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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. You're All
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Speaker 1: welcome into another edition of Bears All Access on our
Speaker 1: usual Thursday night brought to you by IGS Energy. Jeff
Speaker 1: Joni actom Fare, Jim Meller will be along as well
Speaker 1: our producer Tonight, Adam Stadinsky and a Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to Score Studios. Good to have you long
Speaker 1: coming up at six ten. Bears Offensive. I'man Cody Whitehair
Speaker 1: joins the program as we now have flipped into July,
Speaker 1: Tom and that means this is when you get angry. Well,
Speaker 1: I was going to bring that safety out because me
Speaker 1: I talk about the heat, you don't dwell on it.
Speaker 1: But I think when we talk about football and getting
Speaker 1: ready for the start of training camp at the end
Speaker 1: of July, these are the type of days that football
Speaker 1: players think about when they're training through them because you
Speaker 1: have to pick a time during the morning, afternoon, or
Speaker 1: evening when you can go out there and get your
Speaker 1: work done. And for me, I was always trying to
Speaker 1: avoid the heat. But again, you know, this is like
Speaker 1: you said, it's the middle of July. This this is
Speaker 1: early July. This is what sum are supposed to be.
Speaker 1: Right to you, it feels like mid July right now,
Speaker 1: because as soon as that thermometer hits ninety and the
Speaker 1: humidity goes up, you start to you go in a
Speaker 1: little bit of a panic. Well, well, it's more of
Speaker 1: the as a football player, it's more of the angst
Speaker 1: in the preparation for training camp and it kind of
Speaker 1: hits you like a month out. And we'll be able
Speaker 1: to talk to Cody Whitehair about this to kind of
Speaker 1: see if he's in the same frame of mind that
Speaker 1: I was throughout my entire career from high school, college
Speaker 1: and pros. Because in the anticipation of training camp, it's
Speaker 1: not a fun time. It's not baseball players bringing your
Speaker 1: golf clubs to training camp. It's about hoping that you
Speaker 1: stay healthy and that you're healthy at the end of
Speaker 1: training camp. So then you can hope to again stay had,
Speaker 1: stay healthy, and continue that path during the regular season. Well,
Speaker 1: theoretically it's cooler in gross Point, Michigan, the birthplace of
Speaker 1: one Jim Miller, former Bears quarterbacks. So you know, as
Speaker 1: you have the same feelings about the heat of camp
Speaker 1: in July when that calendar flipped, Jim, Yeah, well, I
Speaker 1: just remember it shocked me how warm it gotten in
Speaker 1: Platteville when I first arrived for the Beers, for those training,
Speaker 1: just the humidity of it. So yeah, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: you shock your system from that standpoint, and you do
Speaker 1: get used to it training in the heat. But things
Speaker 1: were different back then, you know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: say back in the day. You know, we walked two
Speaker 1: miles both ways uphill, you know, but we did practice
Speaker 1: two days in pets and Tom will remember sometimes we
Speaker 1: did three days pads and it's a little bit different,
Speaker 1: so you could get in shape pretty quickly. It was
Speaker 1: pretty rigorous, it was pretty intense. All the practices were
Speaker 1: pretty much alive back then. I remember my first practice
Speaker 1: for the Steelers that you know, there's just a lot
Speaker 1: of hitting going on when you put those those pads
Speaker 1: on and everything kind of cranks up and that intensity
Speaker 1: used to go six weeks straight pretty much. It felt
Speaker 1: like groundhog Day and how you had to strap them up. So,
Speaker 1: you know, players prepare themselves differently, and certainly this year,
Speaker 1: I do think coaches are going to really keep in
Speaker 1: mind that they've got to get these players acclimated. They've
Speaker 1: been away for a long time and the build up
Speaker 1: I think is going to take some time for these
Speaker 1: guys get ready to go. You know, as Jim talks
Speaker 1: about the days that we are playing, you don't want
Speaker 1: to talk about them being the olden days, but things
Speaker 1: have changed since then. A couple of weeks ago or
Speaker 1: last week, we talked to sports science director Jen Gibson,
Speaker 1: and that was a coaching position that wasn't even on
Speaker 1: board when we were there. We were grabbing salt pills
Speaker 1: as we are walking out the door to go out
Speaker 1: to practice, and we thought that was the fountain of
Speaker 1: youth or the fountain of hydration. So again, you know,
Speaker 1: when you talk about Andre the head athletic trainer, you
Speaker 1: talk about Jason the head weight room trainer, and you
Speaker 1: talk about Jed and Gibson the director of sports science,
Speaker 1: those departments have become so important and maximizing your ability
Speaker 1: to go out there in practice but also stay in
Speaker 1: a healthy frame of mind. Jeff, there are times that
Speaker 1: I went back to Platteville and cramped up on my
Speaker 1: bed where I lay there with ivs in both arms,
Speaker 1: where the doctors would come into your room after practice.
Speaker 1: So I just think they're going about business nowadays in
Speaker 1: the NFL so much more intelligently on behalf of the players,
Speaker 1: So I do think it helps them. I kind of
Speaker 1: feel bad, Jim. I mean I did was bring up
Speaker 1: the temperature, and we've talked six minutes about it. But
Speaker 1: I was on a IV in mile high Air in
Speaker 1: Denver one December when we had a game, remember that
Speaker 1: one time? So I feel your pain, Well, that was
Speaker 1: psychosomatic altitude sickness. I'm talking about actually sweating because of
Speaker 1: preparing to play the game. I hear you. Well, hey,
Speaker 1: all this talk and we might have a shortened preseason.
Speaker 1: We'll get into that and many other topics coming up
Speaker 1: here in moments. Our pal Cody Whitehair Bears starting center
Speaker 1: joining the program. This is Bears All Access with Tom
Speaker 1: day Er, Jim Butler, I'm Jeff Joniak along with Adams
Speaker 1: Todinsky our producer, Thanks as always, with Jordan trut Up
Speaker 1: and Dan Barilli. You're on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy
Speaker 1: The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to
Speaker 1: you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: providing electricity, natural gas home warranty products to over one
Speaker 1: million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS Energy
Speaker 1: at igs dot com. Jeff thom and Jim joined by
Speaker 1: Bears center Cody Whitehair kind enough to join us here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access. How you doing, Cody? Good? How
Speaker 1: are you guys tonight? Pretty good? Pretty good? Getting ready
Speaker 1: for a holiday weekend as much as we can these days.
Speaker 1: But good. Good to hear you a guy that is
Speaker 1: as committed as you are in the weight room and
Speaker 1: a guy who's around the facility as much as humanly possible. U.
