Speaker 1: And a good Monday evening to you all. It's time
Speaker 1: for the Bears Coaching Show with head coach Matt Eberflus
Speaker 1: Jeff Jonich with you at eight o'clock here tonight on
Speaker 1: news radio one oh five nine w BBM. We got
Speaker 1: Monday Night Football Join in progress at eight on seven
Speaker 1: eighty am. The news will continue on one oh five
Speaker 1: nine FM. Long before we get there, let's begin. Matt,
Speaker 1: how you done doing well? How are you? I'm doing fine? Uh.
Speaker 1: This team is banged up to say the least. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we had some some injuries yesterday at MetLife
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, we'll be searching through those and
Speaker 1: working through us with the doctors here in the next
Speaker 1: forty eight hours. We'll see where it is. Obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: we lost Mooney for the year, you know, with an ankle,
Speaker 1: you know, so we'll we'll go from there with him.
Speaker 1: And again I talked to him. You know, he's a
Speaker 1: little bit down, but he's uh still here with the
Speaker 1: team and he's gonna be around with us and and
Speaker 1: we'll see where it goes from there. But what a
Speaker 1: great year he had. I mean he started to really
Speaker 1: get a good spark with Justin and uh did an
Speaker 1: excellent job blocking on the perimeter and he actually got
Speaker 1: he got injured on the one where you know Montgomer.
Speaker 1: He end up punching it out of there from the
Speaker 1: minus one. Did a really nice job. It was just
Speaker 1: unfortunately was blocking his guy and went to tackle Montgomery
Speaker 1: and swung around and kind of hit him in the leg.
Speaker 1: But again, what a great job he did, and more importantly,
Speaker 1: what a teammate he is. He's a great teammate, what
Speaker 1: great leadership from him. But we're excited about his future. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just talked to him last week just about the future,
Speaker 1: you know, and the patients involved with an offense that
Speaker 1: wants to run the ball and what is asked of him,
Speaker 1: and he embraced it. But he was just really optimistic
Speaker 1: about where Justin's headed, where the offense has headed. So
Speaker 1: that's always a blow late in that season. How do
Speaker 1: you talk a guy down off of that. He's pretty
Speaker 1: pragmatic guy in general though, So yeah, he's always upbeating positive.
Speaker 1: You know, he's that by nature, and you know he's
Speaker 1: always going to be a good teammate. Again, it'll take
Speaker 1: some rehab and all those things, you know, getting through that,
Speaker 1: but he'll be ready to go here shortly. You know,
Speaker 1: tight ends get rolled up on a lot. We used
Speaker 1: to say more man hours lost at the tight end
Speaker 1: position than any other. That has since kind of changed
Speaker 1: in the league. They become more athletic where they're more
Speaker 1: in line blockers before offensive lineman. Get it, but it's
Speaker 1: kind of rare that receivers are asked to do as
Speaker 1: much blocking in this situation. It is an occupational hazard,
Speaker 1: isn't it when because you get rolled up on, there's
Speaker 1: no way that you know what's coming. Yeah. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: just gotta be mindful of it and hopefully be able
Speaker 1: to keep your feet moving as the traffic comes to
Speaker 1: you and h and do your best. All right, let's
Speaker 1: talk about the quarterback situation yesterday close to kickoff. Rare
Speaker 1: occurrence even for you, right, Yeah, it was kind of
Speaker 1: a weird deal. You know, Trevor is out there, you know,
Speaker 1: before the pregame warm up, end up straining as oblique
Speaker 1: and then comes in and you know, says, hey, let
Speaker 1: me get some medication and seel I feel, and you
Speaker 1: know potentially Nate was gonna, you know, could step in
Speaker 1: there for that role. He was ready to do that,
Speaker 1: but it worked out good. He went out to warm
Speaker 1: ups and he threw the ball fine, and Trevor did
Speaker 1: of course, and then he end up, you know, going
Speaker 1: and it's scoring ten points in his first two drives
Speaker 1: and against a really good defense. After the aim, he
Speaker 1: said he was almost embarrassed that had happened, but again,
Speaker 1: these things do happen, and if you can find a
Speaker 1: way to plow through it, which he did, you know,
Speaker 1: and no apology necessary, right, I mean, now, he prepared
Speaker 1: well all week, and he did a really good job
Speaker 1: the entire week, you know, because you know, obviously we
Speaker 1: didn't know what was going to happen with Justin during
Speaker 1: the week, and we had to play it by air,
Speaker 1: so we had to do a lot of mental preparation
Speaker 1: as well. All Right, how do you think that coaching
Speaker 1: staff handle this because you had to have plans? No,
Speaker 1: I think it was good. You know, like I said
Speaker 1: during the press conferences last week, you know, we just
Speaker 1: really needed to you know, set you know, things aside
Speaker 1: for Trevor and then for Justin. You know, Justin obviously
Speaker 1: is a unique player in a lot of ways and
Speaker 1: can do a lot of different things that a lot
Speaker 1: of players can't do. And but we have a system.
Speaker 1: We have a system in place that we can adjustin
Speaker 1: adapt and move based on who the quarterback is. And
Speaker 1: that's easily done. And I thought, guess you did a
Speaker 1: nice job of that, along with you know, the rest
Speaker 1: of the staff before we get into the details of
Speaker 1: the game. Throughout the rest of this hour, losing his
Speaker 1: difficult period. If you can separate this for me, and
Speaker 1: maybe you can't, but from a player perspective, how do
Speaker 1: you handle that? And from your own self? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I think it goes back to the to the
Speaker 1: mantra we've been setting, you know, even but again of
Speaker 1: the year when we won our first game, you know,
Speaker 1: then we end up you know, beat Houston and all
Speaker 1: those things. It's the same thing when you go on
Speaker 1: a winning streak. It's the same exact message that you know,
Speaker 1: the performance is the performance. You know, it's over if
Speaker 1: you win by three or you know, or you lose
Speaker 1: buy three. Um, it's always the same. You got to
Speaker 1: look at it the same. How can I get better
Speaker 1: and how can I keep doing the things that I
Speaker 1: need to I've been doing well and I think that's
Speaker 1: all you gotta do. Um. For players and coaches and
Speaker 1: it's a partnership, you know. So that's what's nice about
Speaker 1: our player coach partnership is that those they're in it together,
Speaker 1: you know. So if a player plays well, you know,
Speaker 1: coach did a good job. If a player needs to improve,
Speaker 1: coach needs to help him improve. So he's always got
Speaker 1: that partner with him. You have to represent in a
Speaker 1: very specific way as head coach, as the CEO of
Speaker 1: the football team. At a private level, is just eating
Speaker 1: you up. Well, I mean, obviously losing is you know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't no good. You know, obviously you want to win.
