All Access: Mike Davis on running style

The preseason schedule release will tell you about that and much more as the Bears gear up for the NFL Draft. On a shortened edition of Bears All Access, Jeff Joni acabon with my broadcast partner from news Radio seven eighty and one h five point nine FMWBBM, Tom Fair and Jim Miller from sirius XM NFL Radio, the Bears quarterback of the Past. Joining the program. Coming up at about six h eight will be new running back Mike Davis.

Lots to discuss before we turn it over to Bulls asketball. Fellows. Good evening, How are we doing, big, Jeff? You're like you mentioned, The preseason schedule is out and it gives you a lot of direction. Now it starts giving a

thinking about scheming throughout the preseason. You think about how it fits according to your plan of attack as a player, how do you fit in the roster, playing time, designation of areas of where you're gonna play these teams, the travel arrangements and are you going to practice against somebody during the preseason is still the unknown and it's you know, it's worked for the Bears in the past. Yeah, think

about last year. We're talking about six games, right because the induction of Brian or Elactt probably you know, I think coach Nagie talk about it being a good thing to play that extra game and for the Bears to have that opportunity. And I think now being cut down to just four games this year, they'll be much more prepared. They know how the schedules kind of laid out and what the coaches it's expecting. So have to make the most of it. Just with with less opportunities on the

field for this football team. Well, if you're a young player on the football team, you know you're gonna play a lot of snaps in the preseason. I don't know what the plan will be for starters this year, But you know you're gonna get snaps. You know you're gonna get a lot of reps in those games. It starts with a home game against Carolina, then a trip to New York to meet the Giants, and then a trip to Indy to meet the Colts, home to Tennessee to

wrap it up at first blush. You know, it's considered by fans and whatnot just preseason, but it's much more than that, because even though the Bears won twelve games, went to the playoffs, and had such a great run in a first year under Matt Nagge, there is still much growth and much to accomplish for this football team.

So no practice, no snap will be taken lightly right, you know, But Jeff, I think we learned to or not understand, but respect the way Matt and Aggie Ryan Pace went along with the game plan in the preseason. Because the guys that were backing up and trying to learn the system and understand they had a chance to play with an experienced quarterback and Chase Daniel Tyler Bray

had experienced in the system. They had a good understanding how to develop their talents and traits, and I think it gave Matt Naggey an opportunity to be a little bit more aggressive at each practice with the first unit guys, and yeah, so he practices them aggressively for four days in a row and then allows the developing understudies or the competition go out there and have a camera and reality in front of them to go and showcase their talent. Yeah,

you know, I think typical. You know, preseason, they're not going to show a lot. I think it's a fact finding mission, like you said, whether it's a young guys that will be added to the team through free agency or the draft, where you're getting to know them. Chuck Pagana is probably gonna get to know that the defensive players what they can and cannot do, what he's going to ask them to do, put them in uncomfortable spots, And that's what I think it is. For a lot

of teams. It's more of a fact finding mission. I think how it is. I think they know the nucleus of the team is pretty good and they know what those players can do. We'll see what the young players can do in terms of growth, and I think a lot of that will be displayed in the practices not

necessarily in play in a preseason year. We also got to know what the definition of being calloused is for a preseason it didn't necessarily mean you know, getting bull in the ring and you start cracking each other left and right throughout practice. There was a physicality to it. There was a lot of time on the field, but that was also a mental component in preseason right and you know some of that is um you know, left up to the players that are here for the very

first time. I think when you're in the players that have been around this system, you're going to see a faster, more aggressive, more physical camp earlier because they're not thinking out of their stance. They're coming out with you know, destruction depending upon what side of the ball they play on where and what position. With a better understanding, you're probably going to get better battles again on the offensive and defensive line because of Ted and and a Keem Hicks.

And it's you know, I'm not overstating it, it's going to happen, but you're going to see a faster starting offense this year to training camp than you saw last year throughout training camp, and I think you see coach is more vocal they want more time with the players, and maybe that's you know, we'll start today with negotiations on a new CBA with the NFL and NFLPA. Because even out at the owners meetings, Jeff and Tom Bill Belichick talked about it. John Harbaugh has harped on it repeatedly.

