July 24, 2025 • 45 mins
Defensive lineman Andrew Billings joins Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer on Bears Weekly to share his thoughts on the direction of the Bears’ defense under a new coaching staff.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome in Tough Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy, a
Chicago Bears Network production.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Bears Weekly is.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Brought to you by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Physical Therapy, CD Collaghy, Connie's Pizza, IGS Energy.
Speaker 5 (00:17):
And Meta Liked.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Here are your hosts, Jeff Jilliac, KKA, the Mayor of
Bearsville and is sidekick Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
A couple of days of practice and we already see
a big difference in how the Chicago Bears are going
to roll this season. Hi, everybody, it is Bears Weekly
on ESPN one thousand and the Chicago Bears Radio Network
with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff
Joniac coming up with the program. We visit with Bears
defensive tackle Andrew Billings and we're gonna hear a series
of podium sound from Bear's head coach Ben Johnson, safety
(00:48):
Kevin Byard, running back DeAndre Swift, and defensive coordinator Dennis
Allen throughout the show. Justin Pottinger is our producer in
studio tonight thanks to Dan Burrilly, Jordan tread Up and
Katie Fox, and the executive producer of the Bears Radio Network.
Is Eric Ostrowski. All right, big Tom, we have arrived
practice this week. Pads come out on Monday of next week,
(01:09):
so the ramp up period is, you know, without pads,
but anything but a ramp up. I mean, these guys
are working and it's a different time in place right now,
and Ben Johnson has everybody's attention.
Speaker 7 (01:21):
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 8 (01:22):
Well, you know, Jeff, I got to go back a
couple weeks because you and I did an interview with
Drew Dolman and I was saying, Drew, I remember going
down to training camp in Atlanta when my brother in
law played there, and I couldn't believe the unbearable heat
that there used to be in Atlanta, And you know,
I kind of had the feel good story that the
temperatures were going to be perfect. And listen, man, the
first couple days of camp, even though they weren't pads,
(01:44):
weren't very heat forgiving. So I think that's a little
bit of good little sock in the face just to
let these players know improve that they are in shape.
But this is underway now and that's in the rearview mirror,
and so everything is full steam ahead. And every time
Ben Johnson gets to the podium, I like to hear
what his thoughts about the day, about the practice and
(02:06):
the upcoming events.
Speaker 7 (02:07):
Yeah, and it's good. That's the first thing in the
morning too.
Speaker 9 (02:10):
You know.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
He arrived at the podium earlier the day and said,
how we like these early morning practices.
Speaker 8 (02:17):
You know, this is kind of the style of practice
when we were in the old days of football, when
we had too a day's We are on the field
at seven fifty am for pre specialty period and then
that kind of led us into the first practice. Then
you had that midday opening, and then you went into
the evening practice. So I'm super familiar with these early
morning sessions and I absolutely love them.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
All Right, here's the update on players who are not
practicing just yet, and it's the rookies. Wide receiver Luther
Burden the third soft tissue injury, so it lingered a
little longer after that happened in rookie mini camp, so
he remains day to day. Shamart Turner, the second round
defensive tackle defensive lineman, suffered an angle injury on day one.
They're still checking on that. Zeve Fraser excuse for personnel reasons.
(03:01):
The fifth round cornerback, and of course Jalen Johnson, just
want to minimize those injuries as much as you can
and hopefully you don't have any serious ones one.
Speaker 8 (03:10):
Hundred percent get them right by the time they're in
full pads, because that's when really football evaluations start. When
I think of the Jalen Johnson injury, it makes me
think immediately a Terrell Smith, because here's a guy that
missed a little bit of time in the offseason because
of injury, but now he's going to be healthy and
ready to roll and probably steps up and gives the
coaches an opportunity to a little bit more of an
(03:33):
honest evaluation of how Terrell Smith fits onto this football
team because he has cornerback qualities and traits and like
you say, you can never have enough good cornerbacks.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
Right and right now, taking first team snaps is nation
on right. He'd been there through entire offseason program. Fifth
year player, was on the defense with Al Harris in Dallas,
so there's.
