Right justin middle of the field for fifteen bring Russ in front of a leading.
Lions and his wife.
I am Jeff Jonihac, which is not done.
What was like playing for Coachy Boddom.
I don't want to answer any questions like that. Sixty one yards? What's Sunday stroll for? Justin field? Yes.
Bears et cetera brought to you by Miller Lte with the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Well, we have reached the pinnacle of podcast numbers. It is the Tom Thayer, Olden Krutz, Jack Samborn, Episode fifty seven of The Bears et Cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniak. I'm coming to you from the scouting combine in Indianapolis. Tom. I believe this is my twenty seventh combine out of the last twenty eight years. It's been crazy. I've enjoyed it.
I've learned a lot. Wish you were here. You were a player, so you've been involved with plenty of combines. Today was a big day for the Bears media and the fans. They heard from general manager Ryan Poles. We're gonna hear that entire fifteen minutes with the media. I wish he had a decision, wish he had news, but there's a long way in Tom. Frankly, it would be egregious to just say, Okay, this is what we're doing.
They gotta meet these guys, they gotta explore, they gotta listen, they gotta listen, probably twice as much as they speak in these situations, and see what's offered out there. How do you how do you put that on a bundle?
Well, I'm going to analogize it for you. And I don't know if you're ever a fan of watching the World Series of Poker. Now, when you get down to the final table and you have all these guys that are competing for millions of dollars in first place position, there's a lot of conversation there and nothing has ever said. I'm not gonna tip you on my hand, I'm not gonna keep you any information. I'm not gonna tell you
what card I'm looking for. And that's when I was listening to Riot Poles and listen, I really respect the heck out of Ryan Pulls and the way he speaks to the media because he's never searching for words, he's never looking for answers, he's never avoiding eye contact. But
he's not gonna tell you anything. And I think that's the way every general manager rides through the combine, unless you're at the bottom of the barrel and you're trying to pick everybody's brain to see if there's any information that can help you. But Ryan is not going to help anybody until he does his due diligence. He does he you know, he's got his representatives that do nice investigative work, and then it'll all come out on the day of the draft.
Yeah, you know, or much before that, involving if they're going to stick with Justin or are they're gonna draft somebody? Are they gonna keep both and work their way around that. But you know, he's as transparent as they come though at the general manager position. From my experience, he doesn't need to tell you everything. But he does tell you his process. He's not shy about that. There are others
that don't even give you that much detail. And by the way, this episode of Bears, etc. Brought to you by Miller Lite, So like you, I have a ton of respect for him and his staff. And what they're doing here. This is rare, it's happened. Jacksonville the most recent one to have first round picks back to back years that are the number one pick in the draft.
But in terms of also having to make a decision on a former number one quarterback that has done a lot of nice things in the National Football League and is one of its most dynamic athletes that is still in your possession and what you could possibly do in many different cases. I know Ryan used the term hundreds of scenarios, and there may be there may be that many scenarios, right.
You know, what I really liked is the line that he referenced Jeff King, one of his scouts, is using when he's describing the quarterback.
Artist or surgeon, you can kind of see who's the artist that's really creative, doesn't draw within the lines. And then there's more of the surgeons who are like the Brady's and the Peyton's Peyton Manning reference there, and that is true. And he does talk about a little bit about, you know, justin fields and Caleb Williams, the comparisons there and arm angles and where they throw the ball from a lot of ad lib in both of their games.
But we see on tape at USC and Oklahoma in his two and a half seasons there at those two colleges that this quarterback does have some magician to him for sure. And I don't know where's the value in the magician of the surgeon Towny.
Well, you know to me. And when you look at Caleb Williams in his last year of college, he played with a very passive offensive line, so protection was never
a guarantee. So a lot of times when you're looking at a surgeon, you're trying to make the best of what's offered to you, and so it wasn't going okay, I can guarantee myself in a hostile environment that I'm going to have five or six seconds to look at downfield, I'm gonna have to get out get the ball out of my hands immediately, and sometimes it can be with pressure in my face. So then we add, you know, computes to what type of arm angle you're going to use.
And again just the reference by Jeff King, I thought it was it was a good explanation of what a quarterback can be.
Yeah, well, why don't we take a listen right now? The fifteen minutes with Bear's general manager Ryan Poles here from Indianapolis or the scouting combine, dressing all topics, including kicking off with congratulations to the newest Bears Hall of famers.
All right, so I'll jump right in kind of update on topics that have happened since the last time I spoke. So first, I just want to congratulate all of our guys that got into the Hall of Fame. I know our fans have been waiting, and they've been waiting for a long time, so I know the entire organization's really excited for them. FLU hit it yesterday. Excited about our coaching staff we've put together moving forward. Shane and Eric and the rest of the crew were in good hands.
They're going to do a really good job and coach hit on all the topics, teachers, communicators. Shane's got a really good feel for both the run in the past game. I really do adapt and adjusting the things that we're looking for. So we're I'm really pumped about that. Cody and Eddie, I know we put out a piece on them, but just want to say thank you to them for what they've done for the Bears. We felt like it was the right time to give them opportunity to go
test the market see what's out there for them. I want to do right by them and do it as early as possible so they can put their plans in place, but really thankful for their leadership and everything they've brought to the organization Jalen Johnson. In the process of getting Jalen Johnson done, conversations are going well at this time.
