McCaskey, Phillips, Poles, Eberflus on Bears' outlook | Coaches Show

pleasure to get him every buddy. Yeah, We've got people in the house. That's right, love it. It's been a minute now, right, a couple of years ago, I was the last time on this annual Labor Day show. Or you finally got an invite, George, you always tell me you never like you know, you got the actual show tonight. So I'm so excited to be here normally on the pre show, yo, the pre show, not ready for prime time, right, very excited to be on the your time, aren't you

glad he's here? Everybody? Come on now, this is this will be good coming up here for that type of the play. Either season ticket holders We appreciate you being here on this Labor day. Nice nice venue. Ted Phillips, President and CEO here as well. We're in the PNC Broadcast Center, the p and C studios, and you said, wow, this is this is nice. We've never done this before. Usually we're in the Peyton Center, but we got we got intimate here and post COVID now we're ready to go.

So it is a nice venue to share here tonight with these Spears fans, and it's good to get this season going in the right direction here for twenty twenty two. We got a lot to talk about. We're here until eight o'clock tonight, coming up around seven twenty or so. Head coach Matty Refluction, general manager Ryan Poles, who joined the program as well. So, George, welcome to the twenty

twenty two season. It seemed probably to you and many others, and I know a lot of fans out there, so much change, so many different things, and now the dust is settling a little bit. We can see what this is going to look like. We see in twenty twenty two here for the season opener on Sunday. How you feeling, how you feeling about everything? Excited, still adjusting to the three game preseason and only one home preseason game, so we haven't seen the folks around Solder, but looking forward

to getting back to it. And I think you saw a more disciplined team in our preseason games and that's a very encouraging science we head into the regular season. Yes, a lot of different things that we're going to break down tonight and talk about because it is a different look and a lot of the things that we all as Bears fans always hope for and what it will be like to watch this kind of team and their personality. And we'll get into that with coach Iberflus and Ryan

Poles as well. But I know you. We had you on the fourth quarter of the preseason finale in Cleveland and I said, what about the hits principle that you enjo and first word is hustle and you had him. He had you right. Yeah. The temple of the practices has been a lot quicker, a lot faster. Everybody's moving, the players, the coaches, the staff, and it's very encouraging to see. And again, I think you'll see that transfer

to the games, all right. Ted Phillips, A lot of news this week last week, I should say, so, have you gotten used to the idea that February of twenty three, you're you're moving into retirement. I know it was a lot of thought went into this and took me by surprise the other day. I'm sure there's a lot of emotions and what's been going on since. I'm sure you've

got a lot of phone calls and text messages and emails. Well, you know what, forty seasons is a long time, Jeff, and I just have to again gratitude to the McCaskey family for the trust to support through all the years. UM, it has been amazing. People keep asking me, well, what are you what are you gonna miss? I'm gonna miss the people. I'm gonna miss the people I miss. It's it's still after forty seasons. I still kind of It's still kind of amazes me when I'm out and certain

fans will still recognize me. I'm not used to that. But you know what, the interactions with all of you, UM has been ninety nine percent positive all the way across. So I appreciate that I'm going to miss that, UM, because our fans are the best, through thick and thin, and at this time of the year, especially right we're all excited. We're all excited about the season, the changes, and that's going to be hard to get used to missing.

But it's time for me and I know that we have a lot of great staff and we have the ab to find someone that's going to lead us into the future, that's going to do it in the right way and continue with the values of the club and know what it's like to be a bear with humility and great innovation and foresight. So they're gonna We're gonna find the right person to take over. You mentioned forty years, and you mentioned the people that recognize you to this

day that you met maybe many years ago. There have been a lot of people through this building in forty years. I mean talking about coaches, scouts, personnel. You know. I dam Pompey's article on the Athletic which was extremely well

done and covered your entire career. But when you first started here in nineteen eighty three, and what you inherited over the course of time as you rose through and climbed the staircase, so to speak, to your current position was a much smaller staff, only needed nine coaches back in those days. Nine coaches, nine coaches, coach flow snow pressure, which is it doesn't seem possible, but one football field. Yeah, ye, fifty employees right now we have two fifty hard to believe.

