Welcome in Tom Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy, a Chicago Bears Network production. Bears Weekly is brought you by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico Physical efferently, cd Gwady, Connie's Pizza, IGS Energy, and Mener Liked. Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilliac aka the Mayor of Bearsville and his sidekick, Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
All right, a lot of great stuff happened over the course of the last three or four days about your Bears, man. They took care of business against the Bengals in the preseason home opener, and now I'll wrap up a rapid preseason as they take on the two time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs coming up on Thursday. You'll hear that game, I believe the kick off at seven to twenty five from Kansas City right here on AM one thousand and the Bears Radio Network. Jeff Joniak along with Tom Fair.
I'll have a special guest today. It'll be Gerald Everett, the veteran tight end. I want to thank you our crew of producers that always help us out. Justin Pottinger handle them to work here today as well as we got Dan Brilly and Jordan tread Up, and our executive producer of the Bears Radio Network is Eric Oestrusk. You'd be welcome in the Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I know you enjoyed that performance and a Bears team
that really is shutting the door defensively. Yeah, Caleb Williams and the offense getting a lot of attention and rightly so. But that defense, Tommy, has been real good. I think outscoring opponents sixty to three or sixty to ten in the last couple games.
Yeah, you know, they haven't allowed the opponent's running game to be very productive. They've really challenged their pass protection. They've kind of shown to the other teams around the league what they're capable of doing, not only on the front end, but from the back end to help the front end. And I think that's going to open the eyes of a lot of early season offensive coordinators because the Bears have a lot of peace is yet to be in place.
When you look at.
Kevin Bayern and Jakwan Brisker and Kyler Gordon just coming back in the fold, uh Tyreek Stevenson getting healthier, and you know Montes Whatt hasn't played very much.
So there's a.
Lot more building that this team can do defensively, and then they got exposed a little bit what this offense is capable of and where it's going and what's happening. So there's a lot of exciting things that I think to look at to watch and pay it and anticipate.
Today practice just get the week underwage. Coone Brisker is back. So that's the first time in a couple of weeks, and I think we both agree that is a major development because just to get as many reps as possible for that opener together. Buyer not able to go just yet, but if he comes back here in the short term, using those couple of weeks after this preseason wraps up to get ready for the opener will be critical.
Yeah.
Well, you know, we set up in the booth Saturday and watch Jakwan Brisker go through a pretty extensive pregame workout and making sure that everything.
From running around is stretching out.
They're having a little hand eye coordination drills with a coach John Hope.
So I think that's a step in the right direction.
So it's not like you're just going to the stadium watching them play the game.
You're making shoe sure that you're doing your due.
Diligence and getting to work and putting some stress in and on your body to get an evaluation of where you're.
At all right, that defense, by the way, nine consecutive quarters since the defense is allowed a touchdown here in the preseason, and the interceptions and the takeaways starting to pile up as well. At a series of people here at Hallis today go to the podium. We like to play that for you each and every week of our show. Today, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron took the mic to talk about Caleb Williams, the offense and how things worked against the Cincinnati Bengals and what he's learning.
Yeah, the daily improved, the daily recognition of all the different fronts, coverages, defensive structures that we'll see. Obviously, it was great to go against Cincinnati for a couple of days there where you get a little bit more of that three four structure and their base defensive looks. So
you know every one of these reps. I think he's used as a learning op and he keeps banking them and understanding some of the space, the spatial differences maybe from you know, the hash marks in college to the pros. So he's constantly learning and understanding. And it's our job to keep doing a great job with with Carrie and myself of you know, putting him in the where can his eyes go fast so he can read it and play fast every single snap from him.
In terms of adapting to the speed, in terms of specifically throwing windows that they just close so much faster.
Yeah, I think, you know, part of that, you know is just seeing concepts for the first time sometimes in those live game actions. But you know, he had a great you know, the ball out to call the ball out to Simba. You know some of those where he's
showing that he plays in rhythm. He can play in rhythm, find those throws and then you know what, what's what's uh pretty cool to watch is when the play breaks down, you know, it almost seems like it's in slow motion for him, and he can find the different rush lanes, being smart with the ball, you know, break and contain and creating some explosives down the field. So you know, for us with him, you know, it's about finding the
balance of those two things. And I think he's doing a good job of progressing with that, and like you mentioned, you know, feeling out what are those windows, what are the windows that are too tight to to fit it in, or what are the windows that are uh that are legit completions before getting into potential scrambling, how do.
You sort of describe his ability to not only understand what he sees, but to explain it in a way that's productive for you and then the guys around him.
