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Well, thanks for spending part of your evening with us talking Bears football and this officially the holiday season. Well with thanks Jimmy Year on Thursday and your Bears meaning the NFC leading Detroit Lions with Super Bowl winning Bears guard top there Jeff Joniac on an early week edition of Bears Weekly because of our Thursday matchup. Coming up a conversation I had with Bears defensive back Kyler Gordon, a little feature look at his situation and his interests
outside of football. Also joining us tonight. We'll let you know when he joins us. Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious XM will join us as well. The former Bears quarterback in the ESPN studio Tonight's been to the dials, Sean Greeney and thanks to our producers Dan Brilly and Jordan Treadap from the Bears, and the executive producer of the Bears Radio Network is Eric Ostrowsky, Tom Good Evening.
Big Jeff.
I'm glad that we don't do these shows until Thursday night during a regular work week, cause you need this kind of a loss like that to stew a little bit, get to understand it. Let the week start for the next opponent, and then you know, do the show right then, more than the night after a loss like that. It's still sitting in my cross. So it's it's hard not.
To think about it.
All right, I get you, I get you, and you know we're in scramble mode. You know, it's it's it's everybody's used to it now. Thursday night football is a regular part of our existence, and we'll be moving forward and who knows what else will come down the line. But there's all you know, for players, for coaches, for people like us who do the games, it's a man scramble to check all the boxes that you normally have
six days to get ready for. You've got a couple and then we're flying and on top of it, we're flying out of town.
Like the scramble mode though you don't have time to think about it. It's like the Caleb Williams DeAndre Swift scramble mode completion yesterday.
He just fly by the seat of your pants.
You make yourself available, let the quarterback loft a nice pass into your hands, and then take advantage of the opportunity.
So you're Caleb, You're Caleb, and well.
I'm right Land.
I'm gonna look at you still as an offensive line and clearing a path to victory for me.
And then we got the quarterback joining us right now. It's Jim Miller. Jim A few weeks, big Jim, how are you.
I'm doing well, wishing you guys a happy Thanksgiving. So yeah, and you know it's unfortunately. I was excited that, you know, another game where it looked like it was in the balance and the Bears we're gonna pull one out there in overtime. But disappointing, disappointing way to to finish the game.
Yeah, and uh, you know, you've had a few weeks to watch without talking to us. Just give us your quick view of how things have gone. Certainly, the three losses of the five that have have curtailed their plans. Here are the ones that are are are tough to shake. They're tough to shake. You gotta do it. You got to do it as a player, you gotta do it
as a as a franchise to move forward. But uh, just to think what it would be if that didn't turn out like that, it'd be a whole different conversation on a scriptlip.
Yeah, well, I think it's one either way, it's one you can learn from. I think this in the in the Washington game. I mean, certainly, how did Mike McCarthy classify their law or their win to to watch? He called it yachts out there. I mean that game had all kinds of special teams things going on in it. But yeah, you know, here you go into overtime, you know you got a moment where you can take advantage.
Unfortunately you have the big sack. And but I think the Bears are competing and they got to find a way a way to win. And sometimes when you go back in the games earlier, like in the first quarter, second, there's a handful of plays that you can probably eliminate. And if you disliminate, you know a few more mistakes. Who knows it puts you in a position to win. But I do know this, the last two weeks there has been an uptick on offense, and they put themselves
in a position to win. Now they've got to put out some fires in some other areas.
Yep, Thomas Brown, there's a Thomas Brown effect, that's what we're calling it.
Tommy, Well, that's what I wanted to hear out of Jim Miller. Has he ever had that happened to him before? Where they've let an offensive coordinator go mid stride and then you had another voice of reason that was leading the team on the offensive side of the ball. Because what I hear from Thomas Brown, Jim out of the podium, it transfers to the field of play. I'm super encouraged by what I'm seeing out of Caleb. I'm super interested in what I'm hearing out of Thomas Brown.
Have you ever had that experience before?
Yeah, and it was in Chicago, but it wasn't due to a firing. It was due to a hiring. Gary Croton elected to take the Utah job. Right he took the head coaching job out at Utah. John Shoop was then elevated as interim OC and we commenced on putting in a whole new offense is what we did during the year.
You put in a whole Nay, wait you I didn't realize that I was. I was covering the team.
Wait, a whole new offense.
Yeah.
We decided to put in the West Coast run schemes married with Gary Croton's passing principles, so we had a quote unquote hybrid. Wow, is what we had of an offense. So we installed our run game as the year went a long, and I didn't think it was possible, but we did it and we gained. You know, we started to make strides offensively, specifically in our running game, which under Gary Croton, there was a lot of it because it really wasn't a focus. It was more of a
wide open offense. But we know, we knew we needed a run game when the weather was about to turn and all that, and so that's what we did. It's not easy to do, but we were able to do it. And then the following year is where we reaped the rewards.