John Gruden Chucky's he wants more time with the players, and that typically for young players, we're gonna get your most growth because again with the CBA, you just see don't have enough time and there's less reps for these young players. Player or coaches a lot more time with these players to get them ready. Our producers are Eli Herskovitch and Herb Lawrence. This is Bears All Access. Coming up next, Mike Davis, the newest Bear running back. We

joined the program. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Welcome back to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, and home warranty products to over one million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS

Energy at igs dot com. Welcome back to Bears All Access. Jeff, Jonny account there, Jim Mutter now joined by the newest Bear running back Mike Davis, to South Carolina products Stone Mountain, Georgia to uh the University of South Carolina, the Niners, the Seahawks, and now the Bears. So from the NFC West to the NFC North, we welcome you, big fellow.

How you doing, Hey, how are you doing? I'm doing go excited because this is another coach in your string of Steve Spurrier and Pete Carroll, high energy coach, young coach with a lot of offensive vision. Are you excited to join this kind of type of coaching staff in this offense? Yeah, man, I can't wait to come in

and make him plays. Hey, Mike, when you were playing as a young man and you got introduced to Steve Spurrier, did he change you at all from the what type of running back you thought you were going to be when you entered college? Oh? I wouldn't say he changed most. I mean, Conda, I would say it was most definitely opener coming in from high school to college. Um, a lot of live bags apple playing there. Come in and

just play it right away. Well, in that case, I had mont Blattimore in front of me, and it was just more of a yeah, you had to wait the uh, you had to wait their turn. And Mike Jim Miller here one, welcome to Chicago and congratulations was signing with the Bears, and just kind of want to talk about your journey, you know, bouncing between San Francis and Seattle

and last year when you got your opportunities. I mean, your your yards per carry extremely impressive, but really all the build up to that time where you got your opportunity and I think showed flashes of why the Bears and teams like Seattle were interested in why Seattle brought you back into the mix from their standpoint prior to the Bears, Yeah, it was I wanted to make sure

that I made the most of my opportunity. Seattle had the running back in the first round and under they wanting him to play a lot more, and I just knew they wanted to try to, like easily basically out of the door. But I wanted to make sure that they know that you won't be easy to just pushing me out of the door. Mike Davis sounded the line with US Bears running back and free agent acquisition as the Bears get ready to unveil the twenty nineteen season.

The schedule will come out sometime here in the next week or so. And Mike, you know, a season high and carries last year career high and carries last year, a couple two hundred yard carry seasons in college at a time and place in the NFL when the committee approach is prevalent. There was only Ezekiel Elliott last year that they carried the ball more than twenty times, actually twenty point three attempts per game. Everybody else in that

eighteen to fifteen range there was a lead back. But it is just something that you become used to, I guess, to share the load a little bit. Um, Yes, you get used to obviously. And um, it's more for when the opportunity comes, you must be ready for it. Um. I'm quite sure anybody can take well, I want to say anybody, but the guys who are up there as for as like le Beyond and saw Gurley and all those guys, they are willing to take, you know, twenty care of the game. It doesn't say, Um, this is

more about when that time. Um, you just basically make the most of it, you know, Mike, you got to look outside the running back position when you're looking for a new team as a free agent, when you look at the two quarterbacks you're gonna play with, Russell Wilson now Mitchell Trubisky. Do you see any similarities in the growth possibility of Mitchell Trubisky's game or even the traits in the style they play with? Um? Yeah, I was you know Miss can run as the think Miss is

probably Contum. I always called Russ slow when I was just yeah, Um, so that's kind of funny. But um, I can most definitely say he's most definitely accurate. Um. I trained with him out in a Huntington beach a couple of weeks ago. So UM, and I'm excited to be in Um from your standpoint, whether the couple of years in San Francisco or the last couple in Seattle, Like, since you came out of college, what do you think you've improved at the most, Mike and where your game

is at? Um? I think I improved on everything. Uh man. One thing was was big was really a conditioner. UM My diet, Um I actually changed a lot once once I got cut, and um, this is I was just out to basically approved to go wrong and I just always had the revenge that I check on my shoulder in my head. This is something I never forgot, Mike da I was just wanted to remind people. Sorry body, damn Mike. Mike Davis, our guest our Bears running Back here and Bears All Access in Chicago Sports Radio six

