Bears wrap up veteran minicamp at Halas Hall | All Access

your Super Bowl Bears. I'm Jeff Joniac, and we are going to break down what has been a very informative three day minicamp over the past week and listen to some of the key components that would be the head coach and some of the key players and veterans that we have yet to hear from, and some of the rookies that we have heard from but now a little more season as they get ready for training camp twenty twenty one. Tom, first of all, good, good to see you,

good to talk to you. And it's been an exciting week for us because you get to see eighty nine of the ninety players that around this roster on grass getting better every day, and some of the sneak peak that we'll see in terms of drills at training camp.

If I could just give a blanket statement, what would be your overall takeaway from the week of minicamp up at hallis Home An overall impressed with the development of the offense, the continuous process of making sure this team gets better on the offensive side of the bar, on the offensive side of the ball, tremendous amount of respect for Andy Dalton and Nick Folds in the way they've embraced the competition with Justin Fields because he's gonna play

a role on this team. But I'm really admiring these guys as veterans that they've taken this young kid under his wing and they've been able to feed him a lot of information that's going to be beneficial throughout his career as the bearers. And then I'm also impressed with the enthusiasm the defensive players that have attacked this mandatory minicamp.

I think it's a reflection of respect that they've shown a new defensive coordinator, Seawan decide in some of the guys like Danny Trevathan Kim and Eddie Jackson and Khalil that these guys have come out here and played at a speedy, high level of enthusiasm, and I do think

that's what they needed to show. Not a lot of these guys have been around through the voluntary stages, but when they showed up through the mandatory part of this competition, they were ready willing and they were able to go well, and it clearly looked like they did work. They worked

in the offseason. They get themselves right. Hey, everybody nowadays they want to work with some of their own folks, whether it be a speed coach or a drill coach, or some new way to reinvent themselves for the next season. I look at a Kim Hicks. Kim looked very fit. He looked like he was lighter real quant Smith is a man right now inside all over the field. I

like the way Eddie Jackson's enthusiasm showed. I liked the way kendallville door the young man working in a second you're trying to win a spot, opposite jailing out of the air side of the ball. And Damian Williams Marquis Goodwin demere bird the speed, no question, a very different speed. And of course Allan Robinson's overall professionalism, Tom and how he cares about his body, what he worked out of

the officeas give us a little sneak peak. You're not on Twitter, so he didn't see it, but his workouts. He did a collage of his workouts and then basically said, you know, I'm ready to roll and his overall professionalism, not letting the contract situation bother his own personal and team goals for twenty You know, I've never had a lack of faith in Alan Robinson when I watched him address the media today after practice, and he addressed the issues and what he's been working on to become a

better football player. Both that's how it's gonna benefit the Bears organization and how it's gonna benefit himself. Listen, man, this guy he doesn't have to say anything to prove to me that he's the type of veteran that shows leadership every time he's on the field. He's tough, he's competitive Individually he wants to be great, what also wants to be great for his teammates. All Right, we got lots to talk about With the quarterbacks. Obviously, Andy dunned

the number one. Let's not go anywhere else with that. He is the number one until prove it otherwise. Justin fields is the backup and Nick Foles is the number three. With that being said, Matt Maggie this week was asked what this is all going to look like in this particular twenty twenty one bears offense for the average fan to notice, we got to decide, okay, our identity and I know and you talk about that every year and

we know what we want to be. And but to your point, also, when two of your three quarterbacks are new to the system, now it's about making sure that we do some things that we want to do. That Taylor who they are, and they've done a great job of that. Andy we knew going into this that Andy is very open. He's also opinionated in a good way because he's had a bunch of experience and so he's done a lot of this. But then he'll give his opinions on how he sees things as well. Justin's completely

knew you know this whole part. So for him it's a lot more listening. But again, as they grow they become more confident or have any concerns in a play that you get more vocal and so well we're doing in our coaching staff the offensive side of the ball. I think they're doing a really good job with tailoring all of this to those guys strengths, and now we'll just have to kind of see and make sure that we're letting our guys play fast. That's probably the ultimate goal. Tom.

What sticks out there is very important, Taylor, the offense to the strength of your players because then in turn, as you know, if you're put in a position of strength, you're going to not worry about what you're being told to do. You're just going to understand what you have to do. And I think that's a big, big part of this future success of this offense. Yeah, it is.

