Whitehair previews Packers | All Access

Green and Yellow come into calling. Yeah, I was thinking about that. You know, it's kind of weird because we should be in a great mood after the performance in Las Vegas. However, you start thinking about what's in front of you, and that's a unique thing about football, and not only is it the Green Bay Packers, but the

importance of a division game. And you like the Bears to keep on rolling, keep on the keep the momentum that they've they've been able to build over the last couple weeks and carry it right through into Green Bay. Coming up next, we'll be hearing from Cody Whitehair, the Bears veteran left guard, and we'll also be joined by veteran Packers beat rider over the years, Bob McGinn, a

Pro Football Hall of Famer. As we get you set for the kickoff, the angry way in which the Bears played certainly something you enjoyed watching on tape all over again. The offensive line, the blocking again by the tight ends, the running game, getting north and south and giving punishing blows over the course of the game. And it's what they needed to win in the games against the Lions and the Packers. Excuse me, Lions and the Raiders. Can they do that now against the Packers? The same type

of game plan you know they have to, Jeff. But Jeff, think about your history over the NFL. When you think about the best teams throughout your broadcasting career, they all had that offensive defensive line identity, whether it was the Baltimore Ravens, whoever you want to hand pick over the years. And so the Bears in the last couple of weeks have put on display that their front seven defensively in their offensive line has taken a different physical approach to

their success. And if they can keep that up and continue to develop and even improve on that reputation. You don't know what the limits are for this team, so it's it's about, you know, having the two offensive defensive line played the most important role in the game this week. I think we both agree that Elijah Wilkinson, who expects to get the start at right tackle for Jermaine Effetti who goes down the short term ir list with a knee issue, played a very physical game. He was very

physical up front, and that's exactly what you needed. He said. It's not easy for him going back and forth. He likes being settled in it right tackle. You know, that's one thing about you know, we didn't know what to expect that of Elijah Wilkinson when he came in the game, But when he came in the game, he kept on that brand of a physical style of play. He played

to the whistle. There was no drop off, and I think that was really encouraging to Bill Laser, the play caller, knowing that he could still stick with what was successful for them, and that was running the ball well. Tom news of the day involving the Bears not good news for Damian Williams and the running game. Williams has been placed on the COVID nineteen reserve list, so he will not be able to play on Sunday. So that puts the onus on Khalil Herbert, the rookie who impressed with

an eighteen carry performance against the Vegas Raiders. I think he's built for this. I think he's gonna be just fine. Oh yeah, so, I you know, I think they're fortunate to have Ryan all waiting in the wings, and they signed our Tavis Paris and recently they're both familiar with the complete playbook. They were here the entire training camp. So yeah, a majority of the responsibility is going to fall onto the shoulders of Khalil Herbert first, second, and

third down. But you know, Ryan has been in there as a fullback in the last couple of weeks and he has a really good understanding of this system. So I don't put any less expectations on the running game. It's just a matter that who's gonna be in that position to carry the load and the interesting aspect of it. Herbert is yet to catch a pass in the regular season, just thirty four in his systems in Kansas and Virginia Tech,

but he showed in preseason that he can catch the football. Yeah, I mean, I have no doubt that Khalil Herbert is not capable of doing anything that's asked of them. The only advantage you really gives you is there's so little scouting information on Khalil and Ryan All for that matter, or our Tavis purist that the coaches from Green Bay are going to be scrambling a little bit also on

how to best take advantage of the newness in the back. Now, given that's got a rookie quarterback and now you got a rookie sixth round back that got his feet wet last week with a big, big load and finish the job. He was the closer for the game. Do you feel that they'll stress? Try to stress them a little bit with blitzes and blitz pick up responsibilities. Put them in conflict, you know, if they do Jeff and the quarterback with his legs beats one of those blitzes, then all of

a sudden, now you're apprehensive about blitzing. And if you're a running back and you have a good, experienced offensive line in front of you, and you take advantage of one of those out of position blitzers and turn it

in a big run then you change their mind. So me, the most important position coming out of the locker room is going to be the off It's a defensive line in which we talked about earlier, and I think the complete assistance of the tight end position is a good game plan to go into in a running back situation that you're going to have. The other thing I like

about Herbert is he runs north and south. Hey, you know what, that's the best compliment of any back you can talk about in the NFL, as a guy that has the willingness to run north and south. If you want to get the most positive the yards, commit to your point of attack and follow along according to plan. Allow the play to deliver you what ultimately it's going to get. Justin fields is the quarterback facing Aaron Rodgers

for the first time. People are trying to ask him this week, Hey wow, it's Aaron Rodgers and on the other side of the field, and he he'll be asked again next week it's Tom Brady. But right now, even as a young player, he answered the question exactly the way he needed to answer it to be honest, Like, I don't look at it as a matchup between me and Aaron or you know, I didn't look at it.