Yeah, I think it's a great trait that he has. Like we get over the sideline and you look at the surface, but before you even look at the surface, you know, he can already tell you know why the why behind each read And I think that's to me that's the most important part. You know, if he if he's not seeing it clearly or something like that, that's where you really need to, you know, go back and
go through it. But you know he sees it clearly, can can really talk about uh, you know, different windows. And also from the quarterback's lens is totally different than what you see from the you know, the stands lens or the coach on the sideline lens.
You know that ground level, where.
Was the defender exactly at when you hit the top of your drop and he's so you know, he easily can clearly articulate every one of those points in regards to the space or what happened on a play.
Caleb talked about the scramble rules on the forty five yard or to Rome, but we need to know just where to stay in range for Rome to know where he needed to be and that. I know the play looks effortless and all the thing, but how difficult was the execution of that and just showing how they did the two of them as rookies had been able.
To master that.
Yeah, I think for those guys, the effort, you know, was starting with Rome with his instant reaction when he feels the play going off schedule. Chris Bady, he's done a great job with the receivers, coaching them up on what are some of the scrambled response rules and where to get to, But starts with that hustle and that effort, you know, anytime a play breaks down, and then for the line up front as well, understanding you know, those would be the tempting times to maybe grab the defensive
lineman or you know, hold right there. But they did a great job saying clean hands, clean feet, and then you know the rest of it like that that they're always making roll into his left. You know, I'd love to say that we drilled that forever and magically we
made that happen. But man, he's he's got that ability, and to me, that's where he finds that balance of you know, when's the right time, and that was obviously a great time to create something off schedule right there when he didn't feel his initial reads were they're in rhythm, and then he's also clean with the ball to get through the line of scrimmage and fine roam down the field and activated.
What are you looking forward to seeing from him in practice and how what kind of timeline could.
Be to try to get him up to speed.
Sure, I think you know, Chris Morgan and Haas, they've done a really good job where he's been on the side, hasn't been able to participate in the live work right there, but from a meeting standpoint, from a being locked in and any chance he's on the field and he's in earshot.
You know, I've talked to Coron a lot and he does a great job of taking a mental rep every time he hears the play, So looking forward to him and a smart guy, smart, tough and reliable that can start off, you know, with a good bass already, but there's no substitute for getting out there and doing it. So,
you know, that's the biggest thing. I think, like a lot of these stuff, I know, I talked about it a lot, but the you know, each one of these situations are all just individually based, you know, and and there might be different things that you can recall from the past that might lead you to the hope one way or another, but that's just hoping because you don't know until that individual does it.
But he's put himself in.
All the you know, in the best position possible, knowing he's dealing with injuries, knowing he's you know, worked his way and done a great job with the the training staff and the strength conditioning staff to put himself in position to get out on the field. And then you know, from a mental standpoint, he stayed so locked in every opportunity's had. So now it's just about going out there and doing it.
With your interpretation of Tyson's performance on Saturdays, it relates to his continued development as well.
Yeah, I love Tyson's poise.
You know, he played with that calm, cool and collected, you know, demeanor at the line of scrimmage, was able to get right through, whether it was right through a progression to a second or third read or number ones there, and he played in great rhythm right there. So he just showed that poise poison the running game, you know, the ownership of the offense. So it was great to see and talk about a guy that hard work pays
off man. No one's going to outwork him, and so it's great to see that out on the field.
That's our offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron. A bunch of topics that probably sparks some thought, Tom, I'd like to start with just the football intelligence and the acuity of Caleb Williams. It's showing he's digesting this playbook. He knows a lot about what's going on on the football field based on coverages, progressions, correction, whatever. And again this is just the infancy of his career, but it seems like he's way ahead of the game.
Yeah, he's a lot of encouraging work in the games itself. We've seen a lot of encouraging work in practice and his development through the time that he's been in Lake Forest at Hallis Hall since the rookie mini camp into where he's at right now. The one thing that I like that Shane kind of addressed a little bit is the understanding of protection conditioning. And what I mean by that is when you're run blocking, that's not as exhausting
as protection is. So if you're in a two minute drill, if you're throwing the ball a lot more, you have to understand that you're going to be fighting on your feet.
For a lot longer than a run play.
