pretty darn tough to hold up
Speaker 1: against the run. And I think Callahan checks all those boxes. Again,
Speaker 1: There's there's a lot of good dbs that are coming out,
Speaker 1: and some of them are strictly slot specialists that that
Speaker 1: teams are really targeting in drafting. You know, look at
Speaker 1: a guy like Chris Harris for the Denver Brockles. Think
Speaker 1: of how they lucked into that guy. Guy was an
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent has become an all Pro player. Um
Speaker 1: so you know you gotta have them. It's just the
Speaker 1: direction of the game. More teams are deploying, you know,
Speaker 1: wide out sets, whether it's empty, whether it's three wise,
Speaker 1: and you're gonna need just more talented defensive backs. It's
Speaker 1: almost pre rut quisite nowadays. To Naperville. George, Welcome in, George.
Speaker 1: Good evening. Yes, I just wanted to ask a quick
Speaker 1: question regarding, uh, the coaches that are going to be
Speaker 1: coming on board with Chuck the Gano. How many of
Speaker 1: them are returning coaches? How many of them are new coaches. Well,
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of new coaches. They have retained Jay Rodgers,
Speaker 1: of course, and I think that's a big one right there.
Speaker 1: That defense line loves him. We love him as a coach,
Speaker 1: how he instructs, what his intensity is out there on
Speaker 1: the practice field, and his instructive ability. These are teachers
Speaker 1: that they had on defense. But the Shay Townsend comes
Speaker 1: over from the New York Giants. He's a veteran coach,
Speaker 1: he's a veteran Pro Bowl player in the secondary. Sean
Speaker 1: Desai gets a promotion. He's been with several administrations and
Speaker 1: just saw him yesterday. As a matter of fact, very
Speaker 1: excited about being retained by the Bears. He's now the
Speaker 1: safety's coach. He got linebacker coach from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1: You got Monachino gonna help out Chuck Pogano. There's familiarity there,
Speaker 1: familiarity there with him in Baltimore. So you know, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of like minded guys on this staff right now,
Speaker 1: and Jim, you're gonna lean a little bit on Chuck
Speaker 1: Pogano to bring in people that he's worked with in
Speaker 1: the past. Yeah, and you know, obviously, you know the experience,
Speaker 1: you need that on board, and Chuck comes with a
Speaker 1: lot of experience. He's a colled plenty of defenses in
Speaker 1: the past, has been with a lot of good top
Speaker 1: ten defenses. And one thing I loved about Chuck Pagano,
Speaker 1: even in Indianapolis when their talent started to deteriorate, obviously
Speaker 1: everybody knows that they had a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: just the coverard was kind of bare. That team always
Speaker 1: played hard and they continue to play hard for Chuck Pagano.
Speaker 1: So I do think he's got a real innate ability
Speaker 1: to motivate players. And hey, let's let's not be you know,
Speaker 1: no stranger to the great coaches that they lost, and
Speaker 1: in good for vic Fanjoe. He gets a promotion to
Speaker 1: become a head coach in the NFL and he brings
Speaker 1: one of his talent to defensive assistants that's been with
Speaker 1: him a long time at donahel who moves on to Denver. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: it hurts losing that experience, but these other coaches are
Speaker 1: getting the opportunity, and I think Chuck Pagano has done
Speaker 1: a nice job getting the staff together defensively. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: just like the fact that Pagano has worked with some
Speaker 1: superstars and he understands the personalities during the course of
Speaker 1: the regular season. What do you do to light of
Speaker 1: fire underneath them? And then how do you give them?