But you you've been at the center of that growth over that entire four decade. How do you put that in the context? Wow, it's been Um, it's it's been an honest play, it's been a pleasure. Every day has been different. And to see the growth not just of the Bears, but of the entire NFL. The way the values of the teams has has skyrocketed, and to be a part of that, it's something I'll treasure every day for the rest of my life. George had a lot

of great quotes. I'm sure you come off your tongue right now as well about what he's meant to you in the family. Well, when Ted shared the news with our staff on Friday, I had to follow him and I told the Bears family that, um that I told Ted when he gave me the news that I had too much respect for him and I am too grateful to him to ask him to reconsider. And now I'm wishing that I hadn't said that He's just been fantastic for the Bears organization, for our family. You mentioned being

here in the PNC Center. This was the first significant renovation of House Hall that Ted oversaw in twenty thirteen, the more recent one in twenty nineteen that Ted Oversaw gave us one of the best training facilities in the NFL.

And we're going to miss his leadership, his sense of humor, his drive, his passion, and the thing I feel good about is that with Ted's help, we're going to find an excellent leader to follow him Sunday Sunday's game, be sure to stop by the middle of right Ultimate tail Gate located at the Field Museum for food, games, music, and more, free to Bears fans of all ages. The Ultimate tail Gate opens at ten am through one hour

post game. We're here at PIANC Studio at HALLISAU. We got some good friends here, season ticket holders, some veterans here have been around a minute and we are on the Bears Coaches Show with Chairman of the Board George Hollis McCaskey and President CEO Ted Phillips. So the season opening up on Sunday at Soldier Field, Virginia. McCaskey no doubt, just can't wait to see it. Yeah, she gets excited

about every season. She gets excited about every game. I'm sure she's listening tonight and we'll be sending me a critique of your performance. I'm sure you get the critique too.

I know that for sure as well. Given all the change, given all the change, it's it's almost it's almost like tearing down a house and rebuilding it in seven months because there's there's so many new players, so many personnels, so much going on, and then Ted's decision and then everything else that you know, we're looking at here as well, with the potential purchase of a Arlington Park that could

become a new stadium for Chicago. Is this hard to put into context for you, even as the chairman of the board, because a lot's going on at once, Yeah, a lot is going on. When you have Ryan on. He might dispute the use of your rebuilding the house analogy, but I'll leave that to him. But there is a sense of excitement. There's a lot of change in the air, but a lot of it can be really positive if we do it the right way. What have you seen so far that you like in the decisions you made

to bring Matt and Ryan aboard. Love Ryan's calm, his leadership style, his analytical abilities, love Matt's intelligence what Ryan describes as Matt's emotional intelligence. It looks like he's been a student of the game all that time that he was an assistant coach and thinking about what he would do and how he would do it when he got the opportunity to be a head coach in the NFL. And Ted with the history of this franchise, it's just always oozing from the pores of this building. You can

walk around and see it all. And Matt and Ryan and both have taken a very strong interest in that history. And it was brought up again at the news conference today with Coachyberflus with the media and he went through the one hundred year book because it's it's it's all there for you to get excited about because now there's a new chapter going. Yeah. I mean, if if you don't believe in what it means to be a Bear,

you need to be somewhere else. But what I what I've been loving about the preseason is seeing in four or five jerseys on defense at the ball carrier every single play. It's been a long time since we've seen that, and you can't ask for a better preseason in terms of a confidence builder to take that next step. And it's coming Sunday, all right. I get asked a lot about Justin Fields. I get asked a lot about Matt Eberflus and what's this is going to be. But I