But you know, Matt he has to understand also he has an enormous role in the development of this football team because if you're going to gain an identity, it's going to be because of the types of plays you're calling. As a play caller, you have certain assets that are gifted to you by Andy Dalton. You have certain assets that are gifted to you through the running game of Daved Montgomery, Damon williams Our, Tavis Paris and now Khalil

Herbert and the rest of the cruise. You have assets that you're gifted through the tight end position between the Jimmy Graham cole commit and the rest of the guys and the wide receiver group. So I think when you put it all together, that's going to be the development of the offense. And scoring points is paramount. We talk about it every day. We're gonna talk about it every day until the point production goes up. This will be

a battle. So that being said, a huge emphasis on the final practice of the week on red zone and red zone will be a prominent piece of training camp. According to Naggy, Yeah, well, we're going to really emphasize the red zone in training camp. I think it's going to be important to look at that and to continue to hit conceptually what we have and what our players do well, and know when you get down in there, you can't kick field goals. You got to have touchdowns.

It's just you have to score points. And so there's some concepts that will keep, there's some concepts that will add, and I think schematically for us, we'll keep that with us. But I do like where we're at and being able to kind of see the why part and then look at teams too that do a good job or running stuff in the red zone and what's they're wise and why is it? Is it just guys making good plays or is it schematics? And so yeah, I think it's

gonna be a combination of both. And we're excited and training camp to really put an emphasis on that. Sorry step down, Matt, but it is it is a combination of both. And you know, go back into the lab because one thing is for certain. Yes, the Bears have had struggles with scoring points. Now they do have the weapons to be a successful red zone offense, both in the run game and in the past game. Would you agree, oh,

one hundred percent? You know, Jeff, Have you take into consideration the OTAs and the mini camp they've just gone through. They probably have run more plays in the red zone thus far this preseason than they did last year than in the pandemic season. Because Cole Commet had nothing other than two weeks of training camp, Darnell Mooney had nothing other than what he had in training camp. They've already ran more plays in the red zone than they did

last preseason. And with he said, two new quarterbacks and Eddie Dalton and Justin Fields. At the top of the depth chart, that's Tom Thayre. I'm Jeff Joniac, we're gonna step away for our first break. Coming up, we will hear from Jimmy Graham, the Bears veteran tight end. We'll hear from quarterback Justin Fields, the rookie weighing in as well. This is Bears All Access. It's brought to you by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score.

Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose clean energy for your home at igs dot com because every good choice adds up to a better world. With Tom Thayer, I'm Jeff Joniac, this week's Bears All Access show here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Thanks to our producers Dan Barelli, Jordan Tredup, and Katie Tuber helping us out after the mini camp,

the Mandatory Manning Camp. Now with the radar Tom. Earlier in the week, we heard from tight end Jimmy Graham, and I do I do really respect what he's accomplishing his career, what he's doing as a Chicago Bear, leading the way for Cole Commet, but also just being one of the overall veteran leaders on this team, and what he is looking at here. He's looking at nothing but

a championship. That's why he's coming back. And the interesting aspect of him is that after that New Orleans game when he caught the touchdown pass and he went up the up the tunnel, maybe that was it. And yes he did consider retirement. UM, oh yeah, and I certainly did at first second there, um, you know, for a little bit, and um, a lot of unfinished business. Um. You know, it was very difficult for me obviously, Um, you know to go back in uh in the dome,

and you know, especially to lose. And I'm a I'm a pretty fiery person. I'm a pretty uh enthusiastic person, and uh, I hate losing, as simple as that. And UM, so you know there's a lot of frustration there, you know, because I, um, you know, I want to ring and

you know that's all I think about. So you know, you know, just knowing that, you know it's another year, and so you know I was interested going to do but you know, UM, talk to Ryan and you know, talk to Um, talked to Matt and and you know, I'm on board and you know, I'm ready to whatever it takes to, you know, to get back in that position, you know, and so move forward and you know hopefully

it's to make a run. And you know that run includes his teammate Cole Commet, Tom and I think there's no better veteran, especially a guy like Cole He he's looked up to, did Jimmy Graham since he was a little kid. You know one thing about when you look at veterans like Jimmy Graham, you just have to look at the eye test. Every year he comes in a great physical condition, so you know that he's still dedicated

to the sport. What Jimmy Graham has done for Cole Commet, his experiences, his advice is invaluable because, like I said, Cole Commet had a condensed preseason last year. The information that could be fed to him by Jimmy Graham and his preparedness in the body of work and the evidence that he sees out of him is inspiring to Cole Commet. And so I want to see Cole Commet continue to develop to become the blocker and the receiver he needs

to be so this offense runs efficiently. But when you talk about the last segment in the red zone, you talked about the first downs that Jimmy Graham is responsible for I don't think, um, he's going to leave anything behind. And I still think that he's got a lot of value to this football team into that position, and he

loves playing with Cole. Really just my world health. You know, I'm not a guy who you know, I mean, you know, I just want to make sure that you know I can I can make it through a season and make it through through another playoff front. You know, That's kind of the biggest you know thoughts that I always have. You know, you know, I never want to out live my time, and um, you know, I feel like I'm

