#316 Packers Unscripted: Breaking down the Bears

sides of the ball. So with the Chicago Bears, I'll tell you what it doesn't just start with the fact that Mitch Trobinsky is in year two now as the supposed future franchise quarterback here for Chicago, given what they invested in him. But he has an entirely new group of receivers to throw to. We talked about it last year, the Bears were going to have to do something about their receiving corps. Well they did. They revamped the whole thing in the off season. I think, uh, if the

Bears were I think they'd say the same thing. There was a there was a dearth of talent there for about two three seasons these past few years, and I think what they this past year, they feel like they saw enough from Mitchell Trubisky to convince them that they can press forward. You know, we talked about the Cleil Mack trade earlier this week on defense, but offensively, that was the biggest storyline this year, Mike is you know them bringing in alec Allen Robinson. Um, you know, Taylor

Gabriel's in this offense. Now, certainly you have Jordan Howard and Terak Coleman as there one two in the backfield, but giving him more, given Troubisky more perimeter options was an obvious emphasis in the off season, and you know they're banking on Robinson being able to put his knee

injury behind him and get back on the trajectory. It looked like he was on in Jacksonville and also a young guy like Kevin White they drafted, i believe now three years ago and one of the number seven overall pick, top ten pick out of West Virginia. There's a there's a lot of hope there as well with him. So it's gonna be interesting now to see what Traubinsky, with a little bit more experience and with some you know,

bigger targets outside what he can do with all of it. Yeah, well, the Bears it just for whatever reason, it took them a couple of years to replace Brandon Marshall, el Shan Jeffrey because they did have a pretty good receiving corps not that long ago. But it's just taken a while to get back to this point. And one of the interesting facets I think of this group obviously Allen Robinson a big, big bodied receiver, um, you know, a real physical guy, as you said, coming back from the knee injury.

But the other aspect of this group when you look at it now is the speed. Taylor Gabriel is one fast dude. And then they drafted Anthony Miller out of Memphis with I believe was it third round or second round, second round? He was projected as a third round They took him in the in the second round. But this is a speedy guy, deep threat type of receiver, at least that's what his profile was in college. So there's a lot of speed now on the outside, uh and

in the slot for that matter. For the Chicago Bears. This is going to be a different type of matchup for the Packers DVS. I'm glad you brought that up too much because obviously you can look at you know, Robinson and Gabriel and the veteran weapons that are there now, but it is they put a lot of resources through the draft in the offense as well. Anthony Miller, for my money, he was one of the prospects I was most intrigued by. If you're familiar with his story, he

was a walk on at Memphis. He's from the Memphis area, had no division one offers whatsoever, and then he ends up putting together a record breaking career I believe broke most of, if not all of like Tory whatnot? Who was who was it? Isaac Bruce's records that sounds at Memphis, And you know, he was a guy you talked about, a guy that remember at the NFL scouting combine, I talked to him and being a part of his podium, and at that time, people are thinking maybe third or

fourth round, and he just kept climbing and climbing and climbing. Uh. And there's a lot of hope there. So I think the biggest thing that they're looking for with with him. Adam Shaheen also they drafted, but then he ended up getting hurt the really big tight end. Yeah, from I believe the FCS Router Division two route, um, whatever the case may be. They have some veterans there and some young guys that they're looking to complement them with well.

And this is interesting because when you talk about Packers Bears, obviously there's all the history and everything that goes into the rivalry, but with what the Bears have done at wide receiver and what the Packers have done at cornerback, you're looking at a whole new setup of matchups in this rivalry. Now, Kevin King is really the only the only member of the Packers as far as the top four cornerbacks who has played against the Bears in the

last three years. Because you have Tremont Williams who hasn't played for the Packers since, and you have Jure Alexander Josh Jackson being the rookie draft picks. And we've talked about all these new receivers for the Bears. So these matchups on the perimeter here with Mitch Drabinsky calling the shots at quarterback, just a co fletely new set of um of confrontations in this matchup. And we saw during camp,

you know, Mike Petton. You started to get a sense for what he's gonna do with the defensive front, what he's looking for from those inside linebackers. The secondary, to me, is still the biggest unknown, uh not because there isn't enough talent there. I think now they've really renovated that spot, and there's so many options both at cornerback slot, nickel cornerback, what they want to do with their safeties. I think Josh Jones is a guy that could be moving a