Speaker 1: You're in it's a win business. You know, this is
Speaker 1: a this is a business that you're you're judged by
Speaker 1: wins and losses. And but we're building from a young
Speaker 1: football team. You know, we're building. This is not rebuilding.
Speaker 1: We're building a team. And that's that's the big difference
Speaker 1: that people have to understand. And we're excited about the
Speaker 1: foundation that we're laying and it's going to be really
Speaker 1: good for the future because you know, these players are
Speaker 1: going to be here in the future and they're going
Speaker 1: to know the foundation and the standards of which we operate,
Speaker 1: and they're gonna be able to teach it to the
Speaker 1: younger guys and the new acquisitions we bring in as
Speaker 1: we go along with this process. How do you convey
Speaker 1: a message that, you know, when you're getting guys off
Speaker 1: that you know you're playing everybody, that they feel like
Speaker 1: there's their support there because they're running out of body
Speaker 1: so to speak. And even now for the final five games,
Speaker 1: they don't know that could be new guys coming into
Speaker 1: the mix, you know, out of need and necessity. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would just say that we need to do a
Speaker 1: better job in the second half when guys do go
Speaker 1: down of guys stepping in and operating, you know, because
Speaker 1: we had to you know a Mooney goes down, Eddy
Speaker 1: goes down, Riley goes down. It was pretty early. But
Speaker 1: when guys step into that role, they have to do
Speaker 1: a good job. Are operating. What does that mean? That
Speaker 1: means getting your alignment, your assignment down. That's a pre snap.
Speaker 1: You know, know your job, do your job, so to speak.
Speaker 1: And we got to do a good job with that
Speaker 1: at all levels, you know, offense, defense and kicking. And
Speaker 1: I think we need to do a better job of
Speaker 1: that in the second half. We'll touch on it later.
Speaker 1: But just for people joining the show just now. The
Speaker 1: strategy now continues to be the same with Justin this
Speaker 1: week right as it was last week. Yes, it's a
Speaker 1: day to day and we'll see where he is. Like
Speaker 1: again I said at the podium after the game, it's
Speaker 1: about mobility and strength. And when he has the mobility
Speaker 1: and the strength and that left arm that he feels
Speaker 1: in the medical staff feels that he can perform at
Speaker 1: a high level and perform the way he wants to
Speaker 1: perform and the way we think he can perform, then
Speaker 1: it's a green light and then it will be so.
Speaker 1: But until that point, we're gonna it'll be day to day.
Speaker 1: Before the game, I always ask you the name of
Speaker 1: the game, and yesterday was which team was going to
Speaker 1: run the ball better and take the ball away? Right? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, at the end of the day we ended
Speaker 1: up there was it was twelve carries for I think
Speaker 1: we're twenty six yards in the first half and they
Speaker 1: end up running the ball on us in the second half.
Speaker 1: You know, the takeaways, you know, we're really you know,
Speaker 1: we had one at the end. It was pretty even
Speaker 1: right there, but they end up running the ball a
Speaker 1: little bit better than we did so, but again I
Speaker 1: thought we run the ball p really well. Pretty well.
Speaker 1: I think monkgo we ran the ball. He saw a
Speaker 1: lot of nice runs by him. The offensive line did
Speaker 1: a really nice job in that regard nap to Simeon,
Speaker 1: clean pocket throws back of the end zone, fighting for
Speaker 1: the ball, Pringle or read hit Pringle for the touchdown
Speaker 1: over the middle bandling with the cornerback. How a laser
Speaker 1: throw by Trevor Simmeyon a four yard touchdown and the
Speaker 1: Bears are taking the lay down the Jets. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Bears Coaching Show with Jeff Joniac. It's Bears
Speaker 1: head coach Matt Eberflus breaking down the Bears and Jets
Speaker 1: from yesterday. Just heard the touchdown Byron Pringle. Break it
Speaker 1: down for me from Trevor Simeon. No, that was that
Speaker 1: was a good drive. You know, the first two drives there.
Speaker 1: We had a couple of explosives you know to the halfbacks,
Speaker 1: you know, and check downs. That was really good. Obviously
Speaker 1: the big fade to Claypool that was a nice play
Speaker 1: where he caught the ball. And then obviously going into
Speaker 1: the second order the play you're talking about, we just
Speaker 1: we just heard was you know the Pringle catch and
Speaker 1: what a really nice catch by him. Um I thought
Speaker 1: it was a good design um by getsy down there
Speaker 1: in the red zone. It was an inbreaker towards the
Speaker 1: middle post, and Simeon had some pressure on his right
Speaker 1: side and he ended up ended up delivering the ball
Speaker 1: and Pringle made an outstanding catch. It was basically off
Speaker 1: the guy's helmet, you know, end up taking it in
Speaker 1: being strong at the catch point and uh just you know,
Speaker 1: not being denied at that moment. Reid doesn't give up touchdowns.