And so Shane to make a point that when he did scramble outside the pocket for that long connection to Roma Dunees, the offensive line didn't get sloppy. And the conditioning of protection is a mindset that an offensive line has to develop because in the past, in the past with the quarterbacks, they've done more scrambling beyond the line of scrimmage, where Caleb doesn't do that. Caleb stays behind the line of scrimmage and looks for open targets. So
now you've got to do that. You know, that conditioning work that keeps you in shape, that keeps you on your feet, that keeps your feet moving, that you don't become susceptible to any type of a penalty or any types of calls that could hurt you.
The thing about that too, you didn't have to do that much. You guys ran the ball, so you were doing the mashing racking your day.
But when you did get into a two minute drill or you got into a ketchup scenario, or even that game that we lost against the Miami Dolphins in eighty five when it was so hot down there and we had to play a brand of ketchup football at the end, and we are throwing the.
Ball a lot more.
It is more exhausting the pass block repeatedly than it is the run block.
All right, won more on the old line.
So I think we're all excited to see A'magaji get out there. A lot of prospect, hope there a third round pick invested. Yale Hinsdale Central and so torn quad in October start of the season on the NFI list.
But now he's back. What's your optimism on him?
You know?
I like he's got really good balance. I've seen him work out of a right handed stance. In the left handed stance, he makes the adjustment in his feet. He's got an understanding of how you retreat off the line of scrimmage if you have a pass blocking responsibility. He knows how to get off the ball with good leverage if he's got a run blocking responsibility. But now it's about putting shoulder pads on in helmet, getting in your pants, getting back in a stance that a meaningful stance since
last October. And then listen, I have all the faith in the world and Chris Morgan, because he does a great job of does the hard investigative work of what position best fits the talent that he's looking at. And so I think it's a perfect matchup between Chris Morgan and Amagaji. And then we'll see in a matter of days, weeks and months of how Karn fits in this offense best.
All right, time for our first break and on the other side will be joined by tight end Gerald Everett, the newest Chicago Bear on that Bears offense that's coming up next here on Bears Weekly on a ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Bears Weekly Voice of the Bears for twenty four years, Jeff Chef, the Bears Radio.
Network, Welcome back to Bears Weekly on ESBN one downson of the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly is.
Sponsored by IGS Energy, with Tom Theer, Jeff Joniac, and welcoming in veteran tight end Gerald Ever to the program. Thanks for joining us tonight and appreciate your time. I'm going back because Caleb's twenty two and you just got off the podium here at Hallis Hall earlier today. Everybody's asking a ton of questions about Caleb, so that's always the topic nowadays.
But he's all twenty two. You entered the league at twenty two.
Yeah, so give us your experience at twenty two and then kind of overlay it to what he's going through at twenty two. Granted different positions tight end, quarterback, but just the maturity level that you see from him or where you were at a twenty two Can you look back now at thirty.
Yeah, I was definitely a young kid coming into the city of Los Angeles at twenty two, obviously going to the Rams and just trying to find my feet in the organization, my role on the team and what will be acts to me.
And obviously you have.
Your own expectations and yourself and then you have what the team wants you to do or who they want you to be on the field. So I can only imagine what Caleb's going through. But for myself, just wanting to compete and perform to my best capabilities, make my family proud, make the guys back at college proud, and just be as best I could be, really complete player, and obviously just staying healthy throughout the whole season.
Kind of mission accomplished, You're still going You're still going strong, So you feel that way, do you feel mission accomplished?
But still some goals to be for sure?
A team, I think just being in this business as long as I have been, going into year eight, I think the work speaks for yourself. But obviously still wanting to eclipse myself each year and my productivity and everything that I've put up for the team. But with Caleb in mind, I think that he'll have a different set of tools, and he'll have a lot more pressure on his back just being quarterback and you know, number one
pig in the Heisman winner. Obviously he's going to have his own set of goals and aspirations to.
Achieve and a lot of money, right right, Yeah, I can't forget that yeah, you Gerald.
I always asked this question because I was a fourth rounder and I thought I should have been picked higher. And when I look at your journey of being a high school basketball player, going to a couple of different colleges, and then you have a relationship with Waldron and then you're a second rounder, were you surprised that you were a second rounder or did you expect that?
I was expecting it.
Honestly, I had a first second round grade, so I could have really left my junior year, but I wanted to make sure I got my degree first and then pursued football after that. But the Rams actually didn't have a first round pick my year because they traded up to get golf, so I probably would have went first round if they had that pick available. However, going second round is still a blessing into the city of Los Angeles. So yeah, I think that I had a great journey through college and now the NFL.
So when you played basket ball, did football become natural to you with because you look at all the job requirements of a tight end nowadays, an online blocker, a backside blocker, an h back, a movement tight end, even split out some wide receiver was there anything that was attachable from your basketball life to introduce you into the football life.