Wow. I so, I mean, I've never heard of that.
You know what Jim's holding information back on us, you know when we covered him, when we covered him as a player, he was kind of a standoff guy. He should have been He should have fed us that information years ago, that really post career RelA.
And you know what, and that not to not to correct you because I went to look it up to catch the years here, but he went to BYU or BYU.
Yeah what I say, you taught yeah b Yu.
Yeah, Mary you got You're not far off. But yeah, and you.
Know, they're all part of the Latter Day Saints, I think out there, but you know.
What's crazy and I'm just looking at it right now. Gary they went twelve and two in his first year there, Yeah, twelve and two and they lost to Liberty and uh yeah, well.
You remember Gary Croton coming out of Law Tech Louisiana Tech. That was tim Ortay. They had a very good offense. I mean they they I mean they led the basically the nation and passing and it was all the rage and Gary had quite a bit of a success with that offense in college.
Absolutely, boy, Tom, you never, you never. It's about the questions. You don't ask. We asked that one. That's a good one. That's that's some good info right there.
But it wasn't.
Wasn't Gary Crowton the offense that was called the razzle dazzle offense by the Kansas City head coach. I was goun to Cunningham gun the Cunningham called it the razzle dazzle offense.
That's right. Well, I remember one game we went in. We were going to run a five wide package and on the opening kickoff one of our receivers got hurt. So we quickly went to four wide package, which now we had to insert a tight end. But the whole game plan was based on five wides and speed, and we lost that on the opening kickoff. That game did not go well, by the.
Way, No, no, but you know since so so again this is just from interesting perspective.
So he hit a lot of colleges.
So after BYU, he was an OC at Oregon, and OC at LSU, and OC at Maryland, and OC for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and OC at Southern Utah, an offensive consultant at Oregon State, an offensive coordinator at Steven F. Austin, and as recent as twenty twenty one, was a high school coach offensive coordinator in Utah.
Unbelievable career, long career.
Listen, I don't think people realize the difficulty of being a career assistant coach and how you can move every couple of years. You can change from college to high school to pro and back and forth. So when you know, listen to the stories behind some of these guys you get to the podium, you have to understand the commitment that they've made to the sport of football in the difficulty of living that life.
Yeah, it's like fifteen different jobs since he started as a ga at BYU in nineteen eighty two. All right, we'll get off the Gary quote train right now, but very interesting stuff.
All right, let's let's talk about Caleb.
Let's let's get let's dive deep into Caleb because and we'll hear a little bit from my interview for Our Bears et cetera podcast that drops tomorrow with head coach Matt Eberflus regarding how he played. And I I said this, I said he played star level football yesterday.
Would you both agree?
Because that ball was coming off his hand with fire like if you if that was a cartoon, there'd be flames coming off of that pig skin. I mean that ball was getting ripped with confidence. Throws over the middle in other parts of the field.
I agree. I thought he played with a lot of confident. I think the past two weeks he's he's played with well, even the last four games, he hasn't turned over the football, but I think he's you know, you can tell he's playing with more confidence, at least for me, the last two weeks. So I think prior to that you could start to see with his mannerisms, his sideline demeanor, he
was pretty frustrated. But I thought obviously with Thomas taking over the play calling, you know, probably communicating a little bit more. You know, as a quarterback, you can be more forceful, Like, hey man, I really like these third down plays, whether it's third and medium, third and long, you know where I really feel confident in these throws. And it kind of showed on that last incut to DJ Moore. And like you said, Jeff, did he not rip that?
He ripped it.
You rip throws like that because you're confident, you're confident in what you're seeing, even how he layered it everybody somehow of layering it over the linebackers. And that's what you do. When you're focused and you're confident in what you're seeing, you're just going to react and play football, And in that moment he was reacting and playing football.
Yeah, you know, I like his intentions with his feet, because if he's going to commit to running the ball beyond the line of scrimmage, he takes off, he gets what he can get out of it, then he gets down, slides to the end of it, and then gets back on the But the one yard touchdown passed to Keenan Allen, he was able to scramble away from a lot of traffic, hurdle over a body and still stay with his intentions of throwing the ball downfield rather than committing to run.
And so to look at what that does for a quarterback, what his intentions are to run he runs, what his intentions are to buy some time and possibly run, but still looking for receivers and being able to find him in the corner of the end zone. That's two stages of Caleb that's developing before our eyes.
Guys.
This is coming from the Minnesota Vikings website, but they it was the fewest number of blitz percentage drops to throw the Vikings all season long. They builits him twenty one point eight percent of his drops to throw, and.