lot around this defense this year. Um maybe not necessarily is that hybrid linebacker, but even in the slot of the nickel and dimes sub packages. So yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see a guy like Trumont Williams now at thirty five years old, twelve years into his NFL career. By all accounts, Mike, the Packers are ready to play him at boundary cornerback. We've covered this league a lot longer than I have. I was talking to him about

this a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if I recall that a lot of times when guys getting to their middle later thirties, they're still playing that position there in the slot, like Charles Woodson, was. Trumon Williams is a different kind of guy though. He's a different kind of football player, and it's gonna be interesting to see what he can do. Kevin King came back with the shoulder injury from the shoulder injury in that preseason

finale against Kansas City. Appears have checked out fine there, and then Jare Alexander and Josh Jackson balled out the entire preseason. A lot from Mike Petton to play with, Yeah, no question about it. Well, I want to get to talking a little bit about the Bears on the defensive side of the ball, But first a little sponsored business at home or here in the stands. We all know that Green Bay fans give it their all and that takes a lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl

of Campbell's Chunky Soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of Packers fans everywhere. Try the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. Just visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky super official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, defensive side of the ball for the Bears, all the talk is about Khalil Mack obviously, for obvious reasons, but you know what, this is a guy, This is a pass rusher who's coming into a defense that's actually been

pretty good at getting after the quarterback. A Keem Hicks, Leonard Floyd. You throw in a top ten draft pick in ro Kwan Smith at linebacker there. Uh, this this is an interesting mix now when you add Mac to the bunch, because I think the Bears were feeling pretty good about their defense and now they're really excited about

their defense when they add the pass rusher from Oakland. Yeah, and with all due respect to that defense and what they have, you know, they're considering what Vic Fangio has done with that unit the last two years when it just didn't seem like they really had a consistent number one pass rusher, when there was a lot of questions in their secondary. They've they've had a really good marriage right here between what Ryan Pace has been able to

bring in as far as prospects. When you look at Eddie Jackson coming in a protege of of Hahaklinton Dix and another safety product out of Alabama. The impact he made last year coming off the broken leg Kyle Fuller obviously meant enough to them for them to match the offer sheet that he'd signed with Green Bay. He's still in their plans. He's still in their secondary. Prince and Mukamara, I mean he signed a couple of years ago. Uh,

so you've seen it settle a little bit. But I think they were looking for that one guy to kind of put them over the top, and they feel like that guy is gonna be Klail Mack. And if you go off track record, it would indicate that this is the type of playmaker that they probably did need to take them to another level. So the football fan of me is really excited to see how this is going

to play out. But but certainly, you know, for the NFC North and the NFC in general, that's a that's a big guy, that's a big target, and you know he's obviously going to be gunning for your quarterback. Yeah. I mean, if I'm the Packers, obviously I'm looking at, you know, figuring out how to protect Aaron Rodgers and whatnot with with these pass rushers the Bears have, because

they are rather formidable. But I'm also looking at that Chicago secondary and saying, maybe that dark question that might be that might be where the question marks are on this defense. Kyle Fuller, a veteran cornerback. Now, the Packers tried to sign him in the off season. They signed him to an offer sheet as a restricted free agent, but the Bears matched it, and uh and he stayed

in Chicago. And then you mentioned Eddie Jackson, I think, a young up and coming talent at safety, but the other as a Mukamara and Adrian Amos who's the other safety along with Jackson and a Mukamara at corner. A couple of different types of guys there. And that Mukamara some people would say maybe he's passed his prime, you know, maybe on the downside of his career. And then Amos, you know, still somewhat a young guy, but rather unknown in terms of maybe just where his career is headed.

So some question marks there. The Bears are going to be counting on those guys to hold up, you know, on the back end, with the with the real the full strength of that defense being in the front seven, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays. Yeah, it's that's the ultimate question going into this time of year. But it is interesting though too, and that I got

to give them credit. While there are questions there. They've stuck with their guys, I mean, McManus, Callahan, Fuller, They've all been in this defense for years now, so they're they're basing their their potential for this group off that experience and also seeing where a guy like Rocan Smith

can go throughout the course of a year. It seemed to me, going back to the draft last year, that was probably the biggest unkept secret that that he would potentially be fitting in there because yeah, they'd signed, you know, a couple of years ago, they had Danny Trevathan, They made some moves there, but they really wanted a guy for the future at that spot, and they feel like

Smith could be that guy. So seeing how that young talent meshes and how quickly Vick fanj you have can give them up to speed, not only in this game but going on the rest of the season. As much as we've make out of Mac and Rabinsky and those main facets, it's ultimately going to come down a lot of times to those complementary pieces. Yeah, what's your sense of how this Packers offensive line matches up past protection wise against this front, because we saw in out in Oakland.