seventy to score. One of the things I enjoy about you when you hit the edge is that stiff arm. How important is that because not every back uses it, and not every back is maybe strong enough to have it actually make an impact when you're trying to escape a tackle. Um, I'm willing to actually do anything when it comes breaking a tackle. Um, stiff arm, running you over, run around, I'm legit trying to do it all. But stiff arms is something that I mean, you've got to

have the running back, you know, Mike. You come from a pretty explosive offense out there in Seattle, and coach Naggi is really receptive for players to bring plays to him that they think they can flourish with. So in the back of your mind, either grown up or grown through the offense you just came from, is there a play after you become familiar with the bears your new offense that Hey, coach, this is what I feel confident and this is the type of routes or passes that

I feel that I can flourish with. Is there anything that you would like to bring up in those types of meetings? Oh no, I'm not really that type of guy. Um. I've watched them and watched the big plays and watch games to him and everything after that, and I'm whatever they throw in, I'd be able to do. So I'm all for whatever coach and Naggie puts in. Other than bringing something to him, I'm not that kind of player. Well,

you may come up with some nicknames. They got Willie walk Us and a slay the fridge play to Kim Hicks. So you may want to rethink that, Mike, because you better raise your hand in the meeting if you if you want the football a little bit more. It seems like Naggi's had some fun with some of the play calls. Oh yeah, I mean, I'm most definitely see the fun and everything, but like coming up with a play, I don't know if I'll actually the one for that. Can

you spend it? Mike? Have you ever thrown it like a toss? Four thirty eight pass. Well, we'll come up with a nickname for that. You can spend the football, can't you? Oh, I just thought a little bit um, you know at that time. Come, you know, I almost definitely slinker. Now, Mike Davis, the South Carolina product, our guest here on Bears All Access in Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Jeff, Tim and Jim with you as well a few more moments here with Mike Davis.

Obviously you're out there in Huntington Beach with Mitch and some of the receivers, and I don't know who also came out there. But the value of that you probably can't even put into words because you're new to the equation. This offense is only one year old though, so you're you're on the ground floor this opportunity with this offense as a pass receiving back, it's not just the swings and the screens, but Matt Naggie likes to have guys that can actually be very sound route runners and very

discipline runners. How would you describe your route running ability as a receiver? Um, I would say I'm pretty side. I know was something I was able to to do in Seattle and UM coaching, I getting knows that and um, when i'm I'll be able to line up outside inside, it doesn't matter where you putting me out, be able to run every route, Um, anything he throws at me. So questions. That's something that I love about me coming in. You know, my durability is one of the keys to

success in the NFL. So six games in two thousand and seventeen, but fifteen and two eighteen, that's a big jump. How did you feel at the end of that season when you had the fifteen opportunities and did you feel, you know, fresh along the way even though you had a bigger load a competition to go against that season. UM, yeah, I feel good coming out as long as the end of the season healthy. Um, that was one of the things. Um, I didn't have any issues coming into the season or anything.

So I think I did it pretty good job as far as say health and take care of my body. All right, Mike, that's going to wrap us up here tonight. We appreciate you taking a few minutes and joining us Laford to meeting you up at Hallis Hall and the offseason program starting next week so you'll get to meet all your teammates at a brand new, beautiful facility. Enjoy your time in Chicago. Good luck, all right, thanks you so much. Thank you Mike. That's Bears running back Mike

Davis joining us. When we return, Jim, Tom and I will take a look at some of the key movement opportunities in this NFL this week in the latest on the meeting between the NFLPA and the NFL's Management Council today, What's it all mean, Jim Miller's opinion on it from a national perspective, as well as the NFL Draft All coming up next on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. The twenty nineteen Miller Light Chicago Bears Draft Party will be held on Saturday, April

twenty seventh that Soldier Field noon to six. The event featuring on field activities, locker room tours, player autographs, and of course, live draft coverage and analysis from Bears football experts like Tom There. Get your ticket today at Chicago Bears dot com slash Draft Party. Gonna have a big crew of guys out there. Well attended draft party in advance of the one hundred celebration that's coming up in June, so a lot of good times for Bears football fans.

