Nagy talks Draft, quarterbacks | All Access

to you by IGS Energy. Jeff joni Ac along with Tom There Jim Miller will be along as well from Serious XM NFL Radios Moving the Chains and our producer tonight, Sean Anderson. And as we get together, hoping everybody out there is getting along okay, living by the rules of the road, so to speak, right now, and staying at home and social distancing and hopefully hopefully everybody's healthy. And Big Tim got to do a shout out right out of the gate to all those folks out there in

the restaurant business that are providing drive by pickups. You got the medical profession doctors, nurses, all medical personnel. You got grocery store workers, I mean we could go on and on and on, police, fire, first responders. Way to go You're helping us through and there's no other way to go about it. We need these folks, So thank you one and all. And I know you're in the

restaurant business as well. Yeah, it's you know, it's an everyday struggle and everyday new experience just trying to something

you're overcome. But you know, when you talk about those the all the people, the you know, the garbage collectors, the road department, the electrical workers, the whole workforce that is kind of keeping a world together during them some of the most difficult times that we've ever seen in our mature lifetime because when we are kids, there is things that our parents went through that we are never

aware of, a lot like the kids up today. But for every one of the workforce members that go out there every single day, believe me, don't ever think there goes a day that you're not appreciated in the efforts that you're you're putting forth. And also a big nod to the Chicago Bears team president CEO Ted Phillips today tom announcing a commitment of one point nine two million dollars to local COVID nineteen relief efforts and the nineteen

twenty obviously a significant number in Bears franchise history. The address up there at hallis Hall and also the beginning of this Bears franchise a very significant donation. And they're working on and money different fronts for Advocate Charitable foundations, Relief Fund, Critical Care at Illinois, University of Chicago's community support programs, and the Chicago Community COVID nineteen response funds. So many different Bears also contributing. So a lot of

a lot of great stuff going on right now. Yeah,

that's what it's about. It's about support, you know. And I think one of the things that people need out there is they need signs a positive not necessarily if it's moving against the coronavirus, but positive signs of support out there amongst amongst the people that are giving enormous amounts of money like the Chicago Bears, or you know, the other NFL and professional sports owners all around the landscape of sports and what they're doing to support their community,

their employees, you know, just outside the building of their organization. And you know, Jeff, it's kind of weird because you think about the Bears future and when they made the change to in house the training camp inside of hallis Hall. While you know it's really it's a big step they've taken, and you know, there's so much respect out there for Olivet and everything they did in support of the Bears, but the uniqueness of this season and trying to be

prepared a step ahead of, you know, the norm. I think the Bears have been able to do that with the movement of training camp and their preparations coming up at about six ten are going to be joined by the head coach of the Chicago Bears, Matt Naggie as he begins his third year in the most unique of circumstances, So be tuned in for that with Tom and Jim Miller.

I'm Jeff Joniak, And today Roger Goodell did an interview of some sort and he said, you know, he's continuing to say this that the NFL is planning to play in twenty twenty and his quote is, that's our hope and that's our planning to date. We can help our country heal, we can help bring our communities together, we can provide hope, we can provide a distraction from the everyday issues and show people there is a future out

there and that we're all going to be part of it. Obviously, Tom, the public safety and how it impacts stadium workers, fans, players, their families, organizations, all that that has to be taken into consideration, and they will do that and they'll be

proper steps and so forth. But given what they're doing with the draft, two weeks from tonight gets underway with round one and doing it by virtual reality with the IT department's going to be the heroes and this one, I'll tell you they gotta be, because they're going to be really in the focus here. He has proven that this is this is the plan that he wants to

pursue until somebody tells him you can. Well, you know what, I'm glad that he's going he's following through with the draft because you know, I kind of laugh and I giggle at it about all these people, how they think they're gonna be caught with their hands in their pockets because they don't have these eyeball to eyeball investigative meetings that they have with these guys. And you know, I always put myself or the guys that I was getting ready to be drafted with back at that era, and

there was no communication, there was no contact. You hopefully were sitting near a landline. So when they called you without cameras on you, that you are going to be accepted into the family whichever team was drafting you. So I'm glad Roger Goodell is kind of putting a benchmark out there in the horizon for people to kind of shoot for, for the world to aspire to be in that position, so practices or training camps or games can take place. As you know, Jeff, when the Score played