Brian Bulaga held his own absolutely just fine against Khalil Mac. Now, Bolag is coming back from an a c L. Now, you know limited a little bit through training camp in the preseason obviously, but this is a veteran guy who's come back from an a c L before, and he's faced Khalil Mac before. You have the All Pro and David back try at left tackle, and uh, you know, the Packers feel really good about their interior with Lindsley

flanked by Taylor and McCrae, they're at guards. You know this is going to be a big challenge for them, but certainly not one that they're going to blink by all indications of Packers will have all five those starting offensive linemen together. I know so much gets made out of the reps during the preseason, the reps during training camp. They didn't get a lot of those together as a

full group. But at the same time, the story I always go back to his Corey Linsley in two thousand fourteen, the expectations for that team and J. C. Treader was supposed to be the man at center. Well Treader ends up having an injury, he's wiped out. Lindsley never even ends up taking a snap with Aaron Rodgers until that first game against Seattle, and then you see where that

offensive line went the rest of the year. Well, and even look at ten Josh Sitton ends up getting released right at the end of training camp and Lane Taylor steps in it it was like nothing happened. There's there's there's been some smooth transitions in what looked like some potentially rocky spots. Absolutely, and I'm glad you asked that question about Mac because it was asked to me an Inbox, like, well, what is Brian Blaga? Is he ready for for Khalil Mack?

And the thing I came back with is is Khalil Mac ready for Brian Bla Because I mean, if you go back to what happened in Oakland, I think people forget that storyline a little bit. Uh. Khalil Mack was lighting the world on fire. He had nine sacks and three games going into the Raiders game. Before that game, the question was being asked of Box tri and Bologa,

what are you anticipating with this guy? And the Packers end up winning that contest, and while Mac did end up with one sack, he was pretty much negated most of that contest Brian Blaga being able to get those reps last week. I wrote about it our our Locker Room Report. I just think that's so valuable for him to at least get a little bit of a taste of what it's gonna be like next to Justin McCrae.

McCrae played Bolog's position for the second half of last season, so he knows what Bolag is gonna one out of him now being at right guard. I just I think it's gonna be a really good chess match. It's gonna be great to see Bok t R And bologging together again. Because really, Mike, as much as we make out of the quarterback in the pass rusher in the safeties and cornerbacks and the importance in today's game about that, you need two bookends. Now, the Packers were ahead of that curve.

They understood that going back two and fourteen, and they've benefited from that now with a you know, their franchise quarterback behind it. Well, it's quite a way to kick off the season. Sunday night Football prime time under the lights at Lambeulfield. The new led lights at both Field will throw that in as well. But um one other thing I want to get to as a little bit of a wrap up to training camp here before we

go today. You've made it a tradition here since you joined us at packers dot com and in your days at the newspaper as well, writing a one of those training camp bike riding stories every summer. And it took a little while for this one to come together, but you got one. You've got one up on our website now is kind of a wrap up to training camp with regards to Mason Crosby and a couple of really special bike riders that he got to know. Tell us

about it well. First off, I have to actually give credit to Haley Helmley from our Brandon marketing department on this when she actually came up with the story idea. I can't claim it, but she had mentioned to me on the first day Crosby every year at first Practice, he always rides down with the Dream Drive initiative with a child with a physical disability, and typically it's with a modified bike where you don't use your feet for pedaling.

Usually you'll use your hands. And Haley had mentioned and she's like, you know, it's really incredible seeing Crosby at this juncture of his career is still doing this because, as you know, when veterans reach a certain point, they're no longer obligated to be out there. And to some extent, I don't think you want Aaron Rodgers out there because he's just gonna get mobbed by people. But but Crosby it's an important thing for him. And he mentioned, you know,

his children now come out. He's ridden with his children. I know. I believe Lane Taylor has done that as well. It's emotional, you know, and and what a way to start off camp. What a way to start off you know, the summer. And basically what happened is I ended up finding two different families. One of them was Francis Collie.

