Right justin middle of the field forty five to fifteen, bring Russ in front.
Of a leading Lions in his way.
I am Jeff Jonaha litz Is on Donny go houtcur What was.
Like playing for coach?
Good done?
I don't want to answer any questions like that. Sixty one yards?
What's Sunday stroll for? Justin field?
Yeah, Bears et cetera with the voices of the Chicago Bears Jeff Joniak.
A promising performance for nearly three quarters, extinguished in a heart wrenching thirty one twenty eight loss to the Denver Broncos. The comeback engineered by a future Hall of Fame quarterback who leads to the NFL and come from behind wins Russell Wilson. Now with forty that's the tenor of the morning. As we get you set for a look at the Washington Commanders as well, A lot jammed into our Bears et Cetera podcast. Welcome in episode twenty one with Super
Bowl winning Bear time. There, I'm Jeff joningf. We come to you every Tuesday and Thursday during the season. This week, due to the Thursday night matchup in Washington, will come to you on Friday to recap that Week five matchup.
But thanks to our producers Dan Really, Jordan tread Up, and Katie Tuber coming up, we go over the loss with the Broncos with head coach Matt eber Flus in our weekly discussion, and Tom has lined up one of the NFL greats, Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, his old buddy from the USFL, would join us as well. So we'll combo attack this one today, Tommy, and we'll go
review and preview on one podcast. So let's dig in first and foremost, the impact of a loss takes out a different feel at times in terms of how you lose. It still counts as one, but for some reason, this one stings a little bit more than normal.
Yeah, but you know, Jeff, I'm disappointed it's on the beginning of a short week because this is one tape that I think has a lot of value to be able to show the team and break it down in slow increments, because there's a lot of things that we're done really well. I think Luke Getzi had a better grasp on how to feed justin the right plays, the right information that can keep you in the attack mode justin took advantage of some great throws and some really
small windows. I thought that the process and the fluidity of the offense was the continuous growth process that I want to see. So that's why I'm saying I wish it was on a longer week and maybe during the bye week. This is a video that you would like to revisit to the team to say, hey, here's some examples of what we've done in the past. Let's continue this process.
Here's Coole Comet on losing a game like this one.
My grandfather was just to say he's a baseball coach, but he the one to zero losses were so much worse than the ten oh losses, just because of you know, those feelings he had, and especially a game like that, when you're up and you're in control of the game and you lose like that, Yeah, that hurts.
It hurts for sure.
Yeah, and you know he plays with the motion. A lot of guys in that locker room after the game, and I talked about it. We'll talk about it with coach Ebriflues well after to the game ended and everybody was cleared out their lockers. It tells me that it really did hurt. It hurt this one. They played well enough to win the game and they just didn't finish well.
You know. The unfortunate thing for a guy like Cola is he had a big game.
Yeah, he and Justin.
You know, they had some great connections, some big touchdowns, some plays that had some big value to that game and going forward, and when you have to kind of leave that in the rearview mirror, there's nothing that could be more disappointing. You got to continue that positive frame of mind, take the growth process from the game. But you can't sit there and high five and celebrate because the outcome wasn't what you wanted.
Right And you know Ron Rivera in Washington is saying the same thing. He said, no moral victories after a great performance and a near upset of the Philadelphia Eagles down the road. But you know, getting over the hump is key. Here's Tremaine Edmonds.
You know, I think yesterday, you know, obviously it was tough, you know, going home thinking about it, sleeping on it. But think about this league is you know, the next game comes quick, and you know, I think, based off my experience, you know that next day it's a step towards how you want this next game to go. And you can even look at it one or two ways, like you could take a step back and you know, feel sorry for yourself, make excuses, point the finger, you know,
whatever it may be. Or you could take a step forward and say, listen, this is what we need to get better with, understand what it is, and we take positive steps forward. So energy this today was just that's what the mindset is, That's what my mindset is, that's what the guys around me mindset is, and that's what we focus on. Thursday is gonna be here before we know it. So it's no need for us to feel sorry about ourselves. You know, I think that's the really
the only way to deal with it. You know what I mean is to get better, to get to think positive, and to get ourselves ready to play on Thursday.
