Speaker 1: Right justin middle of the field forty five to fifteen,
Speaker 1: bring Russ in front of a leading Lions in this work,
Speaker 1: I am Jeff jonihacklitsus on dot go.
Speaker 2: What was like playing for coach Bigdom. I don't want
Speaker 2: to answer any questions like that. Sixty one yards? What's
Speaker 2: Sunday stroll for?
Speaker 1: Justin field? Ye Bears et Cetera with the voices of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears, Jeff Joniac, big time thayer Jeff Jonahack
Speaker 1: with you from Hatis Hall, and we are opening a
Speaker 1: new chapter in our broadcasting history big time. This is
Speaker 1: my first goal around on our own podcast here with
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. It's called Bears et Cetera. Our debut
Speaker 1: edition here from Hattus Hall, the first day of availability
Speaker 1: with head coach Mattyberflus and gentleal manager Ryan Poles, with
Speaker 1: hil from from players as well, and a exclusive interview
Speaker 1: with wide receiver DJ Moore coming up in the program.
Speaker 1: They tell us town, we're supposed to just have fun
Speaker 1: with this, so are you ready to have some fun?
Speaker 3: Well, you know what, Jeff, I'm glad we didn't debut
Speaker 3: the podcast until today because I don't want to talk
Speaker 3: about the past. I want to talk about the everyday future.
Speaker 3: And I think that's one of the unique opportunities for
Speaker 3: you and I is what do we do.
Speaker 2: Go to practice.
Speaker 3: We're able to talk about it in a real time sense,
Speaker 3: and so if we are talking about speculating about what
Speaker 3: they went through in the offseason, I almost think that's
Speaker 3: a waste of time. So I'm happy the debut is
Speaker 3: today and I look forward to going on with this season.
Speaker 1: And we have plenty of sponsors as well. Miller Lite,
Speaker 1: the official beer of the Chicago Bears, tastes like Miller
Speaker 1: Times Chicago. I love the first thing that really came
Speaker 1: out of Ryan Poles's mouth today and that has attacked
Speaker 1: the process, because all of this is a process. It
Speaker 1: was kind of echoed along with some of the players
Speaker 1: justin fields. You'll hear from DJ Moore, Tremaine Edmond said
Speaker 1: kind of the same thing, Eddie Jackson. And that process
Speaker 1: started when these guys ended twenty twenty two and got
Speaker 1: into their mindset and direction for twenty twenty three. And
Speaker 1: here we are on the eve of the first practice
Speaker 1: of training camp, discussing attacking the process. As a former
Speaker 1: player and a star guard for the Chicago Bears and
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins. What does attack the process mean to you?
Speaker 3: Believe in the guidelines that they set out for you
Speaker 3: after the last season concluded, what they expect out of
Speaker 3: you body weight measurement and strength, what they want you
Speaker 3: to do in terms of mentally, so you can advance
Speaker 3: in the competitiveness of your position.
Speaker 2: But it's got to be about everybody believing it.
Speaker 3: It can't be one of three guys are starting to
Speaker 3: believe in your message and then all of a sudden
Speaker 3: you have kind of an unconnected commitment here.
Speaker 2: I think you have a connected commitment by every.
Speaker 3: Single guy in the locker room that's creating an opportunity
Speaker 3: for themselves. And so I like Ryan Poles's choice of words,
Speaker 3: but I think when you have everybody connected in the
Speaker 3: way that we're hearing, in the way that it seems
Speaker 3: where they are in this and the direction they need
Speaker 3: to go, it's important, you know what.
Speaker 1: I had a conversation with Matt Eberflus over the weekend,
Speaker 1: and one thing that really resonated with me because you
Speaker 1: and I talk about this all the time, and we
Speaker 1: talked about it on our show Bears Weekly on Monday,
Speaker 1: night is that it is very difficult to guarantee when
Speaker 1: you bring players in, especially guys coming out of the draft,
Speaker 1: and the Bears are draft heavy right now the last
Speaker 1: two years. We saw how many snaps they played. Last
Speaker 1: year is finding fifty three guys that love the game,
Speaker 1: not just the money that comes with it. And Mattyberflus
Speaker 1: fields he's got a locker room of guys who love
Speaker 1: the game. So I asked him, I go, well, how
Speaker 1: do you know, he goes, you put on the tape,
Speaker 1: You put on the tape and you watch how they play.
Speaker 1: Is that pretty much the essence of it. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know and I know that you love the game
Speaker 1: to this very second, so I would never have to
Speaker 1: worry about a Tom Thayer type of player.
Speaker 4: But when do you know, well, you know, I think
Speaker 4: if you can match the commitment within the guys that
Speaker 4: you're looking eye to eye at in the locker room,
Speaker 4: because you know the alpha males in that locker room,
Speaker 4: if you can live up to their expectations of their work, habits,
Speaker 4: their accomplishments, then you know that you're going to get better.
Speaker 3: But when you talk about commitment to the game and
Speaker 3: love of the game, it's a twelve month a year process.
Speaker 3: I have to see a guy that enjoys going into
Speaker 3: the weight room is excited when he sees Pierre and
Speaker 3: Jimmy Arthur in the weight room, waiting for these guys
Speaker 3: to encourage him to get stronger, because I think that
Speaker 3: is contagious, is what they.
Speaker 2: Do on the field.
Speaker 3: But I think when you get a group of guys
Speaker 3: that like and respect each other, they encourage each other
Speaker 3: to work harder. I put more effort into their skills.