Speaker 1: Has this been a real challenge for you, Cody, in
Speaker 1: this offseason? Yeah? Yeah, it has. You know, It's just
Speaker 1: been a weird time, that's for sure. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: but I've managed to still be able to do some
Speaker 1: some working out and staying in shape and getting ready
Speaker 1: for this upcoming season. Have you had to get creative. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you do. Um, you know, you are limited to some
Speaker 1: extent um. Obviously. It's it's a little different than than
Speaker 1: being in the facility and having you know, all those
Speaker 1: weights and everything. But you know, it's definitely been a
Speaker 1: challenge in a different time in this offseason, but we've
Speaker 1: made the best of it and looking forward to the season.
Speaker 1: You know, Cody, as simply as things appear when they're
Speaker 1: people are watching a football game and you talk about
Speaker 1: Mitchell Trubisky and you talk about Nick Foles and herbally,
Speaker 1: they do things different in the huddle. They have a
Speaker 1: different tempo to their cadence and that's one of the
Speaker 1: things that helps develop an offensive line. Is it different
Speaker 1: this year that you've never you've never stepped in front
Speaker 1: of either of the quarterbacks because you've been around Mitch
Speaker 1: and you've been around Tyler, but not Nick Folds. So
Speaker 1: how has that been not being able to hear the
Speaker 1: tempo of a cadence of a new quarterback that you'll
Speaker 1: be lining up in front of in less than a month. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's definitely different. Obviously, you'd hope to have,
Speaker 1: you know, the Ota says and stuff like that to
Speaker 1: be able to to hear him again, but you know it,
Speaker 1: it'll all come together in training camp and uh, you
Speaker 1: know we'll be ready to walcome game time. You know,
Speaker 1: when we are introduced to Juan Castillo during a Zoom conference,
Speaker 1: he pounded his fist the bunch about how football offensive
Speaker 1: line play is repetitiously done and repetitiously improved. How has
Speaker 1: he been able to come across in those meetings in
Speaker 1: terms of teaching what he wants out of you along
Speaker 1: with kind of installing, you know, the plays in the system,
Speaker 1: how he wants to run. How has that been from
Speaker 1: a screen rather than an on field type of work. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely different, for sure. You know, he showed us
Speaker 1: some technique videos and stuff, and then you know it's
Speaker 1: kind of just been on us obviously, since we haven't
Speaker 1: been able to be around him or any of the
Speaker 1: other guys to just do some things on our own.
Speaker 1: So that's what we've had to had to do this
Speaker 1: offseason and it's kind of, like I said, it's kind
Speaker 1: of been a little bit different, but we're making the
Speaker 1: best of it, that's for sure. Cody Jim Miller always
Speaker 1: good to talk to you, my friend, and let me
Speaker 1: ask you how do you build chemistry in a virtual world?
Speaker 1: You know, how do you gel together as a team?
Speaker 1: I mean, how how has that challenge been for you
Speaker 1: guys here this offseason? Yeah, it is different, um, you know,
Speaker 1: because the majority of it is just you know, mainly
Speaker 1: the coaches talking to us. But there has been you
Speaker 1: know times where we get together and um, you know,
Speaker 1: have been fortunate that there has been a few guys
Speaker 1: in Chicago and we've been able to do some things
Speaker 1: together while distancing and practicing all that and being as
Speaker 1: shafe as we can, but we have been able to
Speaker 1: get together, which has been nice too. Any apprehension, I
Speaker 1: know you probably you know checking in with the NFLPA
Speaker 1: and everything that that's ongoing right now. But any apprehension
Speaker 1: from your standpoint, I'm sure you want to go back
Speaker 1: to work, and I'm sure a lot of players do,
Speaker 1: but at the same time to do it as safe
Speaker 1: as possible. But any apprehensions from your standpoint is camp's
Speaker 1: just around the corner. I mean, I'm excited, you know.
Speaker 1: It's like I said before, it's been a different offseason
Speaker 1: where we haven't been able to get in the facility
Speaker 1: at all. So we've you know, it's been been really
Speaker 1: different for I'm excited to get back to it, um,
Speaker 1: and hopefully we can figure out a way to do
Speaker 1: it as safe as we can. Cody white Hair, our
Speaker 1: guest on Bears All Access here on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy The Score, brought to you by IGS Energy,
Speaker 1: Jeff to Act top there, Jim Miller, and Cody Whitehair,
Speaker 1: Our guest. Is it gonna feel good to start a
Speaker 1: season at the position that you have had a lot
Speaker 1: of experience in the last few years. Yeah, it's it's
Speaker 1: you know, that's where I feel the most comfortable. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I'm a team guy, and I'll do whatever they ask
Speaker 1: me to do, you know, if if it happens to
Speaker 1: be where they need me to play a different position,
Speaker 1: and you know, whether that be July twenty eighth when
Speaker 1: we come in the building or you know, whatever whatever
Speaker 1: that may be. Um, you know, I'm always down for it.
Speaker 1: But you know, just being comfortable at that position and
Speaker 1: being played there for you know, as long as I
Speaker 1: have in the NFL, it's it's really exciting to say,
Speaker 1: you know, be able to be there to start with
Speaker 1: the season again. Hey, Cody, So go ahead, Tom I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: you know, Cody. Sometimes, you know, you're a young father,
Speaker 1: and sometimes along the way, as I was growing up,
Speaker 1: you see these young fathers and they happen to finish
Speaker 1: their kids' plates every once in a while and it
Speaker 1: changes their diet. But you go to Hallis Hall during
Speaker 1: the season and you're exposed of the best diet in
Speaker 1: the world. The director of sports science there, Jen Gibson,
Speaker 1: does a great job of making sure all you guys
Speaker 1: eat properly. Has that been any different for you? Has
Speaker 1: it been any more difficult for you to, you know,
Speaker 1: have the diet constructed the way at Canada Allis Hall. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I've been around gim long enough to know
Speaker 1: kind of what she prefers us to be eating and
Speaker 1: recommends us to eat. And I've been trying to follow
Speaker 1: that as best I can. Obviously, you know, with our
Speaker 1: cafe there at Hollis All they do a wonderful job
Speaker 1: and making sure we're very well nourished, you know. But
Speaker 1: my wife and family have done a great job. And
Speaker 1: you know, I've been able to cook a little bit
Speaker 1: more too, you know, especially with it being a little
Speaker 1: bit nice out, you know, being able to start up
Speaker 1: that barbecue girls. So that's been nice too. You know,
Speaker 1: I've been grilling a lot of steaks lately. You know,
Speaker 1: I have fired up the tregger a couple of times
Speaker 1: and you know, smoke some ribs and stuff like that too.