Had the occasion fellows today to meet some more Bears fans at the Black Courage Award given to Zach Miller today. Once again he delivered a powerful message accepting the award that's voted on by teammates and appears in the locker room, and you're not going to find a guy that has

more respect in that room than Zach Miller. Yeah. I really admire Zach Miller the way that he's been so resilient about his training and getting back to a normal as normal as he can possibly get back to walking to running, to be in physical His attitude around the locker room shows that even in an injury scenario, the game and the work effort is still important to him. And I think that's an important message to send out there.

And I think we all have a tremendous amount of respect for Zach Miller, and he is really deserving of an award for a guy that knew that they weren't going to step on the field. He was a really important,

an important part of the process last year. Yeah, we say it all the time, when you overcome those you know, at least the adversity that he's been through, multiple surgeries with the injury and what he's gone through, and again it's it's hard a lot, I know, ultimately, you know, for teams, it says a lot about players when they

overcome things like this. You know, whether it's say even Thomas Davis, the former linebacker for the Carolina Panthers now out there for the charges I mean three acls and obviously the significance of the injury to what Zach has been dealing with, in the adversity that he's fought through to get to this point, it just it says a lot about him as an individual, and he exemplifies everything that that award represents. Yes, because it's not just that injury.

You know, he had two separated shoulders in high school. You know, he walks on at Nebraska flourishes in Nebraska Alma, gets drafted, gets injured almost four consecutive years, and then manages to put together two really good years for the

Bears before that injury October of seventeen. So the question fell us today was and in the media of the local media had a chance to visit with him in displays, can you play again, I don't know yet, and there'll be a time probably soon that will make that decision. I haven't made that decision yet. It's something that we're exhausting every option we can, and I know it's getting close.

But I can't hold it hostages forever, you know. And I don't plan too, but there's some things that I need to try and do physically and see if it's possible. And the thing he wanted to emphasize, he's not going to drag this out. He doesn't want to hold anybody in the organization or take up a roster spot if it's not something that he can do. He does still feel pain in that leg and so forth when he's jogging, and jogging certainly is not playing and so there's still

some hurdles to climb. But the guy's working. He never wants to say no, right. I mean, that's the attitude you have to have, you know too, Like I said, even to how normal can you get back to? And that's going to help your way of life as you go on. He's a young man. He's got so much in his future ahead of him and so much of the message that he wants to to deliver and the way he goes about the rest of his life, his ability to recover from such a horrific injury because people

are so familiar with it. It was shown all around the world. So you know, Zach Miller is kind of tsunamous. He you know, he runs the same parallel as perseverance and hard work. Yeah. No, Only he's going to know when it comes to that point. You know. I think players know, like you know, when I blew up my hip for the Giants, they just say, hey, that's it. That was finality, you know. And he hasn't crossed that that bridge yet. He hasn't he doesn't have all the

facts that he needs to make that decision. But when that time comes, he'll know that. I think as as a player, you know, and I think you know who was it this week, Ryan Shazier or the Steelers. You see he's doing box jumps right, incredible with the entry. He's come back, and he studs he would like to come back and play. I don't know if that's realistic or that, but only he is going to know that at that point in time. I really believe that, you know.

You know, just last night I was at this event in the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame down in Springfield, Illinois, and I can't remember his name. I was trying to look it up. Rufus was his first name. He was a great basketball player from the area and throughout his career he got hurt early and then he had to go into coaching, and it was listening to a story. If he was a successful player, he would have been concerned about himself. But after he had this injury and

he took a different direction. He started coaching. He touched thousands of men and women in coaching in his volunteer work. The story in his case was inspirational because he did more after the injury than he did maybe if he would have stayed healthy throughout his career. On the same thing for Zach Miller, because he has admitted many times and he's talked about it today, just the amount of mail he's getting from other young athletes or others who

have suffered a similar injury. Because any one of us, you're getting a car accident, you're getting a skiing accident, the same type of injury could happen. It's just a rare moment, but it could happen, and others have been inspired by the battle. He talked about the countless messages day in and day out people are rehabit or going through something that say, hey, I was able to get