I can still be used. I can still be a weapon, and I can still be a leader, you know for a team and help these young kids, uh, you know, to make run and you know, to share from my knowledge of what I've been through in this league and you know, the wins and the lessons I've learned and He's learned plenty. There, There's no question about it. So I think the tight end position is in good hands

with those two right there. And then you know it's it's a bunch of guys, then that's going They're going to fill other roles at that tight end position and try to build some of that depth through competition time and training camp. It is an area that I'm looking at like as a key. Okay, what in addition to those two gentlemen, the bear is going to be able to bring to the table at the tight end position. Would you agree that as one area you're going to

have circled beyond Jimmy and Cole. Yeah, you know, Cole Comment and Jimmy Graham are capable of doing anything that's asked of him in a Matt Maggie let offense. But I also gained a lot of a ton of respect in the last couple of years for JP Holts and Jesper Horsehead because when you look at the continuous development of those two guys in the same example that they're witnessing when they look at Jimmy Graham, it's not exclusive to the development of Cole commet Jimmy Graham's experience as

affects the entire tight end position. So I think all these guys can benefit from the lessons learned in the classroom and on the practice field. All right, let's flip it to last year's outstanding rookie, Jalen Johnson, Jalen did not play a full season. He had the shoulder injury, but he did not have to have surgery, so he did his rehab. There was nothing structural wrong. He's had a history of shoulder problems obviously, way back to Utah.

But he feels very very good about the situation. But because Kyle is now in Denver, Kyle Fuller, He's considered if you look at the depth chart and you look at how these things are awarded, the he is CB one time, he's going in as the guy. So how does this guy feel about it? Exactly what you might expect. I mean, it's time. I've been work from one year.

Of course, looking years the hardest. Of course, I'm just being able to learn from that and it's going to take on my preparation through my years of playing football and being a leader, through a high school, through alcoholida. I mean, it's no different now being in the NFL. So I mean it's been able to take what I've been knowing my whole life, just being able to perform and bringing others along. You teach them the things that I learned from last year and just don't help everybody

and prove this. But I can See that's another thing about that rookie class last year, when you include him and Darnelmoney. There are leadership qualities to these guys already right out of the game, and now without Kyle, you

gotta have it. Yeah, but you know this is the first time these guys can actually take a breath because you realize, Jeff, when they went onto the practice field last year, in all the protocol they are facing through the pandemic, they immediately became starting a regular season against Matthew Stafford and Jayalen Johnson, he was the guy that was gonna be attacked and challenged. Jayalen Johnson has now been able to take into account everything he faced last year.

You get a chance to watch video during the offseason and see where you can help your own development. Look, man, this guy deserves to be CB one. And I don't know best Chicago Bear one, Cornerback one, or how you're identifying that CB, but I think when you look at

this guy, he's up to the challenge. He's always been a physically gifted player, and again that's evidence to me that he puts him the time in the weight room, which I'll pay dividends for him and He's gonna have a huge role in the defensive backfield this year for the Bears, and made a ton of place on the ball last season as we know, and we'll be expecting that now. Turn him over, get those takeaways under Sean de Si. We're gonna get in a lot about Sean

de Si because they know him. He's been there for a long time. This is his big chance to be the first time defensive coordinator. But it's not from a lack of anything other than understanding in preparation and getting to know guys and knowing what all eleven guys do on defense. Yep, his background in the secondary, but he's

got the overall view of the defense now. Jalen was asked just what it might look like, how is it going to change with the sy It is a little time he's spent with him there on the practice field as a defensive coordinator here in twenty twenty one, I'll definitely say he's bringing a lot more assistant to detail to everything I we're doing. I thought that's a big, a big focused point in all aspects of our defense, in terms of every position, just being more detail oriented

in our technique and our disguisingess thing like that. So I mean, it's just about just getting better each and every day of the technique and just kind of learning the defense as is possible so we can being able to play together better and then turnovers. I thought we didn't turn the ball over as much, and I thought that's the beginnings about being able to take the ball away and create turnovers and get the ball backs off. That's all Tom, that is number one. Got to get

those takeaways because that's how that defense thrives. Every defense would and that's was the case in twenty eighteen. I think that aggressiveness, that attention to detail is really a significant theme that almost every defender, veteran or young Jalen

indicated over the past week. And they understand this defense because we saw a think on Thursday, or make that Wednesday of the practice week, the enthusiasm about the plays they were already making when they hadn't been together all offseason, real quantity. Reportedly anyway, the only defensive starter to really be a part of it. The other ten were not. They were doing their own thing in that voluntary period. So I think you felt it. You felt that swag