And I thought Tremain acted like a true captain at the podium on Monday. He was very direct, he was very thorough in his expl of where this is at. You know, you got to look at it the way it is, You got to put it in a proper frame here and if it was a win, you'd be feeling the same way. You got to forget about it and move on. Can you do the same things you did against Denver against Washington?
Yeah, because I think you still have the same exposable athleticism by a guy like Justin Fields. I think that you have a guy like Khalil Herbert that's always gonna run hard. You have a good tough guy, I mean a tough guy, and Dj Moore who's got the willingness to make catches even then even when he knows he's gonna get hit. So all those types of things are transferable.
And then you know the offensive line is starting to get that gel and now that Tevin Jenkins is going to be activated again, how does that depth fit in the mix? So yeah, there's a lot of things that you can bring with you to Washington. And then the defensive side of it, you got to continue to play fast. You got to get those tackles for lost by DeMarcus. You got to get a nice blitz by Jack Sanborn
that sets up a sack opportunity for Dominique Robinson. You still got to unleash a guy like in Gocway to see if you can get some one on one matchups against this offensive line that you feel favorable with. And I like last year you're getting a defensive backfield because they're playing with depth that are getting experience. So when guys turn around and get back on that creates depth.
One thing I would like to see. I'm waiting to see more out of Jakwan Brisker, And I don't know if it's a coaching element to a defensive back game or he's just it's just been quiet for him. So I have high expectations for Jakuan and that's what I want to see him, how I want to see him play.
Meanwhile, let's let's find out the status from Houase with head coach Mattiberflussh. All right, welcome back coach here on Bears, et cetera. Let's take a look at things in preview. We've got to do a double duty today, short week or brought to you by PMC Official Bank of the Bears. The first is the impact of a loss take on a different feel in terms of how you lose. So what I'm saying is they all count the same, but is it more devastating to lose a game like that when you had a big lead.
Yeah, I would say that you know, you look at the first three quarters. I believe that we're going to create some momentum for ourselves here, number one, because we we did things right for three quarters, and that's what we're going to build upon, and I think that's where our player's mindset is. Certainly, we're all disappointed that we didn't finish that game the right way. You know, we got to take care of the ball. We got to take the ball away in the fourth quarter. You know,
obviously the go forward on fourth down. You know, if we get that, we can seal the game and certainly put the game in our tilt, in our favorite you know, at that moment. But again, the first three quarters were really good, and we took a step forward. We focus on the details and focus on fundamentals and really did a good job of enhancing the skill of our players in terms of the play calls and the different things that we did with our offense. And I thought our
defense played well too for the first three quarters. We just got to do a better job of finishing.
You often hear quotes from injured players that could apply, I guess in this case on four start. But the comeback is greater than the setback. Can you use that belief to your advantage anyway?
Yeah, you know the main thing is, you know, guys sticking together. You know, we got a tight group. You know, the relationships that we have together are strong. The bond and our team is strong. And you can feel that. You can see the way they're fighting for each other. You can see the way they fought last week. You know, get to get it done and again, only good things are going to happen when we keep fighting for each other.
To your point, I went into the locker room very late yesterday how to do some stuff for Marquee Network and Eddie Jackson, Jalen Johnson, Khalil Herbert, Takwan Brisker, Tremaine Edmunds, t J. Edwards. They were all in there, some still hadn't even gotten into the shower yet. And this is well after that locker room cleared out, and it stuck with me, is they're sitting there talking, they're chopping it
up doing whatever they're talking about the game. You know they are, and you could just see it on their faces, like and then talk to Herbert, you know, you could see the pain on his face. We gotta get we gotta get that we gotta get that. Yeah, we got we gotta, we gotta, we gotta. So to your point, it is a tight team. They were they were talking about the game, talking about what's next.
Yeah, you know it's important to them. You know, these guys, we spend so much time together, you know, and we invest so much energy and time into preparation for each week. You know, when you put that passion into it, you know, you expect to win, you know, And and those guys do you know, we just got to put our best foot forward going into Washington, and our preparation has got to be right.