He ripped him for it.
He was nine to eleven for one hundred and fifty one yards seem as a week before against the Blitz he had two incompletions.
So this.
Urgence of against pressure is significant. He is may, he's seeing it, and he's getting rid of it quick. He got rid of it in two point four to one seconds to throw, his second fastest behind last week with Thomas Brown at two point three to seven.
So what does this tell you, guys?
It tells me that the defensive coordinator that he's.
Going to face week to week is going to have to devise up their own plan of strategy against him. It's not something that you can take a template of success against them from other coordinators and then try to copycat that because everybody knows what Brian Flores is capable of.
And then here he kind of changes his style of the defensive approach because Caleb has I talked about the ability to scramble beyond the line of scrimmage, the ability to scramble and stay alive and look for receivers, and then he can read. He can read during the cadence, and he's got fireball accuracy like he talked about. So I think all these defensive coordinators are going to have a period of time to try to decide their strategy against Caleb.
Well, if he's nine of eleven, you said against the blitz, so he's he's seeing and understanding what he's seen. So I think he's the key and diagnose it is there. And then I think, you know, when it tells you that he goes turnover free, that's a big thing, you know, And that's the last four games he has done that, And so I think you are seeing growth. I think you know, once he continues to log these plays and
it's going to register. And I always call it, you know, you're building this rolodex for the next time you see it, you have the answer. And so I think he's building these answers, and you know, I think we see the times where he's got to figure out some answers too. And obviously the sack in overtime, that's a play he's going to have to learn from and he's going to have to put that in his rolodex too. So you know,
there's give and take. But I think you see the athleticism, you see the talent, you see the ability, and I think you see the command in the leadership. He's he's going to be a fine young player. I know the wins aren't stacking up, but you are seeing flashes right in front of your eyes.
And now it's four comebacks in the fourth quarter to tire or take the lead with Caleb Williams. So that's a very important development. Indeed, all right, we got to take a break. Jim Miller with us this week with Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff John Yaka and this is Bears Weekly out of ESPN Radio and the Bears Radio Network.
Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for twenty four years, Jeff Chef on the Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by IGS Energy with Tom Dyer, Jeff JOHNI Yak and Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radio.
Moving the chains.
Jim, We're gonna hear from madd Eberflus here in a second. But just overall, how do you this NFC North is crazy?
Is it not?
Wow?
There's some talent, some good teams.
Well, you look at Green Bay taking off or taken down, I should say San Francisco. That's been kind of a rivalry game because San Francisco has really had their numbers specifically postseason, even as recently as last year. But just the point totals. You know, we've talked about Detroit, look at the numbers where they were, you know, encroaching on the high forties even when over fifty points. I'd say the same for green Bay. They have high point totals.
Minnesota we know they can as well, and I think the Bears are capable of it. You know, we know the weapons that they have, and hopefully down the stretch in these in these divisional games, playing these high scoring offenses, we'll see if the Bears can match point for point. Hey, they just took Minnesota to the brink and took them to overtime. They're going to need that offense moving forward the rest.
Of the year.
Yeah.
You know, that's one thing about this game. There's so much emotions attached to the green Bay Bears game. A lot of emotions now, especially after an overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and now you have the emotions of a Thanksgiving Day game, and it's probably more emotional in green Bay just because this is a tradition for these guys, and you know, it's really tough and for the players to have to be able to match the emotions from
one week to the next. But you know, when you're on a positive trend in your quarterback play, I do think it's exciting for everybody else to want to get back on the field and see what this offense with Thomas Brown and Caleb Williams and as Jim mentioned, all the offensive assets they have, get back on the field
and see what you can do. I mean, there's nothing more gratifying than having the challenge of playing the Detroit Lions and then going there and having a showing that you go toe to toe with them.
Lions have lost seven in a row on Thanksgiving. I did not know that.
I mean, wait, it threw me today because I thought I had read something that you know, things haven't gone well and the Bears have won three of those games against them.
But we think about going in there now.
You know, in not so distant past, you know, the suites were empty, there was no vibe in there. Now it's quite the vibe and it has been for several years, the electricity in there. But they have lost seven in a row on Thanksgiving.
Well, you know, the last year during the regular season when we played him in Detroit. The noise contribution that contributed to the ability for Hutchinson to get off the ball and create a sack strip fumble at the latter part of the game. If that played before, if there may be been a different decision made, but they threw the ball to Tyler Scott. If he would have continued to run and made a big catch like that, you don't know what the outcome could have been of that game.
So I expect the same out of the Bears to go into Detroit, no matter how hostile the environment is, is to go in there and having that division emotional attachment and go toe to toe with them.