the broadcast of the game this past weekend. Now, the last couple of weekends I've listened, It's been a really positive distraction for me. And I'm not listening to ourselves. I'm listening to the broadcast about the Bears game. In your mind kind of is able to escape away from the other news you're paying attention to twenty three and a half hours a day the other six and a half days. Jim, is that the Jim joining us now? Jim? Is it a no excuses NFL draft? Yeah? Yeah, I

don't think any team. I agree with Tom, no team is going to be caught with their pants down they're gonna have all the information that they need on these players. They've scouted these players, some guys three years because they've come out as juniors four years. Some guys have come out, you know, because they were red shirted five years. So

they've got information on these guys. As for I found out today on the medical rechecks, there's seventy two, well actually seventy three guys that need a medical recheck, and it's seventy three now because Brandon now you the Arizona State widebc Real had surgery. But what the NFL has done, they've broken that up between six teams. So six teams have like twelve guys each that they got to do

the medical rechecks. They get virtual exams with doctors. The agents are more than willing to give them the information because they want to get the info out there about their client. Seventy five percent of those rechecks are already done. Then it will all of them will go back to NIC in Indianapolis, and then every team in the National Football League will be sent a report on all these medical rechecks. All these teams will be more than equipped

with the information that they need. Probably the one thing that area of concern would be trades. On Draft Day. You're probably going to see gms and teams that have traded and have a relationship. They're going to be more likely to trade than say a new GM, say like

Andrew Barry of Cleveland. So I think you'll see trades still happen, but it will be with guys that have long existing relationships and have done it before, or they may be in place verbally earlier in the day and then become official when the actual time to do it is in the offing. All right, I'm gonna step away. Coming up next, Bears head coach Matt Naggie kind enough to give us some time tonight on Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy on Chicago Sports Radio

six seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears, providing electricity, natural gas, and whole warranty products to over one million customers across the country. Learn more about IGS Energy at igs dot com. Jeff Joniac, along with Tom Darem, a broadcast partner from WBBM, and Jim Miller, a former Chicago Bears quarterback and a member

of the staff at Sirius XM NFL Radio. Moving the chains with Pat Kerwin and now joined by the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Please to be joined by Matt Naggee. Good evening, Matt. How are things going going well? Guys? How are y'all doing doing great? Thank you for stepping away from what is a very busy time NFL draft

preparations two weeks from tonight. It may seem like it is a long way away, but you guys, you guys have been working so hard at this as as a franchise and with all your meetings and staff and so forth, that uh, it probably isn't enough time, you know, to get ready for something like this in the most unique

of circumstances. Yeah, you know what, Jeff, It is that it's as we're all going through, the word precedented keeps coming up and unique and any way you look at it, and we're all in different situations, and I think, um, you know, the one thing for our situation is we're pretty fortunate right now, um, being able to be around people that are working really hard, um to to really let us and allow us to get our job done.

So we've been in our world. We've been doing a lot of meetings, you know, technology wise to resume and Skype and and uh and and different things with our home office computers, and everyone's been doing really well with it. So it's been unique and at the same time fun. Hey man, can you talk a little bit how much time you're going to save and the fact that it's not that you guys made this as decision with coronas virus in mind, but making training camp back into hallis hall.

So now all those moves, all those different changes that you used to make in the past, Bam there. You guys are ready to go to hit the ground running as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Yeah, no doubt time. I think for us and everybody that's going through this right now, the communication is the biggest part of this and making sure that you over communicate clarity, and that's where we have a lot of guys that are working around the clock trying to make things happen so that

things can be convenient. Everybody's a little bit out of their comfort level right now, and I think that sometimes when you're uncomfortable, things can be harder. But for us, the way we're looking at it is let's come up with solutions. And so the other part of this too, guys, is that every other team in our world, in the NFL is dealing with these exact same situations. So there's really no excuses. I mean, it's it's time to roll. It's time to make sure that we continue moving forward.

And so far, in the last several days and really the last probably ten days, it's been it's been really great communicating. It's been different, but at the same time, it's been effective and productive. I'm glad you brought that up. Coach. Good to talk to again. I talked to Dan Quinn, head coach of the Falcons, actually just yesterday, Pat and I did, and he said the same thing. He goes, if anything, this has helped us out as an organization

to communicate better. He and Thomas Dimitrof have had some great discussions that have maybe spurred into other discussions that maybe of things that they need to think about or address and things like that. So, if anything, communication has been at a premium and it's been better within an

organization is what they found. Yeah, without a doubt to him, and you're right, you know, we did you know, for us, I think in our role, I know for mine as a head coach, when you're at house hall and and every other coach is there and within fifty feet of your desk, that door gets knocked down a lot throughout the day. And what it does is it becomes really choppy.