Speaker 1: You feed him enough so they understand their value to
Speaker 1: the team. I liked what he's been surrounded or by
Speaker 1: thirty one, two, sixty four, four, sixty seven, sixty seven
Speaker 1: or Roberts, how that I will get to you coming
Speaker 1: out of the break. Adams de Zinski is here along
Speaker 1: with Herb Lawrence, and this is Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The score all Right. The
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears Network presents Inside the Bears brought to you
Speaker 1: by veriz At, Anthony Adams and Lawrence Screeten cover the
Speaker 1: world of Bears football, on and off the field, every
Speaker 1: Sunday night at ten thirty five pm on Fox thirty
Speaker 1: two Chicago, or watch anytime at Chicago bears dot com
Speaker 1: or on the Bears official app. You might even see
Speaker 1: double a Jim and Tom with a little bit of
Speaker 1: different do right now? A little different hair due he
Speaker 1: actually looks about ten or fifteen years younger. I was
Speaker 1: shocked he knocked on my door at Hollis Hall yesterday.
Speaker 1: I was working up there, and I was shocked. What
Speaker 1: can be different? It's just different, you could ask him.
Speaker 1: And then he started making fun of my telephone. He
Speaker 1: thought it was a business card, right kind the small
Speaker 1: different part, there's no part, It's just it's just different.
Speaker 1: Let that be the teaser for his TV show, As
Speaker 1: we go back to the Phones three one two sixty four,
Speaker 1: sixty seven sixty seven. Robert on the south Side, hanging
Speaker 1: through the break. You got Adrian Amos on your mind? Huh, Hey,
Speaker 1: how you guys doing. I just want to get you
Speaker 1: guys a pain on something. Uh, do you guys feel
Speaker 1: that the safety classes deepest case year. Do you guys
Speaker 1: think they're going to be more acceptable to Amos walked
Speaker 1: this year? Well, it's all a matter of finances really.
Speaker 1: You know, they love Adrian Amos. He is one of
Speaker 1: their homegrown talents, drafted by Ryan Pace and a great
Speaker 1: guy in the locker room, quiet leader, and well liked
Speaker 1: in that locker room. But you know, the business of
Speaker 1: football will kind of set the price, will see what
Speaker 1: they decided to do. Because, yes, Jim, you mentioned it
Speaker 1: that there's a pretty good class of safeties. There is
Speaker 1: some in free agency that Adrian's are part of um
Speaker 1: In terms of how scouts look the safety position. You know,
Speaker 1: many say, hey you can get you can get a
Speaker 1: great safety in the later rounds of a draft. Now
Speaker 1: Adrian is in that position where he's a middle round pick.
Speaker 1: I believe still, you know, you got Eddie Jackson as
Speaker 1: as your big time safety back there. I believe you
Speaker 1: need those type of safety So I don't necessarily agree
Speaker 1: that they are easily found everywhere, But you guys may
Speaker 1: have a different opinion. You know, it's all how you
Speaker 1: evaluate the talent of safety position, whether in college or
Speaker 1: it's an NFL free agent you're looking at what do
Speaker 1: you need them to do. You need to anticipate long
Speaker 1: throws downfield, you need to support the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: you need to work well within the linebacker and defensive
Speaker 1: back structure. And then when you're challenged with a big hit,
Speaker 1: you have to have the willingness to make it, whether
Speaker 1: it's on the sideline or the open field to play.
Speaker 1: And he checks out those, every every one of them.
Speaker 1: And the thing about it is, you know, one thing
Speaker 1: when you're around a player that that gets to this stage.
Speaker 1: You get to meet him as a rookie year and
Speaker 1: you kind of see kind of a shy reserve personality,
Speaker 1: and then of course the years you get to talk
Speaker 1: to him and he's not overbearing, but he's more confident
Speaker 1: in himself and his ability. And that's you know, Adrian
Speaker 1: Amos is the type of guy that when you close
Speaker 1: the doors and you only have the players in the
Speaker 1: locker room, he's a guy that you want in there.
Speaker 1: So I hope the best works out for him. Jim,
Speaker 1: what do you think? Yeah, I think he's a very
Speaker 1: good player. I mean, he's obviously a very sure handed tackler.
Speaker 1: I think he's a big hitter, he plays physical. I'd
Speaker 1: like to see the turnovers improved. But as you mentioned, Jeff,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at Eddie Jackson being a fourth
Speaker 1: round pick and Adrian Amos being a fifth round pick.