Danny Dravathan mentioned it as well. You know, it's kind of cool for me when Jalen Johnson was meeting with the media and he was talking about Sean Desai and

what he's expecting out of these guys. To me, it was like he was talking about George Allen, my first head coach, who was one of the greatest defensive coordinators in the history of the NFL, because he always preached the guys, it's about the little things, it's about the details, it's about the little points of importance that take your position, and they increased the role of the overall scheme and team, and so I'm excited to see what I Sean, and

I think it's gonna import how it reflects on the young guys. That's Tom there. I'm Jeff Jony Act. Time for another break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score coming up next, justin Fields and more, Matt Naggy. I'm the quarterback situation with Adye Dalton leading the way as the starter. Entering twenty twenty one. This is Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy. Back in a Future, the Chicago Bears Network presents Inside the Bears,

brought to you by Verizon. Anthony Adams and Lauren Screeden cover the world of Bears football. I Don't Off the Field every Sunday night at ten thirty five pm on Fox thirty two Chicago, or watch anytime at Chicago Bears dot Com, around the Bears official app. Back with you on Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy

The Score with Tom Fair. I'm Jeff Joni App breaking down veteran mandatory minicamp, the offseason program, now history back in late July to start training camp twenty twenty one, and time with fans. There will be a limited number of tickets. How that goes, how they go about bringing those fans in or what the buying will be will be interesting to see. But I'll tell you there'll be a lot of Bears fans jacked about seeing these guys.

The addition of Justin Field has certainly pumped a lot of life in the Bears family, both inside the building and the fan base, and just the overall hope and change that will come to the offensive side of the football in general. But I think training camp is going to be real exciting to see there, especially with fans not able to do any of that a year ago. Yeah, it is. I mean, hey, listen, since my day's back

in Platteville. The role that the fans play in training camp is as important as some of the guys on the field because they create the enthusiasm, They create the buzz around the field. They have a reaction to great plays, whether it's two offensive lineman or a long bomb down the length of the field. So yeah, the fans have a huge role in the momentum and the excitement of training camp. Well Fields was at Wrigley Field a couple of weeks back. The place went bananas. That is the expectation.

One pick. If they were in a Bulls game and they showed, they'd be doing the same thing, Hawks, you name it. That's the universal love of the Chicago Bears in this town by all sports fans. It is the team, right, it is the team. But the enthusiasm is also about kind of a shiny new toy, and everybody wants to see the new toy. That was a topic of conversation this past week when asked if something were to happen to Annie Dalton Tom who would be a starting quarterback?

Would it be justin field, so that was an opportunity for Matt Neggie to kind of let it flow and how it's going to be so that the question doesn't get repeatedly asked. It will, but here's his answer. So

so i'd say two things to that. So number one, as y'all know, UM, and I understand too, like that when you draft a quarterback in the first round and you trade up and get the guy, I completely understand that the questions that are going to come, you know, each day and just kind of wanting to know who's the guy going to be at this day or that there, this week or that And so I get that, Um.

And to answer your second question, I would say this, Um, when you're the number two quarterback in that situation that you're presenting to me, then yes he would be the guy.

But when you talk through this, that's where it's like, you know, these quarterbacks, all three guys, just because they're in that spot right now, we've explained, and I specifically have explained to each each one of those guys that you're doing everything you possibly can to be as competitive as possible and be the starting quarterback and the best

quarterback you can be for the Bears. And so I'm taking a little bit of time here to say this because I know that these questions could go on and on each and every day, but out of just politeness for me and respect as we go here moving forward, I'm just gonna like, I'll give you updates as we

go as to how the guys are doing. But as far as the depth chart goes, this is where we're at with Andy as the one, with Justin as the two, with Nikkas the three, but all three of those guys know that you need to produce, you need to play well, you need to compete, you need to be the best quarterback you can be. And then it's going to be really pretty easy for us to be able to see who that is and how that goes, and then there'll be a process and a plan we're going to stick

to that. It's not going to change tomorrow. That plan is not going to change tomorrow. The plan is not going to change in training camp. The plan is a is a plan and it's been thought out and so as we go. I'm just taking some time in this question because I think you know this could go every day, and I just want you to know that that that's kind of as we go here where I'm at, you know, and so m depth chart wise, Tom, what do you think of that answer? I think that's a great explanation.