also get a lot asked questions about Arlington Heights. So a lot going on there. You're at the forefront of it. What can you tell us, Well, there's been a lot of work being done, a lot of people are digging in and trying to see if we can make this viable. We've said it before, but the reality is we haven't bought the land yet. We haven't closed on the land. We might not. If we do, I think we will do it by the end of this year, early twenty

twenty three. I'd like to have that accomplished before I leave. And if we do buy the land doesn't mean we'll develop it. We don't have a stadium design yet, so I know there's probably lots of questions on your guy's minds about tickets and seating, and we don't We don't have that yet. It's a three hundred and twenty six acre parcel that will be a stadium anchored development. If it happens, probably be the largest development in Illinois history.

So there's a lot of economic benefits that can go towards it, and that's how it's going to get done, is by trying to sell the economic benefits, which will be staggering, along with the jobs. And an informational meeting for community coming up on Thursday seven to nine at my alma mater, Hersey High School. Yes, they're in our LinkedIn Heights. What will be the gist of that? Both of you guys can chime in about well. Ted has said many times that we're concerned that people think that

the project is are there along than it is. We're still in the exploration phase. We want to share what information we have, but we don't have all the answers. We think now though, is the right time to get in front of the residence of Arlington Heights and the neighboring communities and show them what we have to this point. Yeah, they're going to see a preliminary concept that if we move forward, we'll probably change over time, but at a minimum,

it's exciting. It's exciting to explore this, correct, it's a must to explore. It's very exciting. We didn't go out looking for this land. Churchill Downs, who owned the race course, the racetrack, excuse me, put it up for sale and it was just too intriguing in terms of the access to the property, the size of the property, what it could be, the vision. So we just felt like we had to put an offer in and we got the winning bid. I'm excited about returning to your alma mater.

I'm sure he's in the Athletic Hall of Fame, the Academic Hall of Fame. I want to see the plaques, the shrine, whatever they may have. We'll take you on the quick ten cent tour. I haven't been back in that building in a long, long long time, so it'll be it'll be interesting to be there, for sure, in a big moment in Bear's history. So, Ted, we appreciate you coming on and we appreciate everything that you've done, and you gotta allow work left to do on the

table here before before you go into retirements. So from from everybody from my crew, we appreciate what you have been to all of us, and nothing but great success. You're gonna have that you're gonna have. You're gonna have that itch. I know it. You know, you know you're gonna have that itch for sure. I get it every year. And uh and you're a good man, and so is Tommy Thayer your partner. And I love you, guys, I love you too, all right, appreciate it. Coming up, we'll

be joined by Matty Berflus and Ryan Poles. This is the Bears Coaches Show. Now more of the Bears Coaches Show featuring how two PNC studio at Hallis Hall where a Bears fant are our family here since you take it holders on the labor day, hope your labor day's going well. Now into a different phase of our show, please welcome the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Matt Eberflus, and the time. Appreciate it, of course, Matt, you'll you'll be here every Monday night with yours truly breaking it

down because you got everybody together. It got a little break, getting ready, little light practice today, getting some guys healthy today back on the field Byron Pringle for one Vayless Jones Junior, little Lucas Patrick. So now you gotta run away, right you gotta run away to the start of the season. How do you feel about it? Oh, yeah, it's good

to get everybody back. You know, we've had some soft tissue stuff during training camp what you always have, and then you know, to get guys back and start putting them in there to compete. It was good. It was good to see the guys out there and we're excited to get this week started. Like you said, today was a light practice. You know. We took a team photo today, which is pretty cool. You know, we all got out there and took a team photo and we did something

special today. We actually had the coach's exit after the school, then we had a late practice and then let the guys go. So yeah, very nice gesture because they're often overlooked in terms of what you have to do and not from the inside, but people don't know what they do, how many people are involved, and they are they work as hard as anybody. Don't. Yeah, there's no question they do.