We feel like we've done a really good job kind of coming to the table strong, showing the respect that he's due just in terms of his production jew his career, and really an emphasis on the turnovers that he created this past year. Our expectation is that's going to continue to go as he's with the Bears. When it say coming strong, it means cash flows are strong, guarantees are strong,
the term is strong. For him being hit with his age, there's a really good opportunity for him to go back to the market again and continue to earn money and play well, and hopefully that's what it bears for a long period of time. So I'm excited about that. Like I've said about those deals all the time, it takes two to tango, and you got to find a place that everyone feels comfortable with. So I feel really good about that situation. Now the hot topic the first pick
quarterback situation. Contrary to reports out there, I have no master plan to present everyone today. This is opportunity for us to continue to gather information, learn about the different players in the draft, listen to what opportunities could come up, and then at the end of the day, we're gonna make the best decision that we can for the Chicago Bears. It will not be based on fear of what could
happen with this and what could happen with that. We're gonna put our information together and make the best decision because at the end of the day, we'll always throw our decision making against kind of our core kind of deal, which is win championships in sustained success for a long period of time. There's a lot that goes into that, but we're excited to gather that information and create clarity as you go along.
What is what is your if you decide to draft a quarterback? What is your motivation to trade justin before free agency starts, knowing that there might be a premium moment.
Yeah, again, it just depends on what opportunities pop up, I will say this. I think you guys know me well enough now I do if we go down that road, I want to do right by Justin as well. No one wants to live in gray. I know that's uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to be in that situation either. So we'll gather the information, will move as quickly as possible. We're not gonna be in a rush, and see what presents itself and what's best for the organization.
Did you talk to him, I know he've made those comments last week about kind of living in limbo on this. If you had conversations with him about where you guys are at right now in that process.
Yeah, So I've always felt and I told told him this after the season when we had our exit meetings, that you know, transparency and communication is key in these moments, and I told them we will do that. So I've been in contact with his team and it kind of let him let them know like what we're looking at, how things might play out, and that will continue to communicate as we move forward. Again, I understand how uncomfortable that is for him, But again, like I told him,
and he understands. I think he said it the other day too. It's part of this business. It is a unique situation, but yeah, I'll continue that communication, right.
I've been part of the evaluation process in Kansas City in twenty seventeen with my homes. How does that experience helped shape the way you go about evaluating quarterbacks and things you do in that regard.
Yeah, My background is I'm really fortunate to kind of see multiple phases and different types of processes put in place with you know, bringing a quarterback in from a trade to drafting. So again, just there's a process that we've learned in terms of tape watching and getting the know guys and bringing them in and spending time with them and feel comfortable with that setup. So I can definitely tap into that experience.
In terms of Jal with Johnson said things are going well with him, do you think it's more likely that there is a long term deal with him than the franchise tag?
I hope, So I'd like to avoid the franchise tag for him. I think there's a really good space for us to find a middle ground. Again, we always have the tag to use, but I really would like to get something done long time with them. Ran.
How do you view philosophically, how do you view the draft assets you'd have picking first and nine, you would theoretically be targeting star players if you catch those picks, yep, versus converting those into more picks, but they are lesser picks.
Yeah, that goes into the equation, right, I mean you gotta look at what's there in that area. In terms of drafting, again, you gotta listen to the trade Like you don't trade back one, trade back, two, trade back fifteen. Like that changes the dynamic based on where the board is set up. I think I talked about that last year. Wind up counting the guys in certain spaces that we feel like can be impact players for our team. So that goes into equation as well. But I think it's
a really good opportunity to improve our football team. And the other thing is like very open and understand that draft picks are just opportunity, right, you got to capture that. You got to be right with your draft picks. So we understand that as well.
The process of evaluating the quarterbacks obviously at the top of the draft, but we've done a lot of misses a quarterback. Yeah, what have you maybe learned about what goes into making a player, you know, a great quarterback at the next level.
Yeah, there's a lot there, right, It's like, what's the infrastructure look like, what's around the player? I think that's key, and I think that's probably mess with the numbers a lot when you're talking about the top of the draft. I think that's what makes our situations unique and why we have to really do a deep dive into it. I think the person is a huge part. I've talked about that a lot. What's the makeup the leadership? How do they handle pressure? How do they handle pressure in
a big city like ours? So a lot of those factors go in.
You weren't going to make a big reveal today in terms of I have you nothing?
Yeah, no, I wish I did.
Yeah, I know that's.
I totally understand that.
But do you have an idea like how what's the percentage of what you think you know right now ahead of the combine? Like how important is the combine in making the decision right now?
It's like one hundred different scenarios that you go down and try to plot out, and you're forecasting forward to see what's gonna work out and probabilities and and things like that. But at the end of the day, the human being part of getting to know someone, getting to know a group of people is really going to determine it and out There's gonna be options that pop up
all the time that you don't see coming. I think I said it last year, like something will happen at some point in the next few months that no one expects, So you got to be on your toes for that. So the picture will change as we go.
You trade that mindset this year with the number one overall picks and what you had last year at this time.
No, I mean, it's it's unique, right, but I would say our approach is exactly the same in terms of we got to look at every option and determine what is best for our team. Obviously, we chose to trade back last year and I think that that helped our team out a lot. So again, we'll do a deep dive and see how it plays out.
Would you evaluating the prospects if you can gathering information, Do you have any concern at all that Caleb Williams or the team around you don't want to playdom.
No, No, no concerns about that at all. I would love to know why if that was the case. Like I said, I think as a young quarterback and I've been around it, the infrastructure is important, and I think we've made really good progress in terms of having really good infrastructure for whoever were to come in or justin Worth to stay here as well.
In terms of your quarterback evaluation when you were in Kansas City, Cliff Kingsbury said that, you know, Patrick Mahomes and Caleb Williams are eerily similar.
When you watch the tape, do you see.
That there's pieces, there's pieces that are similar. Obviously the one that sends out to everyone's just different arm angles. That's a unique trait. Not a lot of guys can do that. I give Jeff King, he's not my team credit. He painted a picture of you know, there's two types of quarterbacks. There's artists and then there's surgeons. So within that group you can kind of see who's the artist
create that's really creative. It doesn't draw within the lines where there's more of surgeons who are you know, like your typical like the Brady's and Peyton So we kind of branch them out of those buckets and go from there. So that's where they're they're similar percentage. You prefer with artists and surgeons, no winners.