Heck, you know, we'll preview Washington in a second. But my key to the game, I was always asking, fourth quarter. That's it, no matter the circumstance, trailing, leading, done matter, fourth quarter, decision making, execution.
All that.
That that's the key to this league. It's fourth quarter. You can it's perfect evidence support it to yesterday.
Yeah, I mean, it's most of them come down to one score games. And again that's uh, you know a certa the case that we had to finish in that game last yesterday. But again again we got to put a rest foot forward this week.
Did justin fields need a game like that to exhale a little bit. I'm not suggesting that, you know, there was anything tied up in his head about how he's been playing or how the offense has been playing, but just to have that success. And I keep using your term finding his skills, you know, finding his skill the players, the tight ends, the running backs, the targets to the wide receivers. Fourteen targets, thirteen catches. So he found his skill. Did he need a game like that?
Yeah?
I mean, I think it's it's really a good step in the right direction.
You know.
I think that he has a lot of confidence anyway, you know, and now he's able to look and see the fruits of his labor. He's been working his tail off to be able to have a game like that. And again he was on fire. You know, he had obviously that first half and you know in the four touchdowns and all the things that he accomplished during that game. But again, he will be the first to tell you that we need to finish, you know, and that's not just him as everybody and you know, I just saw
him in the hallway. We're just talking about it together. So it's really important that we learn how to do it as a football team. But again, this is a step in a momentum direction for us as a football team this last.
Week, and you can have things, situations pull the rope on that momentum. So, Jase Claypoole, you discussed it at length. We don't need to go into every question about it. But he will not be with the team this week. A part of it is how he's acted, performed, et cetera day to day to day, clearly, but with a young team that's still learning how to win and a locker room full of young guys, professional examples have to be set by veterans.
Is that part of this.
Well, I would say we have a lot of great examples in our locker room that are just awesome.
But you can't have anybody pull the rope on it.
Yeah, I mean, so you know, the guys have to pull the rope in the right direction, you know. So it's important for us to be able to look at the positives and making sure that we're you know all you know, you know, on time for things right, being professional, being respectful, you know, and then working you know, working hard and working smart. And you know, the guys in the in the in the building are doing a great job of that and they're hanging together.
All right.
Let's turn our heads to Washington. Ron Rivera a great Chicago Bear, also a coach here as a defensive coordinator in Love Smith. I tell you the first thing that sticks out is that defensive front for that Yeah, and you placed them last year I think week six.
Right, Yeah, the defensive front is is really good. You know, uh, all first rounders up there, and you know, they roll pretty good, and they got they rotate guys in there as well. But again, those first four guys are really good players, and they can really create pressure on the quarterback, which allows them to play a lot of coverage. You know, so they certainly do that, and and Jack does a good job of coordinating that defense.
Jack del rio. Let's not talk about Sam Howe, an emerging player. He's had moments of great success already this season, other times not because of taking a lot of sacks or whatever. But what's your quick snap of analysis of Sam Howe.
Yeah, I mean he's poised, you know for a young guy, and and and delivers the ball and distributes the ball well within the offense. I think he has a really good grasp of Eric's offense, and I think that, you know, he's doing well and he's progressing, He's getting better every week. And you saw the game yesterday, you know against Philly.
You know, they played you know, variations of the coverage and he was able to read him and deliver the ball in the right spots and you know, made some big plays you know down the stretch there to obviously tie the score, to get it into overtime.
You know.
So I thought he's really he's really progressing.
Well.
Take a chance down though. The Bette Rivers app today. You know, a really good division that NFC East. They play a very particular brand of ball, just like the NFC North does what you saw on tape. Does it look like Kansas City fence with Eric b enemy a little bit? Uh, He's got his own touchout.
No, I think there's a there's certainly that Kansas City style to it, but I think Eric's got his own little flavor.
To it, you know.
So, uh, you know, we'll keep studying it, looking at it, and again we put a lot of time on it, you know, in the.
Past, you know, obviously before the plan ahead, Yeah, you got a.
Plan ahead and we did that and again we'll be ready for it.
All right. So in terms of our health and our players, I had good news with Kevin Jenkins cleared to start that process of getting back from his calf injury. Are you optimistic even for this game?