Well, I started off playing football at a young age, just kind of took a hiatus away from it and picked up basketball and ran track and baseball and all that good stuff. But I would say, for one, the lateral quickness and the agility drills probably translated the most for me. And at the end of the day, I was all around sport athlete. So I think that all of that helped me in my translation to football field again.
Gerald everdar guest here on ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network getting ready to wrap the preseason.
Tom and I were just talking about it.
You know, you wait, you wait, you wait for that first snap in the preseason and boom, it's gone.
It went fast, it did you know?
And there's still work to be done obviously before the opener, But did you feel things have gone fast? And is it partly because it's new for you you're a new young quarterback, or is it just a different heartbeat of the preseason nowadays. I don't quite get it myself.
There's a lot of rules that's changing right now, but preseason, I mean, I think it's used for young guys to come out and showcase their talents and get some good tape out, whether it be for this team or the next. But for me, it definitely came around fast, just wanting to see the speed of the game at the professional level and get used to my teammates. Obviously, you grow up watching a lot of these guys and then you're booming in the locker room playing with them. Like you said,
so it definitely rose around fast. But Week one can't get here any sooner.
Yeah, I'll tell you, not only is it the cliche, which is also a fact you get tired of facing the same guys every day. That being said, the way the defense is buzzing around, especially that secondary, I mean there's a bad men at every I mean on the depth chart, Tom and I have a hard time figuring out, like how you gonna make these decisions for the fifty three? But what are you learning about this defense that you
didn't know before? You guys played the Chargers last year, but you weren't available for that game, so you missed the Bears defense. But what are you learning about this defense and how fast it plays and what they're up to?
They're fast. They're very fast and physical.
I would say one thing that I've learned about them is just their ability to attack to the ball.
A lot of guys on a D line don't really get out much.
When you an NFL, I guess when you're talented, but that's something they preach here and harp on every day. So seeing them punch the ball at every rep and D lineman get out of the stack every rep is something to see for sure.
Gerald.
So in twenty twenty two, you're with the team again for the first time. You got fifty eight catches five hundred and fifty five yards. You start twelve out of sixteen games. How are you so productive so quickly? Is it transferable to every team? Is it the Shane Waldron factor? Or is it just that you assimilate to the system that you take you join.
Well, I had a long collegiate career just bouncing around from school to school and different quarterbacks, different teammates, different locations, different classes. So I think I've just kind of calloused myself to that naturally, probably not say, and coming to the NFL, having Jake Golf, Russell Wilson and a couple backups here and there, Gino Smith. I've played with some great guys and now I got Kayleb Williams, so I can't forget Justin Herbert.
I mean, I've been blessing.
You've been blessed.
Yeah, I've got a good group of guys to be able to catch passes from. But I would say just each year in the NFL, each game, each day is a blessing and just taking it in stride, no matter who's behind center or who's throwing it.
Just trying to be where you're supposed to be well.
Being a veteran, are you going to bring bully ball to the tight end room?
I have to.
I have to. I mean there's no other way.
That's just the ability.
I mean, that's your physical style of play with the ball on your hand.
Right right right.
I mean that's just the way I grew up honestly, playing in the Little League in a recreational level, which just kind of seemed to translate to college and now the pros, which is kind of surprising. I thought it'd be a little more strenuous than that, but it just kind of seems like his natural at dispoint. So I'm just hoping I can just bring that into year eight.
Our final moments here with Gerald Everett if we could before you leave, is there any way you could take us into the mind of Shane Waldron. You've had so many offensive coordinators come through this building and the time that we've been doing this for almost three decades, Tom and I what can you tell us without giving away the whole playbook. I'm just saying, have you learned all these years working with him? What's in the mind of an offensive play caller by the name of Shane Waldron.
Well, in the mind of Shane Waldron, I would just say being most unpredictable, the most unpredictable guy that you can probably expect. So having a different set of tools and variety of weapons, I would say, you never really know what you're gonna get, especially of guys who play multiple spots, running backs, even in quarterback room, you know, you never really know what you're gonna get. So I'm interested to see myself, even in your eight, what he's gonna do.
I like to hear it.
I know you got to me to get to We appreciate your time. Good luck this season, have funks, one ball, many weapons, It's gonna be fun. Gerald Everett, our guest will continue after this break out of ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network. Here's your the voice of the Bears, Jeff Joey Man.