But I'm i'm I feel bad that they're only talking about the quarterback position because, you know, Jeff, when we look at the depth chart at the beginning of training camp, when we sit there and study all the performance of these guys, I want every single number two fighting to be number one, and that's how you're gonna make this football team better. I know we're talking about the quarterback position.

I'm not denying that. However, when you create competitiveness, that's how you create a division championship, and that's how you lead yourself deep into the playoffs. So whether we're talking about the quarterback position or right guard, you know. And so again, I want Justin Fields to come in here and say, hey, Andy Dalton, you better pay attention because I'm coming for you. And I want Andy Dalton to say, hey, I got a rear view mirror and I'm going to

keep you back there. I know that's just I'm just talking about the fun of inter competition conversation. But every single position out there, that number two has got to be fighting to be number one. Beyond that obvious is that you don't always have a guarantee that those competitors are going to play along and help the young guy. But that's not the case. Out of twenty twenty one bears Andy Dalton Nick Foles praised by the rookie quarterback for the help they're getting. I mean, yeah, I've I've

learned a lot of things. I couldn't even name off a few things, but I mean he's starts to me a lot. I was a dinner with him inte his wife, so he talked a lot there, and I'm kind of just his background and stuff like that in their story.

But I mean, ay, and they've they've been awesome to probably do even you guys, even though just just yeah, I mean, and he's completely taking me under his leaing any question that I have for him, He's he's gonna answer, And even when I'm throwing I think there was one day out after OTAs I was throwing extract facts and he stayed out there specifically just you know, seeing mabe what I was doing wrong, and he was just trying

to help me out. So I mean he's gonna do so for sure, how significant is that I've gained new admiration today for Andy Dalton because he is a competitor out in the field as an athlete, but as a human being, he's got compassion. He's trying to bring this young man along. Who know that's gonna be he put in a position to succeed talking about Justin Fields, but allowing him to be involved in each other's lives and being able to learn different increments of the life in football.

Hey man, thumbs up to Andy Dalton for how he's embracing the relationship in that quarterback room. And I have new admiration as well for Justin Fields for this reason. You know, we don't know him yet. We've heard the news conferences in the short time. We've never met the man, but every reaction is the same. And for that matter, for Andy Dalton and Nick Foles as well, they're all workers and Justin Fields we have heard the reputation. He is a gym ratt. He loves the weight room, and

he is very serious. He's very serious as a competitor and very serious about picking up the nuance of the quarterback position. So when asked what he planned on doing the next five weeks during the summer break. This is his answer to the Bears media. Not for me getting better in one way, whether it's you know, mentally physically, I feel lazy and I feel like I'm not, you know,

doing enough to you know, accomplish what I compliss. So for me personally, I have to do something you know, football related, whether it's studying my place for forty five minutes an hour, working out, I have to do something to feel like I'm just you know, being productive, because I don't feel like i'm I love to feel like I'm being productive and I don't like feeling that I'm being lady because that's one thing that I can't control

is my work. So I like to do something every day just to have that piece of mind knowing that I'm getting better every day. Well, Tom, that sounds like a guy no old number fifty seven, Tom there, because you eat, sleep, and breathe football. You were always working on your craft, and it sounds like this will be what justin Field is all about, because that's all he knows, you know. It's the same point of emphasis that Jay

Hilgenberg and I were talking about thirty years ago. This part of the year was the most important part of the season. Four. It's something that we were lucky enough to be in the same offensive system for quite a while, so we didn't have to sit there and spend any time studying the plays. We knew that, but we lived in the weight room. We lived out in the field doing our running and conditioning, because when you came to the practice field, you had to be ready to go.

That's top there. I'm Jeff Joninghak and this is Bears All Access. Another break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score. This segment of Bears All Access is brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com the requested deployment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow. We're feeling good right now about the twenty twenty one Bears. Now with a break until training camp, and it will be one of the most anticipating training

camps toime. We almost say that every year. Sometimes we know what the plan is going to be. You know, in the days of Levy Smith, it was the same guys on defense coming back every year. You knew it was going to be a couple of additions here and there, offense always been kind of a moving target and trying to figure that all out how the development comes at the quarterback position. And that's still the case here in