Yeah, he's been He's clear to practice, like you said, and we'll see where he is, you know, we'll see where he goes and see how he's moving around and uh and we'll just look at him as you know, I know, they will only walk through practices. But again he'll be working out on the side to get more get himself moving around and we'll see where it goes.
And then Kylie Gordon saw him no cast anymore, nothing at So that's also coming soon.
Yeah, that's that's really good.
And again to get some of those starters back is going to be you know, a shot in the arm for us. You know, when you get talent you know, back into your team, it's certainly helpful.
All right.
We will talk to you on Thursday with our pregame interview. Okay, look, this week, we'll see you. That thinks all right. A part of the discussion there was Chase Claypole and you know he talked about it in depth. We're not going to go through it in depth. You got so many questions about why he's not going to be a part of this this week, and his future certainly is in some serious question here with the Bears. Whatever happens next is up to the general manager Ryan Poles in the
front office and that kind of conversation. But I pose this question, and you just heard it to coach Iberflus, I'll pose it to you. Despite the man's talent, whatever's been going on, it's not just what he's saying, it's what he's doing, clearly not doing that meets a certain standard weekly, daily and on the field that they have surmised that, hey, you know what you need to step
away here? Is that the right move with a young team because you don't want you want veterans that influence you be professional, You don't want to have those types of players that give a different kind of vibe in the locker room. Would you say that's a fair representation of why this may be happening.
Jeff, Have you ever competed in a real tug of war with a rope?
I have, But sadly now it's a serious topic We're going to laugh because it was with Anthony Adams on the beach with a bunch of ex Bears and a Bears fan trip.
Yeah, I did it, Okay. To analogize, you have to have everybody pulling in the right direction. You have to have everybody giving their best in the same direction in order to try to win a struggle of that type of that type of struggle, and it's a week to week struggle in the NFL, So you need people talking positively. You need people if they have something that they would like to get off their chest, they have to do
it to their coach privately. And if you feel that you're being underutilized them, bring that to the head coach
and tell them what your concerns are. You make sure you don't start a negative topic outside the locker room, because now, if you start a negative topic outside the locker room, Jeff, every single media person that walks in that locker room is going to ask everybody the same question, no matter if you're a receiver to a defensive back, to a defensive lineman, to a tackle, And once you start answering a question about somebody else, it's a distraction
that continue that brings on a negative preparation process.
Good new Chicago United Airlines is getting brand new planes with all the bells and whistles, like Bluetooth connectivity, screens at every seat and room for everyone's roller bag. United Proud to fly the Chicago Bears and you too, Jeff, Joni k Tom Thare and the Bears, et cetera. Podcast. All right, without further delay, let's jump into our conversation with Doug Williams, your old teammate in the United States Football League and a great member of a Super Bowl
champion Washington Redskins team back in the day. From Zachary Louisiana to Grambling in the mid seventies, to the seventh teenth pick of the seventy eight NFL draft by Tampa Bay to the USFL and the Arizona Wranglers to the Washington then known as the Redskins from eighty six to eighty nine. A two time Super Bowl winner and one of the greatest players in Washington history. I'm telling you, folks, we're just scratching the surface of a man with a long resume and a deep, deep love of the game
of football. Also in administration and currently senior advisor in Washington with the commanders. Please welcome the great Doug Williams to Bears, etc. How you doing, Doug, how you feeling?
I'm good man, Thanks for having me the main man, Tom, call me Tom. Damn man, that's my man.
Yeah. Why why is he your man? Tell us? Tell us the why what?
You know what? Go back you know to the USFL. I mean Tom was so easy man. When he walked in. I knew, right Dan, you know, he's that guy that you can just latch on too and he become your free and that's what it was for us.
Well, Doug, you know how much I love you. You know, you know, Doug, when I was thinking about you, I was thinking about your career with Tampa Bay, your career as a coach now given what Dianna is doing, the excuse me, eighty six eighty seven Redskins when you beat the Bears in Chicago and then your time of success. So honestly, I don't know where to begin, but in
the state we're at with the Bears. Have you ever faced a scenario like this where you're kind of searching for answers and you being a quarterback and we have a quarterback as athletic, as talent as any quarterback in the league. What are the solutions of the problems that we're facing.