Matchup back then is between me and Trevor. I'm simply doing whatever I need to do to how my team win, and that's hand the ball off eighty times during a game or if that's you know, throw for however so many yards. I mean, that's what I'm gonna do. So I'm not worried about comparisons between touchdown stats. I'm just worried about winning. Yeah, you know, you listen, you're never gonna play against him. All it is is about justin fields.

The fans should be focused on his improvement weekend and week out, and that's how the Bears are going to develop in the strongest team possible. Yeah, listen, you're never going to deny the greatness of Aaron Rodgers has been

putting on display since he's taken over there. So I think it's a little bit unfair when you ask a question of a rookie quarterback playing against the Green Bay Packers for the first time about Aaron Rodgers, because the biggest, the bigger pitcher is winning a division game, all right. Coming up next, one of the guys it'll be blocking for Kalil Herbert and the rest of the Bears backfield is Cody white Here, the left guard joins us next, so ill coming up here on Bears All Access on

Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Welcome back to Bears All Access, brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose clean energy for your home at igs dot com because every good choice adds up to a better world. With Tom Thair Jeff Jonahak back on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to Score, please to be joined by Bears veteran left guard Cody white Hair. Good to see a Cody. How are things going for you right now? Things are great, man.

We're you know, getting this thing turned back around and uh, you know, we're having a lot of fun doing it. So a big week this week with the Packers, and uh, you know we're gonna be be ready to roll for that. You know. I love what you had to say earlier in the week about after the Cleveland game. Everybody had a basically it was a look in the mirror moment for everybody and what came out of that is significant,

isn't it. Yeah? Absolutely, you know, I mean, we know we're better than what we put on tape against against Cleveland. And you know, credit to this team to get this thing turned around and going in the right direction. So you know, we're gonna keep it going forward. Hey, you know, Cody, So I remember once we were playing a game and I remember reading the scoreboard in Minnesota and said, far in the season, the Bears have given up seven sacks. Tonight they've given up nine. So I've been in the

same position that you were as an offensive lineman. And it was more of us just going back to our offensive line room kind of talking about and recommitting to each other. What was the kind of the message just set amongst you guys, not the team. Yeah, you know, obviously you don't want to put yourself in those situations and have sacks and get your quarterback hit and all

that kind of stuff. Um, you know, and we take a lot of pride in protecting our quarterback and um, you know, making sure he has enough time to get the ball down the field or wherever wherever he's going to go with the ball. So you know, it was basically like, um, you know, we came in and we were like this ain't good enough, this isn't who we want to be, and um, you know, came out to practice with the different, different mentality to get the thing

turned around. And that's that's kind of been the turning point of where we've where we've where we're at, and where we've been, you know, without a lot of time to develop. The relationship amongst offensive lineman is unique. How is the relationship developing between you and Jason P with your experience and all of his experience. Yeah, it's going well. Obviously each week we're gonna get a little bit better, you know, passing off games, being in the right situation

at the right time. But you know, I like where we're at now and it's only going to get better moving forward. So I'm excited about that. You know, it's three times as many years in the game then you with Jason Peters. It's hard to imagine. Can you, Okay, what you've endured already in your time has been a lot. It's a roller coaster, right, success, failure, changing positions, whatnot. But as you think about going to work every day, do you just look at him and say, Wow, can

I do this for eighteen years? I mean it's a fair question, right, Yeah, it's impressive, you know, the the energy he brings to the room, even being, you know, an eighteen year veteran. It's just it's amazing. It really is the energy, the vibe he brings to our room every morning, you know, and it carries over to practice. I mean, the things he sees, the things he sees

on film, you know, all that kind of stuff. I'm picking his brain and trying to get as much information as I can, you know, and this, uh and Thom has taught me this many times. You never learn everything as an offensive lineman because of the guy next to you or the guy in front of you that you're trying to block. So are you even amazed at what you've digested from a guy like Jason Peters here just in this short time. And what specifically is he taught

you that you really didn't know? Yeah? Absolutely, I mean I'm always picking his brain. Um, you know, there's little things that he sees on tape that are just you know, especially in the back end, seeing safeties and stuff, you know. So I've been able to pick his brain on his tactics on how to watch tape and and figuring out the little things that he sees, especially on the back end, not just in the in the box of the seven, but you know, with safety rotations and all this kind

of stuff. It's pretty impressive. Hey, Cody, let's go to the opposite end of the spectrum that Jason Peters. Let's look at your quarterback. What type of energy does he bring into the huddle and how is that energy chaining week to week? You know, for a young guy, he's he's very you know, he's a good leader for being