All right.
Each week we have an interview on our Bears, Etc. Podcast and dropping tomorrow Matti Reflues. We go look through the game and look ahead. So a little snippet of this interview today that I did with Matt to discuss, you know, just the cumulative effect of the impact of these tough losses and other topics as well.
Yeah, it's about having resolved right, being steadfast, you know, you know, to each other and to the things we wanted to accomplish, and that's about doing it for each other and pulling together. And I think that's important that you do that. And there's also a lot of good things that are happening on our football team. And there's a lot of things that have happened on our football team. So I know the result is what it is, you know, in terms of what we want in terms of the
last few weeks. But again, we're just that far away and we have to close that gap. And how do you close that gap by pulling together? And you close that gap by just doing a little bit better. You know, at the end of the football game, as a whole football team.
What is the impact of a quarterback who is playing like he is and really was a star yesterday?
He was fantastic.
What does that do for everybody else on the team in terms of getting ready for the rest of the season, because you got a guy who is showing he can pull you out of the fire here. He is young, yes, but he can do that and does to make everybody play a little harder for the quarterback?
Yeah, I would say that, you know, the the hope and you know, the future of the franchise is always on the quarterback, you know, And and he's done a really good job with that.
He understands that, and he understands that.
He has to get the ball of the skill and do his thing, and he's been doing that, and I believe that the football team. You know that that is always going to be a big spark for a football team. And you know, guys want to do right because we have a chance to win every game and we've got to make sure that we, you know, continue to improve on all sides.
Rosehawn Johnson so deaf beant knows for the end zone, does he not? And he almost had another one yesterday on top of it? What do you think about his He's getting, you know, just a handful of opportunities, but he's making the most of them when short yard is in particular six touchdown runs.
Yeah, he's done a really good job inside the five yard line there, you know, really doing a good job. And the offensive line's been doing a good job in terms of you know, getting it blocking there on our goal line package or whatever it might be. And you know that's an everybody thing. And Roshwan's always stayed positive. I know, he was injured during training camp and he's done a good job coming back from that, you know, and staying positive and really working himself back into that.
And he's done a really good job in pass protection, you know. And he's also done a good job in two minute when he's been called to do that, you know, you know, catching the short area throws and having yards.
Have to catch.
And I think that's all encompassing of what a running back does.
I want to talk about DJ member because I in the post game, I brought it up on the fly sweeps or the tosses and run plays, and he looks really good doing it. He's slippery, he's explosive, hard to bring down when he catches the football obviously, So that's a subtle change in the use of him, but in a it's a big payoff, do you think, And is this is this the now the new DJ?
Yeah?
And I think DJ can do a lot of things. He does a lot of things well and does a lot of you know, does it, does a bunch of things great. And I just think that he's, uh, you know, the more we can use him, the better, you know, it's going to open things up for everybody else.
And I really believe.
That using him in that role, you know, in terms of a screen player, but also getting them down the field also, you know on that like we saw in that deep in cut.
Those are all positive.
Things and ways to gain yards you know, in space and get a great athlete in space to be able to break those tackles and yards after catching the things that he does.
All right, and then the secondary as a whole. Have you ever in your career had so many pieces to a puzzle in a secondary Guys that are coming off to practice squad and performing veteran guys. I mean, the guy who recovered the on side kick is backup safety Travarious More.
I mean, they're all making plays.
Uh, they're all involved, they're all they all seem to have that same mindset. Is that Is that a fair representation? And have you ever had that many guys that you can call on?
Yeah, Jo did a really good job yesterday. He had an interception. You know, made a couple of really good tackles.
You know, he had the interception unfortunately, Yeah, that he.
Did some really good things in there.
You know, he obviously caused him recovering the fumble and you know on the goal line. So there's a lot of positivity there. You know, Hicks when he was in there was really playing at a high level. And uh, you know, so.
That Ready Stewart comes in a couple of weeks ago.
Ready Stewart comes in and you know it's the next man up mentality, and the guys do a really good job and you know they've affected the game, you know with ball production too, which is always a positive.
Is Kyler ready to become a superstar at Nicol?
You know, Keyler has done a really good job at Nickel.
You know, he's gonna make a lot of impactful plays as we're going on to stretch here, and uh, I really believe that he's he's he's knocking on that door and he's really going to push you in these next games because he's making a lot of impact, impactful plays and again we're gonna use him in.
A lot of different ways. So he's he's really good.
Step on.
You. I know, we worry about us, not them, but them is Detroit and they seem they're a freight train right now. What's the best way to analyze them?
Yeah, they do a lot of things.