twenty twenty one. But given the pandemic, given the protocols, given the lack of access both from players with US and US two players, and it sounds like it's heading in that direction. We'll have more interaction, the fans are going to be there, and then just a competition across the entire offense and defense. There are some positions that you know are definitely yet to be determined in some

very significant ones. And when you agree with all of that one percent, you know, I sit here with the roster in front of me from a mandatory mini camp. There's six guys there with double digit years of service, two of them are quarterbacks. And when you look at how competitive this young man game is today, you're talking about a group of guys that are going to go out there and they are going to be fighting their tail off once training camp agin. So it is going

to be an exciting time for the Bears. And there's a lot of guys in there that they're upside as yet in front of them, Yeah, I'd say, you know the obvious battles. Obviously, who's going to start office at Jalen Johnson. What's oude of the field with Jalen Johnson, play had some reps at right corner and left corner. He doesn't care which side he plays. The slop position. To me, that is probably as significant a battle a

training camp. The right player in that position can make a defense lethal, and it is a significantly important position in this era in the National Football League. The safeties love the safety collection. As Eddie Jackson and to Sean Gibson back together and he said it the first time. Eddie said it the first time since Adrian Amos back to back years with the same safety. That's significant. How that front on the defensive side of the ball comes

together opposite Khalil Mack. Where is Robert Quinn healthwise? And then on the offensive side of the ball, the left tackle position, Tevin Jenkins battling for that job as a young man making the switch from the right side primarily in his college career. How the positions stack up at receiver and how many carries are tethered out to the running backs, that's just scratching the service. Do you have any others that you're keeping an eye on. Yeah, you

know it's you know, you have different guys. How are they going to be used? How are the backup Titans going to be used? That? What role is Ryan All gonna have that's different than JP holds. Eddie Jackson looks bigger in a single digit number than he did his

number thirty nine. You talk about the role of the slot receiver and how it fits into this offseason because what I saw out our Marquise Good, when what I see out of Damon bird Man, these guys are flyers and then are they almost have the exact same template,

and so how are they inserted in this offense? And you know, the second year role of Cole commet in Darnell Mooney because Darnel Mooney burst out of the scene and I don't think he gained the type of respect throughout the whole season that he's going to demand this year. He's going to be able to change coverages of the opponent because he was such a factor in this offense. And then when they start balancing their coverages towards Darnell,

hey man, it's gonna open up a rod. It's gonna open up cole commits, So you know, there's got to be a lot of these little tools that you're gonna be able to work with in this offense. A couple other observations, and you made a great one with Marquis Goodwin, a veteran player, did not play last season, but ready and still rolling fast and an Olympic sprinter in his day. But he's got the eighty four in us back. Now we're gonna miss Cordell Patterson, no question, premier kick return

men in his era right now. But who is that kick returner? But you and the offensive side of the things made a great observation about the guy wearing number eighty four right now, mat I. It's just, you know, I've grown so accustomed to look at a really fast, enthusiastic player wearing that number in the last couple of years. But then you kind of amped up the speed a little bit. Yeah, you got a little bit smaller, but

that eighty four is still fast. He's the type of guy if you want to blow the top off a defense, and you could put this guy in an isolated position with that proper technique. He's the type of guy that's gonna make safeties start backpedaling at the snap of the ball. You get those guys a backpedal to snap a ball, It's going to open opportunities for David Montgomery and the run crew. All Right. Would you notice in terms of

Sam Mustafer, I feel he's a lot bigger. So the strength in the weight room clear clearly has been happening there. Three hundred and eleven pounds. He's gotten great enthusiasm to play the game all He's already had an enormous amount of pressure placed on his shoulders after taking over last year, and he's been able to help the development in the

interior that offensive line. James Daniel, Cody Whitehair. You mean, that's a significant big man on that inside, and it'll be needed week one against a guy like Aaron Donald. But they're also going to be able to stretch their skills to the outside and be able to help the offensive tackle position. Jermaine Effetti, big man. He's going to be able to continue as improvement at the right tackle position, and I think they'll be able to help out the

development of that left tackle position. Whomever it is. Put tight ends around him. Hvacs good blocking running backs, and Cody Whitehair is a guy that can do a lot of things to help that left tackle position by you know, also taking care of his own responsibilities. All right, let's flip it to defense. Ro Quan Smith. A lot of praise from head coach Mattney is about actions and not words. With Roqun it's real simple. I mean, this guy, he's

pretty good. He's a pretty good player. And when you when you know that, and we all know that, and he is practicing and showing up in meetings right now like he's a rookie. It's special. You know, it really is. And it's not it's not talk. It's real. I mean, he's out there. Everything's one hundred miles an hour. He wants to learn, he's willing to be a sponge. He doesn't think he knows everything. Um, he's extremely motivated internally. It's either you have that or you don't. And it's

not fabricated, it's not false, very organic. And this is one of the best sideline of sideline guys around, best, one of the best twenty five and under players in the NFL, and one of the best cover linebackers in the National Football You know, I don't care what defensive

scheme you're gonna play with down and distance. It is Roquan Smith has the ability to be one of the top three interior linebackers in the NFL, and I still think he has a challenge to be one of the best, and he is and he shows significant improvement each and every year. And I think the more information that the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Seawan decide can feed to Roquan Smith, the more responsibilities they want to get him.