such a young guy. Um. You know, he comes in the huddle each and every week, um, you know, very poised, um, which is pretty cool to see because as a young guy, you know, there's a lot of emotion in the game. There's a lot of things that can happen, and he just keeps his poise, whether a good play a bad play, he's always you know, he's got that next play mentality already in place. And that's that's pretty cool to have as a young guy, because you know, I can remember

when I was playing as a young guy. You know, if if a bad play happens, you tend to let it wear on your heart a little bit and you're like, dang, man, I wish I could have that play back, but uh, you know, in this league, you know you have to move to the next play because he can't let one play effect two, three, four plays. Um. You know, so I think that's really really cool to see as as a young guy, to see him be able to move

on from play to play. You know, it was amazing to me, Cody, from this past Sunday in Las Vegas. Is before the first half ended, you guys had already earned the Vegas crowd out of it, and you and operated the Chicago Bears fans. Could you hear it and could you feel it? Because it seemed to me the last couple of snaps before the end of the first half, even though you're in shotgun, you were still able to use a vocal cadence. Yeah. Absolutely. You know, our fans

are great. They traveled really well and you know, going clear across the country. To be able to have basically a home field advantage that whole second half was pretty special, you know, so credit to our fans. And then of course, you know later in the fourth quarter here and you know, go Bears and stuff like that. It's just unbelievable on the rug, Cody, I don't know if you saw it, and I don't know if you're on Twitter at all, but people have sent videos and in the corridors of

Allegian Stadium it was they were singing the Bears fights on. Now. I don't think that would have happened in the old black Hole in Oakland, because somebody's getting beat up, if somebody's throwing punches. But they literally and in time even agrees that any team that goes in there, it's not like a vacation spot. I mean, people are going to Vegas. They're gonna go their team. But um, that's rare, that's unique, right, Yeah, absolutely,

And like I say, our fans are great. You know, they always travel well, it always you know, they always they always come with great passion. Um, you know, and you can and and and we can feel that on the field, you know, when when they're chanting go Bears or defense when our defense is out there and stuff like that. It's just it's unbelievable, unbelievable to see. And especially on the road for sure. Well you can also feel it when they turn turn ugly. Sometimes it sold

your field, right, They're they're equal opportunity that way. Cody white Hair are our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The score. Uh. Cody from the time you stepped in, you've been a starter. In twenty sixteen, a second round pick, the Bears moved back twice to get you. They clearly targeted you. And you're in huddle demeanor as it changed. Have you have you spoken up more maybe than you did as a rookie. I mean that's assumed

in many regards, but you've always been a leader. So what could take us through that transition of the huddle? Because we're not in it and that's a cool place to be if you've never been in it. Yeah, you know, when I first came in, I had, you know, some pretty veteran offensive linement around me. Um. You know, and now it's transition six years later, and I'm kind of, you know, one of the older guys, especially before we

got Jason Um. You know, so especially during that training camp, you know, you find yourself, you know, try trying to just talk a little bit more in the huddle, figure

things out. You know, we only have a very short time to figure out our mistakes and you know, communicate, you know, forty seconds isn't isn't much to communicate, you know, So I find myself you know, doing that a little bit more and talking to Sam, and you know, Sam's done a great job filling that center position, and you know his communication has been great and Mike points and all that stuff. You know, he's just done a great job.

But I do find myself has a little bit more veteran guy, you know, speaking up a little bit more in that huddle. Have you ever lost your temper in the huddle that you regret or just you know, or or have you ever said something really funny that cracked up the whole group? Um, I'm really not the funniest guy, you know. I'm more I'm more serious in business when when we're out there, and um, you know, you definitely do have some emotional time in that huddle where you

do kind of have to get on some guys. Um you know, so yes I have. I have had some frustrating moments in the huddle, but uh, you know, at the end of the day, it's all love. We're just trying to figure out our mistakes and move on. Have you ever noticeably danced in Club dub Yeah, that's funny.

We had a little we had a little dance. Um, you know, obviously it was a big win for us in Vegas, and um, you know, Club dub was pretty pretty lit on Sunday, you know, so there's actually a few videos that did some of the offensive linemen have of of me dancing in there. So it's pretty cool. Wow, now it's on tape. Now it's there forever. Absolutely, that's that's just haunting. Is the Super Bowl Shuffle? Absolutely? Cody.