Well, you know, they're obviously on a big win streak here and they've done a good job of running the ball and staying committed to it, one of the most you know, in terms of attempts per game. And then they've done a good job of stopping the run and they're really playing at a high level. You know, they have they do a really good job of getting the ball to their skill in a short area of the field, you know, and be able to let those guys run
you know, after the catch. And so that's why our cup and you know, our short area defense has got to be really good.
You know.
So it's gonna be a big challenge for us, you know, on Thursday, but our guys are up up for it. You know, we get to play on Thanksgiving. You know, we have an opportunity in front of us to play our division opponent and and the guys are excited about the competition.
All right, Matti Bears, et cetera. Podcast will drop tomorrow. Jim Miller and Tom Thayer with us here, fellas, let's talk about some of those things. One the way the secondary plays and how that could impact the game against Detroit given all their weaponry, because need them to make plays. Got to marry that of course, with the rush. Tom will lead off with you and when then we'll go to gym.
Well, I just think they're fortunate to talk about the number of bodies that they have that are good contributors to the defensive backfield, because to me, I think it's one of the more difficult positions. I think Kevin Bierd's take on a real leadership role on this football team. And then when you have these developing assets like Kyler Gordon, who's deployable in so many different ways and levels of this defense. He you know, he gives a lot of
versatility to it. You see him and Jack Stanborn standing about equal distance away from the huddle, and every time the coaches makes a decision what personnel they have, one of them goes in one of them. But I think when you have a Kyler Gordon and you have a Jack Sanborn, both of those guys are so important to this defense. They're both considered starters, but it's just what you need in a moment's notice, and I think they're both great capable parts of this defense.
I think the Bear's secondary just got a good indoctrination of the precursor of what's to come. Right, you just dealt with Justin Jefferson. Obviously, we know what Addison can do. The Bear's secondary familiar with him, saw Aaron Jones, And you know, obviously they've got a good tight end in Hockinson. Detroit's the same way Detroit not. They got two backs. Jamison Williams is now coming on opposite their stud receiver A Monroe Saint Brown, and they've got a good tight
end in Laporta, who's now healthy. So there's gonna be more coming. So I think, you know, the explosive plays that Minnesota is capable of. I think they had six pass plays of plus twenty yards against the Bears. And the Detroit Lions are gonna challenge them as well. They're gonna try and challenge them down the field. But it was a good precursor, a good pretest of what's gonna happen on Thanksgiving Day.
All Right, we got to take another break here on Bears Weekly with Jim Miller and Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniact coming up next and an interview at Codder Gordon. It's all next on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on the Bears Ingeo Network.
Here's your host, the Voice of the Bears, Jeff.
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Chicago Bears Coat Drive helped keep Chicago ins warm this winter. Jeff Joniac tomp there, Jim Miller from Serious x M NFL radios moving the sticks.
A Jim chains or moving the chains. Sorry about that? That's the rock. Sorry about that.
I was thinking about running backs, moving the sticks, chains, whatever the case may be.
But how about sakuon Barkley.
How about what's going on in Detroit with Montgomery and Gibbs. How about what's going on with the running back position in this sport right now?
Remember we were writing them off. They weren't worth it.
Yeah, And I'll tell you what, man, you look at for Giants fans to see what Barkley is doing right now. I mean there's talk now that he could be League MVP. I mean two fifty five, two hundred and fifty five yards. Last night he put on a show with a couple of touchdowns, the big runs and all that, And then you look at the two guys from Detroit. Bears fans know David Montgomery, well, both these guys have over double digit touchdowns. There haven't been running backs to do that
since when I was growing up. It was Billy Simms and then of course the great Barry Sanders to run first teams and probably Philadelphia, who can probably challenge Detroit because Philly, to me, is a team that is going to get stronger and stronger. And I think you saw last night the reason why, because Saquon is going to go through him. And I think Vic Fangio, who Bears fans know, well, he's got that defense up to number one in the NFL right now, that is a team to be reckon with.
You know.
If so last week's Baltimore game, they take Derrick Henry out at the most important time.
In the game.
So say they keep him in the game and he does in the fourth quarter what's expected of him. I think it's interesting how throughout Derrick Henry's career when he's misused, he's a little bit forgotten about or less respected, But his greatness in the game from the physical standpoint of
a running back should not go understated. Because even in the game tonight against the Chargers, if they fed Derrick Henry the ball as many times as they need to, he could be the reason why Baltimore wins the game. Or if they're fortunate enough to get into the playoffs and they don't feed him the ball as much as they should, then that could be the reason why they
lose the game. So, you know, when we talk about Saquon Barkley and we talk about the guys in Detroit, we talk about the Bears running backs, you just talk about Roshan and DeAndre and stuff. You know, you can't forget about a guy like Derrick Henry and what he's been able to accomplish in his career. But when he's a forgotten about running back or key piece of their offense, then all of a sudden he falls off the charts.