Speaker 7 (03:55):
A familiarity there.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
He's a big, long guy, and so he's been with
the Dallas Cowboys in the Minnesota Vikings thirty three games
in his career with three starts and thirty seven tackles.
So again that connection to former coaches that with players
that come in, that's always something of significant. So keep
an eye on that. There's nineteen defensive backs on this team.
So all right, let's listen to the sum of Ben
(04:16):
Johnson from the podium early this morning at Halishov.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Had a great practice yesterday. Good start.
Speaker 10 (04:22):
Guys were excited, effort was there, and tensity was there.
It was fun to watch them fly around. I know,
I know some people enjoyed me throwing the first team
out of practice.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Not the case.
Speaker 10 (04:36):
We're on a time crunch, as you guys all know.
We got ninety minutes there that first day. We're up
to one hundred and five here today, so I just
need to keep things moving on along there or else
other guys weren't going.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
To be able to get their reps.
Speaker 10 (04:47):
So but point is, though, we got to be on
our p's and our cues in every minute.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Every rep is really valuable as well. So with that,
I'll go ahead and open it up out there.
Speaker 10 (05:01):
No, I'm good, I'm good. Like it is what it is,
you know, Uh, our guys we got to end up
executing getting in and out of the huddle a certain
way and it wasn't that way, and so we'll be
better today.
Speaker 11 (05:17):
Caber is that everybody.
Speaker 10 (05:18):
It's everybody, it's every We're we're learning, we're growing. You know,
there were some things from the springtime expected to carry
over that that was probably one we just don't have
any tolerance for anymore.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
We got we got too far to go.
Speaker 12 (05:30):
Do you find that they're very receptive in those moments too, Yeah?
Speaker 10 (05:33):
Yeah, everyone they know it's not good enough. So it's
just keep the train moving.
Speaker 11 (05:38):
With Luthor, we're not here every day during the off
season program. How much work did he get in in
May and June and how much catching up is going
to be.
Speaker 10 (05:49):
Involved everything that that our training staff is telling us
we can do physically with them, we're utilizing. I know
Coach Randall L's been and all over them in meetings,
keeping them involved. He's being he's being quizzed NonStop. Our
quarterbacks are taking them to the side, whether it's it's
walkthroughs on their own. So he's utilizing that time as
(06:12):
much as he can. But there's really no substitute for
full speed reps, and so the sooner we get him
out there, the quicker he can carve a role for himself.
Speaker 13 (06:21):
Days weeks.
Speaker 10 (06:22):
Yeah, I'm hopeful. It's just a few days. You know,
we're saying day to day right now. Those sometimes those
soft tissues you can't predict. Everyone's a little bit different.
Some guys take longer than others. So uh, like I said,
just it was hopeful, and we'll keep on trucking on along.
Speaker 14 (06:38):
And what as you learned about your running backs?
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Shoot?
Speaker 10 (06:41):
Uh, we'll find out more once we get the pads on.
But extremely coachable improvements on the tracks every single day.
Just we're very detailed with where we want them to go.
They they're all about it. Coach Bmy's doing a phenomenal job.
He's very demanded. I think it's one of the more
demanding coaches I've been around. I think they're receptive to
(07:03):
that type of coaching. I think Swift has done a
great job come back this from the summer. He's in
great shape. He had some plays yesterday that weren't ideal.
We might have had a guy unblocked in the hole,
and yet he's able to extend it and make something happen.
Beyond so highly motivated group. I know the perception out
(07:25):
there is that maybe it's not the most talented room
in the world. They like to hear that noise, so
we're gonna be just fine.
Speaker 15 (07:33):
Then you told us when you got here that you
were going to run the Bears offense, not the Detroit
Lions offense from last year the year before. But in
terms of like run pass split, are there principles you
believe in that you want to be around a.