Right now, I get up in the morning, get a workout in, get a you know, a cup of coffee, I come into my home office and then we fired away. I haven't left my home office here since eight o'clock this morning. And but it's good. It's productive. And instead of all of us being together shoulder by shoulder and probably wasted more time than we should, we're getting a

lot more stuff done. A matter of fact, we're we're crunching some things that we've done before in in you know, eight to ten days down into two to three days because of how effective we're being. So it's certainly new for us, but everyone's had a great attitude, and like you just said, with Dan Quinn and the Falcons, I mean that everyone else is doing the same thing. Bears head coach Matt Naggie kind enough to join us on Bears All Access here on Chicago Sports Radio. Six seventy

to score. Jeff, Tim and Jim. You know the one thing about coaches And I ran into John Gruden a couple of years ago at the NFL owners meetings, the spring meetings, and you know, he talked about how there's not you know, he was getting back into it. So Matt, there wasn't enough practices to really evaluate players the way he'd like or as coaches, time is precious. And now when you guys do get back, you don't know about the offseason yet, it's already a different experience. Coaches like

to have their hands on players. And now with the new CBA, your practices are cut in half to sixteen padded practices. You got weekends, three day weekends baked into the whole offseason program. How do you process all that as a guy who wants to take what you get done on the practice field and take it the game day, but you may not have as much to deal with Yeah,

for sure, Jeff. I think for us is you know, once you once we know here as things go the direction of what you're allowed to do and not allow you know what you're allowed to do and then what you're you're not allowed to do? It all. It allows you as a coach to prepare in different ways, and so we all want to have as many practices as

we can and as many meetings as we can. But in my last two years, for example, I've come to realize as well that sometimes when you have all that time, sometimes you can do too much, you know, And I think we're all living by the whole Less is more principal right now. It's that's just the way that it's going to go, whether it's through virtual meetings with the players or or it's less practice reps or less practice time. The ones that you do get when that time comes,

they better be efficient. And that's our job, the prep, the prep side of it as coaches, to make sure that we're firing on all cylinders to make that happen so that the players can come in here. And again, on their side, they have to make sure that they're staying in shape and they're adapting to different weight rooms and going out to these different fields and trying to run and run these steps and staying conditioning so so that when they come in there they're in tip top shape.

And so it's all of us communic It goes back to communication, making sure we're talking to our guys h not the xes and those part, but just making sure they're safe because number one, autumnly, that's what matters the most. And then are they being are they preparing themselves so that when the time does come, are we hit the ground running? Hey, Matt, I want to break the ice

and talk cornerback a little bit. In our lives as we watch sports, all of us in our time, whether it's boxing or Wimbledon, when it gets down to the finals, we all gravitate towards somebody. And so right now, I'm a Mitch guy and I always have been. But I also come from an era when quarterbacks got two or three years to develop into the system to get the best understanding. So now this is the third year in this system with Mitch, I expect his biggest jump with

the most honest plate. Is that the way you're approaching this with Mitch in this third year around this system. Absolutely, And I think he would tell you the same thing. And again I go back to a few days ago when we did our press conference, Ryan and I were together and just talking through the scenario that we're in

right now. To us, we look at this as what we're trying to do is trying to make this the best situation possible for Mitch and then also for Nick, and it's going to be a good situation for us. And when we talked with Mitch, just you know, the excitement and determination of fire he had at knowing that this is going to be an open competition. That's who he is. And so him being in this offense the last two years and really kind of knowing where the

bones are buried in certain plays. And then at the same time, he knows that there's certain areas that he can get better at. He knows that, and I think that's what I love about him, is that he stays positive with that, he's hungry to get better. But then on our side too, we need to make sure that we as coaches are putting these guys, not just the quarterback, with everybody in the best position possible so that we

can be successful. You know, Tom, We've we've spent this whole offseason now looking at scheme evaluation and just taking a look at the why part behind our offense and why it was so sluggish. It's not just one reason, there's several reasons. The beauty is for us is that we think we know what some of those answers are. And some of it is is players, some of it

is scheme, some of it is execution. And but what's good for us is that we know that we can get a lot better, and all of us as competitors can't wait to get back out there so that we can do that and show everybody, you know, what our plan is. And it starts with Mitch and I think he's excited for that opportunity, and as is I know Nick is as well. Yeah, I want to take it to the mental makeup of Mitch. And I've said this