So we had a show appreciation for the door, but it's it's something they're always going to have that that's the memory of you made the final fifty three, you're ready for week one and Ryan putting to get together. And I know I mentioned a house, but it's like seven and a half months of redesigning something and the amount of work that went into that. It's just the crazy thing to me about football when that happens, and

then you show up for your first practice. It all looks normal like they've been doing but these it's everybody's new. I mean across the board. How'd you pull this off in seven and a half months. Yeah, it wasn't just me. I have a really good staff and you know ways, and I've been really happy with the turnout. And then the other thing too, is we have a great coaching staff, so you know, with their involvement and you know their willingness to coach these guys, especially the last you know,

last weekend. You know there's new players that haven't been here during camp and our coaches got them up to speed and we're excited about it. Well, Matt, you talk about these coaches almost every time you're at the podium, and you know you say it with a confidence because you know these guys, especially the coats, guys you've worked with, but to get to know them and now let them see the around a lot of good teachers that I've been under over the course of my career, so I've

learned what it looks like. And for me to talk to these guys when we uh, you know, hired them. It's about developing and teaching the players to become better players. And people always say that, you know, I was a college coach for eighteen years, and they say, well, you can't you know the pros are where they are. I don't.

I disagree one hundred percent. And all those coaches believe that they're just teachers first, and then coaches, you know, and then building relationships I think is really important, so we can challenge those guys. Ryan, you must have been around people, and Matt you yourself as well. There are some coaches that, Okay, you're gonna give me some rookies, but I, I don't know. I just don't have that faith. This gentleman believes in young players. You have fifteen rookies

on this roster. It's a league high. The average age is just over twenty five nearly, you know, not quite twenty six years of age. Aguins make sure that we're teaching them, they're getting their bodies right and they can play fast and learn our system. So to have coaches like we do is really good and in turn, these young players, there's some innocence there when they're so young, they you know, I'm gonna get this opportunity. You know, you're not just relegated to the practice squad for the

first player a better mentally ready player. Yeah, I think it's I think it's a good point. You know, you really want to just keep developing everybody on the roster. So it doesn't matter if you're slated as a starter and then you're also slated as a backup, because at some point during the course of the season, everybody's going to play and you have to be ready to play. So you got to be able to step in to that role and put a winning performance out there. And

that's why we do that. So we always want to develop everybody on at roster, from the first guy to the sixty ninth guy. We want to develop them because you never know. This special edition of the Bears Coaches Show with Mattie Buflus and General Manager Ryan Poles is sponsored by for Rising Bette Rivers and Miller liked once again the Voice of the Bears w BBMS Jeff Joniac. Great seats available to see your Chicago Bears this season

a soldier field. Get your tickets at Chicago Bears dot com slash tickets with Ryan Poles, Bears general manager and head coach Maddie Boflus. I'm Jeff Joniac. We have Bears fans here and join the show on their holiday weekend. That's right, getting ready for the forty nine ers. Ryan. The other day, your face lit up. You said, I

love that dude, that com man. About your affinity for the man sitting next year right here, Matt Eberflus is resonating, and what have you come to learn about all aspects of what he brings to the table now that you've gotten to know him very well. Yeah, the leadership part stands out. I mean when he's in front of the room.

And that's the one thing you don't know, you know when the interview process, But when he gets in front of the room, everyone's locked in, and he's passionate about what he does, and he has everyone's attention and he you know they're they're locked in. By the time you're done with the team meeting, you want to go play football immediately after. So it's effective too. So the other thing too is just detail. You know, there's a lot

that goes behind the scene. Is just in terms of the schedule to move everybody around, the coaching staff, the players, and everything's been on point and it's been running really smooth. You would think, you know, he was the head coach for a really long time, so it's been it's been awesome. In turn, what have you learned and what have you come to appreciate about the new general manager? I would say, oh, and I tell this all him all the time, is that the number one job of a GM is to

pick players that really can play. And he does a great job with that. Him and I have the same vision with the type of players we are. We cover it. And he's got a great eye. I'm not talking about a good eye, a great eye for talent and it takes a special eye. I'll be able to see those guys and pick those guys, um, you know in the later rounds uh, you know, like Braxton Jones, you know, like different players like that. And he's going to continue to do that. And that's not only in the draft.