This second of Bears is brought to you by Athletical Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request it in clinic or virtual the appointment and start feeling better tomorrow. Jeff and Tom with you as we get set to wrap things up for the preseason against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Tommy, two time defending champs.
There are all conversations about three peating, which has not been done in NFL history, but they've already bank rolled three championships with Patrick Mahomes. Not that we're gonna dwell on this because their starters are not.
Going to play.
We'll get the word from Matt Eberflus tomorrow. I believe what they're gonna do. But you know, they were at a minus eleven in turnover margin last year, gave up eighty eight points off turnovers and still managed to grind it out and secure another championship. That's hard to do, right there, with that kind of turnover ratio. That's one part of it, though.
Well do you think of the beginning of the season when Chris Jones was sitting in the stands waiting for a contract when he's the best defensive tackle in the National Football League, And so they had a lot of writing to do.
You got to right the ship, and they.
Had a lot of writing to do before they really got into that super Bowl type of swing. They had to figure out what their receiver position and how it was going to contribute to the offense. Their run was suffering a little bit, they had penalties by the offensive tackle position. And then Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey and Andy Reid and these guys were able to overcome all the Taylor Swift distractions and sale right into a Super Bowl.
And I think when you have.
A quarterback that has the reputation of Patrick Mahomes, you always have a chance. I think, yeah, And I think that's what the Bears are all hoping for in the career of Caleb Williams. So I want to say something about that behind the back pass this weekend by Caleb or by Patrick Mahomes. You saw it obviously, so I believe the hook shot spiral to DeAndre Swift was equally as impressive to me by by Caleb Williams in the
Buffalo game. So I think that, yeah, you know, everybody is crazy about the behind the back pass, but listen, you got pressure in your face. You're a rookie and you hook shot a spiral to DeAndre Swift and it goes for forty two yards. That's equally as impressive reaction as anybody.
I saw collajeh those basically, I come point guard plays, point guard passes by Mahomes over the course of his career, and that Caleb's put on tape at Oklahoma and USC and he's put on tape and practice almost every day, so we're going to see a lot of that.
What what what?
What drives me, though a little bit crazy, is that I don't want every every time he makes a great play, Caleb, that they put a you know, a two by two with Mahomes and him, and the comparisons that are inevitable, or because of his fondness for Aaron Rodgers growing up and how he respects him in terms of his performance, Let.
Caleb be Caleb.
Let's let's forge his own, his own style, on his own brand out there as opposed to the easy comparisons to who's the best quarterback or who has been the best quarterback in the National Football League, Because you know, that's a lot to live up to, number one. Not that he's shying away from it by any means, but I'm just saying, like, can't we just have a guy just carve out his own path.
Yeah, but you're always gonna get side by side awkward arm angle comparisons from Aaron Rodgers, from Patrick Mahomes and onto Caleb because even that throw that he made to Roma Duneesa, that's not something that you go into huddle and go, all right, guys, three hundred protection, I'm gonna scramble too late to the left and that I'm gonna throw it to Roam forty five yards downfield.
Ready break. No, it's not you don't do that.
And so when you do have those unique types of throws, and in somebody's mind they remember something from one of those other guys, Jeff, that's something that you know you're never gonna get away from, especially if Caleb continues the growing process that he's shown her in his early stages.
Brandon Aaron Rodgers has done a lot of that exact same kind of play. So he's done it to the Bears and he's done it to everybody in the National Football League. I don't want to switch gears over to Kyler Gordon. We know what impact Nickel is in the National Football League. It's a starting position. Let's that's let's be clear about that. You gotta have one. You gotta have a good one. And the responsibilities and what's on the shoulders of Kyler Gordon or who anybody plays in
that position in the NFL is significant. And so he's always been a ballhawk. He has always been around the football and he certainly was today at practice and the idea of letting that guy rip on the blitz is great to see Gordon at the podium today to talk about his performance and what this defense is feeling right now.
He says, it's something different than they fell a year ago.
The way I characterize is it, I mean, I feel like it's just a surge of energy. And that's kind of like the way I felt since the day we came in, from the first day, like everyone just.
Like started like everyone's eat some type of ways.
However it is and we really just build off each other as far as making plays and doing our job assignment, and just the kind of culture we all created within the locker room. You know, it's kind of uncommon culture, you know, not be the same as everybody else, and we know we want to strive to do and.
Stuff like that. So I just said, really positive surge of energy.
The chemistry I mean, especially like from the way I've seen my rookie year coming all the way to where we are now, even still being young.
But like the way that we do talk.