Speaker 10 (07:44):
Certain number, No, no, that there are not. Every game
is its own entity, and that's what I learned. I mean,
I saw it for a number of years when I
was in Miami. The New England Patriots were really the
top of the league for so long, and each week
you just didn't know offense and defense, they just continued
to morph, and they had their opponents guessing. You didn't
(08:05):
know what Belichick was going to pull out front wise
or coverage wise on defense. You didn't know what McDaniels
was going to do on all he might throw at
fifty times, he might run at fifty times, and standing
from afar seeing how dominant that was. I think that's
a really good tactic to have. That's something that I
would like to do here as well. You know, it's
we got the elements play a role, our talent plays
(08:27):
a role. Who we're going against plays a role. It
all plays a piece into the puzzle, and that's what's
fun about each game week.
Speaker 6 (08:33):
He addressed a lot tom including the running back position
we touched on on Our Bears podcast. You know, there's
this assumption that the Bears might still be looking for
a veteran that's still out there in free agency, but
I think they have all sorts of types of backs
that Ben Johnson feels very comfortable with, not the least
of which is the starter DeAndre Swif, whom he coached
and did well with in Detroit.
Speaker 8 (08:54):
You know what, the running back position, you're going to
have a wide variety of responsibilities in order for this
offense to be successful. So the longer you hear, the
more that you can mentally and physically contribute. If there
is a guy out there that Ryan Poles thinks is
worthy of a training camp tryout, then you're going to
have a lot of catching up to do. And I
(09:14):
think when you go out there and you script these
different periods, whether it's nine on seven the inside run,
or it's the team work or seven on seven, you
want to make sure that you guys have eleven guys
or seven guys that are fully up to speed and
they can run the plays efficiently. So that's something that's
going to have to work itself out in training camp
(09:36):
or at that position specifically.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
All right, when we come back, we'll be joined by
Andrew Billings, one of our favorite players here on the
Chicago Bears.
Speaker 7 (09:43):
He's coming up next.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
This is Bears Weekly on the ESPN Chicago and the
Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
twenty four years, Chef Jone at Chef Jony on the
Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
IGS Energy. Welcome back, everybody, the Bears Weekly here on
ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl
winning Bears guard Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniak, and Andrew Billings.
Speaker 7 (10:13):
Our guest this week. How you doing, my friend. I'm
good to see you. We missed you. How you're feeling?
Speaker 6 (10:18):
First and foremost, I know that had to kill you
last year with the injury, But how do you feel
and how'd you get through it?
Speaker 13 (10:25):
I'm feeling good right now. Getting through it was tough.
Speaker 16 (10:28):
In the beginning for sure, having a surgery like that.
I've never tore a pick before, but it came back
astro on the field and did in the weight room,
So yeah, yes, that's good.
Speaker 8 (10:39):
So I know that Billy got the reputation being one
of the strongest guys in the NFL, and I was
a strong guy like you, and I played and I
was interested about the recovery of an injury like that,
and what were the incremental improvements that you went through,
not only proving ground to yourself, but make sure the
muscles repairing.
Speaker 17 (10:58):
So what was that like?
Speaker 16 (10:59):
First is getting that motion back, you know, almost like
an ac joint, get your hand over your head. And then
really where it started was the weight room. It was
a way more difficult in the weight room than it
was in the field, and like bench and stuff. Once
you racket, you know, you kind of fill it after
your racket and kind of posts for a little bit.
But the doctor said, you know, once you saw it
(11:20):
back in, it's stronger than you're right, So.
Speaker 17 (11:22):
I know for the word went back to it.
Speaker 8 (11:24):
I mean, and then when you're talking about that kind
of strong that that's a unique quality to have. So
in this new style of defense, and what's required out
of you from Dennis Allen is your strength and asset
in the combat style of play he wants you to have.
Speaker 16 (11:39):
Yeah, yeah, this is not back defense. So strength is
always always valuable.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
What's your all time bench?
Speaker 13 (11:47):
All time? Actually high school? Five hundred?