through a day by seeing your stories. And that's cool for me to just impact somebody indirectly, but it's something that really makes it feel good, and it's worldwide. He said, there's a lot of people from foreign countries that have seen his video, seen his stories, and you know that's the part of this. There's a reason for everything, right and maybe in this case and whatever it does to fuel whatever he's going to wind up doing, whether it be in football out of it, you know he can

take that way. You know, Jeff, when that injury happened, initially they thought it could possibly be unrecoverable. So when he goes through the stages, and he goes through because we get to see it, he goes from the apparatus is on his legs, to crutches, to then to a cane and a walker and then you see a slight lamp. Then you see a more organized walk throughout the process of Zach Miller. There he's inspiring other people and athletes that have these injuries that once thought of worst case

scenario could possibly happen to them. Yeah. Now I just think I just because I understand from from his standpoint. But like you said, Jeff, he's overcome so many things that his mental makeup is I'm going to attack this one hundred percent, and only he will know when it gets to that point, to that point where he just says, all right, this is one fight that that maybe I'm not going to be able to reach the end, but

only he is going to know that. But he is prepared mentally to do that because he's already overcome so many things, and that's how a lot of players are wired. But I think ultimately, you know, he'll do what's what's best for himself and what's best for his career. And we'll see if this fight he's able to complete as well well asable guy and he'll have even if it's not on the playing field, there could be a role for him in this organization in some capacity. He did

a lot last year. He mentioned Matt Naggie a lot today, having a major impact on accepting him and having him experienced the season even though he couldn't play and experience what a great season it was. Just you know, It's one of the most inspirational stories I've ever covered. I was in his home and did a story for Bears Game Night, our Game Day Live last fall and during the season, and we know, honously he represents something. Yeah,

his teammates voted him in. He represents something, what he stands for and what Bears stands for, and that's why they they honored him and bestowed that that prestigious award on him for everything he represents. And every one of those players and everyone in that organization understanding. I know, I understand it. You know, even even from here in Michigan, what he represents hims. You know, I think what you are.

You know, one thing that you'd understand better than Jeff and I is We've always talked a lot and heard a lot of about how supportive he is the Mitchell Trubisky on the sidelines during the game, how important it is for a quarterback to have a sounding board outside the quarterback position. Yeah, I just you know, there's so

many things here. Mitchell at that point of such a young quarterback and probably has a million things going through his mind, new offenses, new coaching staff, teammates, and here, you know, here Zach Millard just trying to be a good teammate. Hey, how what can I do to help my teammate out to make him better? Zach understood it as a former quarterback, everything that that young man was going through as he played at North Carolina, and he was one reached out there and gave him a hoping hand.

I think Zach comes with a great knowledge of what helped Mitchell all would and as a former quarterback himself, so good sounding board as well for Mitche Trubisky. That's Jim Miller, Tom Bear, Jeff Jonnyak and this is Bears All Access one segment ago before we handed off to Bull's basketball in the regular season home finale at United Center tonight against the New York Knicks. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Chuggle Bears Network presents

Inside the Bears, brought to you by a Horizon. Anthony Adams and Lauren Screeden cover the world of Bears football, on and off the field every Sunday night, ten thirty five pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime at Chicago Bears dot com or on the Bears official app. Jeffy tomp Fare and Jim Miller, our guest here on bears all access for another ten minutes or so, six minutes or so, I should say, Tom, will you what

do you got? I don't. I don't have Twitter. But they were showing me pictures of Double A dancing in front of Shack. Did you see that? I caught a glimpse. Oh my god. You know, first of all, he moves his feet as well now as any time throughout his entire career, even you know, being out of football for a couple of years. He's he is, he's fearless. Oh

my gosh, I tell you. He's sitting there going eyeball to eyeball with Shack doing some pretty aggressive dance steps in front of him, and Shack couldn't hold a straight face for it. Double A is, uh the personification of entertainment. Yes, and he has scared scared he knew he can keep up. No, there's no way Shat can move his feet like Dell. I think Double A can still play the way he dances out there. All right, let's talk something that's uncomfortable.