Speaker 3: In when Ryan Polds was talking about he's really encouraged
Speaker 3: by the guys that went down and participated in some
Speaker 3: of the throwing events with Justin Fields. That's a part
Speaker 3: of that twelve month process that's equally as pore into
Speaker 3: anything they do during the season. Hi.
Speaker 1: That cues up a great point in this broadcast right
Speaker 1: now to Turn two wide receiver DJ Moore, who talked
Speaker 1: about that very thing, the connection with Justin Fields and more.
Speaker 1: Take a listen. You're helping us out here big time.
Speaker 1: This is the debut of the Bears et cetera podcast,
Speaker 1: first Bears podcast ever, and you're our first guest. So
Speaker 1: thank you, buddy, thank you.
Speaker 5: That's a pleasure to be the first one there.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Do you listen to podcasts?
Speaker 5: I do listen to podcast What is your flavor?
Speaker 1: What do you like.
Speaker 6: More like on YouTube? The podcast on YouTube and all
Speaker 6: the different interviews and.
Speaker 5: Stuff, but.
Speaker 1: Sports related or it could.
Speaker 6: Be anything sports like music, culture, even down to like lifestyle.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's for an older guy. It's it's not
Speaker 1: something I've gotten into, but you know, slowly but surely
Speaker 1: so it is certainly a way of the future and
Speaker 1: there are so many things to learn about. Have you
Speaker 1: always been a huge sports fan, regardless of just playing football?
Speaker 5: Do you like all the sports? I haven't.
Speaker 6: I've been a huge sports fan, but I do like
Speaker 6: all the sports, like I like track, baseball. I don't
Speaker 6: really watch too much basketball, but I played it growing up,
Speaker 6: follow soccer like.
Speaker 5: I like sports, but I just don't want to do
Speaker 5: all them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're rocking that white Sox red cap
Speaker 1: version with the white letters. Great old emblem. How did
Speaker 1: you discover this lid?
Speaker 6: I had a few white Sox hats back in college,
Speaker 6: so when I needed new ones, I just got a
Speaker 6: red one back then, and I had to get a
Speaker 6: new one sock I won like a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1: It looks good. It looks good. I always liked those,
Speaker 1: the old school as from the sixties and seventies. So
Speaker 1: white white socks. Why, Yeah, I.
Speaker 5: Have no clue.
Speaker 6: For some reason, I always like Chicago and I just
Speaker 6: like the socks logo. So but I do have a
Speaker 6: cups hat and.
Speaker 5: I don't want to.
Speaker 1: No, you can't do that.
Speaker 5: No feathers around here. So I got both.
Speaker 1: No, you can't. The excitement around you. I know when
Speaker 1: we first met, the first day you walked in here,
Speaker 1: you kind of felt it already, not only from the building,
Speaker 1: about the outside and the longer you've been around. How
Speaker 1: would you characterize the excitement you feel about Bears football
Speaker 1: from just the people you've walked into and ran into
Speaker 1: over the course of your time.
Speaker 6: Oh, the fans, everybody, they just ready for us to
Speaker 6: get on the field and put pads on and finally
Speaker 6: go live so they can be witnessed to something best
Speaker 6: of that going on here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so in the locker room, do you feel
Speaker 1: the same.
Speaker 6: Yes, everybody's excited in the locker room. I know, we
Speaker 6: just got back and everybody is so excited. I was
Speaker 6: talking to each other hugging each other and just ready
Speaker 6: to go.
Speaker 1: It was a play during one of the OTAs. I
Speaker 1: was standing on the sideline and Justin through you made
Speaker 1: a double move. I think it was Justin threw a
Speaker 1: deep ball and you didn't quite get it, and you
Speaker 1: knelt down there and was just looking out looking back
Speaker 1: at him for the longest period of time, and it
Speaker 1: stuck with me at rest with me. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you remember this particular play, but do you when
Speaker 1: you do something something like that, are you trying to
Speaker 1: evaluate what you were going to do next, if you
Speaker 1: would have caught that ball, or how that didn't maybe happen.
Speaker 1: I mean it was to me it was an important thing.
Speaker 1: And then you came back and talked to him.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was more of like where did I go wrong?
Speaker 6: At what part of the route did I not get
Speaker 6: up to speed to get under the ball to catch it.
Speaker 6: So it was more of like me reflecting on the
Speaker 6: route that I just did and all the steps that
Speaker 6: I went through.
Speaker 1: See, I think that's big. I don't know if the
Speaker 1: average fan would care about that, but for me, it
Speaker 1: just talked about the being a professional, like really caring
Speaker 1: about every single detail to the tenth of a second,
Speaker 1: because really, in this sport, whether it's offensive line play
Speaker 1: with footwork or where your hand goes, the slightest adjustment
Speaker 1: makes a difference between you're in success. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: you have that in your receiving game with route running
Speaker 1: and steps and timing right.
Speaker 6: It plays a big part. You could take one step
Speaker 6: in and the ball be placed outside and then you're like, dang,
Speaker 6: that's my fault, or the quarterback going to feel like,
Speaker 6: oh man, that's my fault. Went in doubt, it's always
Speaker 6: probably like the receiver fault for doing something wrong like that.
Speaker 1: You know, we're in the era and now and I
Speaker 1: don't know if this happened back in the day. Things
Speaker 1: are different with OTAs now and what the what the
Speaker 1: old school guys did. But when your quarterback calls you
Speaker 1: up to say, hey, we're getting together. We're going to
Speaker 1: Fort Lauderdale for a week or whatever it was, we're
Speaker 1: gonna work out a little bit together. It's funny. It's
Speaker 1: like the bat phone rings and you're going right. How
Speaker 1: important is that? Nowadays?