Speaker 1: It was the first touchdown against him, an over eight
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty snaps pass coverage snaps, which is a
Speaker 1: lot which a lot get catched by him. Yeah, exactly, Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: good catch. Indeed, let's talk about David Montgomery back to
Speaker 1: back one hundred yard from scrimmage games now, and he
Speaker 1: actually passed Mike Ditka for eleventh on the Bears all
Speaker 1: time yard from scrimmage list with forty five hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty yards in his career. So anytime you could pass
Speaker 1: a Hall of Famer, no matter if coach didn't get
Speaker 1: the ball as much as today's tight ends. But that's
Speaker 1: pretty dog on onto here. It's good. It's good. It's
Speaker 1: good company too. You know a coach Dick is outstanding.
Speaker 1: But you know, for Goovery to be able to do that,
Speaker 1: that's that's that's certainly an accomplishment. But he's been running
Speaker 1: hard all year. You know, he breaks a lot of tackles,
Speaker 1: and he runs with a purpose and he's always knocking
Speaker 1: it forward. So he's uh, pretty special that way, and
Speaker 1: he was doing it in the fourth quarter when things
Speaker 1: seemingly we're getting out of hand down twenty one, he's
Speaker 1: still doing it. Yeah, it's just that's that's his that's
Speaker 1: who he is. Yeah, he's got great fight and great determination.
Speaker 1: And then with his hands. I think we doubled yesterday.
Speaker 1: Then out on an average like two and a half
Speaker 1: catches a game to the Backs, But yesterday was you
Speaker 1: know double that could that be um something the future
Speaker 1: that maybe we'll enhance the offense. Yeah, I think you know,
Speaker 1: Justin said, you know has talked about that in the past,
Speaker 1: you know about check you know, taking the check downs.
Speaker 1: You know we did it, uh, you know in really
Speaker 1: good fashion. There. We had man free coverage. We dumped
Speaker 1: it out you know, down to d there and he
Speaker 1: did a nice shout of taking it down there. So, um,
Speaker 1: the one was also man coverage. It was quarters coverage,
Speaker 1: which basically man on the backside the one that Montgomery had.
Speaker 1: But uh, it was both great catches and both great
Speaker 1: runs afterward. Yeah, and you know about Darrenton Evans too,
Speaker 1: darn Sevins. That was man coverage for sure. Twenty six
Speaker 1: yard pass that was first drive of the game. Chase
Speaker 1: Claypool two for fifty one. Again sean exactly what he's
Speaker 1: equipped to do. Those fifty fifty balls, attempted fade in
Speaker 1: the end zone with Sauce Garden around him. Those are
Speaker 1: fun fun plays to see. Yeah, and uh, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a good matchup. You know, it doesn't matter who's
Speaker 1: covered him because he's such a big body. You know,
Speaker 1: we always say those guys are always open, you know,
Speaker 1: because of how big their catch radius is. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know when you throw the fade or the back
Speaker 1: shoulder fade right there. Um, it was are heart of
Speaker 1: defend for sure, and he did a nice job come
Speaker 1: up with the catch. Let's talk defense. Um four or
Speaker 1: sixty six yards of offense by the Jets. That was
Speaker 1: the most surrendered this season. What was the big takeaway
Speaker 1: from you after watching the table, Yeah, I would cause that, yeah,
Speaker 1: I would just say that, you know, in the first
Speaker 1: half was more of the passing, you know. You know,
Speaker 1: we end up getting up some big passes. I think
Speaker 1: it was almost a hunt yards and two passes, you know,
Speaker 1: one was you know, over the both were over the
Speaker 1: yea one was the one Eddie got hurt on um.
Speaker 1: So we just got to do a better job of tackling.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm keeping a little single limited. One of
Speaker 1: them was on third down. I think we're in two
Speaker 1: man and then uh, Eddie came up and shoulder tackled
Speaker 1: the guide. He bounced off of him. He's got to
Speaker 1: wrap that up. And then the second one was just
Speaker 1: an incut deep incut, which I think Matt Adams had
Speaker 1: a chance to pick that play. He just just missed
Speaker 1: it and he's just got to rise up and catch that.
Speaker 1: And again that's when Eddie hurt his foot, so we
Speaker 1: lost our middle of field safety and they end up
Speaker 1: running all the way in for that one. But so
Speaker 1: two plays, right, there's one hundred yards of offense. But
Speaker 1: but again, overall in the second half, we have to
Speaker 1: do a better job tackling. You know, we didn't tackle
Speaker 1: really well when they ran the ball again, I think
Speaker 1: they ran the ball thirty two times. I want to
Speaker 1: say they ran at twelve in the in the first half.
Speaker 1: So we just needed to do a better job with
Speaker 1: our fundamentals and tackling and angles and cupping the ball
Speaker 1: and doing it the right way. Yeah. I was asked
Speaker 1: this last night, you know, because once the tackling thing
Speaker 1: becomes a topic, it's hard to tell people. How are
Speaker 1: they going to fix that in practice? Well, I said,
Speaker 1: Mattie Buflus and his staff don't let these things just
Speaker 1: go away. They'll go back to the fundamental teaching of
Speaker 1: what they want specifics. And is that simply the way
Speaker 1: it is? Yeah, just I mean, if you watch all
Speaker 1: the tackle just there, we're tackling too high. You know,
Speaker 1: we're a low tackling team. We call a hamstring tackle
Speaker 1: where we grabbed the hamstrings, pull them in and our
Speaker 1: top of our shoulder pads are at waist level or below,
Speaker 1: and we were on our feet for three yard steps.
Speaker 1: And yesterday during that game, for whatever reason, we were
Speaker 1: tackling higher and we kept stressing the guys on the
Speaker 1: sideline and I know they have smaller backs, you know,
Speaker 1: in there, and I know that Sambourne is really tackling
Speaker 1: them high a couple of times and running them and
Speaker 1: putting them back on his back. But at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, that's gonna get you in trouble because
Speaker 1: you gotta take a man's legs away when you tackle,
Speaker 1: and you gotta tackle them below. Back to throwing a
Speaker 1: poor man a rush throws out to the outside, not
Speaker 1: comming to catch, breaks a tackle forty forty five midfield
Speaker 1: third down in six, Montgomery twenty six yards on the
Speaker 1: catch and run at the Bears first down. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Bears Coach Show with head coach Matt Everflus calling.