Critique, like positively critique and get on each other in the way the ability, the way we hold each other.
To the standard and stuff like that. It's just we're on top of it. Twenty four seven.
Really, if you talked a lot last year about kidding the game to slow down for you after your season, Now that you're in year three in this defense, in this role, how do you describe the kind of mental comfort you have on the football field.
Yeah, I say, as far as far as comfortability wise, it's just like how I'm gonna make this next play.
I'm gonna make this make this next.
Play, or really that's how I say, and just elevating that and trying to just make more turnovers, more more big plays, more exciting plays. And yeah, I mean the slower it gets, just the definitel like the more opportunities I see.
I know it's a pre season game, but flew styles up, especially when you were in that first year a lot of bletces. What does that say just about how aggressive he is, like kind of developed into as a play caller and what you've got the type of edue you guys are gonna bring this year.
Yeah, I feel like it's like less sitting back and put more pressure and I feel like we all like that and just playing the pressure on wherever our pun it is. And I like the blitz. Everyone likes to blitz. Everyone likes to be the aggressor, not the receiver. So I feel like that's kind of the proch we taking.
Yeah, the hammer not the nail, right. You just want to see that continue now, and you know, I don't. I mean, hey, are they going to really blitz that much during the season. I don't know, but maybe maybe it's the wrinkle this year and maybe that will be the case for these guys because they all can do it. I mean, there's a lot of guys on that unit and blitz.
Yeah, but you have to have faith in the other portions of your defense. If you want to right the blitz. That means you have to have incredible faith in Jalen Johnson and Trique Stevenson the rest of the defensive backfield because you believe those guys can accept difficult man to man covers responsibilities. Because you're bringing a defensive back up to the line of scrimmage and then you're unleashing him.
He's a super productive guy at or near the line of scrimmage, whether it's a run blitz or a passing blitz, and he understands perfect angles of attack and rarely lets the quarterback escape if he gets a chance to get a shot on him.
Do you feel was a evaluation or was this a message?
Uh?
I think a little bit of both. Because Kyler has missed a little bit of time. It is an evaluation of where he's at. But it is a message.
Yeah, I mean, I mean to the league, No, I agree with you, but you gotta you gotta get some feelers out with Kyler since he's been he's been off the field a little bit.
But it definitely is a message because now when you start talking about the offense or the offensive coordinators and the first four opponents they play. Now they're gonna not only look at the blitzes that they showed against Cincinnati, They're gonna start thinking about all the different blitzes that they've seen throughout time that the Bears could conceivably can use. So, yeah, it's a message, and you better get it loud and clear or else.
I like the or ls part. You know, it's my favorite. You know, listen, you you live for the for the just a real clear.
So a couple of weeks ago, I had did with Todd Light and he's a former defensive back from Notre Dame, played in the NFL, and he's known Kyler Gordon for quite a while and he was recruiting him for Notre Dame when he took it, and he said he was one of the most dynamic defensive backs they ever tried to recruit to Notre Dame, and he almost had him convinced to go there, but then he stayed near home. So, you know, this is kind of a reputation that Kyler
has been carrying around for quite a while. And then you see everything work out. The reputation with the production. That's what coaches want out of.
Them, right in a big year year three, year three, and iber Fluss loves playing those young young dbs. Look what he did with Kenny Moore in Indianapolis made him one of the premier corners in the NFL. All right, we're gonna take another break. That's Tom there. I'm Jeff Joniak. Tom's thoughts coming up next. I have no idea what's on his mind, but I know he's got some that's coming up there on ESPN, another Bears radio network.
Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on the Bears Winio Network. Here's your host, the voice of the Bears Chef Show.
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five for more information. Again, that Chicago Bears vip dot Com are called eight sixty six two oh two fifty seven fifty five. Don't miss this exclusive opportunity with Chicago Bears VIP chef Joni Yak Tom Fair here on Bears Weekly.
Thanks for joining us tonight, Tom.
Before we get to your thoughts, I got something you keep talking about. One thousand reps for an offensive line and an offense to get going. So doing my prep for the Chiefs, even though I know Starter is not going to play, I do every player just to have it in the book and it's there in case we meet them in the Super Bowl. Okay, you know, just whatever you do, your work, you're doing it.
You do it.
So last year Kansas City, four of their five starting offensive lineman played over one thousand snaps, and the only one was a left tackle Donovan Smith. He was injured after twelve starts, but he started the first twelve games of the year and the other guys all started seventeen, so they had their offensive line to weather the storms of a slow evolving offense. Even with the league's best quarterback in Patrick Mahomes. Braxton Jones had eleven hundred snaps.