So the mentality changed in the last couple of weeks because as much as you guys have run the ball, do you feel physically more exhausted after a heavy duty run effort or do you feel more physically exhausted when you got a you know, pass block, standing your feet maintain the protection for seconds? And where do you feel different? I mean, when you anytime you run the ball thirty times a game like we have the past couple of times, you know, plus thirty times, it's it's taxing on the

body for sure. And as I've gotten a little bit older, I guess the soreness is kind of lingered a little bit more throughout the week than than if I was younger. But I definitely do feel a little bit more sore when we run the ball because you know, coming off the ball like that and creating double teams and creating

movement for our running backs. You know, you you definitely are a little bit more sore, um, you know, but but the reward, you know, yeah, you know, you know, one hundred and forty yards on the board at the end of the game, or you know, whatever it was, it's it's pretty rewarding as an offensive line, as an offensive line to open up those holes for our guys and you know, help them, help them get in the end zone for sure. Dude. You know, defenses aren't built

for sixteen play drives. And when I was watching you guys go through that in that game, I was going not only was thinking about how good you guys looked in that whole process, but how fatigued the defense looked throughout that whole process. Yeah. Absolutely, And we talk about a run game and creating body blows on the defensive line, you know, and that's that's what the run game is.

You know. You may you may only have a you may have a play here and there where you get two or three yards, but hey, you know you're giving them a body blow, and they're going to remember that come coming the end of the fourth quarter, for sure. Cody White here one more segment to go with the Bears veteran guard after a break here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. This segment of Bears All

Access is brought to you by Athletico Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to request an appointment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow with Tom There, Jeff Jonik, and Cody White. Here the Bears veteran guard Cody When after the Cleveland game and you and you guys decide, Okay, we're going to be as an offense. We're gonna we're gonna go smash mouth here. We're gonna get everybody involved in the blocking, the blocking, the tight ends and the

receivers and the backs, everybody. It's been impressive. But did they literally go to you guys say we're gonna put this game on you. We're gonna put this offense on your shoulders, and you guys are gonna are gonna take the ball and round with it. Was that a literal explanation potentially of what went on here and or did you guys ask for it as an offensive line? No,

it was it was a little bit of both. Um. You know, obviously we um you know we hated the way we felt every time we came off of the field, you know, on third down or whatever it was. After the Cleveland game, we just hated it. There was such a bad taste in our mouth that you know, collectively, as an offense, we were like, we have to get this thing turned around. This this is not who we are.

So I would say, you know, collectively as an offense, we you know, kind of knew that wasn't who we wanted to be or what our identity was, um, you know, And it just took the guys coming in every day having that mentality that we're gonna get this thing turned around, um, you know, and it's it's gonna be you know, short lived, and we're gonna watch this tape on Tuesday and we're gonna move on, um you know. And that was kind

of our mentality. And you could really kind of tell how practice has changed the mentality throughout walking walking through the facility. Um, you know, just everybody's mentality just shifted after that game and um, you know, things things have gotten a lot better, that's for sure. We'll talk about the Green Bay game, man, because of the responsibility that's put on the shoulders of the offensive lineman for a sustained time of possession that result in scores. You have

multiple running backs that are taking place. You got the tight end position as doing as good as job as blocking as I've seen here in quite a long time. Do you guys feel that it's it's not the responsibility of how the defense plays against Aaron Rodgers Aaron Rodgers. It's how well you our offense can play against their defense in the time consumption aspect of it all. Absolutely, and anytime you're playing playing a guy like Aaron Rodgers, the more you can keep them off the field, the better,

you know. So we just have to be efficient, you know, on first and second down instead of third and long situations, and keep moving the sticks and scoring the red zone. You know, that's the biggest thing is we can't hurt ourselves once we get down to the red zone. We have to be efficient in that area and get six instead of three. Cordy Whitehair our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. This is Bears All

Access brought to you by IGS Energy. I went back the first real big story they did on you back in twenty sixteen. The headline was old school Cody Whitehair brings farm work ethic to Bears. It was in the Chicago Tribune, and that has proven to be true. You haven't changed your colors despite success contracts, and you're the same guy as you were when you got aren't you. Yeah? Absolutely. I take a lot of pride in that, you know.

I feel like, you know, the more you can be the same guy every day, the more respect you get, um, throughout the league, throughout you know, this facility, um, you know, and throughout the locker room. Um, you know. So that's what I try and pride myself. I just try and be the same guy, to be consistent, um, you know, and everything I do, and be the same guy every day. Would you say you're different though in terms of the weight room, because you love that place and you've added

a lot of armors since college. I mean I went back and soft still photo of you at Kansas State. Not to say you weren't a big guy then, but you're a much bigger guy now, you could tell. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you know. And then and the thing about it is, too, once you get in the season, obviously you're gonna lose some strength. Um, you know, we know that that's part, you know, of of your body getting broke down. But what I really try and focus on is I want to be the last guy on the field to lose

my strength. Um, you know, so I I take really, you know, a good amount of time in the weight room to try and keep my strength up throughout the season, because you know, as your body gets beat up, as you wear down, you're going to lose some of that strength. But I want to try and be the last one to lose as much as I can. You know, Cody our great friend, my great friend now for thirty something years,