Speaker 1: All Bears fans get the ultimate VIP fan package with
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears VIP. Secure a game ticket and appearance from
Speaker 1: Bears legends and more by visiting Chicago Bears vip dot com.
Speaker 1: That was the aforementioned Dave Montgomery twenty six yard catch
Speaker 1: in the first quarter that we touched on. Just his
Speaker 1: ability to get open, make catch, and then make people
Speaker 1: miss after the catch, something that the Bears incorporated yesterday.
Speaker 1: We touched on that. I want to go back the
Speaker 1: tackling thing. Though. You get the old players and they say, well,
Speaker 1: that's all I attitude, it's all I want to Is
Speaker 1: that also part of it? You got to really want
Speaker 1: to do it, even if your fundamentals are going to
Speaker 1: be right on, if you're not willing to stick your
Speaker 1: nose in there. Did you see any of that creeping
Speaker 1: in or fatigue in the fourth quarter, or just not
Speaker 1: being lined upright or a little bit of all the above. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say that the old timers are correct because
Speaker 1: it does take desire. You got to have the want
Speaker 1: to to do it and the desire and the insight
Speaker 1: grit to be able to make it a good tackle,
Speaker 1: you know. So we didn't see a bunch of that
Speaker 1: in terms of you know, guys doing that and not
Speaker 1: having the desire. But it's more technique. Is more technique
Speaker 1: and bringing their feet on tackles and then putting their
Speaker 1: pads in the right position. No Brisker, no Gordon yesterday
Speaker 1: on top of it. So let's break it down. DHC
Speaker 1: had nine tackles, and most he's had since a game
Speaker 1: a few years ago. I've always said, you know, whatever
Speaker 1: role you put him in, he's going to perform professionally
Speaker 1: and was that the case he No, Ghc's been great.
Speaker 1: You know, he's uplifting to others. You know, he really
Speaker 1: works hard. He did a good job in there yesterday,
Speaker 1: you know, and made a lot of tackles. You know,
Speaker 1: he made a lot of tackles. But again, you don't
Speaker 1: want your sick on the secondary making a lot of tackles.
Speaker 1: You want your defensive line, your linebackers leading the way
Speaker 1: in that regard. And typically when you have a corner
Speaker 1: or our safety leading the tackles, you're not playing very
Speaker 1: good run defense. That's happened in time or two this season. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: it has like five or six tackle leaders are either
Speaker 1: a linebacker or but the defensive line is is this
Speaker 1: is this the area of greatest need and of improvement
Speaker 1: right now? Yeah? I would say that. You know, certainly
Speaker 1: our front seven needs to do a good job of
Speaker 1: stopping run. It starts with those guys. It starts with
Speaker 1: those guys playing their gaps. Those guys you know, you know,
Speaker 1: fighting and competing to stay in their gaps with good
Speaker 1: technique and good fundamentals. You know, like Justin Jones I
Speaker 1: think has done a really good job of improving upon that.
Speaker 1: He's really improved the last few weeks of staying in
Speaker 1: his gap. You certainly noticed him yesterday. He was really
Speaker 1: doing a good job with the three technique of staying
Speaker 1: in that B gap making plays on the back side.
Speaker 1: So we were really pleased with the way he played
Speaker 1: um yesterday. But it goes for everybody, even to defensive ends.
Speaker 1: When you're running outside zone, you gotta be able to
Speaker 1: set your arm okay and then make sure that they
Speaker 1: don't get too wide for the rest of the defense.
Speaker 1: But we have to improve that way for sure. What
Speaker 1: do you think of you know, run Marinelli. I always
Speaker 1: ponded it in my head about takeoff get you know, takeoff,
Speaker 1: get off. Have you guys switched that up over the
Speaker 1: course of the season on how they attack the line
Speaker 1: of scrimple footwork and stuff. No, we have not switched
Speaker 1: it up. That's been the same. We're still a penetrating defense.
Speaker 1: We want to play on their side of the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, and you know, they get off is the
Speaker 1: most important thing, you know, and then be able to
Speaker 1: set edges on the front side, stay alive on the
Speaker 1: back side, and do a really good job with our fundamentals.
Speaker 1: A really good conversation with Travis Smith this week or
Speaker 1: this past week when the assistance are available to the
Speaker 1: media and talked about Okay, do all these guys have
Speaker 1: a toolbox? I'm talking about the defensive line toolbox and
Speaker 1: one move. You go to move and then you have
Speaker 1: one counter, one counter yep, and he goes they probably
Speaker 1: they probably don't all have that counter yet. How long
Speaker 1: does something like that take? It takes. It takes time.
Speaker 1: It does take time. Like for a guy like Dominic Robinson,
Speaker 1: you know, it takes a little bit of time for
Speaker 1: him to be able to figure out what his fastball
Speaker 1: is and then what his counter is and that's all
Speaker 1: you need. You only need one fastball in one counter.
Speaker 1: But they should both look the same, you know, on
Speaker 1: the approach, you know, so when you're approaching that rush,
Speaker 1: it should both look the same. So it's it's your
Speaker 1: fastball and then the counter to that, and again that
Speaker 1: varies by guy. But you got to audition some things.
Speaker 1: You got to try things out, and it's not always
Speaker 1: the same. You know, it's really the same move for you,
Speaker 1: but you can make it look differently for different types
Speaker 1: of past setters. You know, so it's important that you
Speaker 1: have that always playing that game inside the game. Some
Speaker 1: of the best that have had that ability to maybe
Speaker 1: even throw a third move in there that you've worked with.
Speaker 1: The guy that I worked with, DeMarcus Ware, you know,
Speaker 1: he was obviously very special at that. You know. I
Speaker 1: also had on the other side Anthony Spencer, you know
Speaker 1: from Purdue. Both those guys had a ton of sacks
Speaker 1: in the same year. Um, so pretty special year for us.