He was the only Bear to get over one thousand snaps. So I just thought that was interesting because you keep talking about that four digit figure as being important, and I have to trust what you're saying there.
Listen again, having the luxury of playing with the same group of guys for so many years, when you break the huddle, the time for communication is over and back in our day, just like the Bears do now, the defense is shifted during the course of the quarterback's cadence, and you couldn't reconfirm your assignments with anybody to the right or the left of you, or if you are an offensive guard pull and sometimes you worked with the fullback.
So that time of communication is something that has to be so ingrained in every single guy's head that no matter what they do at the line of scrimmage, once you break the huddle, everybody knows exactly what they're doing. And one thing about Kansas City, because they brought a new a couple of free agents aboard, you got to
have that luxury of time and training camp. That's when you need those thousand reps together of listening to the quarterback go through as cadence to allow the quarterback to feel as comfortable as the offensive line does together, so he doesn't think he's fooling them at the line of scrimmage.
All right, So what kind of thoughts you got tonight, Tommy?
All Right, I'm gonna give you a deep thought because this is one of the reasons I've always been a little skeptical of Hard Knocks because one of the episodes I always hated on Hard Knocks is when they made the cuts.
In every single position Jeff, that the Bears have.
You can if you're a Bears fan, if you're a radio guy, if you're you and I, we could take every single position in along that position, there is gonna be a veteran or a young guy that has.
Ability that's gonna get cut. And it's the least.
It's the time I like the least in the NFL because it always challenged you. So now these guys have been together since the Rookie Mini Camp and then OTAs and they forged some friendships that after Thursday Night's game, Jeff, you're not gonna see that guy anymore. You're not gonna walk into a locker room and he's gonna be there waiting for you to eat breakfast, or you're not gonna be talking to him on a regular basis about the new plays they installed. So this week, for me, it
always brings up some difficult memories. Because we've been around the Bears, We've been there watching practice every day. We know that there's gonna be a veteran or a young guy that may have ability down the road that's gonna have to walk into Flus's or Ryan Pole's office with their tablet turning their information and is their dream dead
or is their dream gonna continue somewhere else? And when I look at the roster this year and I look at the practice habits that a lot of these guys have put on display, it's gonna be some of the more difficult cuts that there's been around this organization in quite.
A few years. In every single position there.
Is one, yeah, no question about that.
Just trying to figure it out, especially positions that are heavy, I mean the defensive backs.
That's that's for me.
It's a really I mean, maybe maybe it's more clear than you want it because you do fall and I do it all the time. I'd be a bad scout. I think I fall in love with certain players. I love the way they play their traits, But you know when you go deeper, uh, like scouts do or coaches do. There's certain things certain players can't do. You you you know what they can do. You put them in a
position to prove what they can do. And if they can't do exactly everything at a high level that you need them to do over the course of a season and you can't live with that, then you know you got a part company that. That's how it works. None of these guys it's too big for him, that's for sure. All these guys here have shown me something. I mean, I mean it like there I can make I can make a case for a lot of these guys on both sides of the ball.
There's nobody say hey, listen.
And we've been here though we've been here when we said, hey, there's no way this guy's gonna make it. This guy, this guy, he's not bringing the effort. He's there's just something's not right. And I don't you know, I used to think it was a cool thing to hear, you know, the compassion of a coach or a general manager to say, hey listen, man, because now it's just a cliche. You know your tapes, you're going out there. We're a team
at the moment. But on Thursday night, those guys playing in the fourth quarter, you're putting something on tape for another team, and I get it, it propagates, and but that's almost a kick in the teeth too, because you know it's like an admission you.
Don't want me.
I didn't play preseason football till the second half of the fourth preseason game, and I honestly didn't feel I made the team until I felt I went out there and played confidently. But as you know, now, having almost forty years in this industry and going out there and watching these guys every day, you know I would never sit out here and say it.
But again, it's something that this.
Week to me is never easy because I feel for some of these guys that have invested a lifetime in it. And as we are talking to Gerald ever today, Okay, you come in the league at twenty two and here you are at thirty. And he talked at the podium before he came and talked to us about a coach says, put your head down, work hard, and in ten years you'll be happy about your journey.
Yeah.
Well, we're gonna hear stories on Thursday night about the journeys of some of these guys. You know, the quarterback who's going to be playing for Kansas City, he's got two Super Bowl rings, but he hasn't taken a snap, Chris olda Dopin and his story is crazy, right, I mean, he's got he couldn't even find a place to hang his head in college. You had to go to three different colleges, you know, and then finally somebody believes. It's like it's the This sport never ceases to amaze me.