You do move off the number one pet. We've heard crazy, you've heard history and all those adjectives used for the amount of compensation you need.
What what are you looking for?
Yeah, it's hard to say right now, but it's it's got to help our organization significantly to to move around because we saw what it did last year and I'm looking for that type of return to continue to improve a football.
Would you want to know what you're going.
To do tomorrow.
Before?
I would love to know as soon as possible. I mean, I mean I would love to know, But I know that's not how the process works. You know, there's sure before phagency would be good. Like I said, I'm also taking you know, if we were to do something with Justin like I want to do right by him, and I know, again living in that gray space, you would want to do something sooner rather than later. But just like I talked about contracts, it takes two teams to
figure that out. But at the same time, we're also trying to figure out the draft process as well, So there's a lot of different things with different timelines going and that's what makes it a little right of your process over the next six weeks.
What do you see as the best ways for you to evaluate the wiring of quarterbacks.
And what what do you like to do to learn.
Who they are? Yeah, spend time. Spend time. That's I mean any type of relationship, you know, it's it's time on task and just kind of getting to know the personality. There's been a ton of information gathering from my team just in terms of teammates, coaches, things like that, but you got to spend time with another person really understand the wiring are What are you trying to feel out
in that practice? What are you looking for from that? Yeah, you look for examples of dependability, You're looking selflessness, leadership, ownership, you know, like I think it's hard these days to find people that you know, pay this is wrong and it's like, yeah, it was wrong. This is what I have to do to correct it rather than just kind of besing your way through it. So, yeah, with time on task and spending time with these guys, who'll get to know some of those things.
Are you expecting Are you expecting a busier combine than usually Like I'm imagining you're gonna be a pretty popular guy. So everybody wants to buy your dinner, and you talk about all these different assets that you like trade. I mean, is it going to be a different combine for you?
Yeah, it feels that way. Yeah. Has it already started? Oh yeah, my phone will stop because.
As people how aggressive are people with fishing for information from other teams to see what.
You know to do with that?
Yeah, it's you know, it starts slow. We were at Senior Bowl. I know people are kind of poking around that. I haven't had like big time conversations with anyone, but everyone wants to, you know, take a temperature of what's going on here. Yeah. Yeah, How would you.
Say last year's trade worked out for you guys?
For the Panthers and even Houston that didn't get the number one dat.
Yeah, I'll only comment on us. I thought it worked out really well, just adding two good players like Darnelle and DJ. Had no idea this would work out where would be the first overall pick? But I would say that's successful and then you know a future too as well, So it worked out well for us. You will keep growing up with that.
Universally loved Justin and by this team. Have you thought about what that conversation is going to be like if you do train and what you're gonna like delivering that message to the team.
Yeah, you know, he's a leader. Every everything our guys have said, it's true and not surprise our guys have said what they have said. I feel the same way, and I think sometimes this whole thing gets you know, justin versus another person, and I have to look at it a little bit differently. I take that into a fact. That's why the person is so important when we evaluate
other people that would come in that position. But also it's my job to think of the long term and and a lot of our guys kind of don't don't see that that's not their job to do that, and they defend their guy, which I think speaks volume volumes about our culture and our lock correct.
They've made traits before with that causes their anxiety that comes with that for someone who wouldn't have to deliver that sort of news.
No, because I have faith in our ability to communicate with our guys, and when we do that, I think they'll know that it's in the best interest of the team. And I think as we've moved along here. I think that the trust factors there that clear in good hands with However.
We decided when wise for the college quarterbacks, do you really need to get all the way to private workouts putting them in the building to know and how would that impact your decisions with.
Justin Yeah, so you know again the different there's a lot of different timelines going. So being creative with finding time to spend with the different prospects and and if we can get a private workout things like that, that does help come to conclusion and kind of fill in all the boxes that you need.
If you identify as quarterback prospect as your guy, is there any price that can move you off of.
Your guy would be our guy? Right Like it's it's not about me at all. That's hard to answer right now because I need kind of the whole puzzle put together to to figure that out.
Ryan Poles of the podium seemed relaxed. He seemed vibrant, energetic, He was direct. It wasn't somebody that looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders despite the fact he does, but in a good way. Because whatever happens, whatever happens, the Bears are going to get better from this. They're going to be a better football team. They're going to cash in on some assets. And this team that got better as the season were on a year ago and now have filled many holes but still
some to go. They're going to be a better team. And the bottom line is you got to get the quarterback right. There's a quote today from Andy Reid, Tommy Kansas City Chiefs head coach of the podium, what advice would you give to a young person trying to break into the business of coaching, Work hard, be honest, dot dot dot, and get a good quarterback. Well, he had Donovan McNabb and now he's got Patrick Mahomes. He also had some really good quarterbacks Alex Smith and some others
along the way. But without it, you're now winning.
But you know one thing about Ryan Poles, I think Ryan Poles has learned from every one of his football experiences life is a football player, as an offensive lineman and through the different front offices he's worked with, and when you think about the time that he had in the front office with the Kansas City Chiefs, I think he learned a lot about the process of picking a quarterback from the process that he lived through with the
Kansas City Chiefs. So hopefully a lot of the information he learned the details of that quarterback evaluation class will pay dividends. This year.
Matti Riflusoso spoke to the entire media in the convention Center up here in Indianapolis, and so he answered some of the same questions. One of them was what he's looking for in an ideal quarterback.
Yeah.