That's that's free agency, and that's picking guys, claiming guys, and and so I would just say that what a what a tremendous eye for talent. Well, it's just six claims last week, guys that are going to figure in to the future of the Chicago Bears hopefully. And that's not a simple process either. And you and I spoke the other day. It's almost like a new draft, but it's a limited window and you gotta you gotta put

in the time. But you know, you were looking for the traits obviously, but you were looking for plays like these guys playmakers and do they fit what a Bear looks like now? And you believe you found a few more. Yeah, yeah, we're excited. Um. And again it goes back to my staff and in the process that we have shoot that night, we put hours. We're until about one in the morning, you know, watching tape, and we had a board set up and it was very similar to the draft, except

you have twenty four hours to get it done. So it's something I learned in my past, and it's it's part of our philosophy and um, it's it's I actually look forward to it. You know, it's a it's a treasure hunt to look for guys that play our style, um and and can help us win games. Do you get so intoxicated with the exercise that you maybe even wanted more. Yeah, and you gotta say, we gotta gotta calm it down here for a second, we gotta calm it down. So now, you guys, well you all, it

seems to me you were meant for this period. You were meant for this team, this city, this style, And I'm saying that to you. I mean, I really believe that. And you're just so humbly confident about what you want this to be their standard. You throw that word around a lot, But now do we close our eyes and know exactly what a bear looks like? Well, I would say this is that you know you have to be on your on top of that because you know, as

soon as you look away, the standard slip. And you have to make sure that you're on top of that every single day and every single rep because the standard is high and you have to uphold the standard. And what's been great is that we've had such great buying

by the players. The players have really taken a hold of this about playing hard, playing smart, doing things the right way, playing the aggressive style, but doing it the right way, the smart way, and they just take taking you know and ran with it, and that's that's great, but it's also the leader's job, and I mean coaches and players to uphold that standard. And that's a day to day process. And you can't ever let that go.

And so if you as soon as you relax and say, hey, you know, we're not looking at that anymore, you got to look at it every single day. Have you personally ever burned yourself by taking your eye off along your way? I've learned that over the course of time, where you know, you you take your eye off something for a minute and then there it is, it's and it shows up, and you got to just go back to the basics,

go back to the beginning and reset. And that happens, you know, because our standard is so high, there's gonna be a little bit of slippet sometimes, but we gotta just rein it in and just keep going forward. And the Bears matchup of the forty nine ers brought to you by Miller, like official beer partner of your Chicago Bears. It's Miller time Bears fans Jeff Jonny AAC along with coaching GM here at Hallis Hall at PNC Studio. We got Bears fans in your season ticket holders, ready to

let it rip. How loud are you going to be on Sunday? All right, can't wait? Can't wait? You know, we we expect that from the home fans on Sunday, So I guess would be a good time say what do you need? What do you need from the fans on Sunday? Well, you know, it's always u You know, it's an exciting time for the city, and it's exciting time for the Bears, and we're gonna be ready to go, and we want our fans to be ready to go too. So you guys know what. You guys know football. You

guys been watching it a long time. You know when to be loud and just be as loud as you can in those critical moments for us on Sunday. So I appreciate that, Ryan uh As it's currently constituted. And you've said many times you're gonna you're on this hunger to keep finding guys that if somebody's better out there and fit, you're gonna go get them. How do you feel about what you have for week one? Yeah? I

feel good and I'm excited to see them perform. You know, you have this checklist of things that you look for. You have you know, offseason programs OTAs, and then you can't wait to get the pads on and get the pads on and you see how physical they are. Can they hold up to that? And then you get some preseason games. So now we finally get the lights to turn on. This is this is real football. Um, it turns up a couple of notches, and uh, I'm excited