Speaker 6: It's really important, especially the newcomers. Like I wasn't able
Speaker 6: to make it, but I know they had a good time.
Speaker 6: But we threw before he went down there, so when
Speaker 6: he called, it was like, all right, I'm coming so
Speaker 6: because I knew I couldn't make it to Florida. But
Speaker 6: doing stuff like that is very special. You know, bills
Speaker 6: those come roun and then those relationships on top of that,
Speaker 6: but also gained good work in so that's good to do.
Speaker 1: You know. It just seems from watching you guys together
Speaker 1: and again in a few snapshots that I've been able
Speaker 1: to see, or just hearing you talk about him and
Speaker 1: justin talking about you, that has almost been an instant chemistry,
Speaker 1: an instant connection between you guys. Would you say that's
Speaker 1: a fair representation.
Speaker 6: Yes, And we still got a long way to go
Speaker 6: through camps, so we're going it might even get stronger,
Speaker 6: and it might even get a little weird, but it's going.
Speaker 5: To be a good weird.
Speaker 1: So what do you mean by weird?
Speaker 6: People don't think that we like InSync like it's going
Speaker 6: to be crazy.
Speaker 1: But that's that's key. I mean, every great quarterback has
Speaker 1: had a great receiver with him or a great tight
Speaker 1: end and you guys grow together and that's you know,
Speaker 1: just like NBA. When you watch NBA you know, got
Speaker 1: to kind of have three guys, three triplets thing, and
Speaker 1: then you build around it and it just kind of
Speaker 1: takes off. That's that's the chemistry that helps everybody else.
Speaker 1: How do you continue to forge forwards.
Speaker 5: That constant community? Uh?
Speaker 6: Looking over the bad plays, Uh, even the good plays,
Speaker 6: but mainly the bad to see where the miscommunication or
Speaker 6: mis rep was better.
Speaker 1: You feel like a new man coming here.
Speaker 5: I do feel like a new man. Uh.
Speaker 6: It lit another another, another flame under my high my belt,
Speaker 6: so I'm ready.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking you don't need too many flames litting to
Speaker 1: get to get all jacked up.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: How would you assess the rest of the room? Because
Speaker 1: when a number one receiver comes in, everything gets slotted
Speaker 1: and everybody's best attributes are on display. But I think
Speaker 1: that's happening here, a domino effect for the rest of
Speaker 1: the room.
Speaker 6: I'm gonna say, So we get Mooney back. I've seen
Speaker 6: Chase chases. Chase was good during ot A, so I'm
Speaker 6: excited to see Mooney. I've seen EQ step up, Dante's
Speaker 6: stepped up. Baylis Baylist is fast, so he's a blazer
Speaker 6: and I'm ready to see what he does.
Speaker 1: And Tyler Scott's blazer.
Speaker 6: I'm waiting to see him unleast his speed, see who
Speaker 6: faster him?
Speaker 5: More?
Speaker 1: Bail was you know if you could send a message
Speaker 1: to Bears fans on this debut podcast about what twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three could bring to this city and how this
Speaker 1: team is going to look week one, how would you
Speaker 1: kind of frame that a little bit for us?
Speaker 5: Oh, exciting, excitement, a spark.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well it takes one match to light a fire, buddy. Yes,
Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Hopefully we'll talk
Speaker 1: to you again on this podcast. Thank you, djmore Tom.
Speaker 1: I'm really impressed with DJs Moore's professionalism number one. I
Speaker 1: watched it during the OTAs just how he handles himself.
Speaker 1: We touched on it in the interview when he was
Speaker 1: just trying to make sure he's calibrating the right rhythm
Speaker 1: and continuity with his quarterback. But the instant connection between
Speaker 1: these two that has to come naturally, It just can't.
Speaker 1: You just can't say, oh my gosh, Bear's got a
Speaker 1: number one receiver now DJ Moore and they're gonna have
Speaker 1: an instant connection with Justin Fields. No, it's got to
Speaker 1: be something they work at it. But he said something
Speaker 1: today as well. He said, you know, I will be
Speaker 1: friends with Justin Fields the rest of my life. That's
Speaker 1: how quickly this has has gone together. And to me,
Speaker 1: that will be significant on how it sets up the
Speaker 1: rest of the offense.
Speaker 2: How about you, well, you know the approach to football.
Speaker 3: He mentioned how once in a couple times during OTAs
Speaker 3: that they make eye contact communication, and I think that
Speaker 3: says a lot about their building relationship because when you
Speaker 3: talk about a free agent coming into a locker room
Speaker 3: that's looking for establishment, it's not immediately connected. You need
Speaker 3: to have a little bit of time, a little bit
Speaker 3: of conversations inside the whether you're in a meeting room
Speaker 3: or you're in the lunch room, and those types of
Speaker 3: things galvanize the relationship between each.
Speaker 2: Other, you know.
Speaker 3: And I DJ Moore when he was at the podium,
Speaker 3: they said what do you like to do? And he says,
Speaker 3: I like to watch movies and make popcorn. My mom
Speaker 3: made popcorn every single day of her life chef until
Speaker 3: she was.
Speaker 2: Eighty seven years old.
Speaker 3: I want to ask DJ Moore does he make it
Speaker 3: the old fashioned way or easy? Throw one of those
Speaker 3: bags in the microwave and that'll tell me a little
Speaker 3: bit more about DJ Mormer.
Speaker 1: Well, how do you do it? You do the old
Speaker 1: fashioned way. I burned the house down. I'd burn the house.
Speaker 3: Mom My mom picked the right type of pans to
Speaker 3: make popcorn on the stove, and she had real strict requirements.