Speaker 1: Both of these guys are starters and they're productive players,
Speaker 1: you know. So again, I think it's really about the finances.
Speaker 1: You know, right now, I think the Bears has got
Speaker 1: about a little over five million dollars. That's that's honestly
Speaker 1: about what you need to sign all your draft picks.
Speaker 1: Quite frankly, you know, could they free up some money,
Speaker 1: approach other players, give him a signing bonus, and then
Speaker 1: maybe clear up some cap space to potentially sign Adrian Amos,
Speaker 1: But it just depends on how much he's looking for.
Speaker 1: I do think he'll he'll get offers out there on
Speaker 1: the free agent market, and then it's just whether the
Speaker 1: Bears would elect to go that route or just say,
Speaker 1: you want to know what we feel, we've got some
Speaker 1: talented guys that we could turn to to get You know, remember,
Speaker 1: Eddie Jackson started as a rookie and Adrian name Us
Speaker 1: got his opportunity to start early, lost his spot, then
Speaker 1: came back and played a lot better when he got
Speaker 1: another bite at the bite at the apple. So they're
Speaker 1: out there and plenty of draft picks that they could
Speaker 1: draft in is just a much cheaper option, is where
Speaker 1: the Bears could go from that standpoint. So good luck
Speaker 1: to Adrian. Hopefully works out every you know, everything he
Speaker 1: wants it to be, hopefully works out in his benefit.
Speaker 1: He certainly worked his way into this position to be
Speaker 1: a free agent. And I'll tell you though, I love
Speaker 1: the chemistry in that locker room. I love the chemistry
Speaker 1: on defense, and Adrian's a big part of that. He
Speaker 1: is an unspoken leader in that in that locker room.
Speaker 1: All right to Madison, Wisconsin, Nick, you're on Bears all
Speaker 1: access that, Jeff, Tom and Jim. Good evening. Hey guys,
Speaker 1: thanks taking my call. I'm a big believer in Adam
Speaker 1: Shaheen's potential. If he's healthy, what do you think his
Speaker 1: ceiling can be in twenty nineteen? You know, Nick, he's
Speaker 1: one of the guys when I talked about the off season,
Speaker 1: going to the off season healthy and you know, I
Speaker 1: have to have a you know, to make sure you
Speaker 1: can work on what you need most. And Adam shan
Speaker 1: he needs size, He needs some bulk um. You know,
Speaker 1: you need to be able to stay on your feet
Speaker 1: so you can get back to running routes and get
Speaker 1: into a better mode of timing with the quarterback. But
Speaker 1: he is the type of guy that needs the entirety
Speaker 1: of a healthy off season. He's got a tremendous upside.
Speaker 1: He you know, uses basketball presence within the tight end game.
Speaker 1: Well when you watch him in individual drills, he knows
Speaker 1: how to block. He is he has is well schooled
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage interior blocker. So I have
Speaker 1: high expectations for him, But I just I need to
Speaker 1: see him get up, you know, every single play healthy,
Speaker 1: and that's that's I anticipate the worst when I watch
Speaker 1: him after he takes a big hit or something. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, go ahead, Jim, go out. I just I
Speaker 1: expect big things from him. I just think he's too
Speaker 1: talented of a player, and it's just unfortunate last year
Speaker 1: that he missed so much time with that foot injury
Speaker 1: coming out of coming out of you know, the preseason games.
Speaker 1: Because I think he is going to be a great
Speaker 1: red zone weapon. And it's really you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: saying he's gonna get double digit scores, but I expect
Speaker 1: him to be up there, like you know, nine middle
Speaker 1: him just be knocking at the door to get double
Speaker 1: digit touchdowns. I think he has that type of ability. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's where he made his touchdown so far.
Speaker 1: And the other thing, you know, the guy I always
Speaker 1: think about early days. You taught me Tom and Jim.