to see the guys perform. I think they're gonna surprise some people. They keep telling us that too. Any number of them. Hey, we're gonna surprise people. This old being overlooked in the in the record, predictions and all this stuff that that comes with you know football. That's part of it, I guess, um. The fandom of it is so intense, the analysis so intense. But you you've got these guys believing or maybe they just believe in themselves by virtue of you know, there's a lot of guys

on this roster. They've been marginalized their whole life, and you're you're looking for those guys because they're hungry the newest guy. I'm here, Marsett Smith. I hope I got it right today. You know how upset the Vikings. Let you go, yes, I have a chip on, they're not. I mean sometimes it sounds cliche, but I think you've got a lot of guys that feel they're backed into a corner a little bit. Do you sense that? Yeah? I mean the guys I think have come together because

of the experience that just went through. You know, they've they've had off season program and then they go through training camp and as you guys know that it's it's

not easy, you know. And I think that when you have a training camp like we did, I think it brings guys closer because they go through something that's difficult and now they understand what the standard is and they started to see that payoff and they started to see it, you know, you know, come to light and they can see it say wow, this is this is something good

happening here. So I believe that the guys are getting closer and closer, and the team chemistry is getting better and better, and it's all going to come down to Wednesday's practice. You know, we're gonna have to have a great Wednesday's practice. That's when we have pads on. We're gonna have to thud we're gonna have to hit each other pretty good to get on the line of scrimmage

on both sides of the ball. So that's going to start there and then get more into situations on Thursday and to third down and finish it off with red zone on Thursdays or Friday. So it's an important that we do the work on the practice field and that's going to be a part of our preparation for game time. If you have a practice that doesn't go to your liking,

do you get nervous about Sunday? Well, you know, nothing's ever perfect, you know, so you always look at corrections and you will get those after practice and well, if something's there, we'll have to work on the next day, we'll do that. So you know, it's always that's your job as a coach and the leader. You just got to make the corrections and move forward and go to the next day. Ryan Justin Fields is a legit national story right now. Yeah, everybody's like coming around taking another

look at what they've seen. I believe because of that preseason finale. But I mean we're talking about X player. We're talking a lot about about this man right now. He's starting quarterback in a football crazy town and a passionate fan base, a beloved franchise, a large media market. Is he ready for it all? Yeah? I think he is. You know, if you look at his history. I mean I think he was the number one high school recruit coming out, you know, and then he had, you know,

his success at Ohio State. And if you know Justin, you're around Justin. He is as steady Eddie as can be. He never gets too high and never too low. He just works at his craft. And I know we're both proud on how he's attacked this whole change. They've thrown a lot at him, and he just keeps answering and get he gets better, and he just chips away and he's ready to go. So and he mentioned this, he wants to be coached hard. He an interview recently, and

Luke getsy. I don't watch and I can't see exactly what goes on in that room, obviously, but I get the sense he coaches him hard. Is that what Luke, You're doing? Well, he's just like all the rest of

the coaches. He's a teacher, you know. So he's built the relationship like the rest of the coaches to have the ability to challenge, you know, so you want to be able to challenge the guys as a coach and you challenge them to get better and give them the understanding of what they're doing and why they're doing it, and then they understand you know, hey, it's gonna help us win. And that's an important piece to it. But you have to build a relationship first before you can challenge.

And those guys got a tight relationship as Janoko does and the rest of those quarterbacks in that room. That's a really good room. All right. Your decision to go into the quarterback meetings, what was this something that you felt you are going to do or I mean, how did that all come about? I don't know that a

lot of coaches do that. No. I think it's important for the head coach to be in there because your quarterback has to know that the head coach has his back, and I think that he understands that the whole football team has his back. The head coach has his back, and we're all in there to make sure that everything goes right as a football team and how he fits into that football team. So it's an important piece to it. Yeah, are you finding that as a first time head coach.