Speaker 1: But when I was with Dallas and those guys were
Speaker 1: remarkable throwing their fastball and then having a counter you know,
Speaker 1: and they worked, you know, in conjunction with each other.
Speaker 1: And what they did mostly was they when it was
Speaker 1: crunch time, they came up big. You know. So when
Speaker 1: it was two minute, when it was during this passing
Speaker 1: situations they were they were either making a sack or
Speaker 1: making a strip sack or pressure in the quarterback. During
Speaker 1: those moments, maybe save a special fastball for crunch time, right,
Speaker 1: they would they would hold it back. They would hold
Speaker 1: it back to the very last play that when it mattered,
Speaker 1: and they would throw it. And that was pretty special
Speaker 1: to watch. So I two by two formation snap, you
Speaker 1: gotta give it on the read and Jack Samborne wrestles
Speaker 1: down Michael Carter down near the twenty nine yard loud
Speaker 1: of the Jets a Canada four boy. He hits you
Speaker 1: and he fights you all the way to the ground.
Speaker 1: Great seats available to see here. Chicago Bears this season
Speaker 1: had sold your field. Get your tickets at Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: dot com slash tickets. Welcome back to the Bears Coaches
Speaker 1: Show with that coach Maddy Reflus. Just heard one of
Speaker 1: many tackles. Jack Samborne had fourteen on the day. That
Speaker 1: is a single game record for a rookie in Bears history.
Speaker 1: Did you know that? I do? Now, I mean that's
Speaker 1: something considering who played this game and had good rookie season.
Speaker 1: That's really good. And uh, you know, obviously we've had
Speaker 1: a lot of good backers here, you know, with the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears over the history, you know, some of the
Speaker 1: best of all time. Now, that just shows you his instincts,
Speaker 1: you know, his instincts and his ability to read and react,
Speaker 1: you know, and you know, spring into action and his
Speaker 1: block protection is really good too, you know. So he's
Speaker 1: done a good job with that and he had a
Speaker 1: lot of tackles yesterday for sure, he's continuing to progress
Speaker 1: really well. Block protection, what are you referring to? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so the ability to keep blockers off of you to
Speaker 1: get to the ball. Here, So, as a linebacker, and
Speaker 1: I've had been blessed to coach a lot of good ones,
Speaker 1: is that you know their ability to keep blockers off
Speaker 1: of you. Because your number one goal is to hit
Speaker 1: the ball, you know, so you hit the ball, the
Speaker 1: guy with the ball, you're hitting them so or you're
Speaker 1: intercepting the ball or punching the ball out. So your
Speaker 1: number one goal of all linebackers is to hit the ball,
Speaker 1: and part of that is tackling, and to get there
Speaker 1: you have to use block protection. So it's just basically
Speaker 1: varying ways how the blocker approaches you, and you have
Speaker 1: a bunch of different tools you can use to keep
Speaker 1: those guys off of you. All right, I want you
Speaker 1: to define instincts because Tom and I had a little
Speaker 1: back and forth in the broadcast, But I said, you
Speaker 1: know the instinct to just get to where you need
Speaker 1: to go and fire and trigger quickly. He goes, that's preparation.
Speaker 1: Can it be both? When people say this guy's got
Speaker 1: great instincts, how would you as a coach, define it well.
Speaker 1: First of all, it's innate most of it. For example,
Speaker 1: last week at Atlanta, DHC caused the fumble on the
Speaker 1: on the punt, we punted the ball to them. They
Speaker 1: returned to DHC and you know, Jacker and coverage and
Speaker 1: DHC causes the fumble. Who's the first guy to jump
Speaker 1: on it? It's Jack? Why? Because he sees it the
Speaker 1: fastest and he's able to rack the fastest. So there
Speaker 1: was five other guys standing there, But why was it him?
Speaker 1: It's because of his instincts, his ability to see and
Speaker 1: do right now. And that's what it is. And I've
Speaker 1: been fortunate to coach you know, Shawn Lee, Shack Leonard, Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, like I said, DeMarcus Ware, all those different
Speaker 1: guys that are all pro players, and every one of
Speaker 1: those guys had great instincts. And can you help a
Speaker 1: guy have better instincts? Sure? You know, I've obviously working
Speaker 1: with those guys were my eyes and why? And that
Speaker 1: helps him tick a little bit quicker and helps him
Speaker 1: to become elite almost like they know what the player
Speaker 1: is there before it is there. For example, screen passes,
Speaker 1: tosses are actually running to the play before it actually snapped.
Speaker 1: That's preparation, but they still have to have the innate
Speaker 1: instincts to be able to see things in front of
Speaker 1: him and diagnosed quickly. You know, for a linebacker and
Speaker 1: you're standing behind the offensive line, you're looking at the halfback,
Speaker 1: but you can see and feel the lineman in front
Speaker 1: of you, So you feel the steps of the halfback,
Speaker 1: and then you feel the line in front of you.
Speaker 1: Do you see polars, you see the zone action, you
Speaker 1: see lineman jumping up through you. And then also it's
Speaker 1: instantaneous reactions of how you react to those plays and
Speaker 1: then also knowing when it's play action and to be
Speaker 1: able to get into windows and pick passes off like
Speaker 1: we did at the Detroit game. You know, Jack Samborne
Speaker 1: jumped in there and didn't bite on the play action.
Speaker 1: He was right there and picked off that pass to
Speaker 1: change the game right there. So you know, it's I've
Speaker 1: been fortunate to be able to work with a lot
Speaker 1: of those guys. I think Jack does have really good instincts.
Speaker 1: I think he does have the ability to tackle, make
Speaker 1: a lot of tackles and take the ball away forty
Speaker 1: four tackles. You know, if the organization does not move
Speaker 1: on from Rokuan. He doesn't get the kind of opportunities potentially,
Speaker 1: so is he a revelation for the future. No, I
Speaker 1: think it's great, you know, with all these young guys playing,
Speaker 1: you know, from Dominick to Sanborn to Gordon to Brisker
Speaker 1: to you know, all of them, you know, every one
Speaker 1: of those guys that are playing there with us right now.