Speaker 1: You know you remember this player because you felt more
Speaker 1: man hours were lost to the tight end position because
Speaker 1: of the types of blocks and what John Already Yeah remember,
Speaker 1: I mean that is that's that's I'm saying. They're comfortable
Speaker 1: on what he means. But you know John Already or
Speaker 1: John Alread caught that out route that's immediately something heavily
Speaker 1: by the corner or the safety whomever has him and
Speaker 1: undercut his knees and it was just such a vicious injury.
Speaker 1: John Lynch was it? I don't know though, I don't
Speaker 1: think it was John Lynch, but yeah, I mean there
Speaker 1: he's John Alred's married to John Lynch's sister, correct, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that. But anyway, Yeah, I mean, Jim, you know,
Speaker 1: the tight end position, you get chopped down boy like
Speaker 1: tall lumber. Yeah, I remember John. John was extremely talented,
Speaker 1: very athletic, you know, like you said, because his brother
Speaker 1: in law John, they kind of had those creative workouts
Speaker 1: that they always did out there in California. I mean
Speaker 1: they'd be carrying logs up, you know, on their back,
Speaker 1: like walking up the mountains out there. So very interesting.
Speaker 1: Prospect was a great guy, great teammate, but like you said,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's your livelihood. You know, Guys tight
Speaker 1: ends and that's why, like guys like Grenkowski that they
Speaker 1: hate players that go low on them. You know, I
Speaker 1: know that all the safety aspect is, you know, from
Speaker 1: the helmet and the neck up and all those things,
Speaker 1: but quite honestly, football players they'd rather you go high,
Speaker 1: especially receivers and tight ends. They'd rather you go high
Speaker 1: than go low and take their knees out from undernea. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you look at the two difference
Speaker 1: in the routes between Trey Burton and Adam Sheheen. There
Speaker 1: is you know, some of those reps or some of
Speaker 1: those routes that you have of Adam Sheheen on the
Speaker 1: inline tight end there you do that that immediate outturn
Speaker 1: and then you got that support from the outside where
Speaker 1: it seems like um Trey Burton, he gets up field,
Speaker 1: he gets to show a little bit more space between
Speaker 1: he and the line of scrimmage. Yeah, well, you know,
Speaker 1: just because Sheheen, Because he's such a big body. He's
Speaker 1: just a totally different body type than Trey Burton, who
Speaker 1: is the nifty guy. But you know, to me, why
Speaker 1: options should be the play for Sheheen. To me, that
Speaker 1: guy would be uncomfortable, uncoverable because if the backers outside,
Speaker 1: he just turns inside. If the backer's inside, he turns outside,
Speaker 1: and he just boxes everybody out. And he's got such
Speaker 1: a big frame, you as a quarterback can always throw
Speaker 1: it far enough away for him to just pluck the
Speaker 1: ball out of the year. So he's going to clean
Speaker 1: you up a little bit. Yeah, But you know it's
Speaker 1: just I always say that with big body guys like that,
Speaker 1: you got to learn to play with to your stature,
Speaker 1: so to speak. And I think he still has to
Speaker 1: learn that a little bit to play to a stature. Hey, Jim,
Speaker 1: is that a difficult route though for Mitchell Trubisky to
Speaker 1: have confidence in to throw that hour You can answer
Speaker 1: it after the commercial, But you know, just something to
Speaker 1: think about as a quarterback, is that Is that a
Speaker 1: confident or a route that you need to throw to
Speaker 1: get confidence in? All right, we'll get you. We'll get
Speaker 1: to it. Well, we'll get to Jim's answer after this break.
Speaker 1: This is Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS
Speaker 1: Energy three one two, six, four, four sixty seven, sixty seven.
Speaker 1: Your phone calls coming up next. You're in Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy to score. So great, your newest a
Speaker 1: little Bears fan with a Chicago Bears Crip club run.