Speaker 6 (11:52):
You got the five hundred, Tom, tell me your story
about five hundred.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
So I had a really hard time overcoming four ninety
five to five hundred. It was a mental hurdle I
couldn't get to. And so we are down in Atlanta
practicing before the Super Bowl and I had four ninety
five on the bench and down there in that weight room,
it's got these cowboy style doors on the old weight
room back in the day, and all of a sudden
that doors get kicked open. They start swinging, and Nick
(12:18):
Michael walks through. McMichael was a strong guy himself, and
he looks at the bar on each side of it.
He goes, put the two and a half's on each side,
you sissy, And you know, Bill, It's like when you
talk about the gains in weight up to those levels,
it is a mental hurdle in some of those weights
(12:39):
that you know, you got to convince yourself that you
have the capabilities of doing it.
Speaker 13 (12:43):
That's true. It's it's your brain telling you don't go down.
That's right. That's how I felt in power.
Speaker 16 (12:49):
Your brain tells you, no, don't do this, isn't safe,
So you know I'm going to go ahead and do it.
Speaker 6 (12:53):
Anyways, new coaches in the weight room, Well, what's that
change been like? And do you see guys getting a
lot stronger this year the offseason?
Speaker 16 (13:00):
And to there, yes, yes, we are definitely getting stronger.
It's more Olympic, a lot more you know, split squads
and stuff like that, and working those type Olympic lifts, snatches,
things like that, And I've felt a huge different for myself,
especially come back from the pet boy.
Speaker 8 (13:17):
Ryan Poles told us the other day that Ben Johnson's
in there doing some heavy lifting, some powerlifting style stuff
and actually making some grunts and groans during his lifting.
But let's talk about defense a little bit, because you know,
I've been an offensive player my whole life, and I
know when they install a new offense, the learning process
is difficult because all eleven guys got to make sure
(13:39):
they get on the same page. What is the learning
process of a new defense for you and how challenging
is it, how complicated is it? And if you're a veteran,
is it easier to learn?
Speaker 16 (13:52):
If a veteran, yeah, it's easy to learn because you
have better habits. I'll say that much. But here we
went on it four times from now, so it's it's
really has been hammered in and when we got back
here this week, it really it clicked. I mean for
a lot of people.
Speaker 8 (14:08):
So is it something that in the sixth week time
period that you have off from the end of mandatory
mini camp to one year report, you guys have to
stay in your tablet because you know, offensive guys that
are learning for the first time, you know it's mandatory
to stay in your tablet.
Speaker 17 (14:22):
Do you have to or does it just come back to.
Speaker 13 (14:24):
You now you got to stay in your tablet.
Speaker 16 (14:26):
I think sometimes when you study on your own kind
of helps because you get to make your mistakes on
your own and call your coach and say, hey, is
this right and he's like, no, that's not right.
Speaker 13 (14:33):
Are yeah, that's right.
Speaker 16 (14:34):
So you kind of know what you have, know what
you don't, and then we get back in the building,
it's just refresh again.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
Andrew buildings.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Our guest here on a SPN one thousand of the
Bears Radio Network, tell us about some of your new
teammates and some of the young guys that you know
are going to be pushing they try to get into
that rotation on the defensive.
Speaker 13 (14:50):
Mind great, he's great. Love working with him. Weight room too,
he's with me, so oh yeah, good, good, good, lift
with him.
Speaker 16 (14:58):
The young guys are moving then they're is clicking for
them too, quicker than I've seen and this is not
the easiest defense to learn. So it's really nice. But
they had their rookie mini campra and you can tell
they really went over over their stuff.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
Yeah, Grady Jarrett's impact, I'm certain. I mean, even when
he's at the podium, you could just feel his energy.
And we've always enjoyed, maybe didn't look forward to facing
him because we knew he's a guy you had a
circle you got to you gotta stop him in order
to get things going offensively. But it's got to be
kind of interesting for him because now this is your
third team. But this is the first time in his
(15:32):
eleven years that he's changing. Even in college, he never
left the state of Georgia, so has he talked about
that at all? And is it or is he just
the kind of personality he just fits in with everybody
right away.