Well, you know, it's hard for me to answer the problems with which you all face, but I can say this when I'm the rookie, when I went to Tampa and became a starter, you know, Tampa was was I don't want they They was bad. They was bad year they won two teams. And I thought when I went there, you know, the players that we had, we had some
pretty good player, especially on defense. And then they saw a little hope because I played until I got my job broke, and by that time we had already won four games, and four games, you know, that's like four games we had won the previous two years. So I think a lot of people saw a lot of hope.
The fans saw hope, and and and the coaches realized what was happening because it came back the next year and we ended up winning winning the conference, which you know, with the guys around and with Leroy Selman and David Lewis and all those guys playing defense. Uh, coach Coach McKay used to always say, we'll go to meeting on Monday morning. He said, hey, guys, if we if you keep it closed, Dougie will win it for us. That was what you always say. So we had confident that
we can win the game. We never went out there trying to trying to win a game. We went out there with the idea that we was going to win. And that's what happened that second year. The third year we got beat up again. But you know, three of those five years down then we was able to go to the playoffs, which was pretty good.
Okay, now you're in a locker room with y'all Fields and you're saying, Justin, this is my experience, this is my advice to you going forward. What would that be? Wow?
You know, still working for the Commanders.
I hate Well, I'm not.
I'm not talking about Chicago gainst the Commanders. I'm talking about your personal experience and your growth process to Justin Well.
The same thing. You know, last week, I was a young quarterback, had a bad week and the full interceptions and stuff, and after the game, you know, I had a chance to talk to him in the parking lot. And the thing, you know, because he got talent, just like Justin has talent. You know what I told him, He got to keep his head up. Number One, I played with a guy named Ricky Beall blessed, bless his soul. When I was a rookie. When I had a bad game, you know, Ricky would always come to the dress room
and sit by me. He say, hey, man, you know what you can do. You got to keep going forward. I think that's the most important thing. You know what is happening now. These young guys got the media to work about. They got the radio shows and everything that they got to work. The talking head is gonna say whatever you want to say, but you'd have for a reason. You was the first round pick. Hey, they picked you
to play this game. So mentally, he got to get himself together and overcome any distraction outside of football and let it all be about football.
The great Doug Williams our guest here on Bears, et cetera with Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff CIONI that good to have you alongside. You mentioned distractions, and there are so many now and put yourself if you advance yourself from what you were as a twenty twenty two to twenty three year old kid coming into the NFL, how would you have handled it today. And because it is, you're like you're almost like a CEO of your own company
and you're representing the team. But you have to do there are requirements to get to that podium every week after every game on the team radio broadcast after the game, not to mention what's swirling and social media.
Well, you know what, I don't m of these guys, be honest with you know, because when I played, we had that to worry about. You just had to worry about doing your job and going in and facing the coaches on Mondays and stuff like that. These guys got so many things coming at them. I mean, they got so many things that they want to do. And I think it's a little different too because and Tom, what answer is back in the day, you went to the locker room and practice was over, you set around, you
talk to the guys you played with. You know, it was more that togetheringness that you knew what the other guys. Now, you know, these guys got so many toys. They don't have time to set around and talk to their teammates and stuff like that. They don't go out to eat together, they don't do a lot of things together and I think back in the day, all that happened and it became cohesive and it brought down to you do your job, I do my job, and we do our job together. It's not like that anymore.
And when you think about your time and just ownership alone, you think of the owner that you played for and then where it went to and where it is now. Is this ownership is it a culture change from where you started to where it is is now and is it moving in a positive direction?
Well, let me say this. When I got here, Jack kin Cook was on right and Joe Gills was the coach and Bobby Bethtie was the germanager. All I know is that Jack king Cook stayed away from football and gave Bobby and Joe whatever they needed to coach and make the team work. And all the other ones say was just win, you know, and that's what he did. You know. I come here, I've been going here, been here by the last ten years, and the ownership was
a little different. It's up on the different direction, you know. I just had to deal with what was here, and uh, they was here before I got here, had spent the last nine years here, and now this new ownership come in now I see what it's like the changing of guards the ownership today. The guys that when I played, and the guys before me played that lived in this area, so they understand what it was like when we was winning.