The wiring of a quarterback, obviously is number one is leadership. You know, you have to be a great leader. You got to be resilient, you got to be able to handle criticism, you know. And then obviously the physical traits. You know, that's a big part of it, you know, you know, the accuracy, the timing, the platform, all the things you talk about with that, and then being a winner, you know, that's what That's what it comes down to. All these teams that do things at the end of
the season, they have winners at the quarterback spot. Yep.
So leadership at the beginning of that, and you got to be a winner. That was his final aspect of it. Everything else is an obvious. It's the accuracy, it's it's how you play the game. It's how you execute the offense. It's how you move the chains, it's as you always say, it's how you get those first down. So that's a blanket statement about it, about what he wants. It doesn't give you any insight into who they're going to go with or what their direction is going to be. But
this is what every head coach is looking for. This is what every general manager is looking for. And not everybody has one of those guys in their building.
But you know, sometimes the evidence in the description of what you're looking for in a quarterback is not evident until you get on the football field. But leadership you can see in a lot of a lot of different ways. You can see it as how you transfer information from the meeting room to the field, What do you do inside the weight room, what is your attitude like inside the locker room? How how do you incorporate your teammates to make yourself a better football player? And how do
you make them better at their skills. So there's a lot of different details when you look at the qualifications of a quarterback, but leadership is obviously right there up at the top. And you know, from the Dan Marino area to the Peyton Manning era. You know, leadership is a qualification that oozes out of them when you see what their success and their track record became.
You know. The other thing, too, is leadership is to me defined in many different ways. So there's a visual aspect to it. How they carry themselves, their body language, and I take great value in that. It is how you are at the podium because when you're talking, you're talking to your team nowadays because of the Internet and because of X and Twitter and Instagram and whatever, but you're also talking to your fans. You're answering questions like
a CEO. But it's also that unwavering belief in each other that you're going to pull the very best out of your teammates. And whenever you hear NFL films and you got these quarterbacks miked up or on the defensive side of the ball. Some great players from your era and Mike Singletary and hamp and those guys to the current modern day players, there's certain guys and there's only so many that say, hey, follow me, we're gonna get it done. Let's go. And that's also hard to find
and rare to find. And you know, Patrick Mahomes is that right now. He is that guy. He is not scared one bit of the bright lights in the biggest moments, and he just finds a way. And he's doing it not necessarily with all pro talent at every single position. He's doing it with a seventh round running back, He's doing it with probably a bunch of number three wide receivers, and he's doing it with an all pro tight end.
He's doing it because he's great at what he does and they believe in him, and he believes in that.
You know, one thing about being a leader a quarterback player in the NFL, you can't be an introvert. It's not something that you're going to walk around the locker room and just keep it to yourself, you know, fortunately or unfortunately, in order to accept that leadership role, you're going to have to be a little extroverted. And I'm not saying a guy like Dj Moore, who doesn't seem
to be the most extroverted type of guy. But he can be a leader by example, and he can be a leader by his toughness, his dedication, his ability to rebound from a hard hit and go out and make a difficult catch. But uniquely enough. When you're the quarterback, you're working, you're tugging the rope in a lot of different ways.
I'll tell you another thing. I think it would really help if a true leader on the offensive line emerges, a guy that everybody looks to, they respect, they know they're going to get the best from this guy. They know he's going to show up every day and he's going to keep that cobble deck group together and be there for his quarterback. And whether that's the center or if it's a star tackle or if it's the it doesn't matter who it is. And they can all be
that guy too. But I think that's necessary also, Amen, Yeah, there.
Has got to be a guy that they're The role of the offensive line is important to the success of the team and the role of the offensive linemen and their success. It transfers from the practice field to the weight room, to the meeting room, to the camaraderie that they develop amongst each other. That includes all of the offensive linemen on the team, just not one to two to five of them. And I think that, you know, extroverted alpha male is is really needed on this team.
Whatever direction the Bears go. Here at center and whatever direction they go at quarterback. Tommy I initially thought this was my feeling like, Okay, there's some really good young centers. It appears, and there's one I already you know, circled and we've talked about them, the kid from Oregon. He's twenty years old. But is there something to be said for having a veteran center that's been around the block that can help alleviate and close the gap? Again, it's
another new offense. Yes, it may be similar to the last offense, but it's there's going to be different language, there's gonna be different, it's going to be a different offense. It's a collaboration of a bunch of people. Here what it would help to help identify defense? Take one more layer away from whomever is quarterbacking the Bears in twenty twenty four and beyond, Where would you go here?
That's not a necessity to me. I want ability, I want growth, I want potential. I want to develop the relationship between who amever the quarterback is in the development of the offensive line. And we've seen guys come aboard. You know Linderbaum from the rookie quarterback that plays for the Baltimore Ravens. When he came out of Iowa, everybody knew that no matter where he was drafted, he was going to be the first guy to line up on the first day of practice Kansas City. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
And I think they're those guys that can come aboard a football team and they know what their role is immediately, and they are willing to absorb all the pressure that goes along with it because they know how to perform and listen. You know you're gonna go from college football playing with eleven guys to go into the NFL playing against eleven guys, and you're not gonna you know, you're gonna have a lot of similarities in the calls that they make from their college years to their NFL years.
Here on your journeys ahead, go with a partner who's been on your team from the beginning, the one members and communities have trusted for over eighty five years, Blue Crossing, Blue Shield of Illinois, always standing by you, with you, for you through it all. Mattyberflus Also, this is now, it's a thing, it's a trend. It's not going away. The Bears now have twenty five coaches, twenty five coaches on both sides of the ball. There's a run coordinator
in a pass game coordinator. Throughout the league, almost every team has populated. And that was a subject for Matti Berfluse at the podium today. Why this angle, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, when you have an offensive coordinator, you have run game coordinator, and you have a pass game coordinator.