Speaker 1: You buy p NC to receive exclusive items and offers
Speaker 1: for children ages zero to four. Visit Chicago Bears dot
Speaker 1: com slash crib fu. Yeah, you got a little one
Speaker 1: in the family. We got a bunch of him. John
Speaker 1: Henry's the youngest one, Jim. That does not sound small, hey, John,
Speaker 1: He's not. I mean I think he was like twelve
Speaker 1: or thirteen pounds when he was born. He was huge.
Speaker 1: Is that that fair? Hereditary? Wells his dad played professional
Speaker 1: football or no, excuse me, My niece's father played professional
Speaker 1: football and this was married to my sister John Scy.
Speaker 1: So there is size blessed into the that gene. So
Speaker 1: he got John Henry and what's your little one's name again, Jim. Oh,
Speaker 1: my little one is Asa oh Asa? All right. How
Speaker 1: about the boy Kate or Man. He's twelve, he's been
Speaker 1: going on thirteen here and then uh kJ my five
Speaker 1: year old. He's kind of the beast. He went over
Speaker 1: ten pounds when he was born. Yeah, I remember you
Speaker 1: talking about that. So he got some future NFL players
Speaker 1: and yeah, he's close to one hundred pounds as a
Speaker 1: five year old. He dwarfs. I mean he powers over
Speaker 1: everybody in his kindergarten. Holy cow, that's good to hear.
Speaker 1: All Right, this is Bears All Access our producers tonight,
Speaker 1: Adam Stezinski and Herb Lawrence. We're taking your phone calls
Speaker 1: at three one, two sixty four sixty seven sixty seven
Speaker 1: with you for another ten minutes here to the top
Speaker 1: of the hour. Let's go back to the phones. Linden
Speaker 1: on the line from North Judson Lindon, Yeah, you guys
Speaker 1: are great to listen to. I'd drive home every night
Speaker 1: listening to you guys, and I could relate to what
Speaker 1: you guys were saying tonight and about the third round pick,
Speaker 1: how well he'd come out. And I just wanted to
Speaker 1: know if you guys would go back last year and
Speaker 1: play back some of your recordings, how you predicted the
Speaker 1: season compared to this year. I know last year you
Speaker 1: guys never or was not anticipating such a great season,
Speaker 1: which it was, and this year or anticipating a great season.
Speaker 1: That's end. That's a great point because I labeled it
Speaker 1: as the Great Unknown, and you didn't really know what
Speaker 1: to expect. It's a whole different offense with all new
Speaker 1: pieces around, a young quarterback that's in his first year
Speaker 1: in his system. So right then and there you think, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is going to take some time. You knew you
Speaker 1: had great defensive players, but right before the season you
Speaker 1: get one of the best players in the NFL. That
Speaker 1: changes everybody's perception. So I had modest thoughts personally, and
Speaker 1: I never make predictions on wins or losses, but I
Speaker 1: have a feel for what I believe in context, and
Speaker 1: I had modest expectations because whatever you say about John Fox,
Speaker 1: the culture in that locker room did begin to change,
Speaker 1: and I knew it was a tight group, and from
Speaker 1: my perspective being around there every day, that was a
Speaker 1: great starting point to have a really locked in team
Speaker 1: that was hungry to start winning because it hadn't been
Speaker 1: happening in a long time. Yeah, desper you know, it's interesting. Interesting.
Speaker 1: Today on the Bears website there is an article by
Speaker 1: Larry Mayor and Ryan Pace was a feature talking about
Speaker 1: his decision making process going through and meeting with Matt
Speaker 1: and Maggie, and the more he met him, the more
Speaker 1: he talked to him, the more he was kind of
Speaker 1: unveiling that this is the right guy for the job.
Speaker 1: This is how you understand who you want to go
Speaker 1: out and research and who you want to continue this
Speaker 1: process and start changing the culture and the process around here.