Speaker 13 (15:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 16 (15:44):
I mean he's a pro, so it just fits it
fits in with the business. And he came in and
was on the stuff like he's been there, so he
just slid right in with the work.
Speaker 7 (15:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (15:53):
Last year when you left, the team was five hundred,
so you know things were looking promising and they missed you.
They felt your presence, you know, on that defensive line,
certainly in the run game, but you know you're more
than that. In my opinion, how hard was that for
you to sit there and not be there and seeing
(16:14):
how it all all went down in the end.
Speaker 13 (16:16):
It was tough.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You know.
Speaker 13 (16:18):
My expectation, being ir was be on the sideline at least,
but yeah, with a.
Speaker 16 (16:22):
Peck you can't really be around anybody. So it's sitting
home watching the game. It's a that's a different place.
Speaker 7 (16:28):
Yeah, but now you know that's ancient history.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
That's the way it's got to be in the NFL,
even if you win the bundle, it's a reset of significance. Uh,
do you feel the difference in the building just from
this coaching staff. It's a it's an interestingly built coaching staff.
From a twenty eight year old offensive coordinator to a
sixty nine year old defensive I don't even know that,
but he twenty eight years old to a sixty nine
(16:51):
year old linebackers coach.
Speaker 13 (16:53):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Yeah, I mean, do you feel just a and some
ex players into the mix too of significance?
Speaker 13 (16:59):
Do you feel the.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Change in the ways that they're going about it?
Speaker 13 (17:03):
Yeah, yeah, there's definitely a change.
Speaker 16 (17:04):
Anytime you get a coaching staff change, it's going to
be a change, and the difference is drastic.
Speaker 13 (17:10):
There's forty updowns we start off with it. It was
a big bill.
Speaker 7 (17:16):
I don't know if you heard.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
Kevin Bayern said that it was put on the tape
so you guys got to have a chance to watch it,
and he felt sorry for you.
Speaker 13 (17:26):
That's the funniest thing I've seen on taping, the way.
Speaker 7 (17:29):
Your own self is just watching the whole.
Speaker 13 (17:31):
Thing, myself and everybody, everybody tomorrow.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
How hard was it?
Speaker 16 (17:34):
You know, it was difficult, but it was got you
going in a weird way. It was like, I'm so tired, team, Okay,
here we go. You know, it's basically felt like a game.
Speaker 7 (17:47):
And everybody's got to do it.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
Tom Alex Cook, he was a release right before the
start of camp to make the changes that they needed
to add. Some veterans comes back and he had to
do the forty by himself and the whole defense garreted
around them.
Speaker 7 (18:01):
I think it's a.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
Great story, but it's like, hey, this is what you
got to go through to be one of us, and
anybody comes in from this point forward, well, on defense,
we'll have to.
Speaker 13 (18:11):
Do the forty.
Speaker 8 (18:13):
Big Bill, I got one story, one question. So the
story is every single day that I used to walk
out to training camp, and when I was with the Bears,
the first training camp I came in, we went twenty
two straight days of doubles, full pads every practice, with
conditioning and weightlifting after practice. So that's the old part.
But our defense, you know, hall of famers up and
(18:35):
down the line. They had to do fifty up downs
every pre practice and I used to walk up over
the hill and down to get to the offensive line
coach and going, I am so glad I'm not a
defensive player because I just couldn't imagine myself doing that.
Speaker 17 (18:52):
And you know, so I did feel sorry.
Speaker 8 (18:54):
For those you know, as an ex offensive lineman, I
kind of look at the talent across the ball for me,
and I look at the interior defensive lineman.
Speaker 17 (19:04):
There's no two guys alike.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
I mean, you got your size and strength, you got
Grady's leverage and speed, you got Garrett Givon, Dexter senior
length and stuff, you got Chris Williams, you got for
the whole group of guys. So when you're watching the defense,
kind of go through the paces in film.