Hardball Hardball Ball tonight third time. So, Harbaughs of the Chargers and the Ravens, you guys have interest in this, don't you.
I do.
It's kind of interesting.
I do, just because you know, I have met John a couple times along with his dad, and I played alongside Jim and spend you know, social time outside the professional time, and he is a really peculiar odd per But that's what I liked about him, and I think that's what a lot of people liked about him. So I probably I have as much interest in the brother Ball as I do the game itself.
Yeah, at least for me, Yeah, I enjoy their games because I grew up locally here where they grew up, and they're well coached because of their dad, Jack. And here's what I do know. I think you can see pretty clearly that when Jim Harbaugh arrived to the Chargers, there's kind of a level of toughness that comes with him, right when he was out at Santa Barbara and then he went to Stanford, and then he went to the forty nine Ers, and then he went to Michigan where
they won a national chet. There's kind of a level of toughness that comes with him, and i'd say that for John Harball. So they're well coached, they're tough, they're hard nosed teams. And you know that's why you know they come from a great coaching family because Jack Harball was a great coach and and what he accomplished, and I think both his sons soaked up every bit of it. Because there are two really good coaches themselves.
Well, I think both of these guys put expectations on their players and then they have to live up to them. And no matter where Jim has been, even Jim himself as a player was a tough guy. He was a well conditioned athlete who was one hundred percent committed to what was expected of him. So what he expects out of himself, he expects out of his players.
All right, let's touch on Detroit. As you mentioned the running thing. Some crazy stats with these two guys right now. So they've rushed for a touchdown in twenty five consecutive games they're Lions. That's the longest streak in NFL history.
In twenty two straight regular season games they rushed for a touchdown, the third longest streak in NFL history, And for the first time since nineteen thirty six, they've had at least one hundred yards and a touchdown east of the first eleven games and the first team to do
so since the nineteen seventy five Miami Dolphins. First duo in NFL history Gibbs and Montgomery which Tom is a nickname for him to rush for ten plus touchdowns and consecutive seasons they're doing it the old fac I mean, this is stirring up names, going back to the sixty Packers and Horning and Taylor about their ability to score touchdowns. They run it in the red zone and you call them what Tom.
Well, it's a name that I've copied.
It's the Pony Express only because as a reference of it to the Pony Express from SMU of Craig James and Eric Dickerson, and they were both drafted the same year I was drafted, and I was thinking, Oh my god, there's a college backfield with the name that's become famous around the world of football because of what both of these guys capabilities are and what they contribute to the
running game of SMU at the time. And when I look at Dickerson and James and what they did together and what Montgomery and Gibbs are doing together, there's just similarities to each of the styles that they're contributing to their team.
NFL's all bought nicknames, man, some great ones over the course of time.
I mean, Big Tom, I mean, think about it.
There's this is some great name that you just say the nickname or you say what you just said, and people remember exactly what it was offensive lines.
I mean, what kind of names we got? What have we got going? We got the Black and.
Brus Brothers, the Hogs, the Hogs, yep, the Hogs in Washington, Jim, what else we got offensive line wise?
They don't get a lot of nicknames.
Well, you get guys like out of Michigan State, like Flozel, the hotel they get called Hotel Hotel. Yeah, they some guys said, they just get their own nickname, right.
Right right, one hundred percent. All right, We're gonna take another break. Kyler Gordon coming up next. This is ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly, Come the Bears Ingo Network.
Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff Joy.
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by CDWF able to get It, Jeff and Tim and Jim Miller from Serious Sex AM NFL Radio. So, Kyler Gordon, I had a chance to sit down for a feature interview. See some of that on Bears Game Day Live on Thanksgiving Morning from Detroit. And my entree was his performance in London when he had seven tackles before he left the game. But he was flying all over the place. Oh, really impressive performance.
I honestly ask my best, like, I was definitely feeling it. That's how Katon was like he's sending me, you know, blitting my damn good at it. I love it And that's one of my good attributes of doing that. And I don't know that game was just a fun game, learning the atmosphere, like everything about it. I don't know those vibes, I'll feel it.
I'm definitely the most Yeah.
Yeah, so you love blitzing.
Now have you been always a great blitzer back to school or has he gotten something out of you that made you even more dangerous as a bleazer.
Honestly, I would say that no one's ever really got to see me blitz because in college I put the corner a lot. I mean I had a couple like off the side, but like that's not the same as nickol. You got a disguise, mess with the QB's head to see and stuff like that. So finally, I feel like no one really got to see that I had that ability into I got put in that position. So yeah, that's definitely want my.