Speaker 1: And I think some guys are gonna get some more action,
Speaker 1: you know, with some guys going down and we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens. But to me, it's it's really good for
Speaker 1: those guys to get bank all those reps, you know,
Speaker 1: because it's so important because you don't get those without
Speaker 1: getting that experience. Snap side stemming in the pocket, Simeon
Speaker 1: gonna launch out the right side going for Claypool. It
Speaker 1: just makes the catch. Now they'll call and a flag
Speaker 1: on Sauce Gardners. That's a big play from Trevor Simeon.
Speaker 1: On second and eleven, he picks up thirty one yards
Speaker 1: and a Bear's first down. All right back in the
Speaker 1: Bears Coaching Show. Just heard one of Chase Claypool's catches,
Speaker 1: the thirty one yard fade in the first quarter. As
Speaker 1: the Bears get ready to take on the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers this week. Not sure who's going to be on
Speaker 1: the field. We'll learn more as the week rolls on.
Speaker 1: And that's so that's standard. Fair, But a lot more
Speaker 1: injuries this week. As you touched on if you just
Speaker 1: joined the program, we always like to update you. Darnell
Speaker 1: Mooney is lost for the season, will likely need surgery
Speaker 1: to a pair and ankle injury, and a bummer for
Speaker 1: the room too. A lot of guys look up to
Speaker 1: him and I know this the relationship and what has
Speaker 1: become of Justin Fields and Darnell Mooney. But that forty
Speaker 1: five minute practice after the practice, yeah and it was
Speaker 1: I you know, what they learned about each other, the
Speaker 1: subtle things that great receiver quarterback combos will benefit from
Speaker 1: moving forward, whether it be a look a nod that
Speaker 1: was happening in those sessions. No, it's great. They're building
Speaker 1: a great bond for the future, you know, and that
Speaker 1: takes time. You know, those guys spend a lot of
Speaker 1: time together from all the way back in the summertime.
Speaker 1: You know, I think they were back down they're working
Speaker 1: out in Georgia. I want to say and and all
Speaker 1: the time they spent during training camp, you know, and
Speaker 1: all these sessions, like you said, forty five minutes after
Speaker 1: every single practice, and those are all banked hours. You know,
Speaker 1: those have not gone to waste. You know, those are
Speaker 1: things that are going to really apply to the future.
Speaker 1: And those guys are excited about their relationship, not only
Speaker 1: on the field but off the field, and both great
Speaker 1: teammates and great bears for the future. For sure. I
Speaker 1: like what you just said in banking to the future,
Speaker 1: because people can all just assume, Okay, well, this roster
Speaker 1: could get a major upgrade again or a turnover next season.
Speaker 1: They always do, at least a third of every roster.
Speaker 1: But whoever remains here everything that happens, does it roll over? Yes,
Speaker 1: it does. You know I said that in the pressor
Speaker 1: today this you know, earlier today that you know, we're
Speaker 1: laying foundation for the future, and that's important. You know,
Speaker 1: it's a standard to how we operate, you know, how
Speaker 1: do we operate meetings, how do we operate in practice,
Speaker 1: how do we operate and walk throughs, how do we
Speaker 1: operate in the game. And the standards are the same
Speaker 1: for everybody, you know, So it's the coach's job to
Speaker 1: hold the standards, you know, it's not the player's job
Speaker 1: to do that. Now, will they be a great example
Speaker 1: of standard? Yes, they will be, and we'll be able
Speaker 1: to point to those guys and they'll follow by example
Speaker 1: as we acquire new players, as we know, draft new
Speaker 1: players and so forth, you know, going forward. But that's
Speaker 1: the most important thing that justin fields is the example
Speaker 1: is the standard, you know. Uh, the players that we
Speaker 1: have into building are all the standard, you know, and
Speaker 1: we can just point to them and say, hey, just
Speaker 1: do this, and they'll actually teach them by modeling that behavior.
Speaker 1: So committee of players that you have, I think it's
Speaker 1: numbers fourteen, leadership council, how have they presented to you?
Speaker 1: If you can talk about this, I don't want you
Speaker 1: can just how the defeats have hurt them or how
Speaker 1: it's how it's making them feel and the bigger team
Speaker 1: chemistry and yeah, and I think it's really Uh, it's
Speaker 1: taught us to be resilient. I think it's taught us.
Speaker 1: You know, through adversity you only get stronger. You know,
Speaker 1: if you let adversity defeat you, then guess what you're defeated.
Speaker 1: But if you have adversity as a as a learning lesson,
Speaker 1: as a tool to get stronger. Then it helps you
Speaker 1: because we all know in life that we've all been
Speaker 1: through adversities. Right, Well, what did you learn most from
Speaker 1: success or adversity? Well, you got to set back. You
Speaker 1: learn more about yourself, You learn more about the people
Speaker 1: around you, okay, and how can I improve How can
Speaker 1: I improve myself? Okay? To get better in any aspect
Speaker 1: you know. And I know we're talking about football, but
Speaker 1: that's really in life. And I think that those guys
Speaker 1: are learning that they're all young guys. Um, they're applying
Speaker 1: these lessons and they're banking these lessons for going forward.
Speaker 1: And our eyes are always forward. We're ready to go
Speaker 1: for this Peckers week coming up. We're excited about the
Speaker 1: challenge and the guys will be ready to go. How
Speaker 1: has it been for you to have a locker room
Speaker 1: and a building that respect is important? Obviously, it's something
Speaker 1: taught from the top down. It's what's asked about. But
Speaker 1: you know, you're not putting out a ton of fires
Speaker 1: other than injuries, and but you no trouble, you know.
Speaker 1: In addition, because again when you're not winning, it happens.