Usually for sports fans, they get tired of hearing it. But it is a fact of life and all the sports, the collective bargaining agreement Big Jim, it runs out after twenty twenty, the ten year deal that was was hammered out after the lockout and so forth. But today what appears to be the first of at least what we know, the league in union meeting and they're going to meet regularly in the coming months to try to intersect this

and maybe prevent anything like this. Is this is considered a good thing and what do you what do you know about it from a national perspective? Yeah, I think it is a good thing. And I think you know, everybody knows what's motivated by It's a TV contracts, right because Sean McManus, I remember Pat and I talked to him rate the leading up to the to the Super Bowl about CBS and the deals that they want in place. And you know, from the NFLPA side and the NFL side,

they know where the gravy train is. It's with the TV contracts, and they, you know, understand that they don't want a work stoppage because that's going to affect those TV deals not only from a player's side, but from the NFL an owner's side of things. So I think the TV contracts are motivating it. That's why they they've reached out to one another who wasn't at the NFL

owners meetings, John Clayton. I talked to John Clayton, and he expected because everybody, you know, thought that there's a lot of animosity between the NFL, NFLPA and the NFL, and there has been over certain issues. But John Clayton thought that this is this is something that's going to motivate this deal to get done in terms of the

next CBA. And I would think the broadcasting networks that are out there are going to be a big part of it because they want what labor piece right, so keep that gravy train going and why they probably will ultimately be able to work out those network contracts because they'll know that a labor piece deal is in place

with a new CB. You know, I'm all for it starting the negotiations, the conversations about it, but I don't want the two sides to get together, have some meetings and then come away and throw out some really destructive language out there, because it's so easily passed around nowadays by everybody on both sides. If they can come out of there and it's not going to be an easy agreement and depending upon the terms, the terminology all that.

So you know, just try to be two sides that are working together to get this done because you just don't want attitudes to start interfering with the early negotiation abilities. Well you experienced it yourself. You know, I could still recall there's there's there's audio of you time coming on WBBM, you know during that period of time, and you were just salty. You were salty. Well, we didn't have you know, we didn't have the ability to communicate the message correctly

that they can today. You know, you'd have a small portion of the players come to a hotel at in Chicago, get together, get the message of an interrupted meeting out there, and then go to their teams and then lose part. You know, it's lost in the trans transition, transition. So it's just um, you know, I just think I'm all forward getting this thing done early and trying to get

you know, get everything etched for years to come. See, we're all at different times because all the things that Tom fought fought for and players fought for benefited me. I was under the first collective bargaining agreement nineteen ninety four when I was drafted. That's when it first was initialized. And granted, the deals have been better since then, and hopefully they continue to fight for benefits and things like that for former players like Tom myself, because things are

different now. As Tom mentioned, I don't think that's ever a good strategy for Demors Smith and the NFLPA Players Association because I was a part of it, and I'm critical of them. I don't think it's a good negotiating tactic to come out and say, oh, it's gonna be a war. Yeah, why your partners with one another. You are partners regardless of whether you like it or not with the National Football League. So hammer out what you need to do. And that was kind of the brilliance

of Gene Upshaw. Gene Upshaw and the former commissioner. They could get in the room and they could just hash out a lot of things and get things done. And it wasn't in public eye, but yet a lot got done for the benefit of players and the benefit of the NFL. Join Us for Bears one hundred the celebration weekend in Rosemont, June seventh through the ninth, Enjoy player autographs, photo ops football panels and activities for all ages. Get tickets today at Chicago Bears dot Com. It's going to

be a heck of an event. Act just the Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacker, Dick Bunkiss seminar should draw a lot of attention in and of itself, so it's going to be a fun time. Make sure you get some tickets to that. Enjoy the festivities. Kicking off what's going to be an interesting twenty nineteen campaign for the Bears. So many topics

to get into. We'll pick it up at our next show. Fellas, thanks so much as always, four time fair Jim Miller, our special guest, Mike Davis, The Bears Free You running Back, I'm Jeff Joni Ac Fulls Basketball coming up next the New York Nixon Town at United Center for this regular season finale at home and Steve Cash on the Gang Chuck's Horse Key Bill wanting to have the call. Thanks

for listening, everybody, have a good night. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot com and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app. Bears All access has been brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by CDW, Athletico Physical Therapy and Ford