Yeah, that's a great question, and I really think it's it's important. So they're all cohesive, you know. I really sat down and met with all three of those guys individually and at the same time. And our offense is going to be a direct reflection of those threes of relationships. How we coordinate the run, the pass, you know, and overall coordination of those in situations during the course of
the game. So I think that's why we did it, and and I know that's why we did it, and that's it's going to be exciting to watch going forward.
And coach is referring also to you know, in game is important as well. He is going to be calling the plays on defense. That's a preoccupation of importance also in the greater scheme of things. But you wanted more communication and more continuity and how do you feel.
About so Okay, if I disagree with it, Oh.
You could do Tom, I'm not telling you what to say.
Well, let me give you an example. So earlier in the year, right around the first game of the year, second game of the year, they had an interview with Justin who Justin said something at the podium about too many voices in his head. Then he had to go right and meet the media right after the practice and kind of re reference what he was trying to say. When I go back and I look at the team picture of the eighty five Bears, and there's coach Dicken.
He's got nine assistant coaches, and they had things done more archaically in that day when they were drawing things by hand and they were doing all the work themselves. And I don't want to get too many voices in the same room. That creates mass confusion, and then there's too many topics of discussion that could go down different avenues by in different ways. And listen, I understand it is the way that the modern day coaching staffs are
put together. But when you go back and you look at the George Allens and the Chuck Knowles and the Tom Landry's and the Don Shulas and the guys that were super successful well throughout their ears of coaching. It was their mantras. Too many guys makes a confusing facility, and so I don't mean to offend anybody, but I just don't agree with it.
Also, iber Flusch had a lot of conversation with Pete Carroll about Shane Waldron after that Seattle situation moved in a different direction. He talked about that and what he learned from Carol.
Yeah, I had a real long conversation with Pete, you know, when that whole thing went down. We were in the interview process and he just gleaned about Shane and talked about him at length, about his ability to adapt and adjust and what he did with the quarterbacks that were there in Seattle. So I was very comfortable moving forward
with Shane in that. And it's really about his track record, right, you know, So when you have a current head coach or his his head coach that was with him say those words about him and talk to me at length about it, and then me watched the tape and then what he actually did with all those quarterbacks TV that's proof.
And then a lot of those quarterbacks. Gino Smith one of them. I certainly made him a whole heck of a lot better of a quarterback getting rid of the ball. Quicker Drew Locke also had some success, did so with Russell Wilson as well. You know, one of the things that I really like about this whole situation with Ibraflus right now, they interviewed so many guys, They learned a lot of information. They took something out of everything they went through the process. And it wasn't just a handful
of guys he plays phone call. They did their due diligence, it sounds like, and in a really deep way. This year. I mean, they interviewed a lot of guys for every position, and here is where now they pull it all together, and they got a couple of months to figure it out. Once the offseason program begins April fifteenth, goes to about June fourteenth, and we'll see how they get ready for a training camp, which could be a long training camp this year if they go to the Hall of Fame game.
But I like at least that they are doing everything they possibly can to overturn every stone and rock to make sure they are setting up the players for success. And now let's pull it all together, everybody pulling on this rope, as you just said, and let's go to town. Let's see see what we get.
Yeah, you know, to me with him, you look at a guy like Shane Waldron, the evidence is what they are able to accomplish with the position and the person that they coached. And to me, and we've talked about this before, as you know, I kind of lost the little faith in Geno Smith and then he was a hard guy not to pay attention to over the last couple of years because he was at performing at such a high level in such a different confidence level. And so I'd love to see what this Shane Waldron was
able to do and accomplished with Geno Smith. And that tells me all I need about a coach. If I never had the opportunity to talk to coach Pete Carroll, who I think is a heck of a coach. But really, Shane is the reflection of what he did with Geno Smith to tell me what I want to see out of the quarterback position development.
Usy Heart Selzer Flavors for every Vibe, Celebrate Responsibly, Molson Coors Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jeff and Tom on fifty seven. How about five to seven of the podcast already you're feeling probably you're walking tall today.
Hey, listen for the other guys that wore in the jersey fifty seven. Throughout the history of the Chicago Bears, I'm always proud to see that number on the back of someone's jersey at a game, whether it's Sanborn Krutz or myself.
According to ESPN Stance and Information, Bears became the first team of the Common Draft era since nineteen sixty seven to be the number one overall pick one season after trading it. That's a little nugget. I think we've heard that before, and in reference to what's going on about Justin Yes, you have to be you have to put
the team first. You have to think about what's best for the franchise, and you also also at the same time want to be respectful and transparent to Justin Fields whether you're going to be back with us or we're going to move in a different direction. And here's a
great quote we heard from Pole. I think it's my job to think of the long term, and a lot of our guys kind of don't see that it's not their job to do that, and they defend their guy, which I think speaks vimes about our culture in that locker room because every time DJ Moore gets a microphone in his face, the first question is, like NFL Network did just on Monday, you know what do they expect these guys to say? They're not These guys are tight,
They're not gonna They're not gonna bash their quarterback. They're not gonna bash their teammate. That's not how this works around the league. But Ryan knows what he knows and he's got to do his best for the franchise, right.
But you know the thing about it, too, Jeff, is you can't give Justin Fields a conclusive answer because the first thing they're gonna do is go on to social media and tell everybody what he was told. And then it's just going to play the hand early by Ryan Pole. So you know, it's just the business. It's the business process of the NFL and the draft and talent evaluation and try to make sure that you're in the best position for your team to succeed. They're not looking at
things from the individual part. They're looking at it from the team part.