Speaker 1: So that kind of I was really encouraged by reading that,
Speaker 1: the foresight of what Ryan Pace, because none of us
Speaker 1: knew what we are getting with Matt Naggie. We have
Speaker 1: friends around the National Football League that always and all
Speaker 1: of them bragged about what a guy he is, what
Speaker 1: a person who was what is football intelligence? You know,
Speaker 1: just his you know, just the caliber, the quality, the
Speaker 1: quality of person he is. And so yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: you think about the Bears losing season before trying to
Speaker 1: predict what was going to happen the first year of
Speaker 1: Matt Naggie. Man, we are we are begging and hoping
Speaker 1: for seven and nine, But then we talked about it.
Speaker 1: I think last week in All Access, Now did this
Speaker 1: pull one year out from the development of Matt Naggie,
Speaker 1: because now we have Super Bowl expectations, you know, and
Speaker 1: that's how things have changed around here. Yeah, you just
Speaker 1: you know, I don't think anybody would have predicted that
Speaker 1: type of success. You know, it's supposed to be a
Speaker 1: foundation year, you know, it's a coaches, a young coach's
Speaker 1: first year. Everybody thought it'd take time to get the
Speaker 1: offense up and running, but the defense really held to
Speaker 1: everything down early. And like you said that that trade
Speaker 1: with for Khalil Mack I think kind of changed everything
Speaker 1: because here you got a team that's five and eleven
Speaker 1: under John Fox, they couldn't even score sixteen. They averaged
Speaker 1: like sixteen point one points a game to took increase
Speaker 1: at by more than a touchdown. By the end of
Speaker 1: the year, they were averaging over twenty six points a game,
Speaker 1: close to twenty eight. I mean, that type of jump
Speaker 1: does not happen normally. So that is a huge turnaround
Speaker 1: offensively what they were able to do and they're still
Speaker 1: on the infantile stages. It really started to catch fire
Speaker 1: week eight, week nine, and they really started to play
Speaker 1: in score some good points on offense to compliment a
Speaker 1: defense that was absolutely smothering. And it's very possible they
Speaker 1: could win fewer games this year and still be a
Speaker 1: better team and be a more dangerous team come playoff time.
Speaker 1: All right, out to Wheeling Todds on the line here
Speaker 1: on Bearzall Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy of
Speaker 1: the score get evening. Thank you, guys. I got a
Speaker 1: quick question. You know, when I watched tree Comb run
Speaker 1: and fisters these defenses and run away from these defenders,
Speaker 1: You guys got incredible speed, and I wanted to know,
Speaker 1: in your opinion, who's faster, Devin Hester or tree Con
Speaker 1: And m Jeff, could you please do the Devin Hester
Speaker 1: ridiculous line one more time? Yeah, you know that thing
Speaker 1: has been put to bed. That goes that goes in
Speaker 1: the archives now. But I don't know. That's a great question.
Speaker 1: But I think the the instinctive running of Devon in
Speaker 1: the open field added to his speed. So to me
Speaker 1: it was Devin. You know, Devin Hester the playmaker never
Speaker 1: fit into the offenses of that era. If you would
Speaker 1: take Devin Hester and fit him to the offenses of
Speaker 1: this era, where maybe he took a little handoff, a
Speaker 1: jet sweep, a quick little pass out to the edge,
Speaker 1: even more threatening downfield with his abilities. To me, it's
Speaker 1: the mentality of Matt Naggie being able to use the
Speaker 1: creative creativity of an athlete. And I think if Matt
Speaker 1: had his hands on a guy like Devin Hester, I
Speaker 1: know Chris Tabor, the special team's coordinator, would still be
Speaker 1: using him every time he could. However, you put him
Speaker 1: in an offense and you have another threatening weapon. But
Speaker 1: who's faster? No, yeah, no disrespect to Tarik Cohen, but
Speaker 1: Devin Hester had some jets. No, I mean that guy's
Speaker 1: so fast he lives in the future. It's ridiculous. Yes,
Speaker 1: yes he was. You know, just again the vision and
Speaker 1: instincts in that one cut, which is the patent and
Speaker 1: move for Devin Hester. But hey, nothing to take away
Speaker 1: from Tariq. I mean he's still he's still a young
Speaker 1: player too. He's still gonna get get better and stronger. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what I don't I don't know. Devin Hester
Speaker 1: could not play the running back position the way Trek
Speaker 1: Cohen plays a tree Cohen, he has the physicalness to
Speaker 1: be able to absorb the abuse that he hate takes.