Where players come from, why how long they hang around? I mean we were joking because I called Ian Elan Wheeler Elan Booker, and here Ian book is on this roster for the Chiefs, and he'll likely he'll likely take some snaps, you know, And it's just it's just a great sport. And all these guys deserve a lot of credit for going through the process of putting on the body armor. The weight room is not is not easy, practice is not easy. Not Getting reps is not easy.
When you're seeing everybody else get reps. Tell me, you know you're standing there wondering, well, what you know, It's like, wait a minute, what about me?
I got something to show? And you're not getting the reps.
If you don't think this is real.
Man, I walked out of the preseason locker room after not playing, not getting my uniform dirty, no reason to shower with tears in my eyes and beer, embarrassed to go out there and face my family.
Because you know. And that's what I'm saying.
And I don't mean to blobber on about this, but it is always an emotional week for me when I think about where the journey is going for some of these guys, that's the end.
Of the road. Somebody will go, someone mic go somewhere else.
Nowadays, unlike our days that we didn't have a practice squad, now they got a fifteen man practice squad that pays well.
It certainly helps.
This really helps. It helps everybody. So I'm just saying that was my thoughts.
Of the day.
It's a good one.
Tom.
You're you're being melancholy. I like it're you're softening up on me. You're softening worried about we're thinking about the guys.
All right, we're gonna take a break. One more segment to go.
We'll hear from Tremaine Edmunds from the podium today as Well that's Tom Fair. I'm Jeff Joniak and this is Bears Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Bears Weekly with.
The Voice of the Bears for twenty four years, Jeff Joney and Chef on the Bear's Radio Network Joe.
And this segment is brought to you by CDW. People who get it, Jeff and Tom Tremaine Edmunds. Feeling good about the defense right now.
I mean last year was a lot of our first times being together. If my first time was a lot of those players, second time, second year together, anytime that you can take that. It's like any type of relationship you have, but it's a friendship, you know what I mean, Like each.
Year is gonna get a little bit better.
You learn about the person, you learn about you know, things that may have worked, you learned about things that didn't work, and I mean you find a way to make it better. And I think that's what it is now. I think it's about really just gods being themselves. Like I tell everybody every day, like you don't have to show up, be in nobody that you're not Like for me, I trust the individual more, I respect the individual more.
If you show up as your authentic self, and that's who I try to show up to be every day. And at the end of the day, I think we have a lot of guys that you know, what you see is what you get. It's not like a you know, I'm gonna show up with this person. I'm gonna try to be this person. But behind you know, closed doors, you know I'm this person. It's like nah, like it's
a genuine person. And I think when you have a group of genuine people, I think that bond and like that energy that you feel like it's just naturally gonna feel different. And you know that's nothing to say. Like last year was a lot figuring it out. Even this year still feel it out. We got a lot of new pieces still. But you know, like I said, there's a lot of a lot of us have played together, a lot of us know, you know, I kind of know how this guy is, Like I know his personality.
I know, you know, as funny as it sounds, things that might you know, make them smile, or things that get on his nerve, whatever it may be. Like that type of relationship and that type of energy. Man, it's with y'alls, you know, winning football teams, and uh, like we're developing that. Man, We're still developing it now, and it's like an ongoing process, you know what I mean. Like, you don't just develop that in the off season or training camp and then that's it.
Now. You developed that through adversity you face throughout the year. You know what I mean. It's gonna be us, it's gonna be downs.
But you know, the stuff that we building now is what's what's gonna get us over that hump.
Okay, I absolutely love that whole thing right there, Tommy.
To wrap us, listen, there's a lot of veteran intelligence right there. And if you're a high school kid or a young college kid, listen to that again. Because Trumaine Johnson is talking. Or Trumaine Johnson. I played football with Trumaine Johnson in the USFL, Tremaine Edwards and Edmunds, Tremaine Edmonds.
I'm saying, God, I'm such an idiot.
He's got a lot of great experience, and I think what he says is so true about the teammates and the team relationship you build.
Tomy.
You'll see it Thursday night, Kansas City.
To wrap things up, seven twenty five, the kickoff five o'clock, the pregame coverage begins with Sylvie and the crew.
We'll be bringing it to you. Thanks again for listening, everybody.
Thanks to Gerald Everett, Justin Pottinger and all our crew Black and Abdalla our next.
Good night, everybody.
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