Speaker 17 (19:25):
Can you watch a.
Speaker 8 (19:26):
Guy that's not your stay the same template and learn
from him or do you just play according to your
style and your gifts?
Speaker 16 (19:34):
No, I watched the different guys. I do you tried
in practice. If you can't do it all right, then
that's the end of that. If you can then use it,
and with this defensive line, it's great because it's like,
you know you can. You can study me all you want,
but then you know four gonna come up, and then
Deck's gonna come up.
Speaker 13 (19:49):
So pick your poison. You're dealing with something else every rotation.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
One thing that you used to drive me crazy about
you last year is that you are the signal caller
on the defensive line to get the defense, to get
the defensive line to shift, and back in my day,
it was the linebacker that made that call, so you
could kind of get a distance and you wouldn't become
susceptible as jumping. And I used to sit there and
(20:12):
pull my hair out about Big Bill just ruining the
practices by making that move call and getting these guys
to jump at. And it's kind of fun the things
that you gravitate towards if you have a background in football.
And that was it for me when you got here, and.
Speaker 17 (20:31):
He used to just aggravate me.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
You can still do it, right, I still got it
all right, give us one move there you go, simple
as that.
Speaker 8 (20:40):
You got to be attention to it, man, And you're
so close to that center and guards that if you're
thinking about the snap count, you're thinking about your assignment,
and then all of a sudden you hear that you're
jumping one of the five.
Speaker 13 (20:53):
Is about it? All right?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
You got meetings, Thank you so much, appreciate it. Welcome
back man, good to see you. Andrew Buildings our guest
here on ESPN one thousand more Bears weekly after this
on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Want to welcome back to Bears Week become the Bears
Radio Network. Here's your host, the Voice of the Bears.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Jeff Joey calling all small businesses. Your business can be
featured at a Bear's home game. Apply with the Small
Business Off Pros program at Chicago Bears dot com.
Speaker 7 (21:23):
Brought to you by PNC with Tom Day.
Speaker 6 (21:25):
I'm Jeff Jioniak here on Bears Weekly on ESPN Chicago
and the Bears Radio Network. All Right, a couple of
guys at the podium today. Kevin Byard is one of them.
Had a busy summer break. I guess it was called
full time daddy duties. Went down to Alice Beach in
the Panhandle there in Florida for a little vacation. He's
got three kids in a one year old, and he's
(21:46):
very proud to be in his tenth year in the NFL.
Tommy second season with the Bears, and what is a
big remodel with Dennis Allen. As a matter of fact,
check out Chicago Bears dot com. Gabby Heiduke wrote stories
on several Bears, including Cairo SAMs and what they did
on their summer vacation. Well, you know, he loved soccer,
two favorite soccer teams, Flamengo and Chelsea, so he had
(22:08):
a flight book they think at six am to fly
into Philly and June twentieth in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Flight was canceled, so drove to Philly from Florida for
twelve hours through the night. Made it to the stadium
a couple hours beforehand, met some of the Chelsea team,
did a British TV broadcast and had a jersey exchange
(22:29):
with one of the Flamengo stars and then watch the game,
enjoyed it, had dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse, and then
drove twelve more hours back home. So interesting story on
some of the Bears. Check it out on Chicago Bears
dot com. And you know, we talk about the return
of Jakwan Brisker and being healthy and being impactful. I
also look at Kevin Bayern being impactful because outstanding communicator
(22:52):
back there, and that's as important as anything on the
back end of the defense, making sure every gets lined
up okay. But he just has a lot of savvy
to them, and I think, you know, a couple of
years now removed from being a first team All Pro
with the Titans. It's not that long ago, but he's
logged a lot of time, logged a lot of snaps.
It's going to be really important for the safeties this year.
(23:12):
Tom with the style of defense and Dennis Allen wants
to run, which is a lot of man in your
face coverage, and then those safeties, you know, can't can't
get beat deep because if somebody slips by one of
those corners, they gotta patrol a lot of territory, so
lots on them.