Speaker 3: Album and uh, I just found I just found that
Speaker 3: funny by by DJ.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: If I had a guess and I didn't get to
Speaker 1: ask him this question, obviously, we'll do it down the road.
Speaker 1: And my guess is it's the microwave version. Right, We're
Speaker 1: all we want everything right away.
Speaker 3: I listen, if you make a point of saying you
Speaker 3: watch movies and you like popcorn, I think that DJ
Speaker 3: does it the old fashioned way. And so maybe in
Speaker 3: the next couple of days we'll have a chance to
Speaker 3: rub elbow and ask him.
Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna put a wager on this one.
Speaker 2: Tom.
Speaker 1: You're gonna make me your famous uh uh tacos yes,
Speaker 1: and then uh and if I lose, I'll make you h.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: Hey, I'm a good cook too, buddy, Right, but I'm
Speaker 1: cook to.
Speaker 2: Cooking is not the same as popcorn.
Speaker 1: Hey, I had to bring this up before we keep
Speaker 1: talking about some of the interviews today Mattyberflu's true to
Speaker 1: form because you go in his office and you see
Speaker 1: all the greats in Bear's history, all the Hall of Famers.
Speaker 1: The picture's on his wall right behind his desk, and
Speaker 1: it's significant. I mean, it sends a message, and he's
Speaker 1: always embraced the history of this organization right out of
Speaker 1: the gate. But to talk about Walter Payton's birthday today,
Speaker 1: July twenty fifth, he would have been seventy years old,
Speaker 1: or as I might say, he had have been seventy
Speaker 1: years young, because that's how it was. Right when you
Speaker 1: heard that, I know how important he was to you
Speaker 1: and how you think about him all the time. It's
Speaker 1: an ever present reminder when you're at the Peyton Center
Speaker 1: or you hear his name, or you mentioned anything about
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny how we're talking about running back
Speaker 1: so much in the league. How did that hit you
Speaker 1: a little bit?
Speaker 3: You know what? Early early this morning, I was watching
Speaker 3: TV on a national show and they brought it up
Speaker 3: in the show and it kind of shocked me a
Speaker 3: little bit because I can't imagine Walter as a seventy
Speaker 3: year old.
Speaker 2: I can only see Walter as a.
Speaker 3: Thirty five year old, full of energy, full of love,
Speaker 3: full of toughness, as committed as a football player, businessman, father,
Speaker 3: husband as you could possibly get in this world. And
Speaker 3: so I was super excited to hear Matt Eberflus pay
Speaker 3: his respects to Walter's seventieth birthday. But you know, when
Speaker 3: you get up at five point thirty in the morning,
Speaker 3: you turn the TV on and all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: there's a show that is paying their tributes to the
Speaker 3: Gray Walter Payton, it tells you a little bit about
Speaker 3: what who Walter touched. He didn't only touch Bears fans
Speaker 3: in the Chicago Land community. He touched sports fans around
Speaker 3: the world.
Speaker 1: You know, Ryan Poles and I don't know what kind
Speaker 1: of notes you took on all these news conferences today,
Speaker 1: but having a championship mindset, which is really down that
Speaker 1: is coming from obviously the McCaskey family, it's coming from
Speaker 1: new president and CEO Kevin Warren. But Ryan talks about
Speaker 1: it all the time, the championship mindset. And we know
Speaker 1: Walter had a championship mindset from the first time you
Speaker 1: met him in the huddle and you were like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, I'm in the huddle with Walter Peyton. That's
Speaker 1: even before Walter became what he became. And then right
Speaker 1: behind you, we're on a zoom call looking at each other.
Speaker 1: Right now, Tom's at his home, I'm at Halis Hall
Speaker 1: and the picture of the Bears behind you there that
Speaker 1: iconic picture, and I see hamp and the sweat on
Speaker 1: his shirt. I mean that group had a championship mindset.
Speaker 1: What does championship mindset mean to you? Because it can
Speaker 1: mean different things to different people.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, whether it's the picture.
Speaker 3: You look at the roster of the eighty five team
Speaker 3: and you look at every one of those guys, and
Speaker 3: you look at what their traits of success were, and
Speaker 3: they were all different, whether it's Willie and world class
Speaker 3: feed or Hampton and McMichael, the most unbelievable tough combo
Speaker 3: of defensive tackles, the intelligence and the commitment by Mike
Speaker 3: Singletary that he put into the job, the overall love
Speaker 3: and ferociousness of Wilbur Marshall and Otis Wilson and all
Speaker 3: the other guys. And I think you got to be
Speaker 3: a close group of guys because you have to have
Speaker 3: the conversations that you're having as an offensive linement with
Speaker 3: a defensive back as much as any other positions are
Speaker 3: enjoying talking to each other. And I think when Ryan
Speaker 3: Polls sets a sight on the type of building blocks
Speaker 3: and he wants to put in the locker room to
Speaker 3: build that championship caliber team, I think he's doing it
Speaker 3: in the exact way that we hoped it would be done,
Speaker 3: and we want to see him flourish because of it.
Speaker 3: And I think the stronger the locker room gets, the
Speaker 3: more successful they'll be on the practice field and that
Speaker 3: will result in wins.