Speaker 1: So um, you know, anytime I can be outside and
Speaker 1: and either you know, get on the trigger or the
Speaker 1: webber grill, you know, that's always a positive. Well from
Speaker 1: your standpoint, Cody, I know you're a veteran now, but
Speaker 1: as you're getting to know Juan Castile, how without giving
Speaker 1: anything away, how how was the pace of install for
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears offensively? I know, obviously coach Naggy let
Speaker 1: you guys go about a week and a half early
Speaker 1: from that standpoint, but just the pace of the install
Speaker 1: and how it went from maybe the previous years, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it was great. You know, Wand did
Speaker 1: a great job as far as detailing things and making
Speaker 1: sure we understand what he wants out of us. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, so we thought it went really smooth, and
Speaker 1: obviously the coaches did too. With then letting us go
Speaker 1: a week with Cordy White here our guest here on
Speaker 1: Bears Access a couple of more moments with the Bears
Speaker 1: Veterans Center. Cody, I know that I've heard from many players,
Speaker 1: and I hear from Matt Naggie just reading between the
Speaker 1: lines that and I've used this term to describe it
Speaker 1: a little bit, the jaws kind of been set, Meaning you, guys,
Speaker 1: we're pretty angry at how the season unfolded in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen after the success in eighteen. How would you put
Speaker 1: it into context what the mission is with your guys?
Speaker 1: Because you know the room as well as anybody you've
Speaker 1: been there. You're part of the big changing culture there
Speaker 1: at Househall. Are you guys? Are you guys pretty angry
Speaker 1: and you guys ready to take it to the field
Speaker 1: that way? Yeah, you definitely feel the anger and the
Speaker 1: sense of some unfinished business. But I guess the best
Speaker 1: way to stum up our virtual off season would be motivated.
Speaker 1: I mean, we know how much we left out there,
Speaker 1: and you know the season wasn't the way we wanted
Speaker 1: it to be in or in nineteen. So I would
Speaker 1: say the biggest thing is guys are motivated. Guys are
Speaker 1: excited to get back to work and start the season. Hey, Cody,
Speaker 1: do you feel that there's any more pressure on the
Speaker 1: offensive line as a as a whole group, because you know,
Speaker 1: you look at some of the stats of last year
Speaker 1: for the running game obviously has got to be a
Speaker 1: component needs to be better. Matt addressed at the first
Speaker 1: topic at the podium after the season was over. So
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about a negative pressure, a pressure that
Speaker 1: you can turn into a positive knowing that the stats
Speaker 1: provided by the offensive line and the overall run game
Speaker 1: has to be better. Yeah. Absolutely, And you know you
Speaker 1: want your offense to be able to count on that
Speaker 1: run and especially in obvious situations. You know, that's where
Speaker 1: an offensive lineman's really got to, you know, be at
Speaker 1: his best, and whether that be obvious pass or obvious run.
Speaker 1: So you know, it's something we take pride in. And
Speaker 1: the run game, you know, everything starts up there up
Speaker 1: front and making sure we can get a hole open
Speaker 1: for those guys in the back tild because when we
Speaker 1: do that, we're going to be dangerous. How about for
Speaker 1: you personally? I know it's different for every player, and
Speaker 1: you know, with the NFL coming out with two less
Speaker 1: preseason game as the acclamation period, it sounds like that's
Speaker 1: going to be a little bit more Get guys in
Speaker 1: football shape, And I guess where do you feel you're
Speaker 1: at And how long do you think it'll take you
Speaker 1: to get acclimated, because I mean, let's be honest, you
Speaker 1: guys haven't even broken a huddle here this season on
Speaker 1: a field together. Yeah, it's gonna take some time, you know,
Speaker 1: But I think I don't think it will take us
Speaker 1: too long. Um. You know, we're pretty young bunch of
Speaker 1: guys that you know, for the most part, we've we've
Speaker 1: worked together for you know, especially up front, we've worked
Speaker 1: together for a couple of years. So, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't think it'll take too long. But you know,
Speaker 1: like I said, we're really looking forward to it and
Speaker 1: ready to get this thing rolling. Cody white Hair, our
Speaker 1: guest here on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio
Speaker 1: six seventy to score. We'll let you go before we do.
Speaker 1: I understand that your daughter, Blakely, was baptized recently and
Speaker 1: the godfather is another none other than That's rights who
Speaker 1: quarterback Mitch quarterback man. I was, I was setting you up,
Speaker 1: so how cool is that to have a teammate be
Speaker 1: the godfather of your daughter? And I know you guys
Speaker 1: are super tight to begin with, but Uh, that takes
Speaker 1: a I'm a godfather. I know those things are not
Speaker 1: taken lightly. Yeah, it's you know, it's it's a big
Speaker 1: thing in our family too. And you know Mitch is
Speaker 1: such a tremulous young man that you know he's going
Speaker 1: to be a great role model for my daughter, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. Well, best of luck, congratulations to you and
Speaker 1: your family. I know, uh number one is always always
Speaker 1: a great thing for a young man. So good to
Speaker 1: have you. Best to Hannah as well, and we'll see
Speaker 1: you soon up at Hallisall. Have a great rest of
Speaker 1: you something Tody, you bet, thanks guys. Cody white Hair
Speaker 1: our guest here on Bears All Access Coming Back. We'll
Speaker 1: talk Allen Robinson with Tom There and Jim Meller. I'm
Speaker 1: Jeff Joniac on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score.
Speaker 1: This segment of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: by CDW. People to get it learn more at CW
Speaker 1: dot com. Jeff Jony Act, Tom There and Jim Mella
Speaker 1: with you on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score.
Speaker 1: Big Jim. I always like listening to Cody because he's
Speaker 1: a man of few words, but he keeps it real
Speaker 1: and he is one of the guys in that locker
Speaker 1: room that people do look up to. And there's different
Speaker 1: ways you lead and he's one of those guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we definitely is accountable, reliable, productive, pretty much always ready
Speaker 1: to play, in versatile. So you know, he commands a
Speaker 1: lot of respect. He's definitely has earned that since he's
Speaker 1: been a Chicago Bear and just how he's been such
Speaker 1: an accountable player. I think players respect him, they look
Speaker 1: up to him and look for a guy for that
Speaker 1: type of leadership, and you know, you try to pick
Speaker 1: his brain. You want to know why he's so successful
Speaker 1: in the NFL with how prepared he is, so definitely
Speaker 1: a lot of tips to be learned from a great
Speaker 1: teammate like Cody White here and last September, Tommy gets
Speaker 1: a five year extension, so a big year for him
Speaker 1: as he settles in there to this offensive line spot.
Speaker 1: You know, he is a team guy. He's been bouncing
Speaker 1: all over the place, but the regular snaps at one position.
Speaker 1: How do you think that will help him? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's it's going to benefit him because, like
Speaker 1: we saw Wanca Stiosa during his Zoom meetings, everything is
Speaker 1: repetitiously learned by the offensive line. And that's one thing
Speaker 1: every one of those guys is they need reps together. Well, okay,
Speaker 1: let's insert two quarterbacks that are fighting for the job
Speaker 1: with the center position. So there's a lot of different
Speaker 1: details that go along with that, and we talk about
Speaker 1: their tempos, their cadence, the way they call plays, the
Speaker 1: way they see the line of scrimmage. So Cody isn't
Speaker 1: you know, he is involved with the quarterbacks and the
Speaker 1: way he calls out the protection responsibilities for the line.