This is almost a silly question because you are so organized and you are on it. But is there enough time in a day? Yeah? Oh yeah, there's enough time. If your organized, there's enough time. I mean, the day goes fast. There's only so many minutes in a day, but it goes quick. But you have to be on top of what you want to get done in that day. All right. I need to consult you for ideas on how I can fit everything in and one day as well. The Bears Coaches Show continues exclusively on the Home of

the Bears one oh five nine w VBM. Welcome back to you up the Nancy Studio at how To Saw Jeff Jonny Ak along with head coach Mattie Briflus and gentle manager Ryan Poles. Bears fans have been great tonight. Appreciate you guys. See a soldier field and we'll talk down the radio. Our pregame at nine, kickoff at noon with the entire crew, Ron, Jim and Jay, myself and Tom and our esteemed broadcast crew. It's also time to look Ahead, brought to you by Bette Rivers, the official

sports book partner of the Bears. The Bears will kick off a new season and a new era Sunday at noon when they welcome Trey Lance and the forty nine ers two Soldier Field. I say, Trey Lance, You say what Matti Brefus, Yeah, I say that. You know, we got a chance to watch him play last year. He started in the Arizona game kind of the middle of the season there, and the team all was with last year played it played them right after that, and he

didn't play in the game that we played against. But so we got a chance to look at him, and he's a tremendous athlete and a tremendous talent. You know, he gives you a lot of problems because he can run the foot ball and um, yeah, he's a he's a he's a lot to handle. So we're gonna have a challenge ahead of us for our defense, and we're excited about that challenge. And so as Deebo Samuel. I know you faced him in that game against the Colts and he was here October thirty first and had himself

a game as well. Just a unique kind of a football player. And you know, you want to bring him down when he kept if he's gonna catch it, make sure you didn't get the Yeah, and that's why they're like the number, I think number one or two team in the NFL with yack yards last year and deebo is a big part of that, and Kittle's a big part of that. So um, you know, they were obviously very strong with running the ball and they're taught the right way. So we're gonna have to our challenge in

front of us on defense. All right, Ryan, what is the best story to come out of the preseason in your opinion, I think it's, you know, our roster coming together. You know. I go back to the event coach had with you know, down with the Cubs, you know, and I saw a team, you know that was unsure of all the change, and they started to gel when they started to come together. So I'm just looking forward to those groups playing together and have each other's back, you know,

when the lights turn on. So yep, tight end Cole Commit said is one of the best things he's ever been a part of. Obviously, he likes hitting the baseball team, so you know, he cranked a few home runs. That was a tremendous experience for a guy who loves the history of this sports Town. Now, that's certainly a place to do it. But let's talk about some of those guys, the guys that we feel that are on the cusp, you know, could take a big, giant step here. Justin

obviously is one of them. We're also were looking here, We're looking at Darnell, We're looking at Cole commit. They're going to get their chances to make a mark on this offense. And then the running game. You talked in the break about you know, hey, I like seeing a run over guys. Is this going to be a physical, nasty offense first and foremost before we start talking about what could be an aerial show with a guy who's got a great arm. Yeah, I mean we all believe this,

and I know the Bears fans will appreciate this. Is that, you know, we believe in a strong running game, you know, So that's an important piece to this. You know, it really sets up a lot of things for Justin and the offense. When you're able to run the ball with Montgomery and you know, and have a lead back in there and being able to do some different things that we're able to do in the running game. So it sets up a lot of things for us, you know,

it keeps us ahead of the sticks. It's it's just a good formula for winning, you know, So we believe in that strong running game. I loved your answer last week when people are talking about you know what's around. Okay, there's a lot of young players ready to get an opportunity to develop, and you, as the general manager, have to be pragmatic in your approach. You're building an entire roster, and is that always in the back of your mind, because you could pull the trigger on many different things