Speaker 1: Really underscoring it is mastering your craft first, is what
Speaker 1: Poles said. That bleeds into the entire unit, your entire unit,
Speaker 1: and confidence believing, not hoping, they can win. And boy,
Speaker 1: when that when that turns now A guy like Eddie
Speaker 1: Jackson who spoke today Tremaine Edmonds had a lot of
Speaker 1: success in Buffalo with an AFC championship team in a
Speaker 1: near Super Bowl contender every year. You know that that
Speaker 1: confidence has to come from those veteran guys to trickle
Speaker 1: down to the to the young guys. But let's let's
Speaker 1: leave that behind. Eddie said, he's sick of losing. He
Speaker 1: hates losing. I mean, you gotta hate losing more than
Speaker 1: you love winning to win, and do you think that
Speaker 1: can be cultivated here this year?
Speaker 3: You know what, if you're if you're a group of
Speaker 3: guys that converge at Hallis Hall tomorrow and get ready
Speaker 3: to start training camp and you're on the field getting
Speaker 3: ready to prepare, if you ever thought that there is
Speaker 3: a season that you could go out and win the
Speaker 3: division and accomplish everything you wanted, this is the year.
Speaker 3: I don't care how long you have or haven't been together,
Speaker 3: but there's a lot of pieces within this division are
Speaker 3: moving around, and you know, Eddie said, you know, you
Speaker 3: gotta win the division first, and that's going to give
Speaker 3: you your opportunity to get in the playoff. And I
Speaker 3: do think this is a team that needs to be
Speaker 3: focused on a first place division championship at the end
Speaker 3: of the season. And I think that they have the
Speaker 3: right caliber of players that if they take that next
Speaker 3: significant step of improvement, that they are a team that
Speaker 3: can accomplish exactly what they're set out for.
Speaker 1: All right, Seaman me, We're about twenty minutes into this thing,
Speaker 1: and I haven't touched on the old line because as
Speaker 1: much as everybody's talking about QB one and justin fields
Speaker 1: and where he needs to improve. And he was asked
Speaker 1: where he thinks he needs to improve and he wouldn't
Speaker 1: give anybody any details. We know what they are, though
Speaker 1: we'd certainly do. But the offensive line, and you hear
Speaker 1: that Darnell Wright comes in, as Ryan Pole said, crush
Speaker 1: the conditioning test and I don't know what goes into that,
Speaker 1: but lost weight, trimmed his body fat, cares wants to
Speaker 1: be really great, and that is important. The mental toughness,
Speaker 1: because tough days are coming. You got to be locked
Speaker 1: and loaded and ready to go. And how encouraging is
Speaker 1: it to hear that your top pick and a cornerstone
Speaker 1: piece for the offensive line is locked in and ready
Speaker 1: to go.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm really excited that the guys are here.
Speaker 3: They've been together all OTAs. This is where I'm having
Speaker 3: just a little bit of worrio. Is in the first
Speaker 3: three days of practice, it's going to average about ninety
Speaker 3: five degrees and what you've been doing to get ready
Speaker 3: in the last forty days is not what you're going
Speaker 3: to face in the next three days.
Speaker 2: So I just want.
Speaker 3: Darnell to go out there and feel at ease and
Speaker 3: understand what, you know, everything that he's going to do,
Speaker 3: take to learn about his job, about the specific techniques,
Speaker 3: how to learn about Nate Davis and being the dominant
Speaker 3: player he has a chance to be. But you know,
Speaker 3: we've seen guys, even no matter what conference they come
Speaker 3: out of where they're born and raised, they come here
Speaker 3: hit the field with that blue helmet on, with that
Speaker 3: Guardian shield over the top of it, those blue jerseys on,
Speaker 3: and also that one hundred feels like one hundred and ten,
Speaker 3: and you know that's part of the test of your
Speaker 3: mental structure. You know, how tough of a person you are.
Speaker 1: This is a weird question because I know what it
Speaker 1: was like in Plattvil because I started covering the Bears
Speaker 1: in eighty five. The eighty five ten was the first
Speaker 1: time I started covering sports, so I saw what you
Speaker 1: guys went through, and that is, you know, the sprints
Speaker 1: after practice to two a days and just dripping wet
Speaker 1: and the heat up there. I know you were in
Speaker 1: the USFL and Arizona. Did you guys practice outdoors or
Speaker 1: indoors in Arizona? And how hot was it or because
Speaker 1: it was a different time of the year, the temperature
Speaker 1: was adequate. And did you fear practice more about the
Speaker 1: heat than you did your opponents across the line of
Speaker 1: scrimmage and what you were going to be going through.
Speaker 3: Well, you the super super hot days in Platfil, Yeah,
Speaker 3: I did worry about that because I was susceptible to
Speaker 3: having to having cramping problems and that's a painful, painful
Speaker 3: thing to go through. So but in Arizona, because it
Speaker 3: was so hot during the daytime, we showed up at
Speaker 3: the facility at four o'clock in the afternoon, we met
Speaker 3: from four o'clock until six o'clock.
Speaker 2: When the sun went down.
Speaker 3: We practiced from six thirty to eight thirty at night,
Speaker 3: and so we never faced the abuse of abusive heat
Speaker 3: like these guys are going to face in the next
Speaker 3: couple days. But again, you know, when you when Matt
Speaker 3: and Ryan talk about the development of the camaraderie and
Speaker 3: the teamwork and what these guys learned to you know,
Speaker 3: be in the locker room, those are some of the
Speaker 3: most difficult days that make your team the closest because
Speaker 3: every single guy is going through it the same. So
Speaker 3: there's nothing more fun than going in the locker room
Speaker 3: after a practice like that and get into that big
Speaker 3: complaining session. We used to call it a different word,
Speaker 3: but it's nice when you can only have your teammates
Speaker 3: to complain around. And that's what kind of is fun
Speaker 3: of being on a team.