He's up to the challenge and all the responsibilities they want to offer him. Danny Trevathan is running buddy inside, getting his first taste of the twenty twenty one defense this week with Sean de Side, but has high hopes as he always does, always the optimist, always believe in the guys he's running with. You know, eighteen is a totally different years. Those aspects and those standards were set, so we know where we need to get to and we know that we have the guys that are kicking

ball doing that. We just want to be the best defense that we can be and in the league. You know, we know we're gonna handle where every team sawed us. We got the right guys and right positions and guys out here communicating and everybody knows one another now. And it's not too many new guys on the team, but the new guys that came in, they buy in. And you know, that's what you love to see, especially when you're a bit like I am. Like to see guys buy in. He makes it much more easier. I'm glad

we gotta out here to come. I'm glad we came out here and showed them you know how we do it. Um. There was no flat we was find around and you know, it was definitely fun being back out there. You know, Danny Trevathan, it's almost like he turned back father time because last year, because of the condensed training camp and Detroit, everybody want to see boy Danny Trevathan slowing down and

maybe lost a step. For somewhere on the way, Danny Tremathan gained a couple of steps because when I look at the enthusiasm that the defense carried through the Mini CAAP, he was one of the leaders of that enthusiastic group. But he's also a leader in speed. He ran well, he was fast. He was covering guys out at the sideline, he was running down field with the receivers and running backs. So thank you Danny Tremathan for showing up in giving

this team what they're expecting from you. Right over thirty now and somebody brought that up. He is, We'll see, we'll see how it is. Confident. He's confident. On there, Bears All Access with the thirty and over Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniak, brought to you by IGS Energy in Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. This segment a Bears All Access is brought to you by CDW people who get it. With Tom There, Jeff Joniac our final this afternoon on Bears All Access, brought to you by

IGS Energy. Thanks again to our producers Dan Burally, Jordan Trudup and Katie Tuber and the folks at six seventy the Score, Tom. The vaccination process will under way the final interview with the media this week, Matt Naggie was asked about it the different challenges of getting an entire human body of teammates vaccinated. Much of the coaching staff will be vaccinated by the time training camp starts in late July, and he feels they're headed in the right direction.

We all have an opinion. We all have a belief of what we want to do, so I start there. The next part is is that we just take the education that we get from the experts, and then we were the conduit to the players. And I think what I've learned is that you can not talk about it and hope that people understand the why or why nots and and everything that goes with it, or you can talk about it a lot. And We've decided to really

try to hit it every day with these guys. And you never know, there's some questions that guys don't have or that that have that don't want to ask. And so I don't know why other than I do know this. If you don't get your vaccination, it's pretty simple. You're going to be going and following the exact rules that we find last year in twenty twenty. And I can tell you right now that wasn't fun. And it's a pain. It's a pain in the tail, and no better words

could be spoken. It is. But everybody has their right to do what they wish. But from a competitive standpoint and just a team standpoint, it would make a lot of sense. Yeah, But you know, it's like Matt says, it's about the education of the topic. See it gets yourself as educated as possible and then you're gonna make an adult decision and you yeah, you hope it benefits

the team. But like Matt said, going through the protocol of what these guys faced last year, and I really admire every one of these guys in the system that Andre Tucker put in place to keep Palace Hall a healthy atmosphere. So it's about education, you know, get yourself, you know, with a good understanding of the decision you're gonna make. We mentioned at the top eighty nine out of ninety guys. There were some tryout guys as well,

but Eddie Goldman was not a part of it. It was an unexcused absence in terms of that because of the mandatory aspect of it. But Maneggie says he feels good that Eddie will be there for training camp. Danny Trevathan also weighed in Eddie. He's a silent killer man, works to sell off. He loves his job. He's one of the guys just does his job, don't really talk too much, but it works to sell off. Unfortunately we didn't have him last year. It's gonna be great to