Son, take me there, Take me there, You're you're you're you're thinking, you know, you get you got the green light, you're getting out of the huddle.
What you're playing master disguise.
It's like extreme deceiver, Like that's immedia is going through my mind, like I'm gonna act. I'm a real crazy for the for the QB. You don't know nothing going on. So that's pretty much every player, honestly, but really locked in on a little bit.
And then you can hide behind all that size up front, right, Yeah, you can hide and sure here comes.
It comes to Kyler Man right in together.
I love it also because of one theon and just watching you over the years. Here about your fashion, your fashion sense, your fashion interests. I think you you did explore some of that in London, right, tell me about all that.
Yeah, So I had a designer Wales Bonner. She's actually making a custom piece for me, two of them for the season. So I went out there, did a fitting, did some measurement stuff like that. So I've been working with her a little bit, did that out there, so I was fun. I excited to see what those pieces looking like and put us on a game day. But there's definitely a lot of different brands out there in fashion in London, you know, so that's look.
I do you think it was?
I thought Perish only right yea?
Or Italy Nah, they got a great options out there.
Really And so did you investigate that ahead of time or you just had already made that connection.
I investigated a little bit before before, just so we could plan it before you've got to London. So I honestly just worked out perfect. And uh, they're great people over there at Wales Bonder and their team school, so I love them.
How would you describe your fashion?
Yeah? Get you a great question?
Yeah to you.
I feel like I have so many different versions for like my passion. You know, it could be skater of one day, it could be it could be a little more like street the one day it could be suit tile Like I don't really, I really, I'm a chameleon. I could do anything, really, Like, I love fashion. If I see it, I like it where I'll make it, make it art. That's just how I feel about it.
Kind of like how you play the game right, disguising your plan and you know you got your style and substance all your own.
Definitely, Yeah, I like that.
I would say eclectic, collectic, eclectic, you know little variety DB's back in the day worf Yes, fly fly. I mean they made sure they were put together and it was very very very nice.
Nothing crazy. Yes, yes, yes.
Yes, yeah.
Why is this?
It's gotta played with us?
Why I get that confidence that you know, that energy, you can feel that you know, uh offensive, the way you walk and carry yourself all that's intimidating. And so that's kind of the dB position and how you're supposed to attack it.
And I'm telling you, man, I've said this since the beginning of last year. The second This is no disrespect to any other unit on this team, trust me, but there is a certain something about this defensive secondary. Every one of you guys, you guys got there's a confidence that you say, a swag.
It's kind of the heartbeat.
Honestly, it's the heartbeat of the team. Like you guys are the tone setters.
Yeah, I feel like our group is special, for sure. Our whole defense is special. I feel like everyone in every position got some unique quality ability. But yeah, no, I definitely love this group of secondary. That we have the communications cool, it's amazing.
I feel like we just get each other.
I think that's what makes it like so fluid, you know, like it's easy to talk, communicate, fix it about hoop.
If it's messed up.
We're gonna fit like we're gonna make it work regardless of Definitely a bunch of special players.
Yeah, and yourself included, because you are a special player. I read scouts take on you. An unnamed scout from another team says, these ball are out there, but do you feel that teams now recognize this a little bitta, you're bad man out there.
I feel it. I definitely feel it.
Uh.
I mean that's my job, disruptor like nicol like, I'm here to disrupt the play. Don't run towards me, don't pass on this how to feel with me and me? You know, Uh, that's just how it is, you know. So I find myself a lot of time trying to find production and create that so.
Part of the game.
Let me ask you this, because it is the most difficult position, in.
My opinion, to play, is nickel?
For sure?
You got to know so many assignments, got to know.
Every what everybody else.
Is, positions and one three and one linebacker. I'm a corner, I'm a safety.
Taking the words talking QB.
A little bit, so take me to take me to the huddle. You get a play call, all right, and it's specifically something that you're going to be deployed to do. Take me through that with the process is that you have to take a look now they break the huddle on the other side.
Take me there, Take me there.
It's a long process, or it's a short process, with so many different things to check off in my head right away, call job, all the multiple assignments that I could possibly have. If it's this this three by one and two by two, uh, speed at three, like communication to the corner, to the mic, to the safety, whether I needed to be this or that set them up
a position. Then I'm going to formation all right, Uh, trying to predict or kind of see what route formation they're like in this specific set, Uh, whether they're gonna do this tendencies Like I'm thinking that that I'm eliminating routes. Two's on the ball, ones off alert the motion, possibly
a China ride. Like there's so many things flying through my head, Like I got into my head, Like the end, I'm like, all right, these dety options, it's almost likely going to be this is this I play off of it, But.
How do you make it slow down?
Then a lot of.