Speaker 1: Do you so explain to people, because you've told me
Speaker 1: what happens to you if you cannot deal with the heat.
Speaker 1: You're a sweater number one, so you sweat significantly. But
Speaker 1: when you say it's a painful process, because I've never
Speaker 1: experienced that, what happens to your body.
Speaker 3: And you know your body is a muscle, all the
Speaker 3: muscles that are so dehydrated that it cramps up, and
Speaker 3: it's so painful that you can feel at start, and
Speaker 3: then once you get to a level where you got.
Speaker 2: An iv yourself.
Speaker 3: And I had to do it a bunch of different
Speaker 3: times on airplanes, in my dorm room at Platteville, laying
Speaker 3: on the ground in the locker room after the game.
Speaker 3: And but you know that's just me, because you know what,
Speaker 3: and that's why I say the coach that I like
Speaker 3: the most in the organization now is the hydrate, the
Speaker 3: hydration and the diet coach, because we never had that
Speaker 3: type of advice, and we are out there just trying
Speaker 3: to survive.
Speaker 2: On our own.
Speaker 3: And if I would have had the advice of the
Speaker 3: people that's their department, they would have helped me as
Speaker 3: much as Clyde Emerck did in the weight room.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the performing staff is something else. It's not just
Speaker 1: putting the right food in your body, but making sure
Speaker 1: everything is hydrated. But in a way that's so technical
Speaker 1: now and so keenly a part of this that it's
Speaker 1: if you don't take advantage of it, then you're not
Speaker 1: being a professional. Frankly right, you can't do it your
Speaker 1: own way.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I just heard something. They were talking about it on
Speaker 1: ESPN one thousand here in Chicago about DK Metcalf. Did
Speaker 1: you hear about this? He was on a podcast and
Speaker 1: I don't know whom I can't recall now, but his diet.
Speaker 1: He gets out, he works out twice a day, but
Speaker 1: he has a cup of Starbucks and then he eats
Speaker 1: a lot bags of candy, gummies and life savers and
Speaker 1: all this other stuff, and then he has one meal
Speaker 1: at eight o'clock at night. Now he looks like an Adonis.
Speaker 1: He looks like you back in your day just yoked up.
Speaker 1: How does a how does someone's Is it because he's
Speaker 1: in his twenties he can survive this or is he
Speaker 1: just working out so hard he's burning off everything.
Speaker 3: He's got a superior metabolism and he's got the god
Speaker 3: gifts of having uh, the physique that you were blessed with.
Speaker 3: But it's it takes a lot more than that to
Speaker 3: get to where what he looks like. But you know,
Speaker 3: there's you know when when we didn't have access to
Speaker 3: food during the day, I would I would come to practice,
Speaker 3: I would drink coffee all day and sometimes I never had.
Speaker 2: My first meal until I left the facility.
Speaker 3: Matt Suey was a guy that always used to have
Speaker 3: a pocket full of hard candy and that's what he hate.
Speaker 2: During He's hidding me. No, that's crazy.
Speaker 3: That's the funny thing about it, where you know it's
Speaker 3: hard to control everything you know that that people do.
Speaker 3: It's it's not it would be nice having access to
Speaker 3: it the all life they do today.
Speaker 1: Which leads me to game day snacking calls for good foods.
Speaker 1: Chunky guacam mole made with avocados, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and
Speaker 1: a squeeze of lime juice. Perfect snack to watch while
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Speaker 1: Get additional details at jewelosco dot com. This is Bears, Etc.
Speaker 1: Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniak our maiden voyage. We heard from
Speaker 1: DJ Moore earlier today, Hey, what do you want out
Speaker 1: of this podcast? Over the long term, We're gonna come
Speaker 1: to you during the season twice a week. We're told,
Speaker 1: you know, we're supposed to have some fun here and
Speaker 1: we're trying to do that, and then once a week
Speaker 1: in the offseason. But it's an exciting time to roll
Speaker 1: out some of our thoughts because we do a lot
Speaker 1: of homework. We do a lot of information that never
Speaker 1: makes the airwaves, so good storytelling time. And we'll have
Speaker 1: a few guests along the way as well.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 3: Before every show, I want you to declare if you're
Speaker 3: in a good mood or a bad boot, because just
Speaker 3: how I want to let the audience know a little
Speaker 3: bit about Jeff Joniac because as the season winds on,
Speaker 3: sometimes you're a little more sour than I.
Speaker 1: Am so well, which is saying a lot, because there's
Speaker 1: some sower in you as well, my friend.
Speaker 3: I want our audience to be able to appreciate because
Speaker 3: I was looking forward to this podcast because there are
Speaker 3: hours of conversations that we have that we never let
Speaker 3: the public yea to be a part of and so
Speaker 3: and so we're.
Speaker 1: Going to work, We're gonna let them in. We're going
Speaker 1: to let them into our lives. Is that what we're doing?
Speaker 2: This is it?
Speaker 3: Man, Listen, There's gonna be some sour moments during the
Speaker 3: season that you're going to have to talk me off
Speaker 3: the legend.
Speaker 2: I will, you know, try to do the same for you.
Speaker 1: The fact of the matter is that we we also
Speaker 1: want to win, and we have been a part of
Speaker 1: this now twenty seven years in some form of fashion together.
Speaker 1: This is the twenty seventh year. Twenty three for me
Speaker 1: is the play by play guy and that roller coade
Speaker 1: to ride it does impact you. I had a rider
Speaker 1: one time say why do you care so much? And
Speaker 1: and you know you care because hey, there's nothing like it.