Clyde Emeric. He always says to me, hey, can you ask Cody ask him if he's crossing the line, because I guess it's an expression that he's invented that you want to take your strength beyond. You know, you set a goal, but you want to go beyond that. So, you know, I know Clyde, you know, gone through some tough times, but he's still want hell of a guy. How do you take that expression about you crossing the line? Yeah,

you know, Clde's a great guy. He still comes around when he can when he can, you know, and it's always good to see him in here and every time you know, I hit I hit a better lift, or you know, I crossed that line. I guess if you will, I gotta let him know because he's you know, he's you know, even if he's not here, I give McCall and you can tell behind the phone he's definitely smiling. Yeah. I went to see him last week. That's the first thing he said, have do you get a chance to

run into Cody yet? And when you do, asking maybe he's crossing the line. It's an innocent expression, so don't anybody take it a wrong way. It's just way Clyde's way of encouraging everybody since he started, you know, the first strength coach in the NFL of encouragement in the weight room because you know, you're the same guy that you're achieved this veteran status that you have to encourage these young guys that you see of hey, work harder or work smarter, or whatever the case is, because the

weight room plays such an important role in your overall success. Yeah. Absolutely, And there's there's gonna be times after a game where you're a little bit more sore than others, obviously, but you know, being able to put that bar on your back and you know, work range of motion and you know, just work that lactic acid out of there and get ready for Wednesday so you can have a really good week.

It's it's, it's it's very important, um you know. So I try and stress that to my guys as a veteran guy, to make sure that we're still standing strong in the weave room. And in addition to that, you got to have super strong hands. And I read a story back when you first started as well about using grip squeeze devices. Do you still do that? Absolutely? Yep? Every day. Um, you know that's kind of when I sit and sitting you know, the room and watch a

little tape early in the morning. I get my grip work in a little bit, um, you know, every day as much as I can, um, you know, because because as offensive linemen, you know, your hands are really important as well, so you gotta keep those just as just as strong as your body for sure. Yeah, Tom, we got our five things here now ready, five things for Cody, fun stuff quick answers? All right, buddy, you're ready cool something other than football. You are surprisingly good at cookie too.

You and Fair are twins. Love to a bucket list item you gotta get to, Um, go to Hawaii took place you guys are twins. Favorite athlete growing up, Um Walter Payton Town black form a moment you were left are struck by. Oh that's a tough one. Um, I don't know, Tom, you can answer that one. Maybe having

dinner with Frank Sinatra. Yeah, well, we don't want to, we don't want to rehash that, but yeah, I mean it was a great one of the greatest experiences of my life when you have a chance to sit at a table with a guy of that enormous world renowned recognition and get a chance to pick his brain. Amazing. All right, last one guilty pleasure. Oh that's a tough one too. You guys are stumping me here. Um, I don't know. I can go back to the one and

talk about that too, the one you said before that. Um, I guess A cool moment for me was when I when I got drafted here, I went to Dick his restaurant and uh, I walked up the stairs and he was sitting up there. So that was pretty cool being you know, hearing all the stories about the Chicago Bears and then you know, being able to see see Dick was pretty cool. You could have played for him, that's for sure. That's a great compliment. Exactly right. All right, Cody,

we're gonna let you go appreciate all the time. Good luck this week against the Packers, and keep this street rolling. Appreciate it better. Thanks guys. That's Bears guard Cody White here, Tom and I return will be joined by Bob McGinn, the veteran beat writer for the Green Bay Packers. It's all coming up next here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. This segment of Bears All Access is

brought to you by CDW people who get It. With Tom there and Jeff Joniac, Bob McGinn joins us now, the veteran beat writer for the Green Bay Packers, here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for many years, then trying some different endeavors. What's your what's your latest, what's your newest? Stop? Bob morning, Jeff. I'm now with my former running mate in a Milwaukee at the Journal Sentinel, Tyler done at his website goallongtd

dot com. Long form journalism. That's Tyler's specialty, and that's kind of what I'm doing still with rating the Packers, the McGinn files and my NFL D half coverage for a thirty eighth straight year. So in this thirty eighth year of existence with the Packers, what is the storyline right now? Because it didn't start great, but they've they've caught fire here a little bit. But just broad scope because there's a lot to break down and unpack about

the Aaron Rodgers angles. A horrendous opener against the Saints, very solid football in the last four games. They're in position to kind of go wherever they want. First time in Matt Lafleur's tenure, they've had injuries to a large scale, and we're really seeing that this guy really can coach because he's overcome a lot of a lot of personnel losses. There are any concern about Mike Patton being a part of the Chicago Bears staff, I don't know that, Tom,

but I would think so. I mean, he was a huge part of he was with Lafleur early with him late. I think he knows an awful lot about that offense, right you know, So question or two when you look at the offense and you look at the statistics that you know are mounting up, and you look at what Davante Adams is doing single handedly with the help of