have him this year. Um, I know he's gonna be here, he's gonna working it. So he looked totally different. Um. I've been communicating with him as much as possible. He's too a guy to get in content with what he loves us. He loves the Bears organization, he loves the defense. So he's gonna come here ready to work. How significant will his return be? And Uh, it is something we're certainly it's an expectation. Now you gotta be here. Well,

it either is or it isn't. You know, he's either has been working out, and you're gonna see the evidence within his body and the template that he's gonna present to the Bears once they bring him here for a training camp, physical or else. You're go to see evidence of not being in shape, not being in condition to the point where you can come out here and you can be a multiple play asset for Sean to sigh

in this defense. You know, I think there's a lot of other guys that realize the importance of their role with his absence, and so you know there's gonna be guys chopping at the bit to be in that stance. Week one against the Rams, listen. I hope it is Eddie Goldman. I hope he's going to show a reflection to this team how important his life and his future as in his desire to play professional football. Helon Nichol

is dealing with a little bit of foot problem. Precautionary, He'll be ready to go for training camp and expecting a huge year out of him as well. A player to watch, a player to circle upfront for the Chicago Bears. And so is Alan Robinson putting his contract issues aside. He's had plenty of that. He's now just working on his game and how it benefits himself, but also in the larger picture, a team that he wants to see

win you better. You know, have to be ball of being able to have creating more muslim endurance, you know, so when I'm catching the ball, you know, being able to hold my speed longer and things like that, you know, just making some getting in and out of my brains, you know, um um, focusing on some people are out. You know, the transitions. You know that those specific aspects of my game being able to add you know a

few more yards to my per cash average. You know, we'll be able to arm some you know a yard catches in the twelve yard cases create more first downs, you know, and also focusing on myself for in the rai zone, being able to make sure I'm home, honing in on not only just a physical standpoint, but just honing in on what teams are trying to do to us in the rai zone. How I can be better and howking you know, help assist my team more in the raisin when we'll be down here. That's really impressed

hit what he laid out. Tom A. Robb is one of the most well prepared, courageous wide receivers the Bears I've had here in a long time. He could never address the media again, and I would have all the respect in the world for him. So, hey, Rob, you don't have to prove anything to me. I know that you're a valuable commodity to this offense and to these quarterbacks and to first down catches over the middle or

one handed catches on the sideline. All right, here we go, Tom offensive line, you're you have your first taste of professional football trying to compete to win the left tackle job. You're Tevin Jenkins. You're a guy who played primarily on the right side at Oklahoma State, and now you have five or six weeks to get ready for the start of training camp. Point it's going to be nothing but a grind, and you're gonna be facing that defense day in and day out. You're gonna be in one on ones.

There's gonna be contact, your footwork and your technique will be tested. What are you going to work on? This is his answer, and Tom take it out of the answer. I'll say, for me is knowing the playbooks, and for me that is the biggest part of football for myself, So I'm not afraid of making them says, there's already know where to go, how these things were a place called, So I'll go and play on instead of pushing myself.

Pay boom, Thank you, Tevin Jenkins. You gotta go to the line of scrimmage knowing what you're gonna do, not thinking about what you might have to do. You can't go there thinking as a snap count on two. It is that I want is that I'm three. You're already behind in the play Get in your tablet, stay involved in your assignments. That will be the most important development and help you speed up your development of anything else. You can do. I also was impressed with Justin Fields.

Tom and he talked about an interception thrown on the red zone. Christian Jones swiped it on Thursday's practice and it was total Kate, don't don't do that again. In terms of the particular player and the technique to it. He says, you know, I'm a one mistake kind of guy, and I'm a quick learner. I don't make the same mistake twice. That's a very bold answer, but not everybody can say that. So I'm impressed with that kind of mentality. You kind of went half the battle with that kind

of mentality. Yeah, you know, it's kind of weird because we're big fans of cheese and when he's burst back on the season, he gets an interception. We talk to him and All Access earlier this year and we talked about his lack of career interceptions and how he needs more. However, I like the answer of Justin Fields. I don't repeat mistakes, and that's what coaches want to see and that's what

they want to hear. Tom arout of time a lot more to discuss, but yeah, I know I left some of your nuggets on the table, but we got plenty of shows throughout the offseason to fill on the banks, Tommy, but I think we're all on the same page. We're excited about football's return here in twenty twenty one as normal as we can possibly make it. Tom, thanks for all your time. Appreciate you'll listening thanks to our producers Dan Bally, Jordan Trentup, and Katie Tuber. For Tom, There,

I'm Jeff Jonahiak. You've been listening to Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The Score