about Alex Smith too. I think he got a little beat up out there in San Francisco, but man, that guy became mental teflon when he arrived in Kansas City. And you know, Mitch has had extreme highs and sure he's had some lows as well. All young quarterbacks go through it. Shoot, I lived it there in Chicago. I know the vitriol that can be, that can be spewed. But just just for Mitch to have that mental teflon, like I said, where you just put the blinders on

and it doesn't matter. Let's just get better. Be a

better quarterback tomorrow than you are today. And and maybe just that mental side of Mitch and if he is, if he has that test line in him where things just bounce off you for sure, and that that's a that's a trait to me, Jim, that as you know, playing quarterback all your life, that that you have to have, and it's it's every you know, the more players you have on your team that are mentally strong, the more coaches that you have that are mentally tough, UM, the

better you're going to be. Because you know, there's a lot of adversity that strikes there's a lot of bad that happens, and that's how you react to it. And so at the quarterback position, UM, you touch the football every single play, and so there's times to be praised and there's times to be criticized. And so when things don't go well, whether it's you individually or whether it's

your team, UM. And especially in a in a city like we have here in Chicago, where everybody's so hungry to win and win a Super Bowl, UM, there comes more pressure and so you need to be mentally strong. And I think that we're all learning in that aspect and I know, I know Mitch is really focused on trying to do everything he can to control the things that he could control, and if he does, that will be more than fine. And it's the same thing with Nick.

And so what we said earlier is throughout this this open quarterback competition, it's gonna be just that. Guys. You're gonna see how open and transparent we are in this thing. There's no agendas. We're gonna go out there and these guys that we're going to give them every opportunity, equal opportunity to go out there and win the job. And we're going to be very honest and open with him. And I think that's the only way that you do it. And with that, it'll be healthy and it should make

the Chicago Bears better. A few more minutes here with Matt Nagie, Bears head coach, on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score. Just want to amp flag one more thought about that in the competitive nature of Mitch. There was a point in December during a two game stretch after he threw a pick. He was thirty to thirty eight for three hundred eighty yards, five touchdowns or rushing touchdown and average ten yards of completion. I know it because I just looked it up in my notes today

and it came upon me. Is that the kind of resiliency you know in this man? Sure? Yeah? And again the nice part of the off seasons when you are able to go through your scheme evaluation as a staff and go through the wyse and at the same time you realize, Okay, here's some certain areas where we can get better, but here's some areas right here where we

did pretty we did a pretty good job. And when we're talking here about Mitch and some games that he played really well, I just I continue to go back to that Detroit Lions game on Thanksgiving and we're, you know,

in a lot of different ways. He made some big time throws in that game, and there were some mental toughness in there where there were some third downs where we need him to make that play and he makes a deep corner throw to Anthony Miller on third and long and he throws a great ball down the sideline

inside the inside. The five comes back the next week and we're playing at home on a Thursday night against the against the Cowboys, and he puts together a really, really good game in regards to just take him control. And you know what, when you go back to that first game against the first drive against the Cowboys, do you guys remember we were going down the field a getting some first downs and then we happened to throw

an interception. Kid made a good play and that was a time where I can specifically remember Mitch coming off the sideline and it was just one of those dusted off my shoulder type deal, I'm gonna come back here and gash them, and that's exactly what he ended up doing. And it was beautiful. You know, it was really neat. You could feel, you could feel the energy with the crowd. You can feel the energy with our team, and so

those are the happy memories that we have. Those are what we know he can do, and I know he's really excited to go out there and give it everything he has and compete with Nick hey Man. Last question for me is about the quickness that you kind of absorbed on defense. I think Robert Quinn gives you a lot a lot of versatility, maybe on the opposite side of Khalil Mack. When you look at the interior speed of Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith in the experience and

the growth and the development of Eddie Jackson. I think this defense has a chance when you look at the improvements of Eddie Goldman, Roy Robins stuff that this this defense has a chance to be faster I think than last year. Yeah, I would agree with you, Tom. I

think that, Um. I just know this when when you when you get phone calls and text messages from your peers around the league and they, uh, they talk to you about some of the moves that you made, and in particular, uh, you just know that when you have Robert Quinn and Khalil Mack on one side, and you got the rest of our guys on the inside there with Hicks and Goldman and where Robertson, Harris and Balow and the list goes on and on, and then you throw you know, Danny and Roquan and then our back