All right, So their interviews started already this week before these guys start doing interviews with the media on Wednesday. Here at the Combine, I'm talking about the three hundred some players here for their job interviews, and a lot of it then is meeting with teams at night. And I never asked you this before. We only think about you throwing up two hundred and twenty five pounds or whatever it was, or I don't know, did you run
a forty? I don't even know. Did you Okay? But okay, listen, listen, I got to ask this question. Did you sit like did you have the interviews? The speed dating interviews with multiple teams are not yeah, okay, I've never had so did what kind of things did they ask you? Did they ask you to go on the board and draw play?
And did they ask you? Did they test you and say, okay, here's what we run this particular play in this particular down in distance and they it let it linger and want you to think about And then half hour later, Hey, tell us what that play was. Do they did they do that to you? And if so, do what do you remember anything stick out?
It was more of hey, time you played a lot of different positions during your college career. You played defensive line to center, to both offensive guards, to left tackle. Why do you think you moved around so much? What you know? What did you learn from each of your positions? What is your What is your commitment to the game? Do you see yourself being a football player for the next ten years? Are you going to graduate on time?
How do you feel about you know, the the fact that you know you had a losing season at Notre Dame and what was contributing to that? You know, it's all of them investigating at that time your commitment to the game.
Did they ask you to drump plays? No, they didn't ask you about stuff like that. Well did they ask you to did they? Did they challenge you in any way? That kind of got your blood up a little bit?
Just one offensive line coach, uh, that made me do some footwork drills in front of them. And as soon as I got done, he looked and he goes, I don't think he got it?
Oh what, yeah, I don't. Now, I'm not asking you to name the guy. Don't do it.
I tell you, I'll tell you what team it was.
Are you willing to spill the beans.
Now it was jerry Wanmfler, and he was the offensive line coach for Philadelphia at the time, and since I had some experience with playing offensive tackle, he had to do these offensive tackle footwork drills at the combine. And then after I did all these footwork drills, he just sugar his head and he goes, I don't think he got it.
Wow, And I know how gosh darn sensitive you can be. Wait at that moment, were you ready to just were you thinking, oh my god, if he thinks that, then possibly twenty other teams think that, or did it make you so mad like this guy?
I said, I don't think you're right. And then why did you make me do the drills for so long? If this was what you were going to tell you, this is what you're going to say.
Interesting, Wow, I wouldn't want to be in the room when that happened with you.
Well you know what, Jeff, Again, we went to three combines. Yeah we didn't get everything one so yeah, I all say, we went to one in Tampa, one in Detroit, in one in Seattle. And so you did it multiple weeks in a row, so that one is the only time that they caught me off guard because I came in and was super confident in the way I was walking into these interviews. Because we were walking in in a T shirt and a pair of gray shorts. You know, it wasn't you know, it wasn't like it is today.
Let me ask you this then, if you're a modern day player today and you know you're kind of advising some offensive linemen, these kids, you've been working with them for the past couple months since season ended, and they're going to go in today's interviews, which can be a little different. They're asking you if you're a dog or a cat or blah blah blah blah blah. They're asking
some weird stuff as well. What advice would you give today's players about what to say about themselves and not be programmed like their agents do program them if they've had something in their past, or if they didn't play and they didn't start a game until their senior year, or whatever the case may be.
What would you advise be over enthusiastic of every team that you're walking into and don't think of that. If I'm a kid from Cincinnati and I don't want to go to Seattle, then go in there. With the Seattle Seahawks and act like you have a piss poor attitude or poor attitude because they talk talk about it amongst
themselves after meetings. Going there and tell them that you're definitely committed to the NFL for as long as you can possibly play, how much you love the game of football, the support of your family, and just you know how important it's been, you know, to the to get you into position in life of you know, your college degree and how much you've been able to accomplish, and just paint them a picture of you know, over you know, over enthusiasm. And you know what I got to tell you.
So my brother in law, who I learned a lot about, was going through the combine process a little bit two years before me, and he kind of portrayed the opportunity to rely account on his education or his music ability and that football, maybe not was the most important thing in to his future and it affected him and rather than being a first rounder, he slipped down to the
fourth round. And so he you know, one thing I learned is he said, look, no matter who you're talking to, you paint an enthusiastic pitcher like this is the most important thing to you and your future.
Well, what's the number one thing Matt Eberflues talks about all the time. Love of the game. Got I love the game. I love the game. And he's trying to find those guys. We know it's hard to find fifty three of them. You hope you find twenty two of them at least to start on Sundays. But it is hard to find those guys and to try to weed through their emotions, their thoughts and not only their tape, but you know how they approached the game. You could be a great athlete and not love the game, and
you're not relying on your just your athletic traits. But if you don't love the game, you're not going to invest yourself and be absolutely passionate about it. And that's my thing. I'd say, Hey, I'm obsessed with football, I'm obsessed about being great, I'm obsessed about winning. That's what needs to come out of my mouth if I'm one of these guys today, And then I got to show them and give them examples of that being truthful.
I reference this all the time, and I don't realize the importance until Mike Ditka had the word inscribed in the side of our Super Bowl Ring eights. Attitude, character enthusiasm. And you think about that, Jeff, and what's your attitude? And you know, attitude, character, enthusiasm, you know. And I just remember watching Hard Knocks one time, and I was watching a rookie that had the worst attitude I've ever
seen on Hard Knocks. And he had to be walked to the practice field every day and kind of encourage and brought this bad attitude out of him and try the coaches try to convince him how important football was and everything.
And I just don't.
I didn't.
We don't have we don't have time for that in the NFL. We don't have time to like it's it's about now. For all your journeys ahead.
I laughed, because that player ended up playing for the Bears.
Don't say I don't. For all your journeys ahead, Go with a partner who's been on your team from the beginning of the one Members and communities of Trusted for over eighty five years. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, always standing by you, with you, for you through it all. Jeff and Tom here, episode fifty seven. Some other nuggets so very significant. One is Jalen Johnson, and I thought Ryan Pols was outstanding, came right to the eight listen.