So I think by them being the owner, the love of the game, the passion of the game is back. That's the feeling at this particular time that these owners understand what it was like when they was living around here and we was winning. So that's what they want to get back to, and I think they're gonna give us everything we need to make that happen.
As a result of that, Doug, with Josh Harris's arrival, I noticed that the fans appear to be a little more excited, maybe a lot more excited, more engaged, and more hopeful for the future. And with President Jason right there as well. So when you work closely with do you feel it from back from the fans because it is one of the greatest fan bases in America.
Hey, I'll tell you what. The last few weeks, you know, the preseason was so great, the camp was so great. We I mean we had people coming here that we hadn't seen before. I mean, we had two days. But we had over ten thousand people at camp. And I've been here for nine years and we never had that type of people that many people here, And I think the enthusiasm of the people with the changing regard was a big plus. And now that you know we won
two game loss two would have you. But this was a good football team and we're trying to go forward. And you know, the more we win, the more these this fan base gonna come back together. But I think they all applaud the fact that we do have new ownership and they looking for a good ride.
Doug, when you when you think about your career, the pressures of your career from Tampa Bay when you're a first round draft choice to coming with incredible expectations with the Washington team, was it was the pressure the same or was it different? And then you consider the success you had as a super Bowl winning quarterback? What was the difference in the two pressures?
You know what time? You know, I think about that a lot. You know, what was the pressure? I don't you know coming up, I've been an athlete all my life. I came out of family that was full of athletes, my younger brother, my oldest brother, my sister. Everybody was competing, and I've always felt that pressure was something that the individual put up on themselves. And when I went out to play, the one thing I always say, you played
to win, and it wasn't pressure to win. You know, if you do what you're supposed to do and the guy next to you and everybody else do their job, you know you're gonna find a way to win it. Just like baseball, and I was a pitcher. I knew rad then. You know, it's a team sport. But if you're a pitcher, you got to catch it. It's you and him and you try to make it work. And if you win, the team win. And that's why I always look at it. But I'm putting pressure on myself.
And I know, you know in that hudder in Tampa back when I was a rookie, you know, you had so many fans. You know, being a black quarterback in nineteen seventy eight was wasn't fashionable, and I understood that, but I had people to lean on. My oldest brother. I was always able to call coach Rob and we talked stuff through and he used to always say, do what you did. He had Grammar play football and don't worry about the outside. And I tried to do that.
And coming here to Washington, you know, I knew I was with a better football team. I knew I had a better offensive line. I know Coach Gibbs who coached me down in Tampa when I was a rookie. So I knew Coach Gibbs when I came up here, and you know, to me, it was a blessing knowing that, you know, I got a great offensive line, and as a quarterback, that's one thing you need. I don't care what happened. If your offensive line is not working, I
can promise you the quarterback won't be rewarded. You know, I was fortun enough to come here to have that type of feeling, an offensive line to protect me.
Super Bowl winning quarterback, super Bowl MVP Doug Williams with us here on Bears, et cetera. You mentioned what it was like in that atmosphere in the late nineteen seventies. I don't know if Bears fans remember this at all, but you and Vince Evans made history first NFL game ever to have a black starting quarterback on both teams in nineteen seventy nine. I didn't have the time to look up the outcome of that result. I don't remember. You probably do, but we don't talk that way anymore.
That's a good sign, right, No, you know.
What I think once we get away from them, you know, I think the two guys that played in the Super Bowl, both of them was African American. They played, and a good part about that they played well, you know, one didn't play. It was a situation where somebody had to lose the football game, and it's a shame that they
both could win. But I think what they did for the Super Bowl was gave America in the world a chance to see two quarterback, not black quarterbacks, two quarterback playing the National Football League.
Do you remember the outcome of that Bears game with Vince Seven's.
I think we won.
I'm not for sure.
Hey, he was at Kaba Athlete too, right he was, Yeah, but.
I do remember that game. And you know I talked to Bens every.
Nine and then, oh, okay, how's he doing.