end guys. Before you know, we become a really fast defense. And those guys last year learning Chuck system, um and along with some injuries that we had, I thought they did a really good job last year, and I know that they're going to be really hungry to get back at it, to show what they can do and their goal, you know, there. They set their goals high. We set our goals high. It's not to be the top ten defense,

is to be the number one defense. And I know our coaches are really hungry right now, our defensive coaches, to get them back on track. And and I know our players are two So it's gonna you know, it's it's about focus. It's not about anything but that. We gotta stay focused and just control we can control. And uh. And that's just staying nice and relaxed throughout this process and being there for one another. All right, Matt, we're gonna let you go. So grateful for your time. I

know you're swamped, so appreciate it very much. Good luck with the preparations here over the next couple of weeks for the draft, and good luck with everything. Stay healthy, hope your family's great. Hey, guys, I appreciate it. You gotta take care, stay healthy. And one last thing too real quick. I just want to thank our our organization for donating you know, you know, one point nine two million dollars towards the COVID nineteen. I think it's amazing.

It's just peace volumes to who our organization is, Yes, and everybody involved yourself included with the contributions, so everybody's for it. Thank you so much. Thank you to the Bears. Bears head coach Matt Naggie. We're gonna step away continue the conversation with Tom Fair Jim Miller. We'll look at the NFL Draft and break down some of the positions of interest as we get ready two weeks from tonight the draft first round underway. Here is Chicago Sports Radio

six seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access. This portion of the show brought to you by CDW. People who get it learned more at CDW dot com. Jeff Joni Actomp there and Jim Miller with you. Half hour to go before we turn it over to Cubs Baseball. The two sixteen NLCS Game five replay and that has been a fun experience for fans and Tom you mentioned it. We're gonna have another one here on the Score the Bears on Sunday, the NFC Divisional playoff game against the

Seattle Seahawks for everyone to enjoy. And that'll be one of six more to go here over the next six Sundays. Are fun, you know, I just like I said, it's just kind of a mental escape from the seriousness of our day to day, A pro over the last you know, a month and a half whatever, and no telling how long how long it's gonna go. But you know, um again, work of doing some working around my mom and dad's house.

I got a transistor radio on outside it and it is like, you know, back in the old day, when that was your only muns only means of being able to listen to a game, and it's it's it's nostalgic and it's really fun. I'll tell you what I do need a distraction, Jeff. I've accomplished every single chore I've needed to do around this house for literally the past ten years, all right. So every storage room is big clean, the garage is big clean. So yeah, I think everybody's

looking for a little distraction, a little diversion. A lot of the programming now they are putting onto some older games, some classic games, and love that, and I love the fact that the draft is going to continue. It's going to continue in a different way, like you said, in a virtual reality. But I'm looking forward to it. You know, we try to stir up some two thousand and one games of the Great Jim Miller experience, but I guess it was turned down. They wanted modern day football. That's

what I answered. I was told. Anyway, I try to get you one. I try to get a few on Jim. All right, thanks, Jeff. I have a quarterback question for Jim if I may, sure, Okay, But because we just got ton talking about Matt and Aggie, about the competition between Mitch and Nick and stuff, and how training camp

is going to go. But I'm drawn back to a statement that Nick Folds made during his press conference when he said that, you know, by the time we start running, I'd like to know this system as well or better than the head coaches are better than the coaches? Is that realistic? Jim? Do quarterbacks? Did you ever get in a system that you had the luxury of being around it long enough that you felt that you knew it as well as anybody or even the coaches in the room. Oh?

Oh yeah. I think you can get get to that point. You know that, but you know, you got to work at it. I mean, for Nick Foles, I think he comes with already a lot of knowledge in this offense, already from his days and in Kansas City and obviously just being with John D. Filippo. I mean, so he's gonna come with a great, vast knowledge about this system where it's going to be beneficial to him. I really believe that. And you know, and I think Nick he's

going to compete with with Mitch. I think they'll that quarterback room will will be just fine. They're gonna get along because really, at the end of the day, you're competing against yourself to get better. Just like I said, you want to be a common Jim. Is that a

common way of thinking? Though? Um again, I again, I'm asking quarterback specific because when you go into a group with offensive lineman, you're kind of hoping that every guy in the in the room is on the same page at the exact same time in the course of a game. Does every quarterback go out there that has any you know, era behind them have that same I think it is different. Like for a quarter every player on offense should want to know the assignments of their fellow teammate, you know.