Speaker 8 (23:28):
And one thing the importance of a position like the
safety position, because I saw fensic condors and do it
and all the other safeties I played with throughout my career,
is that they can make sure everybody in front of
him is lined up in the right position according to
the offensive formation and then the pre snab movement, and
then if somebody or they can't communicate it to somebody
(23:49):
up front before the ball is snap, they can make
up that distance or make up that ground. They don't
want to freelance that often, but they have to know
everybody's assignment in front of them, and that's one thing
Kevin is great at.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
YEP, extremely durable and reliable. The only game he's missed
in his career.
Speaker 6 (24:06):
Was good at having two byes after getting traded in
twenty twenty three, so they're back to back, so it
didn't count as a full season of games for him,
but he has had a great stretch. He had some
fun with the media after the updowns from Dennis Allen
that had to be done forty of them for every
defensive player, and it brought some humor to the table
(24:28):
as well.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
It was different.
Speaker 9 (24:30):
It kind of took me back to like high school,
you know, almost kind of felt like punishment a little
bit like but no, it's special to me just because
of I think the way Da kind of, you know,
puts it to us.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
It's like, you know, you got.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
To pay the toll. It's a buying, you know what
I mean. It's almost like an initiation, and it's special.
We had a guy, Alex Cooks who who actually reported here,
got released and actually they signed him in I think yesterday.
He flew back into town and to start practice. We
all saw around him and he had did his updowns.
Kind of felt bad w Washington doing by himself, but
(25:05):
at the same time, it's just like that's just one
of those this is like the initiation of his defense,
like and then once he finished, everybody's like welcome to
the defense and got on a practice. So it's funny
to me because he was saying the same thing like,
if we get the week fifteen and we signed, the
guys gonna do fifteen up down, So that's gonna be
to I mean forty uptowns, which is gonna be tough.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
But uh but no, man, that's just what it is. Man.
Speaker 9 (25:23):
I think that's the type of family atmosphere that did
is creating for this defense. Yeah, for sure, he's I
think Tess put it perfectly in the spring. He's a
complex individual for sure.
Speaker 13 (25:36):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (25:36):
I wouldn't say he's sort of like a mad man
or nothing like that, but just the way he sees defense,
the way he wants us to play, the physicality and
the attitude. I think he lives and breathed that every
single day. Forty yes, forty, it's yeah, forty for sure.
Speaker 13 (25:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
No, once you did him, you're good, Yeah, you're good.
Yeah cheap. I don't care if you year at ten
or year one. This thing is real for sure.
Speaker 9 (26:03):
And it was funny because in the meeting we watched
the film yesterday, but because they filmed it, so y'all
know big Bills like three forty. I ain't trying to
joke with big Bills, my dog, But we got to
like twenty bro. He wasn't even getting off the ground
at that point. He was just had on his stumma
picking his RNs up.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
He was doing a jo. Was funny, It was hilarious.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
So we heard from Billings, We heard from Bayern. Just
an excellent communicator. Love listening to him talk at the
podium today. The guys had some success with good teams
in Tennessee. Was with Philadelphia in twenty three after they
acquired him from Tennessee, and came to the Bears last year.
But the next game he plays playoffs included, it would
be one hundred and fifty sixth He's got a winning
record and he's well over nine hundred tackles, so i'd
(26:45):
love to see him get a thousand tackles before his
career ends.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
It's kind of a big me too, kind of a
big numb no.
Speaker 17 (26:49):
He he is the king of durability.