Speaker 1: So he's got a couple different dimensions to his job.
Speaker 1: But I think if there's anybody on the offensive line
Speaker 1: or on that team that can hold up to anything
Speaker 1: that's asked of him, Cody's that guy. All right. So
Speaker 1: today I read where Jim, You're in the Big ten
Speaker 1: country up there in Michigan. Alan Robinson made the Big
Speaker 1: Ten Networks Big Ten All Decade team with Tyler Johnson,
Speaker 1: who just came into the NFL out of Minnesota. And
Speaker 1: so I thought, go back to some of these coaches
Speaker 1: and some of the zoom meetings in this offseason, a
Speaker 1: little collige here of Alan Robinson or as he gets
Speaker 1: ready for another Bear season looking for a new contract,
Speaker 1: and then his position coach Mike Fury, who's really blown
Speaker 1: away by the man's professionally, I'm feeling great shape. I
Speaker 1: feel I've been extremely productive feeling throughout this quarantine and
Speaker 1: throughout this offseason. So a game from me, you know,
Speaker 1: like I said before, I know I know for a fact,
Speaker 1: you know my best days of football are are I'm
Speaker 1: ahead of me. You know, I'm still trying to continue
Speaker 1: to stack these word days in the bank, you know,
Speaker 1: so I can bring that to the table. That's the season.
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson's probably one of the most professional players that
Speaker 1: I've ever been around in my playing and coaching career.
Speaker 1: And his voice is not just going to be huge
Speaker 1: in regards to the social justice issue that's going on today.
Speaker 1: His voice started three months ago or four months ago,
Speaker 1: and we started these meetings when he got in these
Speaker 1: rooms and was helping guys and getting on guys for
Speaker 1: not you know, maybe they weren't sitting right in meeting,
Speaker 1: maybe they were walking around too much on the video.
Speaker 1: So his voice has been around for four months. Man,
Speaker 1: he's gonna have big impression on these young receivers that
Speaker 1: come in. Ted Gin junior as a veteran would also
Speaker 1: help in that category. But Tom and Jim overall, just
Speaker 1: can you stress the importance of what this man brings,
Speaker 1: not just what he's doing on the field, and his
Speaker 1: connection at this point with Mitch Trubisky and he had
Speaker 1: a very good season last year despite the offensive struggles,
Speaker 1: the two of them. What it means to this entire
Speaker 1: offense right now? Well, you know one thing about Mike
Speaker 1: Fury there when he's talking about Alan Robinson has a voice.
Speaker 1: He has a voice when there's a matter of importance
Speaker 1: that needs to be addressed, either in the social issue
Speaker 1: department or in the locker room department. Alan Robinson's a
Speaker 1: leader by example. He doesn't need to say a lot
Speaker 1: because the younger players, either on either side of the
Speaker 1: ball offensive defense, all they have to do is look
Speaker 1: at his work ethic. You know, when we were all
Speaker 1: introduced to Alan Robinson as a Chicago Bear, he was
Speaker 1: coming back from an injury, and you didn't know what
Speaker 1: to expect of him. If you never you ever knew
Speaker 1: that he had an injury, you wouldn't have known it
Speaker 1: by the way he went about his business. And then
Speaker 1: year two he comes up and He's even has a
Speaker 1: shows a higher profit than he did after he was
Speaker 1: recovering from his knee injury. Obviously. So you know, when
Speaker 1: Mike speaks of one of the most important guys, the
Speaker 1: most the best hard working guys he's ever played with
Speaker 1: or coached, that's saying a lot because Mike Fury has
Speaker 1: been around a lot of receiver rooms. But hey, we've
Speaker 1: all seen the examples at Alan Robinson leaves in the
Speaker 1: practice field, in the game field, and as a result,
Speaker 1: and up there in Michigan, he's got quite the reputation
Speaker 1: at the high school level. Two coming out of Detroit, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Orchard Orchard Lake, Saint Mary's, you know, very well respected
Speaker 1: high school, moves on to Penn State, has a great
Speaker 1: career there and then has been special in the pros
Speaker 1: as well. Hard to believe he's going on a seventh
Speaker 1: year and has over come quite a bit with those
Speaker 1: injuries that you mentioned, Tom, But you know he isn't
Speaker 1: you know, He'll say something when he believes something needs
Speaker 1: to be said. But when you know, Tom knows, and
Speaker 1: I know and Jeff, you know, when you're brought into
Speaker 1: the NFL and they tell you about Hey, this is
Speaker 1: what it's like to be a pro or to be
Speaker 1: a professional. That's always kind of thrown out there about
Speaker 1: being a professional, and it's different than the college ranks.
Speaker 1: It definitely is about being a paid professional, and I
Speaker 1: think he takes that very seriously, you know, And I
Speaker 1: think he's very determined about his craft. I think he
Speaker 1: does want to be the best. He dedicates himself extremely
Speaker 1: hard to be good at his craft, and I think,
Speaker 1: you know, when something needs to be said, he'll say it,
Speaker 1: and he does it in a professional way. Is what
Speaker 1: I've encountered in all my discussions with Alan Robinson. So
Speaker 1: excited about him. He's just one of those players I think,
Speaker 1: you know, as a team that you can count on,
Speaker 1: much like Cody white Hair, that he's going to be
Speaker 1: prepared to play every single weekend and that accountable ability factor.
Speaker 1: Nobody questions that about Allen Robinson. You need a bunch
Speaker 1: of those guys, fellas, You need a bunch of those guys,
Speaker 1: and I do believe they are on this team. And
Speaker 1: you mentioned professionalism, and it reminds me of what even
Speaker 1: Terie Cohen admitted to in this offseason, is that, Okay,
Speaker 1: you know, professionalism isn't a sometime thing. It's an everyday thing.
Speaker 1: And it's not just your rookie year, your second year,
Speaker 1: it's in the tenth year of your career. So you
Speaker 1: gotta remind yourself of that. And you know, I thought
Speaker 1: it was very open minded of him to agree that. Okay,
Speaker 1: I wasn't necessarily that way in twenty nineteen. You know,
Speaker 1: he really looked up to Benny Cunningham when he was here.
Speaker 1: Now he's got to be that guy in that running
Speaker 1: back room. But you know, you guys are in two
Speaker 1: different spots, obviously in your lives and in your career.