But a lot of times, especially for young players, you know, let's say I call place, if I go uh, let's just say I go zero on um Z close seven seventy two Z drive. A lot of that is seven seventy two. So the offensive lineman here seven seventy two, they know it's a seventh step drop. They know it's seventy two protection. A lot of them don't. They don't care about the formation or anything like that because it doesn't involve their assignment. You know, the receiver is gonna

hear a like I said, zero on Z close. That's telling the Z zero on is a formation. It's a twelve personnel where I've got a tight end on each side next to the right and left tackle X is in his true position, Z close. So the the the Z receiver here, hey zero Z close is way and then they hear they they don't care about the protection. Now when I say seven seventy two, Now the receivers and the other skill position players, they just hear, wa

wa seven seventy Are they here? Z drive? That's the principle. So you know they're focusing in on their ear and I'm letting everybody know, hey, this is what we're doing. So I've given the protection, I've given the formation. I've now given the play, and everybody's focused in on what their assignment is because I've given him that play, now how they read it versus the coverage. They got to

know all that and you know all that stuff. Or if a blitz comes and the offensive line they'll pick up the blitz because it's basically a slide protection that's sliding to the will I know, I'm hot off the mike and Sam if they come, I've got him my built in hot read. So the receivers don't even have

to worry about sight adjusting from that standpoint. But yeah, I mean, you know, the thing is when you play with great players, say like Olon Cruz, Olan Cruze, he could you know, he would listen to the whole play and he knew everybody's assignment because he's just a highly intelligent football player and he's reading the safeties, he's reading

the coverage, and you know, he's pretty amazing. When you've got a fellow teammate like that that really takes pride in knowing the entirety of the play and everybody's assignment, and you know, it definitely helps out and it lessens your job and it makes your job easier as a

quarterback who's trying to disseminate all that information. Jim Miller timp there, Jeff jonningatkar On Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score With all that you just talked about right there, the average fan was thinking, Okay, what exactly is he talking about? But what your point is, do you value what a guy's intelligence level is football wise as a much higher evaluation point than say, a

guy can run under a four to four. I mean, is this a league that now is requiring a little bit more football intelligence than maybe in the past, you know, Jeff on the one phrase that Matt mentioned a couple times during the course of his interview talking about the quarterback position is me being mentally tough? Is that you know?

That's kind of the definition of it is making sure no matter what circumstance you face, no matter what position you play, if you break the huddle and then there's a change that you only have an eighth of a second to react to, are you mentally tough enough to go through those circumstances and be right on Q every time there's a there's a change with no notification. All right, more with Jim and Tom coming up next after this break on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score Welcome

back to Bears All Access. It's brought to you by Igs Entergy, Jeff, Tom and Jim breaking things down. There's a trade just moments ago. I don't know if you guys saw it, but the Rams dealing wide receiver Brandon Cooks and a fourth rounder to the Houston Texans for a second round pick. So Rams paid a lot of money for two years for Cooks, some forty million plus. And that's the newest chess piece moving around in the NFL this evening. Fella's break that one down, Jim, Well,

they just paid. Well, it's a good deal for the Hton Texans. Obviously, they traded away DeAndre Hopkins because they didn't want to pay him. He wants a new contract, obviously wants the eighteen twenty million dollars range, and Houston wasn't going to pay that. Let's say, work that trade with Arizona. But when you look at Cooks, it's a good deal. One. He's spent time in the New England Patriots offense before, right, he was with New England, so

he knows that playbook that Bill O'Brien is doing. Plus the Rams already paid Brandon Cooks eight million dollars bonus that he was due in March, so they're basically Houston now is just getting the flat salary the paragraph five that they're gonna have to pay this year. So that's beneficial to them. A player that's going to be coveted, obviously, the learning curve is going to be very quick in terms of the offense. And they got a player that can really take the top off of defense and he's

got speed. So for Houston, everybody thinks Bill O'Brien is doing all these crazy things. This one kind of makes a lot of sense from my book. You know, if I was a receiver like Cooks, I would rather go to a quarterback with the versatility that they have in Houston rather than kind of a statuesque, a lack of mobility quarterback. And I know Jared Goff as a young guy,