Speaker 1: I talked to a former player the other day. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna say who, and I said, you know, when
Speaker 1: your team is in the mix, and it's December and
Speaker 1: it's already been a long grind, it's been a long season,
Speaker 1: but there's nothing really to play. You know, it's not
Speaker 1: you're not going to the playoffs. You know, you got
Speaker 1: to find somewhere to continue to capture those moments in
Speaker 1: games right where you're charting the history of the game.
Speaker 1: That's what we're doing. We're doing it. We have to you.
Speaker 1: You gotta do what's in front of you. You got to
Speaker 1: play what's in front of you. But when it's when
Speaker 1: you're playing for something, you're different. And I'm different. You
Speaker 1: can tell when we walk into Soldier Field or any
Speaker 1: road game we go to, because we know that every
Speaker 1: single snap is gonna matter in that game. And I've
Speaker 1: never been more in tuned to a broadcast when every
Speaker 1: angle snap matters in a game and there's something to
Speaker 1: play for.
Speaker 2: Agree every minute, every minute during the week matters. And
Speaker 2: that's the thing about it.
Speaker 3: You know, you get up there on those media days
Speaker 3: and you see that the house is packed with national
Speaker 3: media because the Bears are the story that everybody wants
Speaker 3: to cover. And when you get into that winning type
Speaker 3: of you know, that winning flow every single day, you
Speaker 3: can't wait to get to the facility. You stay there
Speaker 3: a little bit longer. You're having longer conversations, maybe watching
Speaker 3: a little bit more tape, trying to do something different
Speaker 3: in the way room. So winning is contagious to seven
Speaker 3: days a week and not just the you know, the
Speaker 3: eight hours that we may go to Soldier Field with
Speaker 3: on game day, everything else that the plane ride homes
Speaker 3: from away games after you win a big game, it's
Speaker 3: it's it's just it's just a fun atmosphere.
Speaker 2: To be in.
Speaker 1: And when we do come home, we fly United Airlines,
Speaker 1: official airlines of the Chicago Bears. All right, let's hit
Speaker 1: some key topics before we wrap things up here. Obviously,
Speaker 1: one of the hot button discussion points for a variety
Speaker 1: of reasons is Chase Claypool. So he is ready to go.
Speaker 1: He will be on the practice field tomorrow. He's had
Speaker 1: extra time with the staff to get himself ready. He
Speaker 1: worked with Justin Fields for a time. Fields indicated that
Speaker 1: Claypole had a little cranky knee a little bit, but
Speaker 1: he's ready to go, and if he plays to his potential,
Speaker 1: that is a major, major bonus to the offense. With
Speaker 1: DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney and all the other gang that
Speaker 1: they're going to get the ball to to spread that
Speaker 1: ball around. How important is this in your mind for
Speaker 1: Chase Chase Claypool to hit the ground running, develop that
Speaker 1: chemistry and be an impact player.
Speaker 3: You know, last year when they brought Chase a board,
Speaker 3: they kind of started thinking about the defenses they were
Speaker 3: going to face and how are they going to configure
Speaker 3: their coverage against Claypool, Darnell Mooney unless include Colon there
Speaker 3: amongst the other guys. So now when you have a
Speaker 3: guy like DJ Moore along Chase, Claypool and Darnell and
Speaker 3: the tight end position they have, now you're going to
Speaker 3: get a kind of a better understanding of how the
Speaker 3: defensive team that you're facing is going to try to
Speaker 3: take away your receivers. How I DJ now is always
Speaker 3: number one, and then you got two to three split
Speaker 3: up between Darnell and Clayon.
Speaker 2: Because of the formation, you.
Speaker 3: May have an advantage not only a height advantage, of
Speaker 3: speed advantage and an experience advantage with Chase that you
Speaker 3: could take advantage of. And then if it's if they say,
Speaker 3: oh we need to get a little bit more effort
Speaker 3: focused on Chase Claypool, is that going to open opportunities
Speaker 3: for DJ more Darnell in the.
Speaker 2: Tight end position.
Speaker 3: So I just think it has a real overall effect,
Speaker 3: not only with justin reading the coverages, how they're going
Speaker 3: to play coverages, and then where is going to open
Speaker 3: up your best opportunity against either a mismatch or a
Speaker 3: better route to the coverage.
Speaker 1: A couple of new additions on the Bears roster and
Speaker 1: we expect to see that throughout training. Buddy Johnson a
Speaker 1: linebacker from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Four five eight forty guy
Speaker 1: time at linebacker. He's a running chase linebacker and wide
Speaker 1: receiver Isaiah Ford. He's been I think on four or
Speaker 1: five different clubs. Four six ' one forty guys got
Speaker 1: some size to them. But this is it you know
Speaker 1: here at allis hall. When you go to training camp
Speaker 1: on days where they're not practicing or while they're practicing,
Speaker 1: they may be practicing on fields three and four, but
Speaker 1: on fields one and two they're working out guys and
Speaker 1: guys are going out to the practice field and they're
Speaker 1: seeing guys that could take one of their roster spots.
Speaker 1: It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. But it happens
Speaker 1: every year.
Speaker 2: You know, Jeff.
Speaker 3: The last year I went to the Miami Dolphins, I
Speaker 3: went down there on a Wednesday, and I went off
Speaker 3: on a side field with three other guys they brought
Speaker 3: in and we went through some drills to see who
Speaker 3: they were gonna pick. And I knew the guys that
Speaker 3: I was going against, that I was better than. And
Speaker 3: so here we are, we're practicing. Over here, I can
Speaker 3: see you can see the whole office of team looking
Speaker 3: over at us, like who were we with?
Speaker 2: Positions did we play?