Aaron Rodgers. So is there any concern that if anything would derail Davante Adams that this offense would have would struggle or are they just so happy to have the combo of Aaron and Davante And with an exclamation point around Aaron Jones. Well, if they had Veldi scantling back Tom, that would give him the deep threat and another legit receiver. But Alan Lazard has really shown almost nothing now and

Rogers really ignores him. You know, they lost Adams for two or three games early last season, and they won games without him, but they weren't nearly as good. If they lost Adams, it would be a complete devastating blow. But they have a great back in Aaron Jones, and if they get Scantling back, they would have a deep threat. Bob Agin our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score top there, Jeff Joniac. Bob, you know, talk about Aaron Jones because I think he's an underrated back.

I think he could be a guy that could be a thirty thirty carried guy. I know that doesn't exist anymore in the National Football League, But is he underrated in your view from a from a fifty thousand foot view of what he brings to the table by now, maybe not underrated, Jeff, You know a lot of people he's had three good, three really good years. I mean,

he's a slasher, he runs with courage. Now, he had a lost fumble early in the season, and he had another one here Sunday against Cincinnati that he was avoided because of forward progress. But and he's a very good receiver. He can split wide and do all that stuff. Laflores stretched the field horizontally and McCarthy really didn't do that. All his checkdown stuff was in the middle of the field. And now but he sends Jones off to the sideline and you got to cover fifty three and a third

handle Green Bay. So, Bob, you know, we have alec Ogletree, who happened to be on vacation visiting Robert Quinney comes aboard for a physical and now he he's one of the best linebackers we have. You guys have a guy that rubbed Elbow's rookie year with la Flora over in Atlanta Devandre Campbell and I hear all and read all these complimentary things from Aaron Rodgers. So how much as this guy come on board and without really knowing a lot about him throughout the offseason, not bailed out the

linebacker position, but has really helped the defense. Still want to see more, Tom, but the guy has played pretty darn good football here he's wearing the green dot. I mean, he's far better. It's been a revolving door. They haven't spent any money at that position really since drafting aj Hawk. You know, Ty Summer is the guy from Minnesota. Last year Martin Chris Barnes is okay, but this is a step up. Campbell still can run. He came up from

Minnesota and that's really the big thing. He can run, and he can cover backs, and he can do some stuff in zone drops and he's been a pretty physical guy on the hitting department. So it's been a huge edition. And now they have Jalen Smith and we'll have to see where they fit him in the offensive liner Jayil Alexander What injuries is the most interruptive to the Green

Bay Packers? Um, you know, Tom, that's the most remarkable thing of these first five weeks, they've played without three starters in this last game on the old line, but you've got you've got nigeman now and two guards running, and newman and a young center Josh Myers. They got eight guys now who I think can play. And I don't ever recall that in Green Bay, where you've got eight old lineman running maybe at seven and a half with that guy he's a little but their offensive line

coach is Adam Stanovich. They've developed people on their old line. Well, they got to protect that the gold the Golden Arm, I guess. And you know he helps them in as many ways as they help him. So I mean he's the most If you're an opponent of this, if this man, and you're a Navy Blue an Orange supporter, there's nothing more irritating to play Aaron Rodgers when it's third down in twenty and he can find a way to make

a play, and it's happened repeatedly. That's why I say for this game, you know, no matter where the Packers are at or where the Bears are at, you you can't make a mistake. It almost has to be that way because he capitalizes on every single mistake you make. Yeah, he he was terrible on opening day, and you know he didn't have the off season and he's played not great, but he's played well here by his standards the last month.

His connection with Adams. You know, Green Bay has had a lot of terrific receivers starting with Don Hudson, then Loft and then in the during their renaissance. Adams has been really incredible and his numbers on the road have been absolutely astonishing. Of his numbers on the road, ten catches are more on road games in NFL history. He has ten. The all time leaders Julio Jones with eleven. So he's going to be right at home against the

young corners of the Bears at Soldier Field. Bob Againing our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to

score in twoy eleven. The Bill Nunn Award used to be the Meccan Award elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his many years reporting on Pro football and a guy that put together a book, The Ultimate super Bowl Book, which I found fascinating in every angle because Tommy, when we when we were allowed to cover super Bowls and go to the Super Bowl Bob is in there and just finding out every little detail, including the one nugget that I always in the back of