Speaker 1: And looking back though, could you have you guys were
Speaker 1: professional from day one? I'm assuming you guys felt you
Speaker 1: knew how to be a professional from day one. Is
Speaker 1: this learned behavior at sometimes in the NFL for players,
Speaker 1: I think it is. I think you have to go
Speaker 1: through the process of it. So you come in as
Speaker 1: a rookie. There's always someone you look up to in
Speaker 1: that room, no matter if he's as a good player,
Speaker 1: a bad player, whatever the cases. There's always somebody older
Speaker 1: than you. And as you start climbing the ladder and
Speaker 1: this older guys start trickling out of the room. Then
Speaker 1: it's you. You're going to set the standards not only
Speaker 1: for the room, but for yourself. And so I'm encouraged
Speaker 1: by what I hear about Tree Cohen of you know,
Speaker 1: being better to himself. That will make him a better player.
Speaker 1: And you know, Alan Robinson. I don't think it's difficult
Speaker 1: for a guy for like Javon Wims to look across
Speaker 1: the field or across the meeting room to see how
Speaker 1: Alan Robinson is carrying himself. And some of these young
Speaker 1: guys they they need an Alan Robinson. And Tree Cohen
Speaker 1: if he thinks that he can step up to the
Speaker 1: plate and be the leader of the multiple rooms he
Speaker 1: goes into that's special teams, receiver and running back. I'm
Speaker 1: glad that he sees that he needs to apply himself better. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely learned. I totally agree with Tom. I. You know,
Speaker 1: you just find out as a young player, you know,
Speaker 1: just your itinerary, just how things are structured in the pros,
Speaker 1: the things you have to do on your downtime in
Speaker 1: order to get better. You know, say, you know, like
Speaker 1: your first Tuesday off, Tuesdays are always off right, and
Speaker 1: you know you quickly learned other players are out there
Speaker 1: working to get better. You know. I remember Neil because
Speaker 1: we lived Neil Donald. We lived in the same subdivision,
Speaker 1: just he rented a townhouse and I did. And he
Speaker 1: would call me be and say, hey, come over. This
Speaker 1: is what I do on my off days in order
Speaker 1: to prepare for the next game, whether it's a lifting routine,
Speaker 1: We studied some tape, things like that about the opponent,
Speaker 1: things like that. And you know, the first probably you know,
Speaker 1: before Neil got to know me, probably the first six
Speaker 1: weeks of the season, I was just like, oh, you know,
Speaker 1: Tuesday's your day off. You know, nothing to do, you know,
Speaker 1: and you quickly learn that, hey, this is what it
Speaker 1: takes to get really good at your profession. You know,
Speaker 1: you can never really get away with it or you know,
Speaker 1: get away from it. And after that when the old
Speaker 1: kind of introduced me to that, and that's how I
Speaker 1: approached the rest of my career. And never, even on
Speaker 1: your off day, you're always thinking about it, all right,
Speaker 1: what can I do to get better? And I, you know,
Speaker 1: I just think for a lot of players, that's how
Speaker 1: you've got to be. You know, you've got to be
Speaker 1: that it's always on your mind in order to give
Speaker 1: give yourself an edge for the next game. So for
Speaker 1: you two, what moment in your mind did you become
Speaker 1: a true professional? I mean, what year, what season, what snap,
Speaker 1: what day? Because there's always these crystallizing moments. I'll start
Speaker 1: with Jim because I'm just you know, reminding myself where
Speaker 1: you played. You played at many different stops. So you're
Speaker 1: talking about Nail Donald in Pittsburgh. Were you there for
Speaker 1: two plus years? Yeah? And I think for me, you know,
Speaker 1: I had a really good camp my rookie year. I
Speaker 1: ended up breaking my hand. I was probably challenging Mike
Speaker 1: tom Zack for the backup job as a rookie, and
Speaker 1: then unfortunately I broke my thumb and some ligaments and stuff,
Speaker 1: and so that year was shut down. But the next
Speaker 1: year they drafted Cordell Stewart. It wasn't known whether I
Speaker 1: was going to make the team. I ended up making
Speaker 1: the team that keep four quarterbacks, and Neil Donald breaks
Speaker 1: his hand and I get an opportunity to get in
Speaker 1: some games and played. It was really a Monday night
Speaker 1: game down in Miami. Mike tom Zack gets pulled. I
Speaker 1: get in the game right before half, and we ended up,
Speaker 1: you know, we were down two scores. We ended up
Speaker 1: coming back and almost winning the game. It was a
Speaker 1: late tipped interception to Yancey Thigpen. You know, it was
Speaker 1: the last second throw by me to try and get
Speaker 1: us to win. But you know, played against Dan Marino,
Speaker 1: played really well the entire game. It's Monday night. It
Speaker 1: doesn't get any better than that. And I knew after
Speaker 1: that game, I said I can do this, and I
Speaker 1: felt it in that game that my confidence. You felt
Speaker 1: more comfortable as the game went on and you felt, hey,
Speaker 1: I can do this and I can do this for
Speaker 1: a long time. You know, my biggest influence in preparation
Speaker 1: for the NFL was a coach in the USFL. It
Speaker 1: was John Titerlink. He used to encourage me about being
Speaker 1: prepared when I went to that next level. Every single day,
Speaker 1: that guy was relentlessly on me about being prepared for
Speaker 1: the NFL. And he was a d line coach, never
Speaker 1: took a day off. He's the most instrumental guy in
Speaker 1: being prepared in the for the NFL. Recently passed away,
Speaker 1: Jen Terlink outstanding coach Tom always. I remember you introduced
Speaker 1: him to me in the language of this man, Oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, anyway, This is Bears All Access on Chicago
Speaker 1: Sports Radio six seventy to score. Lace up your sneakers
Speaker 1: and join us July tenth through twelve for the first
Speaker 1: ever BNC Chicago Bears Virtual five K and Kids Dash.
Speaker 1: This year, a portion of every paid registration will be
Speaker 1: donated to Bears Care support local communities in COVID nineteen relief.
Speaker 1: Register today at Chicago Bears dot Com Slash five K.
Speaker 1: Jeff Toom and Jim and I challenged Anthony Adams on
Speaker 1: Twitter today and Lauren screedon and you know, Anthony doesn't
Speaker 1: he doesn't want to race, and he said, just gave me,
Speaker 1: He gave me the hand, so to speak. So I'm
Speaker 1: kind of disappointed. I thought he was a competitor. I
Speaker 1: think Lauren would, I think Laurne would beat you. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about Anthony, I'm not talking about I mean
Speaker 1: you may listen, come on the go after the athlete
Speaker 1: out of those two, right, Okay, Well that a Anthony
Speaker 1: might have an issue with that statement. Jim, Right, Uh,
Speaker 1: you might be back in the days in Denver. The
Speaker 1: air is a little thin. I don't know, you may
Speaker 1: fall a little short on that one. Jim I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe all right, So, speaking of short there could be
Speaker 1: a shortened preseason. Not official yet, Big Jim, it looks
Speaker 1: like the idea is to trim week one and week four.