I try to keep in touch with him, man. And that was a great day. And when you think about that in nineteen seventy nine and where we are today, that was history of seventy nine and the first the season open around here, fourteen black quarterbacks started the National Football League, which I think is a good thing. And it's not about the color of the skin of the guy.
It should be the guy who playing the position, how well they could play, because I mean, when you look at TV, no matter what color are, there's some bad quarterback play across the league. When you look at the realistic situation.
You know, Doug Will you talk about Amy Robinson, your coach at Grambling, what a great coach he was. Joe Gibbs to me, is always an offensive minded head coach. And now you have Ron Rivera there with the commander's you know, ex Chicago Bear, a great friend of mine. How is the influence of a defensive minded head coach in Washington because you look at guys like Jonathan Allen and your defense as a whole, I think it's a
solid defense. How is the transition with Ron ben from new ownership to the head coach position that he's held down for a while.
Now, Well, I think Ron got here. This is a fourth he had three years ago. You know, he was with the old ownership and he knew defensively, we had some people already in place, and then they brought in Chase Young with everybody expecting, you know, his defense to really jail. You know, you got a full first round pick across the front line, and to me, that's almost unheard of. So you expect this team to jail. And I think Ron being a defensive coordinating, you got Jack
del Rio working with you. I think at the end of the day, you know, the other day might not been as good as they would have liked for what that being, but this defense has been playing pretty good. If you a quarterback on the other team, it's one thing you know about this defense that they gonna get after you. And you know, I like what they're doing. And if they can keep doing and everything come together and put this offense together was played well yesterday. I
think eventually, you know, we'll be happy. What's going on.
Middle Light, the official beer of the Chicago Bears, tastes like another time. Chicago, Tom, I know you got a big kick out of that. You love embracing your past, as clearly Doug did as well.
Listen, you know one thing I think my relationship with Doug Williams after all these years, it's the brotherhood that is created in a team working atmosphere, and everything wasn't positive during our time in the USFL. You know, we had some struggles and the us was a new started football league that you know, some teams didn't have it as good as US. But every day I had the opportunity to work with Doug, I just had in my mind, here's a guy as a first rounder in the NFL
that has Hall of Fame qualities about him. He came in as a leader. Doug Williams never asked to have permission to be a leader. He presented himself as a leader the moment he got there, and people weren't offended
by it. People accepted and respected it. And I think when I think of all these years and the times that I've we've got to talk to Doug in the past, I just I just have more respect for him every single time I talked to him, and you had a chance to study a little bit about his background and how he was never given anything. That everything from the time he grew up in Zachary, Louisiana to the time where he's sitting in his office at the Commander's building.
The dude has paid his He's paid his dues in order to earn the opportunity he's earned.
Busy Heart Seltz the official Heart Seltzer of the Chicago Bears, are part of the Bears, Etc. Podcasts. All right, let's flip now into preview mode against Washington. I cannot escape the obvious first round picks across the board on the defensive line. That defensive line could pose a lot of problems. If they're not blocked up, they get to the quarterback, they stop the run. Each of them have the qualities
to rush the passer inside defensive line, outside edge. Guys, How problematic is this for the Bears?
Well, you know, I don't know. I see. I don't look at as a problem. I look for the solutions. And I think when I see a guy like Chase Young who hasn't played in a couple of years and he wants to rush the passer, I'm never going to give him that, right, Jeff, I am going to attack
him in every way shape possible. I'm gonna see if I can get him at the point of attack where I can have multiple blockers on him, whether it's tackle tight end or multiple tight ends, whatever the case may be, I would like to take it, make him uninterested in being out there because I think if you can expose an attackable area of the field, then you can open up opportunities for the running game. And I think Khalil Herbert and Roshawn Johnson can take advantage of the outside
element to the running game. I think that if Chase Young doesn't and the contained rushers don't respect the athleticism of Justin Fields, he can continue to take that passing game to the outside. And so yeah, there's exposable opportunities. They're still, you know, first rounders and are great. Jonathan Allen is the one guy that I have concerned about because he's a big, strong man.