Speaker 1: I just don't think that Devin from a behind center,
Speaker 1: behind quarterback totally different positions, that's for sure. All Right,
Speaker 1: thanks again for your phone call. Three one two sixty four,
Speaker 1: sixty seven sixty seven. Jeff time and Jim for a
Speaker 1: few more minutes here. I just want to do some thought, says.
Speaker 1: We go down to the news of the day today.
Speaker 1: So Jim real quick today with the first day he
Speaker 1: could tag players. Who do you expect to be tagged? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, when you look at it, I think there's
Speaker 1: only going to be about six players that will ultimately
Speaker 1: be tagged. You gotta believe to Marcus Lawrence of the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys, he'll probably get the tag Again, Dallas doesn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of money to really resign him to
Speaker 1: a long term contract, so he'll probably get about twenty
Speaker 1: million bucks. You would think d four another pass rusher
Speaker 1: for Kansas City Chiefs. He'll have the ability to be tagged,
Speaker 1: and I think Kansas City will tag him. Jadeveon Clowney
Speaker 1: is an interesting guy. He's I think Houston just no
Speaker 1: offense to him. I mean he's always banged up, he
Speaker 1: never really practices. I think Houston will probably end up
Speaker 1: tagging him at the end of the day, just get
Speaker 1: more one more year out of him, and then I
Speaker 1: think ultimately he'd probably move on in free agency. I
Speaker 1: don't see them trying to sign him to a long
Speaker 1: term contract, and then the other players that are out
Speaker 1: there potentially that cook get tagged. You gotta believe probably
Speaker 1: c J. Mosley, there's going to be a decision there
Speaker 1: by Baltimore. Part of me thinks that they will tag
Speaker 1: him because to me, he'll command pretty good money as
Speaker 1: a linebacker out there on the open market. And oddly enough,
Speaker 1: we always see a couple of kickers tagged every year.
Speaker 1: I hate to say this, but probably Robbie Gold might
Speaker 1: get tagged out there for San Francisco, and I would
Speaker 1: think Gostkowski. One position Bill Belichick has tagged is their
Speaker 1: kicking position, and I think Goskowski potentially could get the
Speaker 1: tag for the New England Pager. You know, when you
Speaker 1: say oddly enough, explain, well, it's just the kicking position
Speaker 1: doesn't command a lot of money, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: It's very You know, a lot of teams that's a
Speaker 1: specialized position. And you look at the issues I e.
Speaker 1: The Bears' problems with kicking last year. I'd tag a
Speaker 1: kicker too, especially one is as good as Gaskowski or
Speaker 1: a guy as good as Robbie Gold and what he's done.
Speaker 1: So again, we've had this discussion before. What position has
Speaker 1: a bigger impact on a football team? But probably only
Speaker 1: get six reps the game right each here? Yeah, they
Speaker 1: determined outcomes the game as Dow putters. As Dow putters,
Speaker 1: it's the biggest, biggest play most YARNI right, I just
Speaker 1: want to right, all right about six plays. I was done.
Speaker 1: We won't talking to the count combine, Jim. We'll be
Speaker 1: doing that show from Indy together. Tom will have his
Speaker 1: ego eye on scouting mid to late round picks. It'll
Speaker 1: be a different kind of combine for you this year.
Speaker 1: They're starters in the third round, fourth round, fifth round,
Speaker 1: six rounds. They're starters out there. I think the Bears
Speaker 1: can attract you know, they got the opportunity. All right.
Speaker 1: That's Tom, Tom Fair, Jim Miller. But little nickles. Thanks
Speaker 1: to our producers, and thank you for your phone calls
Speaker 1: and listening tonight. This is Bears all Access on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Thanks for listening to
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