but I Deshaun Watson. What he gives a receiver sometimes is that breaking away from protection or from a breakdown of protection, and that's when you become you know, you can become a big play receiver because of that quarterback versatility. Well, he said quite quite the quarterback career Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Jared goffo guy, poor guy? Hey, what to a Tega Alabama quarterback did have a workout throwing the ball that's

gonna be sent out to all thirty two teams today. Obviously, it's been a week of interesting you know, two weeks away from the draft, you start hearing, uh, you know, different things that may or may not be accurate that are thrown out there about a player, whether it be his background, injury or whatnot. In this case, the hip is certainly a big topic of conversation and addition to other injuries. Um, what do you guys make of this? And is this just Asian doing his job? Yeah? I

think Lee Steinberg's just doing his job. Again, he's the one of the medical rechecks that that teams are getting on and they'll have all the information. One, he's not going to be a one hundred percent every everybody knows that. Even though he's working out. He says he's one hundred percent ready, But that's that's just running around in shorts, right, Is he ready to take a hit really on that

on that hip? No, he's not one hundred percent U completely, you know, according to Michael Lombardi, obviously he's been at this a long time. He said, one team is medically taken to a tongue of viola off the board. For all we know that that just could be, you know, stuff that's that's thrown out there. It could be a team that likes him that maybe leaked that information from all the reports that are out there. He's gonna heal

and he's gonna be ready to play, all right. The probably the last bit that teams are looking for, Like in this virtual workout, they want to see the rotation of the hip. That's what they're looking for. They know he's not going to be a one hundred percent when they draft him. All indications are that this hip, the likelihood of it popping out of socket again is slim to none. The fracture in the hip has healed up two So you know you're still going to draft a player,

but he's not going to be one hundred percent. He's probably going to be a guy that is shelved. Earley just to be careful with him medically, to make sure he's completely healed, where you don't put him on the field or stress out that hip too early before he's ready. I still, you know, I think everybody's got him going in the top five. I think that's where he's probably gonna go. He's if you watch him play, I mean, who is it? Bill Polian the other day he compared

him to Russell Wilson. To Russell Wilson is who he thinks to a tug of viola. This his mechanics throwing a football are flawless. Are flaws. So if you can get over the medical and you feel you've done your due diligence in the medical competitive advantage, you could be getting a great quarterback here in the future. You know, I'm just a little nervous because of the supporting cast

he played within college. When you look at what Alabama offers the time of possession, that your offense can control the football because your defense is so dominating. Some of the teams that you play in the front end of the season are so you know, under talented that you don't you know, you're not even playing in the second half, you know. I remember when Drew Brees became a free agent with a bad shoulder in Miami immediately gave up on him. And if they would have made the decision

to sign Drew Brees, it would have changed their franchise. Forever, but you had a little bit more of a study of what Drew Brees was capable of doing on the NFL level. Here, you're trying to take the quarterback off of the greatest team in college football. And I know with Clemson and the rest of the team, I'm just over exaggerating. But again, I don't know if this guy is gonna be ready in a year to come into one of the worst teams in the league and be

the quarterback and the reason they turn it around. So I've been afraid of to, you know, just because of his injury history, and I just don't know if he's capable up to playing at the at the athleticism he's gonna face from the defensive player he's gonna see without a red jersey on and practice in. What I mean by that is playing against the best defense in college

and they never had a chance to hit him. It's going to be different when the great teams in the NFL are going to have a chance to hit him. Jeff Johnny Actim there, Jim Whitler with you on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. This is Bears All Access. We all know it's difficult and challenging to evaluate quarterbacks in their long term ceilings and where they're headed in the first round. In your opinions, both of you guys wig in, what's the second most difficult position to evaluate

and project? Do you want to go first time? To me, I think the hardest position to find great players at his cornerback because of the athleticism, what their requirements are, their reaction without indication, their ability to be physical but

yet to have feet like a ballerina. And you know, probably because it's probably the farthest position away from what they evaluate you as as an offensive lineman to what you see these guys go through in your combines and just over the years of watching football, to me, corner seems the most difficult position, and nickel slot corner is really difficult. You know, you see a lot of guys that play on the outs, say Chris Harris, Denver always played him on the outside, But who did they kick

into the nickel corner? It was Chris Harris, So that is you know, it's a coveted position because it's become such a substitution situational game now when you look at the NFL, because most teams base offenses are three wide receivers, so you need three corners and somebody has to play slot, and you need a good one. I'm gonna go with offensive tackle. I mean, I know there's some that are stamped rubber stamp ten years starters at left tackle, but

it's to me that's a difficult one. We can pick up the conversation with an offensive lineman who knows better than I do. Tom There, Jim Miller. This is Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the score final segment here on Bears All Access Jeff Joniac along with Tom There and Jim Miller. A shout out again to the Bears. One point nine two million dollars being donated to local COVID nineteen relief efforts, a statement today by President Ted Phillips.