We want him. We're giving him an outstanding offer. It's going to check a lot of boxes for him and us. We hope we can meet and get this thing done. He can. Also, he's young enough we can have another bite of the apple later in his career. So if you're getting a chance at a third contract with the same team or whatever the case may be, you're gonna make yourself a lot of money. In the NFL, corners are getting paid a lot of money. And Matt Eberflus
also very high on where they're at right now. With Jalen Johnson and his impact on this football team, Yeah, a lot, you know.
So I'm so proud of Jalen the way he improved and the way he really took the challenge to to be a ball guy, and he certainly did that. He's a great leader, and not only in our defensive back room, but in our whole defensive room too, and he's really starting to be a really good leader on our whole football team.
So I'm excited about him.
Again, Like Ryan said this morning, you know, we obviously want to get him to a long term deal. I hope they're close. I hope it works out, but certainly excited. We'll be excited to have him back.
Well, they're trying to avoid the franchise tag here, which you know is it would pay him a lot of money, but you know that players don't love that. Obviously. It's it's the it's in the holster in case you need it. But a long term deal would send a nice message to the rest of the defense. He is well liked in that locker room, key part of a very aggressive young secondary, which we think, until further notice, is the strength of this football team. It is. I mean, it's
the strength of the football team. Uh. And they're going to be adding another safety here to the mix, but I think it would be a bit thing.
You know.
I'm looking at the cornerback market out there, and you know, you never can have enough corners, and he's right near the top of the Jerry Sneed of Kansas City is in that mix. A bunch of guys from the Patriots, Stefan Gilmour, Stephen Nelson, There's a bunch of them, but Jalen Johnson is right there at the top.
Yeah, but you know the thing about it is leadership role he's going to have to accept. When you get rid of Eddie Jackson and now you're elevated to the senior most member of that defensive backfield with a bunch of young kids by your side. Now Jalen Johnson has to lead by example. You know the workout, you know the meeting room work ethic, the practice field work ethic, the game day seriousness. So you're not only paying Jalen Johnson to come out here and be a Sunday cornerback.
You're asking Jalen Johnson to come into that facility each day and be an example of leadership to a really young group of defensive backs.
Safety position Brisker, we know what he's all about. He is a guy that plays with passion. He's a guy who loves the game. He loves to hit you. He loves to be around the football. He's always around the football. I know he missed some interceptions a year ago that he probably still thinking about. He watches a ton of tape and he does throughout the offseason. Maddy Berflus on what type of safety they're looking for.
Yeah, you're looking for a guy that pairs well with him. No, Jakwan is the guy that's a strong safety. He comes down man's tight ends. He's a big hammer. The guy that we'll be looking for has got to have athletic ability, he's got to have range, he's got a great communication skills, and he's got to have ball skills. You know, we want all of our guys to have the ability to take the ball away and he has to have that too,
and then eventually growing to a leader. You know, if it's a free agent, he's gonna have to feel the temperature of the room and then and dive into the leadership role. And if it's a rookie, he's gonna have to develop that with the other guys.
Yeah, they could go two ways here. Hearing just from scouts, the safety group is maybe not the greatest this year coming out of the combine. There is a number of veteran safeties tom least ten or twelve they're on the free agent market that would get your attention. But what kind of safety you hear what Matt says about it, what kind of safety do you envision back there?
Versatile? I think when you look at what Kyler Gordon's capable of, what your Kwan Brisker is capable of. If you could have another interior safety that can allow you to shift and change and attack from different angles from that defensive back position, including the corner blitz as I know, your favorite. But you got to have a guy that has that versatility. You know, talented tight ends, talented running backs out of the backfield, talented third receivers. You know,
we talked about it before. I think if they do, if there's a corner back out there that they had special interest in, and you could take a guy like Tyreek Stevenson and move him to that free safety position. I still love his tackling, willingness, his talent. It's sometimes convenient to take a corner and move them to safety because you add that element of speed to the interior
of your defense. But if the Bears go out there and identify that there is, you know, a veteran out there that fits this defense, I perfectly I think Ryan Poles, you know, would be willing to take a feeler on that contributor.
Game day snacking calls for good foods. Chunky guacamaldi made with has avocados, tomatoes, onions, sidantro and a squeeze of lime juice. It's the perfect snack to watch while the Bears win. Score one today at your local grocery store, game day is guac Day. There's also a priority to get another edge defender, and we all know it. Everybody knows it. Montesa Sweat had a great year and now another dangerous player on the outside is something Maddie bruf LUs is looking for.
Yeah, we have.
We have several other priorities for sure, so orderum is really not We're not there yet, but you know, certainly pass rusher is one of them. You know, we've got to make sure that we have somebody opposite you know, Sweat, and make sure we can never have enough of those guys, because that they affect the game most.
No question about it. They affect the game most. No truer words they're spoken, Tommy, We discuss it all the time. Just watch playoff football. Edge rushers, pass rushers, interior rushers affect the game in a big way.
Yeah.
But you know, Jeff, you know, given the amount of money that they've just given Montese Sweat to me, if I'm going to look for an edge rusher, I want to find a young guy in the draft because it's almost resetting the financial commitment to the quarterback position. You don't want to go out there and get that free
agent that's an expect an enormous amount of money. Tell me a guy that I can bring here from the college football game, bring him into my team and kind of grow him into the system from the very beginning. So to me, if I'm going to look at that edge position, I'm going to go out there and find a college guy that, Hey, maybe you're not countered on to come in here and play first or first and second down immediately, but can you give me pass rush
on third down? Second long If I can find that guy that's gonna piauk my interest from the college game, maybe you do both. Again, I'm taking financial consideration into account as much as I am. You know what the position, what the productivity is going to offer me in the long run.