if you so choose. Yeah, you know, there's a level of patients and you know, we want to do things the right way and right now, the way we've done it was you know, through the draft and as well as through claims and free agency. So it's coming together, but there is a level of patience. You gotta have to do it the right way so that you can sustain it over a long period of time. Offensive line loaded with young guys at this point, it's one of

your wheelhouse positions. You played it obviously, you wore their uniform here in two thousand and eight when you came in as a rookie undrafted. Do you feel your eyes sharp and you know what you want. Yeah, at the offensive line, absolutely, and it's coming together. I've been really impressed with you know, Braxton Jones coming in and developing so fast, and you know, he's been hungry since he

came in. He wanted more and more knowledge. He's spent time with Chris Morgan and he does extra and he just continues to get better every single day. So that group's coming together nicely. I approached a couple of writers in the locker room today, open locker room or back in the locker room. It's kind of strange. Some of these players have never had microphones in their face because of COVID. But it's it's great to get to know

the guys in a different way. But I say, hey, you know, you're not believing that the takeaways are going to happen and love he said it was going to this system, it's going to happen, and it's about creating the opportunity to get the take Oh yeah, there's a level of luck involved too, But the passion and the unbelievable attention to that detail, do you truly believe it's

going to create what you believe will happen? Yeah? And I think there is a little bit of luck, but it's not that much because you have to create those opportunities and you create the fumble by doing strip attempts and that's on every play, you know, so we want to make sure we're doing that every single play. And then you create the recovery by hustling to the ball.

So if there's no hesitation when you hustle to the ball, you will be there when the ball comes out, and if you expect it to be there, it will be. And we have to do a great job of technique or how we recover those fumbles when they're in close quarters and when they're on the open field. So we practice all those things. We practice how we were turned the ball. So it's it's something we're very fanatical about and something we pay attention to every single day. That's

the fumble part. How about now the past that gets tipped in the middle of the field, Because as long as everybody's running to the ball with their hair on fire, I mean, this, for example, looks to me like a golden opportunity for an Eddie Jackson, for Jiquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon. These guys get Jalen Johnson to get the ball in their hands. They're all talking that we're in the locker

room too, so you got them thinking feverishly about this. Yeah, and really, when we play the style we do, we know we play more zone than most people, so we have a lot of set of eyes on the ball and so when the ball does get tipped or thrown in your area, we're able to break on it and u and have a chance. All Right, we have less than a minute final message to the fans from Ryan Poles and Mattieberflus about what we're gonna expect here in

twenty two. Yeah, we're excited. I think our future is bright and uh, you know, I'm ready to get this thing kicked off down a soldier field and see a lot of these guys can get give me a sample, come on. Yeah. I just want to thank all the fans for all your support and the players. I want to thank the players and all the staff for all the hard week we put in over the last seven months to get to this point. But we're excited for the competition that we're going to be in on Sunday.

We're excited to get it going. And so when you walk in there as head coach in that tunnel for the first time in your NFL career. It'll feel different once I say let's go, let's go, let's go. Yeah, I want to. I want to echo those thoughts. Let's go. Appreciate you guys, thank you so much. Before to a

long and enjoyable season. Do an they shows so for Bears Chairman of the Board George Hallis mccaski, President and CEO Ted Phillips, General manager Ryan Poles, and head coach Matt Eberflus and our producers Dan Varilli, Jordan Treadup, Andy Gersher, Keith Johnson, a Lisa Fielding, our engineer pauls Rang and do you find folks for taking your holiday time to spend it with us. We appreciate it so much. Give

yourselves a hand. Thank you to our little season ticket holders and sponsors for your continued support of Bears football. We'll be talking to you on the radio Sunday at nine am. Kickoff at noon, Ron Gleason, Jim Schwantz JA He'll give me my broadcast partner Tom Fair for the noon kickoff. Good night, everybody, This is News Radio one oh five nine w BBM.