Speaker 1: The preseason coaches, though, looking at every game as a
Speaker 1: critical rep, and even earlier this offseason Bears head coach
Speaker 1: Matt Naggie were in it committed to more game reps
Speaker 1: in due part to the quarterback dirt. That's the best
Speaker 1: time for us to be able to get that evaluation
Speaker 1: process going. We need to get as many reps as
Speaker 1: we can to be able to see what they're doing.
Speaker 1: Does that mean more reps? Possibly, yeah, probably, So We're
Speaker 1: going to do everything we can and then if we
Speaker 1: need to, you know, have more competition type levels, you know,
Speaker 1: eleven on eleven type deals in practice will do that too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So finding reps in this situation Even so, a tweet
Speaker 1: yesterday from former Bear Chase Daniel, now with the Lions,
Speaker 1: saying nothing about this year is going to look normal
Speaker 1: at all in his opinion, and either he knows some
Speaker 1: things we don't. In addition to all these suggestions, this
Speaker 1: is kind of the first thing that's come up throughout
Speaker 1: this entire offseason that the NFL is even considering knocking
Speaker 1: back a little bit. How do you frame all this
Speaker 1: and what's it kind of look like? Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, go ahead, Tom, No, No, go ahead, Jim,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Jim. Well, I just think you know, there
Speaker 1: is going to be an acclamation period. I think all
Speaker 1: coaches have kind of acknowledged that now, you know, even
Speaker 1: without the scrimmages against other opponents, because at least in
Speaker 1: the scrimmages you can, you know, you can script situations.
Speaker 1: Not all those situations will come up in a preseason game,
Speaker 1: but it's good to see obviously your players and evaluate
Speaker 1: your players going against another opponent. I think that always
Speaker 1: helps in a in a game like setting, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be very difficult, you know, to get looks and evaluates,
Speaker 1: especially you know, you look at college free agents that
Speaker 1: potentially are on your team. I think everybody knows this
Speaker 1: is probably going to be a veteran laden season, so
Speaker 1: some of those young guys may not get the reps
Speaker 1: that they normally would get, you know, without the you know,
Speaker 1: two other preseason games, because I do think not that
Speaker 1: they don't want to go into the season healthy, they
Speaker 1: do and I'm sure there are coaches that may not
Speaker 1: play they're starters in some of these preseason games, but
Speaker 1: I think you're going to be surprised that the amount
Speaker 1: of coaches that do put some of their star players
Speaker 1: out there just to see where they're at, because guys
Speaker 1: may not be ready, they may need more work. And
Speaker 1: I've been in preseason games and this was I know
Speaker 1: it's a long time ago, but you're just gonna get
Speaker 1: a series and you're gonna come out. Well, you go
Speaker 1: out there and look like crap, I've played a whole game,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, where starters didn't come out
Speaker 1: for an entire preseason game. So I think it all
Speaker 1: sounds good. But I think coach Nagy definitely wants to
Speaker 1: channels the players and they probably will get more work
Speaker 1: as starters here if they do ultimately play these two
Speaker 1: preseason games. Well, you know, there's two types of evaluation
Speaker 1: in games and practice. It Jim mentioned. The practices are
Speaker 1: specifically scripted offense and defense, and you're giving the specific
Speaker 1: play that you want to see to this quarterback or
Speaker 1: this cornerback, this whatever you whatever position you want to
Speaker 1: challenge you. It's an exact science. One thing when you
Speaker 1: go evaluate reps in preseason games, it's representation. You're evaluating
Speaker 1: the unknown because you don't know how your opponent's going
Speaker 1: to react. You don't know how the individual players going
Speaker 1: to react to what they see on the field. You
Speaker 1: don't know the decision that's going to be made by
Speaker 1: all the other players out there. So I think there's
Speaker 1: gonna be these periods of practices that are going to
Speaker 1: be really serious game style type of approach to them,
Speaker 1: and then you're going to evaluate the players in the
Speaker 1: course of the preseason games because again you're evaluating the
Speaker 1: reaction to the opponent. In practices, they can be perfectly
Speaker 1: scripted and you can look for exactly what you want
Speaker 1: to see Tom what tempo do you need to see
Speaker 1: him practices to be ready speed ready for week one?
Speaker 1: On nine on seven. I need to see it full go.
Speaker 1: I need to see the offensive line constructing the organization
Speaker 1: they need so all five to seven of those guys
Speaker 1: can work at one and it's not a heavy impact
Speaker 1: because it's more of a collision between the offense and
Speaker 1: defensive line. But you know it's those reps on eleven
Speaker 1: on eleven one, it's an organized teamwork. I need to
Speaker 1: see these guys for designated periods when Matt lets them know, look,
Speaker 1: this is full go. It's not necessarily tackling to the ground,
Speaker 1: but it's a good they refer to as a thud
Speaker 1: at the end of the play where you come up
Speaker 1: and you get a good hit by the linebackers of
Speaker 1: the DBS, the defensive line and so on. So I
Speaker 1: do think that they have the opportunity to designate the
Speaker 1: periods and practices to be as live as they can
Speaker 1: possibly be, just like the reps in the games Jim.
Speaker 1: In terms of install a lot of it's been done already,
Speaker 1: but it has to be revisited, obviously and retrained and
Speaker 1: now to get the guys for the first time in
Speaker 1: front of their coaches on the practice field and whatever.
Speaker 1: How that's going to look with all the COVID regulations
Speaker 1: and whatnot that the NFL is installing. Is is that
Speaker 1: going to be difficult without two preseason games if they
Speaker 1: trim it down. Yeah, yeah, teams may have to trim
Speaker 1: it down. And I think it's going to depend on
Speaker 1: how veteran of a team you are. You know, look
Speaker 1: at the teams that are returning all five offensive linemen
Speaker 1: you know, uh say, you know, whether it's the Indianapolis
Speaker 1: Colts or a team like the Chicago Bears, other than
Speaker 1: the right guard position, if you've got all five offensive
Speaker 1: linemen that are veterans that have played last year. That's
Speaker 1: why I bring up the Colts that that team did
Speaker 1: not one player missed one snap all year long. For
Speaker 1: the Colts, you probably can install at a faster pace.
Speaker 1: If you've got a lot of young players that you're
Speaker 1: trying to get caught up to speed, you may have
Speaker 1: to stay more basic, like you said, trim things back.
Speaker 1: You may not be able to expand a lot early
Speaker 1: for those type of teams. And what Tom mentioned, I
Speaker 1: don't think you can have any standing around at practice.
Speaker 1: You know, normally when you go to a special teams period,
Speaker 1: offense and defense kind of separate and they're standing around.
Speaker 1: I don't think you can do that. You got to
Speaker 1: take advantage of every single time or every single moment
Speaker 1: that you're on that field and go to a separate
Speaker 1: area to get some work done because you're probably gonna
Speaker 1: want more team periods because again, your team has to gel.
Speaker 1: It's not about you know, just one position out there. Oh,
Speaker 1: let's go one on ones. No, it's eleven on eleven
Speaker 1: in real football, and you're probably I know it goes
Speaker 1: against the social distancing practices and they'll be safety about it.