His family. He was the child that that road with Mason during the first camp practice UM from the Milwaukee area, from Wallatosa, Milwaukee, and he he was diagnosed at an early age UM he has the syndrome I believe referred to tetra amelia, which is where you're born without basically your limbs. And I was talking to his father John about it and how emotional that was for him and

his wife. That was their firstborn at the time. The first ultrasound confirmed that diagnosis, and they worried what life was going to be like for him. But if you've seen photos of him and just videos of him, he is such a cute personality. He's such a go getter and he doesn't let anything stop him. The one thing that was kind of inhibiting him though a little bit,

was that he couldn't ride a bike. So through a partnership with a number of different entities, I'm not gonna have time to get into all of them, they were able to create a modified bike for him. He was able to go down with practice with Crosby. And the coolest story that John told was that, you know, they were watching a preseason game later in training camp in in you know Francis who's four years old. I was like, oh, there's there's Mason Crosby, like he recognized them and has

a new favorite player there. And then I also talked to Jenny Dickens in the Dickens family, who's actually from Wisconsin but they transplanted down to Tennessee and her son, nine year old Matthew made it a goal. After seeing one of the live streams on packers dot Com of the bike riders coming down that he wanted to come

up to Wisconsin. He wanted to ride bikes with Mason Crosby, his favorite player, because about four years ago he asked some family members, well, who who's who scores the most points? They said Crosby, and he had a new fan and and if you go on you can go on packers

dot Com. Read the whole story and his experience. But again one of the reasons that and this goes back to I think two thousand fifteen, I was still at the Press Gazette and it was Shaun Smith I was working with on her agency XM Sports with Casey Hayward. I did this for the first time in his background, in the connection he had with his rider, it's such a special special connection that those guys have. And well Crosby doesn't have a set rider, and he also doesn't

ride any day every day anymore. It's still very important to him and and obviously got a got a lot out of it. Yeah, I just love the images I was reading through your story and with regards to the Dickens family in Tennessee, I love the image of this family tossing their kids bike in the in the back of the band or the truck or whatever it is. And you know, trucking all the way up to Green Bay from Tennis. I mean what that has to be. Yeah, it's gonna say at least at least eight hours each

way driving all the way up here. And uh and he the kid, Matthew, he made a sign right so to to try to let Crosby know that that, hey, I'm here all the way from Tennessee so that you can ride my bike. Not just anybody, but you, you're my favorite player. And um, and then from your story, it sounds like Crosby Crosby didn't actually come out the

first day that Matthew was there. But but Hunter Bradley, the long snapper, saw the sign and either during practice after practice at some point mentioned it to Crosby that somebody was here from Tennessee to to get him to ride his bike. And uh so then Crosby and the mom connected on Twitter and then and they arranged it so that the next day they could make it happen. I just, I just I love stories like that. I

think it's really cool. You told it very well. But uh and and as you mentioned the ride with um, I'm forgetting the college boys. First name Francis. Yes, the ride, the ride with Francis with the specialized bike and everything like that, only in Green Bay, right west. Yeah. And if you know anything about Crosby and just where he's come from, and you know, his brother was a massive

Packers fan when he got drafted here in two thousand seven. Uh, you know, Reese is the one that kind of opened his eyes to all the traditions and gave him sort of the background on everything. So there was a foundation there to begin with. But it just with with Crosby now a father of five, and I'd asked him about that. You know, when he sees some of these children dealing

with you know, difficulties and you know, special special disabilities. Um, you know, it makes him grateful for what he has and also um makes him want to, you know, give back in those situations too, because he knows what it's

like to be a father. And I thought the coolest quote the whole story was John mentioning, you know, him and his wife worried for so many years what it would be like for Francis and school, what it would be like for him in just daily life, you know, if he'd ever be able to ride a bike and seeing him now now that he's going into pre K and everything, he doesn't worry anymore. And I think at the end of the day, that's uh, that's everything he could ever hope for. And these are stories that inspire

the players. They total these guys and professional football who have reached the top of their profession. They get inspired by seeing what what these kids do and how and how dedicated they are to their own lives. Yeah, and I don't think there's anyone probably more grounded on the team than Crosby. Um, you know, he knows what it was like going through two thousand and twelve. He understands how fleeting this moment is. Um, So to be able to embrace that is obviously really big for him. And

it also keeps things in perspective too. If he has a bad practice or a you know, a missfield goal, that, um, you know there's a bigger picture to everything too, and no question about it. Well with that, we will call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Would be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter. He's at West Hot, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers still the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time.