All Right, some other notes on the division. Tommy is popping up today. Tuesday is all about the coaches. They'll do some tomorrow as well as the start of the players on the defensive side of the ball. But in Minnesota, there's growing talk that the Vikings may in fact try to keep Kirk Cousins, who's coming off of that achilles injury. He just started working again. There was some video of
him taking some snaps and so forth. I mean, if I'm them, I got you know, it's something I got to really consider because where they're at in the draft, are they going to be able to get somebody that they feel comfortable with that can step in and start at this point, and their number one goal this offseason according to their general manager, and it's by far is
getting a deal done with Justin Jefferson. He called him the best receiver in the NFL and he should be compensated as such, adding that Jefferson, he believes is also the best non quarterback and could be I should be compensated as such. I do believe, and I think I've said this many times. He's the best single player regardless of position, in my opinion in the division. I don't
know if you share that opinion. But Justin Jefferson is when he when he's he's uncomfortable at times, he is that good of a rout runner and that threat.
He is, and with a complimentary receiver like Addison, I mean, I think it makes him even more dangerous. However, would make me nervous. If I was a Minnesota Vikings and I was going to resign Kirk Cousins, I would always have always have a re injury concerned in the back of my mind. And their tight end got hurt late in the year, so it's not like you're gonna have to be Jay Hawkins in there on the field immediate lea.
So now, yeah, if you had Kirk Cousins coming back, with an offensive line that was good at pass protection, you had those two outside wide receivers that are very good, very fast, very clever, and you have the tight end, then I would say, wow, you know, this veteran quarterback is a no brainer. However, when you got to think of all the you know, moving parts to those decisions, if they feel Kirk Cousins is the best, then that's what they got to believe in.
Backers are the youngest team in football last year, they did a great job drafting and they've got position flexibility to do so. Again, I know they need a safety, so we'll be we'll be battling for safeties, whether it be on the free agent market or in the draft. With the Green Bay Packers, Tommy, Yeah, what is Jordan.
Love's contract situation. When did they happen, Well.
Well, they gave him an extension last year, not long, not a long one, but enough to Yeah, they'll they'll have to address it down the road, but not immediately.
Yeah, but that's not an immediate concern. So they do have the luxury of this year of making some decisions whether they want to go into the veteran market for a position they need, maybe offensive line or you know, you know where they're going to set their sights on, if they feel their new defensive coordinator wants to bring in a specific type of you know, enhancement to their defense of what they're going to pla how they're going to play defense.
Taste like Miller Time, Celebrate Responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ninety six calories and three point two cars per twelve ounces. Maddyberflus likes doing things a little different in the interview process. So a year ago it was challenging the individuals to pick darts or putt and when he was asked how that is going to transpire at the combine circuit twenty twenty four, and it looks like he's going back to the same Well.
Yeah, it'll be the same process. You know, we'll take them into the room. In this particular case, we'll do the I'll ask them if they want to do darts or putting. You know, I like putting pretty good at both.
But but yeah, then we'll they'll decide that, and then we'll just teach him something about the offensive offensive play, and then we'll show him their tape and have them you know, talk about their tape and kind of checking their FBI out there, and then recall at the end to give us back what they learned in the beginning. And it's the same process for all the players.
Yeah, so a little fun then, you know, get him relaxed, and then let's see some of your tape, and then we're gonna give you one of our plays and we're gonna talk about your life and then oh yeah, tell me about that play. So that's the process. Would you do it?
Be the dart guy or the putter? Oh, I throw darts against him all day even now. I'm I'm you know, those kind of college no brainer games, whether it's be.
Pool or bumper pool or darts or ping pong, let's go. I'm ready. And if that's gonna elevate my draft status because I just beat you in darts all day.
I love how Flu says he's pretty good at both. I know, with a putter in his hand, he's damn good. He loves the game of golf and he's very good at it. That's for sure. Anything else on your mind before we wrap things up, it's going to be a heck of a couple of months, going to be a heck of a week here at the Combine. Rumors are going to be flying across the board, not just for the Bears, but for the entire league. And then, you know,
we've got to see some of these guys. You know, some of these guys are not going to work out. That's the case, including Caleb Williams. He's not going to work out, not going to be involved in the drills. He will meet the media, of course, Marvin Harrison the same, Jaden Daniels the same. I'm sure there'll be more. However, the plan is guys like JJ McCarthy of Michigan, Oregon's Bone Nicks, Washington's Michael Pennix all planned to throw. USC's pro day is set for March twenty at LSU's is
March twenty seventh anymore. I'm not surprised by anybody not participating or participating, so I get it, But what are your thoughts?
You know, I really don't care about the guys that are at such at the high end of the draft that they're not going to do anything because they don't need to. But that's not how successful football teams are built. They're a built by the guys that are going to be on their feet doing the drills. A guy that's going to blow our minds by having some sub four or some unbelievable forty that's all of a sudden puts them on the chart.
I e.
Montes Sweat, and then you're going to start seeing the foundation of football teams that these guys play, the eight to ten year careers that we always recall their performance in the combine. So I'm excited to see those guys because even in the combines that I went to as a player, there were the lways and stuff that didn't want to play at the combines, and I didn't care about them. I only cared about how I was doing.
For all your journeys, ahead, go with a partner who has been on your team from the beginning of the one members and communities have trusted for over eighty five years. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, always standing by you, with you, for you, through it all. All right, that's going to wrap up our podcast, number fifty seven. We're back with you next week post Combine conversation. Appreciate all your time, Tom, be well, enjoy the Combine from your perch.
Well our next podcast. Our next podcast will be next year or last year's first rounder. It's number fifty eight.
It's right, that's right, darn all right, tenth pick overall for Tom.
There.
I'm Jeff Jonihah. Thanks for listening everyone. Please subscribe now the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast spear down