Speaker 1: It happens, It could be really detrimental or a disgruntled
Speaker 1: veteran that's you know, you're you're counting on a set
Speaker 1: an example, and it goes the other way. That is
Speaker 1: not going on here. No, And what's a proof of
Speaker 1: that is that we've had a lot of veterans you
Speaker 1: know that would step up, you know, either because they're
Speaker 1: honorary captains or not whatnot. And they said they've never
Speaker 1: seen the morale of a team be this high with
Speaker 1: this many many adversities going on at the same time,
Speaker 1: and the guys sticking close together and respecting each other,
Speaker 1: working hard, coming to work every day and putting their
Speaker 1: best foot forward. And h the guys have done that,
Speaker 1: and that's really just the culture that they've built. You know,
Speaker 1: we set the standards of you know, being on time,
Speaker 1: you know, working hard and respecting each other, and then
Speaker 1: we model that behavior as coaches. But really it's the
Speaker 1: players that have to do it. You know, they've been
Speaker 1: doing it since day one. They're continuing to do it.
Speaker 1: You know, I told guys in the locker room before
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving the practice after practice that day, I said, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, you guys going anywhere, And I said, you know,
Speaker 1: irlak Or used to invite anybody who was Eddie Jackson
Speaker 1: did house full of people, apparently guys who didn't have
Speaker 1: anything going on, right, no doubt. It means he cares
Speaker 1: about his brothers, you know, he cares about his teammates
Speaker 1: and it wants them to have be part of a family.
Speaker 1: And he invited us at him into into the home.
Speaker 1: So that's uh snap plate thick stands in the pocket,
Speaker 1: throws over them at all. Catch just made forty thirty
Speaker 1: five thirty twenty five Evans brick to tackle fifteen spins
Speaker 1: down inside the ten Darryanson Evans a thirty three yard
Speaker 1: catching run and welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show
Speaker 1: with Matt Eberflus here from Hallis Hall. Didn't know a
Speaker 1: lot about him, didn't have a touch this year for
Speaker 1: the Bears. Third round pick of the Tennessee Titans. Brought
Speaker 1: him in. Looked really good during training camp. What do
Speaker 1: we know about Darrington Evans because there's there's a veteran
Speaker 1: aspect to him. Yeah, I mean Darrington's you know, did
Speaker 1: a nice job. We've seen it all along in practice
Speaker 1: and he got himself elevated, you know, from the Peace
Speaker 1: squad a couple of times, then finally got a standard
Speaker 1: elevation and to the fifty three and uh did a
Speaker 1: nice job of his opportunity. And uh, you know what
Speaker 1: I know about him is he's fast. Um, he's elusive. Um.
Speaker 1: He's very good at catching the ball. As we just
Speaker 1: heard out of the out of the backfield that was
Speaker 1: man to man coverage and what he did with it afterward,
Speaker 1: he burst it away from a linebacker who's a really
Speaker 1: good linebacker in the league. Um bursts it away from him.
Speaker 1: And then he broke another tackle. There was a guy
Speaker 1: who came off man coverage and he split two basically
Speaker 1: and uh and then was you know, knocking it forward
Speaker 1: all the way down almost scored. Um. So he had
Speaker 1: a couple of nice runs too, had his pads forward.
Speaker 1: You know, he's splitting two, knocking guys, like we said,
Speaker 1: forward and uh, and we're excited about where he's going.
Speaker 1: All right, here's a bunch of different topics. The Trenton
Speaker 1: Gilline kickoffs outstanding. He's got quite the leg for that. No,
Speaker 1: he's got a strong leg and he can really boot it.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, we want a high hang time.
Speaker 1: You know, we wanted to land on the goal line
Speaker 1: there for you know, because we want the team to
Speaker 1: return it, because we got a good cover squad. Um
Speaker 1: certainly he's he's our guy for that, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: Cairo does a nice job of it too. But it's
Speaker 1: good to have the one two punch because they do
Speaker 1: both have strengths when it comes to kicking the ball off.
Speaker 1: I had some big punts as well, although I did
Speaker 1: hear you say maybe a little more hang time or what? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: So when he you know, he's got obviously a tremendous leg,
Speaker 1: but when he hits it that far, um, like when
Speaker 1: he's in a backed up situation, he's trying to flip
Speaker 1: the field. But you know, we've got to make sure
Speaker 1: that we got better hang time on some of those
Speaker 1: he really you know, someone was like sixty two yards
Speaker 1: in the air or something. You just gotta have a
Speaker 1: little more hang time. We're gonna have at fifty five
Speaker 1: yards in the air with some more hang time so
Speaker 1: we can get the coverage down there, so the guy
Speaker 1: doesn't catch it before our coverage can get down. So
Speaker 1: take a little bit off his fastball, Yeah, exactly, scheduling quirk.
Speaker 1: No road games in December, you're probably thrilled because they've
Speaker 1: been front loaded and there have been a lot of trips.
Speaker 1: It almost feels like it every week. Last time this
Speaker 1: happened for the Bears in nineteen sixty four, So no
Speaker 1: road games in December. Are you looking forward to this? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Our players are too. We're excited about getting, you know,
Speaker 1: back in front of the Chicago fans, you know, the
Speaker 1: greatest fans in the world. So we're excited to get
Speaker 1: in front of those guys. And uh, you know, don't
Speaker 1: get us a big win. Veayless Jones on kick return.
Speaker 1: We'd all like to see him return it. You got
Speaker 1: him situated, don't don't take anything if falls behind or whatever.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming that's that's wherever his heels are. Would you
Speaker 1: maybe just like to see just to see how it
Speaker 1: works out? Yeah, Mary, Are you more worried about field position? Yeah?
Speaker 1: We we do that every week. You know, we adjust
Speaker 1: that where he takes the ball from. You know, sometimes
Speaker 1: it's too deep, sometimes it's three deep. Sometimes it's you know,
Speaker 1: like a lot. Yesterday I think it was you know,
Speaker 1: one yard. He was sitting right at the one yard
Speaker 1: Mark so um that changes week to week based on
Speaker 1: the cover team, based on what we think we can do.