my mind because you're putting together, you know, I'm putt him in my board every week, and I get the height and weight, and the height and weight for a guy, and in every league fifteen years ago, is the weight It's not going to be the same. The height is going to be the same. But Bob would ask, hey, you know you get the height and weight of every guy, every guy on Super Bowl Sunday because it did make a different prince, right, Bob. And sometimes guys were told

not to even answer those questions. You can't even get guys now to say what their weight is coming out of training camp. Yeah, there's sometimes even the strength coaches that Super Bowls would be a little hesitant. But those assistant strength coaches, those are the guys that would give it up job. So you're a scouted heart, right because you love the draft, aren't you a scouted heart. I'm an information gather who tended to work scouts. I saw that as an all kind of an open area of information.

I love my assistant coaches over the years in Green Bay, and I'm around the league. But the scouts are guys who, boy, if you get to know them, they can really help you. And they and they all know one hundred times more football than I'll ever know. What is the deficiency of the Green Bay Packers? Uh, let's see. The deficiency would be pass rush without Zadarius Smith, Rashaun Garry's really plateaued. I think Preston Smith's had a pretty good start to

the season, but he's not a premier rusher. Joe Berry has not shown much in terms of blitz packages that are a real threat. Berry's inexperience as a D coordinator. The special teams have never been good here ever, for like ever in my thirty forty years covering the team. That's a problem. And I think you know Adrian Amos, Do you guys know him? Everybody's matching up on Adrian on a third and four, third and five. He's a

stiff guy in coverage. That hurts him. And darniell Savage, the other safety, a talented guy, but he makes an awful lot of He's got i'd say poor eye discipline. He takes a lot of chances. So I think that's it. And if Kenny Clark goes down their D line. Their run defense is really shaky. Um. I had some is that Jeff brought it up at the beginning. I wanted to bring it up. Also, is so Aaron Rodgers is

is it bygones be bygones? Or is there Green Bay concerned that at the end of the season they're gonna be hoping Jordan Lobby develops into what they drafted him to be. I think much of that, Jeff, depends on how the season turns out time. You know Rogers, I mean yeah, I think he's upset with the organization, the way it the way it treated him, and he's got a list of grievances whatever. But that can change now with a Super Bowl victory or a close loss in

the Super Bowl something like that. You know, they're tight against the cap, and it's never really been like that for twenty years, since the cap really started ninety three, they've never had cap problems. But they got to resign Adams. They're gonna do something with Rogers deal. I would think so it could be his last season, There's no question about that. All Right, Bob, We're gonna let you go. I know you got thanks to today and We appreciate

it very much. Bob McGinn now working for goallongtd dot com check it out, and some really good people over there, including Tyler Dunn, who's done some really good journalism over the years. Bob, appreciate it and good seeing you, my friend. Bears and Packers on Sunday never gets old in the NFL, that's for sure. Great rivalry. Thanks a lot, guys, Bo

mcgin with Tom I'm Jeff. Will be back after this break on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The score Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers, brought to you by PNC, the official bank of the Chicago Bears with Tom Fair, I'm Jeff Joniak getting you set for Bears Packers. Just heard from Bob McGinn with his review of this team,

the longtime veteran writer covering Packers football. So let's start breaking it down now from an Aaron Rodgers DeVante Adam standpoint, because really you have to begin there offensively because those two alone can inflict enough damage to beat you. Yeah, they can play a two man game against any down and distance. They have a great relationship that doesn't take

any verbal signals to be on the same page. And then you know, when you talk about Devonte Adams and sometimes how open he is in the middle of a defense, he talks himself about his release at the line of scrimmage plays a more important role than his size or his speed. And so I guess that's the challenge of

the defensive backs. It's not necessarily you know, how they cover them, but when they're lined up against them at the line of scrimmage and press coverage, or they're lined up at a certain distance off the line of scrimmage, when he makes his transition into the break of his route, and that will dictate the fate of you know what Aaron Rodgers feels comfortably at doing with DeVante Adams, but what the guy does from the line of scrimmage plays the biggest role in his success, all right, And Sean

decided the defensive coordinator of the first time against these packers speaks of the complication of playing them, and not just because of Aaron Rodgers and DeVante Adams good players.

And so when they're good players and you've got a quarterback like that and a receiver like that, and the system allows them to create space for those guys, you know even on all the run plays, you know you've got to defend those backs now because they're they've got a good running game, and those backs are really good.

But on all their run plays, there's any moment where any Aaron can get up and throw the ball and everybody's blocking run and you're fitting the run, and all of a sudden, there's DeVante catching one in the flat, or there's tany And catching one in the flat, or whoever it is. You know, somebody's catching one on a fadeball on a run play. So you know they're they're attacking all levels of the field and all parts of

the field and using your eyes against you. And so that's where we got to be really disciplined and patient and just kind of keep straining through the game. All right, When he talks about using your eyes against you, that's peaking. That's not remaining discipline with your eyes on what your keys are. Correct. Yeah, and Jeff, don't overplay your responsibility.