Yep, he is outstanding. He is one of my keys to the game dealing with him Montese sweat obviously in Deron Payin in that group. Sam Howe has been sacked a lot, not more than Justin Fields. He's had some tough time. Five more sacks against Philadelphia. Could this be the game with the Bears start getting home?
Sam Howell is always going to have an uphill battle because he's not a first round marquee draft choice. He's the guy that's come aboard and he's earned his opportunity to win the starting job. But when you're a mid round pick and you're starting quarterback, you have to earn your stripes every week, and sometimes the offensive line is
not giving him the opportunity to succeed. But when you have a guy like Terry McLaurin who can fly, you always have that outlet receiver if you feel that you can take advantage of pass protection that computes with speed, that computes with arm talent. So yeah, you know, to me, Ron Rivera is always going to be kind of even though he's a defensive head coach, always has a run first mentality because that's how he grew up in his years in the NFL. So yeah, you have to rush
the passer the whole time. But like John Tierlink, the great defensive line coach, used to say, rush the past or why you're stopping the run? And I think that's kind of the mantra on the mentality.
The defensive front has to have Ryan Robinson Junior, their lead back pilot up some yards since last season, So another guy the Bears have to deal with on Thursday Night. For all your journeys ahead, go with that partner who has been on your team from the beginning the one members and communities have trusted over eighty five years, Blue Crossing, Blue Shield of Illinois, always standing by you, with you, for you through it all. We always do a one
thing heard around the league. This is on the downside. You certainly played on the same field as Russ Francis in your NFL career. He passed away in a private plane crash on Sunday in Lake Placid, New York.
Yeah, he was a great guy. I met him out of the Pro Bowl one year. He's a private pilot that used to fly himself to practice a lot when he lived a certain distance away from the forty nine ers practice facility. And I always admired that about him, that he was kind of thinking outside the box even as an active player. And unfortunately that was the result
of his demise, but it's something that he loved. It was a passion of his and his whole life and one and the first time I met him in Hawaii, That's the first way I was introduced to him.
Right, he is Hawaii, need it isn't he any Yeah? Yeah, I win your opinion is the best team in the league after a month of the season.
I believe Philly is. I think when you look at their the depth of their talent on the defensive line, the continuous improvements of Jalen Hurts, their running game and how much they're willing to use it, plus their receivers. I'm super impressed by that team.
Yeah, I go with that, and one A is San Francisco. They're just finding ways to get it done. Brock Pritty was as successful throwing the football as Justin Fields was in terms of high completion percentage. I think he hit twenty of his twenty first throws of the game on Sunday.
You know, the one thing that worries me about San Francisco is some way, shape or form, they always suffer an injury during the course of the season and they don't have the depth if they lost to Bosa or if they lost Purdy again like they did last year unfortunately, And to me, I want to see Purdy play the whole season because I really admire of where he came from, mister irrelevant, how nothing was really expected of him and
he's exceeded every expectation. So I kind of, you know, I pull for him individually because he proves a lot of people wrong every time he goes out and wins another game.
Yeash, we're sitting here talking about two NFC teams when the AFC is loaded, loaded with teams and talent. So it'll be an interesting ride over the final.
Three quarter A team in the AFC.
Well, you know, I was thinking it was Miami until yesterday.
Right until yesterday.
Then yeah, I don't know. That's a great one, right, do you know?
Joe Burrow is suffering, he's in sacked. The Cleveland Browns defense is as good as you can get. But Deshaun Watson didn't play this week. Miami still has all the speed on Earth, and but if you put him in a situation late in the season, if they have to go to the most unclimate Miami conditions, you don't know how that is going to effect their play. So I still think Philly is the best team in the league.
All right, Tom, We will meet again on tonight, as we do Bears weekly on ESPN one thousand. We'll here's some of that Doug Williams interview, some of it that didn't make it here to the podcast for time purposes, and we'll break down the Bears and Commanders, and then on Friday will recap the whole thing, Tommy. So we got a busy week ahead, fun times, two games in five days and then ten days off to sort through whatever it's going to look like after five games in this season.
Look forward to it, you know, as much as I look forward to the Denver game after what both teams face the week before, I look forward to a short week battle with Ron Rivera.
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