Speaker 1: But we certainly went the ball in his hands on
Speaker 1: the kickoff return. So if he if he is he
Speaker 1: glued to a spot, also say it's a yard or
Speaker 1: too deep and you're giving him the green light, but
Speaker 1: it's a little bit to his right or a little
Speaker 1: bit to his left. Fard, Yeah, he's not glued to
Speaker 1: it took spots. It's more of a horizontal you know,
Speaker 1: if it's deep, you know, into the end zone. All right,
Speaker 1: what you're thinking with the bye week, I know you
Speaker 1: got packers first, but does this group just need to
Speaker 1: recuperate and just get the whole week? Yeah? Well, you know,
Speaker 1: like last week, I you know, I knew the guys
Speaker 1: felt they were a little bit you know, tired because
Speaker 1: of it, you know, just because of a length that
Speaker 1: you don't we have a bye week until week fourteen,
Speaker 1: you know. So I did a walk through practice last
Speaker 1: week and then it kind of a jog through the
Speaker 1: next day and then you know, full speed Friday. You know,
Speaker 1: so the guys you know, definitely need some rest, you know,
Speaker 1: once we get past the packers and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a much needed for those players. Would
Speaker 1: you ever consider giving Tevin right tackle snaps? Oh, that's
Speaker 1: a good question. You know, we liked Tevin at right guard.
Speaker 1: He's done a great job there. But we're gonna look
Speaker 1: at all combinations, you know, we have. You know, Leatherwood
Speaker 1: could be in there, depending on what where Riley is
Speaker 1: and and we'll see where it is and and we'll
Speaker 1: decide as we get through the week. And then when
Speaker 1: Justin does get back, you would you like to see
Speaker 1: more of the passing game just for a more further
Speaker 1: evaluation and see what you have for the future. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we're gonna want to see the
Speaker 1: whole offense. You know, we want to see the whole offense.
Speaker 1: We're gonna we're gonna, you know, do what we do
Speaker 1: and if certain, we'll have some things schemed up for
Speaker 1: this week, and uh, we want to execute those the
Speaker 1: best way we can. But Justin we'll see where it goes.
Speaker 1: He's day to day, but we're hopeful. Yeah. I have
Speaker 1: a hard time keeping him away from a Bear Packer game.
Speaker 1: You know that, don't you. Yeah, I'm sure, Yeah, I'm sure, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. All right, now, It's time to look ahead.
Speaker 1: Brought to you buy Bette Rivers, the official sports book
Speaker 1: partner of the Bears. Packers coming to town here on Sunday.
Speaker 1: They lost to Philly forty to thirty three last night.
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, already with a broken thumb, apparently left with
Speaker 1: a rib injury. Will find out more about his status
Speaker 1: over the course of the week as well. But the
Speaker 1: wow of that game was the rushing yards put up
Speaker 1: by the Philadelphia Eagles. And I touched on this with
Speaker 1: you a couple weeks ago, because it's not just the Bears,
Speaker 1: it's it's other teams getting these two hundred and fifty now,
Speaker 1: I mean three hundred sixty three yards rushing. Is this
Speaker 1: the new NFL? It's Week twelve? Well, I think when
Speaker 1: you have a you know, two or three pronged attack,
Speaker 1: like a justin fields of Herbert and you know Montgomery,
Speaker 1: I think that creates a lot of numbers, you know,
Speaker 1: just as they have. You know, they got some good
Speaker 1: runners over there, and obviously they got Jalen Hurts. You know,
Speaker 1: that's and they got a dynamic offensive line and their
Speaker 1: scheme is hard. So that's you know, one of the
Speaker 1: better offenses in ball right now, all right, how about
Speaker 1: the Pack? A little different team both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1: Injuries and whatnot. But one of the key differences is
Speaker 1: the expansion and performance of Christian Watson. He's tearing it up. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: he really is. He's done a really good job. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he's obviously an explosive athlete. You know that
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to deal with. You know, you saw
Speaker 1: the play last night. You know, it was really good
Speaker 1: play and when the backup quarterback was in Love and um,
Speaker 1: it's a you know, he's an exciting player and then
Speaker 1: as a banged up Aaron Rodgers, dangerous Aaron Rodgers. Like
Speaker 1: all the great players, they seemingly put aside whatever ailment,
Speaker 1: sickness or whatever and sometimes have legendary games. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: still making some dynamic throws. You saw last night he
Speaker 1: made a couple throws. One of those touchdown throws is
Speaker 1: pretty cool to the half back. Um, you know, so
Speaker 1: he's still got still got it. And then you have
Speaker 1: to get ready now also for Jordan Love, just in
Speaker 1: case man you would anyway, I'm assuming, but question, yeah,
Speaker 1: question you do, and uh, you know, so you know
Speaker 1: Aaron's been hurt through his career and always you know,
Speaker 1: shows up in plays, you know, So we're anticipating him
Speaker 1: playing and we'll see where it goes during the week
Speaker 1: and then, uh, you know, do you say anything special,
Speaker 1: Bob Barris Packers this week Round two? Yes, it's round two.
Speaker 1: It's Barris Packer week. We're super excited and you have
Speaker 1: to get ready to go. All right, good luck with
Speaker 1: your preparation. Thank you. Thanks to our producers Keith Johnson,
Speaker 1: Andy Gersherdan Billy and Jordan Trudup. For head coach Maddie Berflus,
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Jonaiak back at Soldier Field or a noon
Speaker 1: start against the Packers. Our pregame gets underway at nine.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned for Pittsburgh in Indianapolis here on Monday night
Speaker 1: football on seven eighty AM. Joined in Progress. News continues
Speaker 1: on one oh five nine years CBS News at the
Speaker 1: top of the hour is next. This is News Radio
Speaker 1: one oh five nine w BBM. Good night, everybody,