So that's a big number right there, and fellows of the NFL going to also do the same thing on draft night. It's basically a draft of thought. A little bit in addition to the players, six national nonprofits American Red Cross, CDC Foundation, Meals on Wheels, Salvation Army, United Way are going to benefit with that and so strong push, but maybe nothing more in terms of visual that really impacts this whole process. Did you guys see the picture

from United Center today? United Center right now has seven hundred seventy four thousand, eight hundred and forty pounds of non perishable food right on the floor or the where the ice would be. We're talking a major depository here as they free up space and the food depository warehouse. So this is the kind of stuff that's going on

in the community. Boys, it's beautiful, it really is. It's it's incredible some of them, the opportunities you get to see the goodness in people's hearts and how these you know, major CEOs of major corporations want to change the whole configuration of their working system so they can make something to help the first responders or the medical field. It's um.

You know, it seems like every day you kind of wake up looking at your phone or looking at the news to see what the next the next announcements are gonna be, and you always just wait for that one positive one, and you know, it's it is really nice in terms of what we've been able to see the people doing. Yeah, it's really it's it's great to see everybody.

It's not just the NFL community. As you mentioned, it's it's everybody overall that have really stepped up their efforts to help out their fellow man, their fellow woman, And it's just the unselfishness of it um to do it for the good of everybody, and it is very refreshing to see. Jeff and I think everybody has really put this in perspective and doing everything that they can to

help out one another. All right, before we went to break time, we're talking about you know, what's the most second most difficult position to kind of evaluate for the draft? There have been plenty what's that? What's first quarterback? Yeah, I would say Joe, but you know, there have been plenty of left tackles or tackles period that just you know, they were a top ten pick and they didn't they didn't cut it. And you could say that about any position.

But what do you think about that? And what do you because this is a draft that there's gonna be a bunch of tackles drafted early, and Hector Bears could invest in one at some point, not that high. Obviously they're on a first round pick, but it's very possible they could do that, or a guard or something like that. What do you need to see in this draft in terms of how it fits the Bears at that position tackle or a guard, if you're going to bring in

somebody of that nature. You know, I think Wan Castillo has a very specific coaching style, and I think they did a good job of getting him in the building quickly so he could start evaluating the talent that's valuable to him. Not only his own talent. He has to study the game tapes from last year and look at the pros and cons of all the talent he's gonna have already there. But kind of looking okay, first of all, what is the weakness of the player you're looking at

and compared to his strengths? And if he does have a weakness, can you coach him out of that? Does he have such a habit or a trait that's so bad that it's it's difficult to overcome? You know, Jeff, there's a lot of guys that you see throughout the course and time that just the trends position of getting into a playing position, whether it's coming out of a

three point stance or a two point stance. And defensive lineman and a line defensive players are so intelligent if you have that one hiccup that maybe you're giving an indicator an eighth of a second before the play starts. That can do anything to derail your career. And there's been a players throughout time that have maybe gave an indicator away and it's only talked about on your own team.

So it's you know, Juan Castillo evaluating the talent to make sure that if they do have a perceived weakness that he can coach him out of it. A good good tackles in this draft, and as time will tell you one, they're all good athlete To say, McKay Beckton out of Louisville, that's a big man who can move. You know that. Granted he's three hundred and sixty four pounds, but he moves really well. Jedrick Wills from Alabama, same thing, and he is a nasty, nasty player. Tristan Worfs is

a great athlete. The guy he was a freak at at the combine with what he benched, what he ran, He's he always an all state discus thrower, shot putter, of state wrestling chip. Yeah, these guys are really good athletes and that's what and Tom will tell you if you're playing tackle. You want quiet feet and loud hands, and these guys all have it because they can move as big men. They've gotten some and some nasty obviously. All right, we're gonna wrap it up. Boys, talk to

you next week. Jim Milner, thank you so much. Tom. We'll talk to you later. Thanks for listening, everybody. Thanks to head coach Matt Nage for joining the program and to Sean Anderson for producing it. Come's Baseball next seventy to score. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot com and on iTunes, or download the official

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