So if you go back and you watch all the most successful of the last thirty runs by Aaron Jones, a majority of of them are cutback against the original point of attack. So now, if you're a defender, you're on the backside and you're playing an undisciplined style of defense, then you're going to open the open up the opportunities for Aaron Jones and Dylan for that matter. So just be responsible for your responsibility as you break the huddle. Don't try to guess, and don't try to do too much.

I went looking back to the January third meeting against the Packers at Soldier Field. Bears dominated the clock. That was your plan, right, try to keep them off the field. He still threw four touchdown passes and they won the game despite you dominated the time of possession and because they were moving the ball, they only had seven third down in that game. Seven third downs. That's it. That

speaks of tremendous efficiency. Yeah, you know, and it really is a huge chalice of your defense because when you're getting a hit for chunkyards repeatedly, you kind of really wave around the faith of the system and how you're calling the game. You're not challenging these guys to have a drive that turns into a double digit, time consuming me drive that results in three points. It's just like

the Bears. If you're going to have that time and consumption of better resultants touchdowns every drive you have in You know, with Green Bay they hit you with chunk yards and they just keep going at you aggressively. Defensively, they're sixthen yards allowed. So the defense, despite their injuries and no j Alexander one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL and Zadarius Smith not able to go just yet for the Packers, they've been able to take the

ball away. They haven't been good in the red zone though. They've given up one hundred percent of the red zone possessions for touchdowns. And that's that's where you speak of you got to cash in. This is the game where even a little crack you know I'm talking and you know this is true for any game, but against Aaron Heat has a unique way of making you pay for every single mistake you make. So you know, it's the first down false start to make you first and fifteen.

It's the special team's penalty after a good return that now backs you up at your own ten and you can't convert on a third down and now you're giving him field position. It's the tip pass that happens to go in the wrong direction, or it's throwing it up to Davante or Randall Cobb in this case because he's back with his buddy. It's third and fifteen. You got him backed up of the south endis Soldier field. Crowd's going crazy and he throws it up there and draws

a pass interference penalty for a first down. You know he does every time. Well, you know, the greatest luxury to a defensive coordinator is having a quarterback as great as Aaron Rodgers, because in between the twenties, you can be a lot more aggressive and then you know, in the red zone you talk about their vulnerabilities. There's not a lot of things that the court that Aaron Rodgers can help you with because you're close to the goal line and you and you were giving up these opportunities.

But inside the field to play, you can have a chance to be a little bit more aggressive trying to make a play because if you miss it, Aaron Rodgers will bail you out. And that's always one of the luxuries that they've had since the you know, like I said, the Farven Roger his era has begnnen. All right, There's a bunch of matchups that we could break down, but one on particularly interesting. If if he travels with Davante Adams is Jalen Johnson, who's very proud to be covering

everybody's best receiver. I want to follow the best receiver every game, so I mean he's the best receiver, so I mean, of course I'm looking forward to that matchup and we'll see what happens. He's allowing less than a forty percent catch rate so far, getting a lot of acclaim out there from the analytics version of analysis and reporting. But Jalen Johnson is certainly a riser and he's beloved by his teammates who see him in a very very bright light. Right now, well, it's gonna be two opposite

ends of spectrum. If Jalen Johnson can cover him, Aaron may shy away from him. If Aaron recognizes early that Jalen cannot catch him, he will go to him repeatedly. So you know, Jalen, you play, you do well for yourself, and you're gonna give yourself a lot more comfortable of

a game. Lastly, I'm digging Cairo Santos right now. He's rolling, So let's not jink some thirty four in a row in the regular season, thirty five in a row if you count the playoff loss to New Orleans, and I look at Mason Crosby, you can't tell me it didn't get into his head a little bit. He missed three and made a big one last week against the Bengals, and he's only thirteen to twenty at Soldier Field. So

that's my thought. Well, there's a zero percent chance of rain on Sunday, so it's gonna be perfect natural grass, outdoor kicking conditions, good for both the kickers, but still always more difficult for the opponent. All Right, I hope it's fun. Tom. We'll talk to you on Sunday Audios. That's Tom there. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks again to our producers, the folks here at the Score, also Dan Brilly, Katie Tuber,

and Jordan tread Up. We'll have the game starting at nine AM on WBBM News Radio one oh five nine, and we'll have to kick off at noon. Join us then and have a good night everybody. Thanks for listen. I think this has been Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy. The Score