Film, a lot of film knowing what there is, uh A knowing what spot to drop in. It's funny because it used to be so fast my rookie year, and now it's just like it's slow, So it's fun Yeah.
Yeah, Well that's just some of the interview.
And I find it very interesting because, you know, as viewers of the game and trying to understand the game that's happening in split seconds, there's not a lot of time to sort through all that. Tom, you guys and Jim have played it. Jim's attacking those guys that Tom's watching on the sidelines. How those guys operate. But and then you know, facing Nickels like that. It just blows my mind how details matter.
It's a little story about Kyler Gordon.
So a few weeks ago, I was having dinner with Todd Light, former Notre Dame great playing in the NFL Super Bowl ring and he was working coaching at Notre Dame after his career, and he was recruiting Kyler Gordon. And he says, oh my god, I got Kyler Gordon. He's coming to Notre Dame. He's gonna wear number one.
He's gonna be one of our top defensive players. Right at the end, he switched and went out to Washington, and he talks about one of the neatest personalities that he's ever met in his recruiting journeys in college football, and Kyler Gordon was that guy. And you know, he said hey as soon as you see him. Tell him I said hello. And he's one of the guys that I wish never got away from Notre Dame, and he did.
But when you listen to him and talk about fashion and his football, you just you can kind of tell what type of guy.
He is.
Very good athlete in quick twitch, and you know he's only going to get better. I mean, you can do so much with him from the the nickel spot, and I think his film study, you know, is going to get better and better because the way he can jump routes and why he's been given a nickname of Spidey. This guy is on you like a glove and so he's got great anticipation, how he reads it good FBI and so hopefully the best is yet to come. He's already pretty good, but he's going to get better.
A lot better.
All right, we got to take our final break and then a couple of minutes to go as we wrap things up heading into Thanksgiving against Detroit. Here on hees be in Chicago. Bears Radio Networks Bears.
Weekly with the Voice of the Bears for twenty four years.
Chef Jon and Chef Joney pun up Bears Radio Network.
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request it in clinic or virtual deployment. At start Feelings Better Tomorrow are remaining moments with Tom Baher and Jim Miller, Jeff Joniak. Hey, guys, I don't know if you're familiar what's been going on here at Hallisall but in the effort to provide fans with an inside look at the organization, the Bears launched a virtual tour of Bears history and tradition here at
Hallis Hall. You can enter Hallis Hall on the front lobby, allowing an experience to learn and explore the life of George Hallis and careers of the record thirty two members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including the newbies, the inductees Devin Hester and Steve McMichael see the Bears memorabilion artifacts from the team's historical archives, just as it's on display here at Hallis Haul.
You can log on the Chicago Bears not come and check it out.
Obviously, both of you have been here and witnessed all that. It is like a mini museum around here.
Oh, I think it's it's like a campus, and you know, it's something that would take a full day in order to get to every section of Hallas Hall if you have that opportunity. So I was looking at that virtual tour on my phone actually, and I think it's a deat opportunity for people to see a little bit behind the scenes.
It's history, you know, obviously, and you know, get to know the history of your team because it's a part of pro football that you know what they've done and what they've accomplished as an organization. When you look at Papa Hallis, I mean, this is a history of football. So I encourage everybody to go check it out if you're a huge Chicago Bears fan, and you'll get to know not only about the current Bears, but just you
know how the history of football unfolded. Obviously, Papa Hellis was a big part of that.
There's not a day that goes by when I'm up here, I don't see something that I stopp say. Man, I didn't see that before, So that's really cool. All right, we got less than thirty seconds.
Key to victory.
Jim Miller. What do we got on Thursday?
Score points?
Wow? Simple as that, but hard to do.
Tommy Sack Jared Goff.
Time repeatedly, four minimum, make it, make it challenging for him.
Four minimum.
He's a bounce back guy though. Man, he threw five picks a couple of weeks ago. He's been protecting the football on a high completion percentage, that's for sure. Jim, thank you so much for joining us. You have a happy Thanksgiving you and your family. I know you'll be working as well, but appreciate your time, buddy.
You guys too. Everybody out there, have a great Thanksgiving all right.
Thanks to everybody for listening tonight, Thanks to all our producers and Kyler Gordon. Appreciate it. And we will be with you next week. And we'll talk to you Thursday. Coming up next. Black and Abdalla. This is the radio home of the Chicago Bears.
ESPN Chicago. Good night everybody.
Thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation The Bears Weekly by the Mara, Bearsville, Jeff Juliad and Surfmaster Tom Thayer. Podcasts are available on the Chicago Bears Official ab brought to you by Verizon and Apple Podcasts. Bears Weekly has been brought to you by Miller Lite