Speaker 1: But you're gonna have to do a lot of team periods,
Speaker 1: I think to get guys caught up to speed with
Speaker 1: how this game is going to be played on Sunday.
Speaker 1: They're aware of it, the players, but they got to
Speaker 1: go out and do it. And I think the coaches
Speaker 1: will put them in that environment, you know, Jim, I
Speaker 1: think we got to think outside the players themselves here too,
Speaker 1: because you talk about that offensive coaching room, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of new bodies, a lot of new minds, a
Speaker 1: lot of new faces. They haven't been out the field
Speaker 1: yet for those Ota reps where you got the offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator holding a micro Alwaukee talkie signaling or talking the
Speaker 1: plays into the quarterback's helmet and then see how all
Speaker 1: that type of transaction, that transfer of information goes. But
Speaker 1: then last year, also during the preseason, Matt Naggy allowed
Speaker 1: Mark Helfritz and Dave are Gone call plays during a
Speaker 1: preseason game. Now you don't have that luxury of four games.
Speaker 1: If they don't have it. So now you can dense
Speaker 1: it down to two and you kind of got to
Speaker 1: get that coaching staff and working order also decide who's
Speaker 1: going to be upstairs, who's going to be downstairs, how
Speaker 1: that transfer of information is going to go. So thinking
Speaker 1: outside of just the players, this is also an offensive
Speaker 1: coaching staff that gets that needs to get to know
Speaker 1: each other. All right, we just step away. One more
Speaker 1: segment to go. We'll get cut up on news of
Speaker 1: the day around the National Football League, look at what
Speaker 1: some changes might be in store, and some other topics
Speaker 1: including Cam Newton to New England's all come up next.
Speaker 1: You're on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Hey
Speaker 1: Bears fans, it's important to stay connected down more than ever,
Speaker 1: and at Motorola we love making that possible. With a
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Speaker 1: Hello Moto, Jeff, Joni Act, Tom Fair, Jim Mellow with
Speaker 1: you on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score, brought
Speaker 1: to you by IGS Energy. Good to have you along.
Speaker 1: So we'll start with the quarterback on this one, Cam
Speaker 1: Newton in New England. Jim surprised. I know you broke
Speaker 1: it down on serious x MFL radio. I'm I'm certain
Speaker 1: of that. It's a proved deal when you get right
Speaker 1: down to it for him, and is it a good spot?
Speaker 1: Is this seems something that is going to take root
Speaker 1: in terms of a true blue quarterback competition with Jared Stidham, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think they do like Stidham. Obviously they dedicated a
Speaker 1: draft to him and they will they'll compete, you know,
Speaker 1: have those guys compete for the starting job. I do
Speaker 1: think Kim without a doubt, is the most you know,
Speaker 1: talented quarterback they have on their roster. Anybody, so, well,
Speaker 1: how's it gonna fit there? Don't worry Josh McDaniels. Nobody
Speaker 1: knows what he's doing, and so does Bill Belichick. How
Speaker 1: they're gonna utilize Cam Newton. He's healthy when you look
Speaker 1: at him. He's posted his workouts. I know he's coming
Speaker 1: back from alz Frank I talked to Cam at the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and he said his shoulder feels fantastic. He's
Speaker 1: basically another year recovered from that standpoint. So it's really
Speaker 1: about the foot and how his health. You know sets
Speaker 1: up and I think he is a motivated player looking
Speaker 1: to put himself back on the map. And I'll ask
Speaker 1: you this, to get that caliber of a player for
Speaker 1: that price, it's not about the money for Cam Newton.
Speaker 1: He's out to prove a point and I do not
Speaker 1: doubt him. I think he will be the starter in
Speaker 1: New England. And don't write the New England Patriots off
Speaker 1: just yet. Everybody thinks that they're done not so fast
Speaker 1: with the addition of Cam Newton. You know, one thing
Speaker 1: that confuses me about it is because we talk about
Speaker 1: how long processing information takes for a quarterback to jest
Speaker 1: assist him to go out there and play just on reaction.
Speaker 1: So now you introduce Cam Newton to the New England
Speaker 1: Patriots after he's been in the same or been in
Speaker 1: the same team, same system for so many years. I
Speaker 1: admire his just his physical approach to the game. I
Speaker 1: admired Bill Belichick because I think he's going to be
Speaker 1: very game planned specific with Cam Newton. But how much
Speaker 1: can you really learn through things repetitiously done when you're
Speaker 1: you have a shortened period of time before the regular
Speaker 1: season's going to get here. In a shorter time in
Speaker 1: training camp. So I think it is the perfect coach
Speaker 1: quarterback combination with Bill Belichick in a short term least
Speaker 1: quarterback in Cam Newton and Matt I'm I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to it. I think it's gonna make this season so
Speaker 1: much fun with Cam, Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and the
Speaker 1: quarterback duel here in Chicago. I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: great for the season. Now, did I get this right?
Speaker 1: Jim Scott Zolak, who's their color man on radio, said
Speaker 1: that he didn't think Cam's gonna be on the team.
Speaker 1: I think he told the station their sports hub in Boston,
Speaker 1: jar stid him it's gonna be the starter. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: like sdid him, they drafted him. But you know there's
Speaker 1: an open competition there. I mean, nothing is going to
Speaker 1: be given to Cam, you know. I I just personally
Speaker 1: think that he is physically the their best quarterback. And
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick will utilize his skill sets of what you know,
Speaker 1: what the player has, and he will gear it that
Speaker 1: way and it ultimately will prove that that Cam Newton
Speaker 1: has the experience. I mean, jared'stid him. Ultimately. How many
Speaker 1: pass does he have in the NFL? I think one
Speaker 1: and he threw an interception. He got benched last year
Speaker 1: in a preseason game. They like Stid him. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying they don't, but it's an open competition, and I
Speaker 1: think if it's just Mono Wan Mono, Cam Newton wins
Speaker 1: that hands down, and Bill Belichick will modify their offense
Speaker 1: to suit Cam Newton's skill set and he will prove
Speaker 1: with his experience, all of his knowledge, and Bill doesn't
Speaker 1: make these decisions just haphazardly went out. He talked to
Speaker 1: Norv Turner. Norv gave Cam Newton a glowing report of
Speaker 1: how he prepares for games. And that was Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: basically finding out, is this guy coachable? Can I get
Speaker 1: along with this guy? What does he respond to? What
Speaker 1: are his go buttons? And that's what Bill Belichick was
Speaker 1: having that interview with Norv Turner. He wanted to get
Speaker 1: to know the player of how he can coach him
Speaker 1: to get the most out of him, and then ultimately decided, Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is a good fit. This player is going to
Speaker 1: be a good fit here. I was there when they
Speaker 1: traded for Corey Dillon. Everybody thought he was going to
Speaker 1: be a malcontent. He was nothing of the sort. He
Speaker 1: was one of the greatest teammates I ever played for.