Speaker 3: It was an awards scenario, but it's everything, you know,
Speaker 3: It's everything you have lived for.
Speaker 1: You know. Darnell Mooney coming off his first injury in
Speaker 1: his career, and it can be a lonely road for guys,
Speaker 1: but he worked with Eddie Jackson and Ady Jackson said
Speaker 1: they motivated each other. Jack Sanborn as well, all three
Speaker 1: of being cleared and ready to practice. Excited about seeing that.
Speaker 1: But you never really were injured until you injured your back,
Speaker 1: but you didn't miss games. How hard would have that
Speaker 1: been for you to go through an injury that you
Speaker 1: had to have an entire off season to reload and
Speaker 1: try to get yourself back again, because there's gonna be
Speaker 1: good days and there's gonna be bad days in the rehab.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know, the older you get, the more precious your
Speaker 3: weight room time. Your weight room time is because you
Speaker 3: gotta stay strong. You have to challenge yourself. You got
Speaker 3: to be able to make sure that you're competitive on
Speaker 3: the strainth side of it. But when you're rehabbing from
Speaker 3: an injury like I was doing from a back injury,
Speaker 3: there's approaches to it and it takes a long period
Speaker 3: of time. When Darnell Mooney went up back on the
Speaker 3: field after the Texans game and brought that jugs machine
Speaker 3: and was catching after balls after a game, that tells
Speaker 3: me all I need to know about Darnell Mooney. He's
Speaker 3: just as committed a guy as you can possibly get
Speaker 3: on a football team, and I would want him in
Speaker 3: my locker room. So him recovery from an injury doesn't
Speaker 3: surprise me. I know he's going to be one hundred
Speaker 3: percent and he's just the type of you know, that's
Speaker 3: the type of commitment to the game of football that
Speaker 3: he's made.
Speaker 1: And lastly, I want to touch on Tremaine Edmonds to
Speaker 1: wrap up our first podcast, Bears Etc. Podcast with Tom
Speaker 1: There and Jeff Joniac. I love his attitude. He became
Speaker 1: an instant leader here. He says he was a natural
Speaker 1: born leader and there is still a lot of room
Speaker 1: to grow in his game. This is year six for
Speaker 1: this twenty five year old. It's strange how the numbers
Speaker 1: add up, but he says he feels great mentally. He's
Speaker 1: in a good place and trying to improve on everything
Speaker 1: and making deposits in those buckets to be the leader
Speaker 1: that he knows he can be. A guy coming into
Speaker 1: a new locker room, though, had to try to feel
Speaker 1: it out little bit, and to his credit, he did
Speaker 1: that as well, leaning on guys like Getti Jackson and
Speaker 1: guys who have been here, because there's not been a
Speaker 1: lot of guys that have been here for a while,
Speaker 1: so it is a fresh start for everybody. What's your
Speaker 1: takeaway on Tremaine Edmunds at middle linebacker.
Speaker 2: Is the saying talk softly and carry a big stick
Speaker 2: or walk softly no big stick.
Speaker 1: He can do both.
Speaker 2: He's a soft spoken guy.
Speaker 3: But I think when you see him out there and
Speaker 3: no paths, and then you see him out there in pass,
Speaker 3: you're going to get an understanding of how big of
Speaker 3: a linebacker this is. And then you're going to be
Speaker 3: impressed with his running skills, his ability to get in
Speaker 3: past coverage or support support the line of scrimmage. Listen, man,
Speaker 3: he's been successful since he's been in the NFL, and
Speaker 3: he understands the commitment from a team, a teammates that
Speaker 3: it takes to become successful. And I think that's the
Speaker 3: type of message that you want to have inside this
Speaker 3: locker room as soon as possible.
Speaker 1: Maddybrifleu is saying today we're in a day to day business,
Speaker 1: but the Bears are in a better spot. The rosters
Speaker 1: basically ran new with a lot of leftovers from last
Speaker 1: season that are trying to develop into big time players
Speaker 1: for the Bears. He's looking for elite talent and named
Speaker 1: just two out of the gate. There are more, but
Speaker 1: he named justin Fields and he named Tremaine Edmunds. So
Speaker 1: a lot to look forward to here for the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: I know Tom it rips your heart out practice tomorrow,
Speaker 1: but the first padded practice not until next Wednesday. And
Speaker 1: that's part of the whole league's doing it. It's part
Speaker 1: of the collective bargaining agreement. I know, you don't have
Speaker 1: to like it, what it is, what it is. It's
Speaker 1: I would rather.
Speaker 3: See the NFL teams go out there for one hour
Speaker 3: in pads than two hours and no pads. And what
Speaker 3: you can do is you can get warmed up inside
Speaker 3: the building, come out, have an individual period, have a
Speaker 3: nice stiff nine on seven, have a teamwork in full pads,
Speaker 3: and then call it a day for four or five days.
Speaker 3: Wrap yourself up that way instead of going out there
Speaker 3: in no pad nonsense.
Speaker 1: All right, Tom Thayer has spoken and his words reverberating
Speaker 1: through the National Football League and the Players Association. United
Speaker 1: Airlines official airlines of the Chicago Bears, one of our
Speaker 1: sponsors here on the Bears Etc. Podcast. That'll wrap up
Speaker 1: for today. Tom will be back with you on Thursday.
Speaker 1: We'll review what happened on Wednesday's practice and look ahead
Speaker 1: to the weekend.
Speaker 2: How about it, got a boy looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: That's Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks bearf fans for listening.
Speaker 1: We are underway and Our Bears, Etc. Podcast. We'll talk
Speaker 1: to you on Thursday.