Speaker 1: You look at Randy Moss. People thought it wouldn't work
Speaker 1: with him. Worked really well with Randy mosson we could
Speaker 1: go on and not Rodney Harrison. Everybody thought Rodney Harrison
Speaker 1: was washed up. Here wins the Super Bowl, a couple
Speaker 1: of Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. So Bill
Speaker 1: will coach him, and Cam's gonna like it. And I
Speaker 1: think Cam's interested of learning a little bit more about
Speaker 1: football from Bill Belichick. And it was very calculated on
Speaker 1: his part to really rebuild his career. A couple other
Speaker 1: nuggets today USA Today, they're football writer Dan Wilkins saying
Speaker 1: that college football officials in college football apparently broached the
Speaker 1: idea of the NFL moving back the draft in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one because of a potential need to play the
Speaker 1: college football season in the spring, and apparently the NFL
Speaker 1: wasn't interested. Does that That's pretty much what you'd expect.
Speaker 1: NFL clearly wants to keep the schedule the way they
Speaker 1: like it. Well, you know, I think a lot of
Speaker 1: the scouts probably have eighty five percent of the work
Speaker 1: done on the next draft class already so what they
Speaker 1: want to do is they'll go and they'll look at
Speaker 1: all the reps that they're they do, you know, they
Speaker 1: evaluate going forward. But some of these guys that have
Speaker 1: great junior years also now they're thinking about their NFL
Speaker 1: opportunity and times they kind of take a tick back
Speaker 1: in their senior year because they're so health concerned. Again,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of the scouting has done so.
Speaker 1: If they did want to move the draft back and
Speaker 1: it wasn't too confusing and they could do it, do it.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if there's any even though there's
Speaker 1: a plan in a date in place, I don't know
Speaker 1: if there is any planner date in place yet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: from the well, from the college side, if they're playing
Speaker 1: in the spring, that's the last resort right where they're
Speaker 1: giving up on the on the fall season. Don't know
Speaker 1: if that's the case just yet. It seems like they
Speaker 1: still plan I played, even if they are short and season.
Speaker 1: I think the IVY League, even the IVY League decided
Speaker 1: that they will make a decision next week whether they
Speaker 1: just shorten their season or they cancel intercollegiate athletics. They're
Speaker 1: in the IVY League for the for the whole year,
Speaker 1: So still a little bit more time, but that would
Speaker 1: be the last report resort for college football. And like
Speaker 1: Tom said, a lot of the information gathering has already happened.
Speaker 1: And even this past year's draft, teams proved that they
Speaker 1: could get all the information that they needed. You know,
Speaker 1: when the one team that I thought was interesting, Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: drafted an offensive lineman that they didn't have a forty
Speaker 1: time on because he was from a small college, didn't
Speaker 1: have a forty time on, didn't have a medical on him.
Speaker 1: They went strictly off the tape and they said, yeah,
Speaker 1: this guy can play, and they drafted him. So teas
Speaker 1: teams will be able to do it again next year
Speaker 1: if that's the case. Also the possibility that teams could
Speaker 1: bring fewer than the ninety they ordinarily due to training camp. Again,
Speaker 1: these is all sources here in the last couple of
Speaker 1: days telling NFL writers predicting eighty or seventy five, but
Speaker 1: no one really expecting ninety. Any pitfalls in that if
Speaker 1: that were to happen. This is obviously in an effort
Speaker 1: to avoid more exposure to COVID potentials. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: playing for a guy like George Allen. Early in my
Speaker 1: career in the USFL, he wanted as many bodies on
Speaker 1: site for training camp that he could possibly afford. Some coaches,
Speaker 1: like Jim said, or some teams that have a little
Speaker 1: bit more veteran experience, maybe you can tone down the
Speaker 1: physical side of training camp because you have a majority
Speaker 1: of your guys and that, you know, a veteran type
Speaker 1: of state. Yeah, the only thing from my standpoint, you know,
Speaker 1: I understand why they're saying that, but I mean, god forbid,
Speaker 1: if there's an outbreak on your team, say four or
Speaker 1: five guys come down with COVID nineteen, you're immediately obviously
Speaker 1: gonna have to go out. Those players are gonna have
Speaker 1: to be what quarantine for fourteen days, So you're gonna
Speaker 1: be signing more guys anyway. I don't know if the
Speaker 1: I think the NFL and NFLPA are trying to work
Speaker 1: that a right out for roster exemptions. You know that, say,
Speaker 1: if a team comes down with six guys, can they
Speaker 1: sign six guys right away from the amount of guys
Speaker 1: that they lost. So it's a fluid situation. Again, I
Speaker 1: understand why why teams are doing it, but I think
Speaker 1: we all understand it's not when it's not if it's
Speaker 1: when somebody's going to test positive. Already, what nine more
Speaker 1: NBA players tested positives, So you're gonna need Ultimately, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be fluid where guys are coming and going on
Speaker 1: these rosters, and I think the teams are well aware
Speaker 1: of that, and I think, now, what's the balance for
Speaker 1: that in terms of roster exemptions for football teams? Potentially,
Speaker 1: you know, I think each team will keep like we
Speaker 1: see what they refer to as a war room during
Speaker 1: the draft, where they have all the eligible bodies out there.
Speaker 1: I think each team will have one of those player
Speaker 1: rooms that have all the names of all the eligible
Speaker 1: players of every single position around the country, and they're
Speaker 1: gonna be maneuvering that a lot during the course of
Speaker 1: the season. Just if God forbid a team does have
Speaker 1: a number of COVID that's yeah, that's why I hope
Speaker 1: it's roster exemptions. That's fine and great that they're increasing
Speaker 1: the practice squads of sixteen guys, but those are developmental players.
Speaker 1: You need veterans that are gonna be able to step
Speaker 1: in and fill in in a moment's notice. That's why
Speaker 1: I think Ultimately they'll decide potentially on those roster exemptions.
Speaker 1: All right, fellas, that's traveling music. Jim. What you thrown
Speaker 1: on the grill this weekend? Some stakes? Maybe you know how?
Speaker 1: You know how? Roy. We're meeting potatoes around here in
Speaker 1: the Miller family. Tom, what are you cooking up? I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with a little salmon, big Jeff. Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: right nice and clean. No, not eating right, but that
Speaker 1: one day I will he right. Appreciate you boys, Savusa Poliday.
Speaker 1: Best of your family's Tom Fair, Jim Miller. Thanks to
Speaker 1: our producer Tonight Adams Tadzinsky and to our producers Jordan
Speaker 1: tread Up, Dan Barelli. Thanks to Cody White, Aaron. Thanks
Speaker 1: to you for listening. This has been Bears All Access
Speaker 1: on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Goodnight, everybody,
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