Speaker 8 (26:51):
And we brought it up a little bit earlier, but
I keep like thinking about that interception he had last
year it was one of the greatest. You know, Jakwon
Brisker had a great interception a couple of years ago
in New England, but Kevin Byard had an equally his
beautiful interception last year in Chicago. And so that's what
you want to see out of these safeties. And I
do think that if they have a chance to play
(27:13):
a long stretch together, you'll see Kevin get to that
one thousand tackles and you'll see both of them get
their hands on a lot more football.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
So interesting that now more than one Bears player byared
included at the podium. As you just heard calling Dennis
Allen complex, and that's not a slap in the face,
that's a compliment because he's got a lot of ideas
of how he wants this defense to be and there's
a lot to it because it's big on being flexible,
(27:42):
moving players around different sub packages. I know he you know,
you go through the tree of these coaches and I
didn't realize this too. I did some homework on Dennis Allen,
but he was with the Cowboys with Bill Parcells, so
he learned a lot from Bill Parcells in its style
of defense that he'd like to to put forth and
(28:04):
that begins with violence and intensity number one, but just
being creative and creating mismatches for the offense to deal with.
Speaker 8 (28:12):
You have to have a variety of your players because No. Two,
you know, you're not going to have just a guy
that are from similar templates. You're gonna have a lot
of guys and they're gonna have different frames and different
abilities in the different things they can do of their
strong point. Whether you're talking about first level defensive lineman,
there's a wide variety of sizes and shapes. You look
(28:35):
at the linebacker position, there's a wide variety of speed, sizes,
shapes and lengths. And the same thing in the defensive backfield.
When you talk about youa Kwan Brisker and Kevin Byrd
along with Kyle Gordon in the cornerback positions. Here, I
think the more personnel that is available to our Dennis
has the mental ability to put these guys and use
(28:57):
them and fresh and in the right space.
Speaker 6 (29:00):
You know, you think about Jakwan Brisker and how Dennis
Allen has used safeties in his career, including Tyrone Matthew
who just retired. But remember Malcolm Jenkins. I mean Malcolm
Jenkins was a bad man at safety and deployable. I
see that same ability here with Yakwan Brisker.
Speaker 17 (29:18):
Oh, I agree one hundred percent.
Speaker 8 (29:20):
Jaquan Brisker is just scratching the surface of what he's
capable of being. Now, if everything stays according to plan
in terms of his health and he stays on the field,
I think he creates a tremendous upside to the back
end of this defense. In the last couple of years
that we would go to training camp and we would
see how good the defensive backfield is, how much they
(29:42):
chirped with the offense, but then the results they had,
And I think we'll be able to see it a
couple times this year when they practice against Miami and Buffalo.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
All right, coming up next, a big piece of the
Bears offensive puzzle. It's DeAndre Swift. We'll hear his comments
from the podium at Hallis saw earlier today. This is
ESPN went Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Welcome back to Bears Weekly. Become a Bears Radio Network.
Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff Jolliet.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Igs Energy. Jeff in Tom with you on this week's
edition of Bears Weekly. As the Bears are now two
practices into what is a twenty practice preseason, can't really wait,
honestly until the pads come out.
Speaker 7 (30:26):
We say it every year. It's the best, especially the
one on ones offense and defensive lineman. Can't get enough
of that.
Speaker 6 (30:31):
And I think with the addiction you know of what
they have brought in and a healthy Monteste Sweat and
big number fifty out there Grady Jarrett, I think it's
going to be some really impactful pass rushing one on
ones and pass blocking from those interior three. In the
battle at left tackle and seeing Darnell Wright hopefully rise
(30:51):
to a premier player in year three, I mean that
is going to be where my eyes are going to
take me every day in pads big time.
Speaker 8 (30:59):
Yeah, I agree, one hundred percent. And the battle on
the offensive line is going to be interesting to see
a new offensive line coach, Dan Roshar take a hold
of that position and kind of use his experience in
his coaching skills and turn Ozzi Trapillo a right tackle
is just a mammoth of a guy and have him
be competitive at left tackle, to see what he can
(31:20):
do with a guy that comes from the IVY League
that has all the skills mentally and physically in order
to play at this level, and see what he can
turn Kurana Magaji into in the way Braxon Jones rebound.
And then you talked about Darnell, but the interior three man,
Jonah Drew and Joe those guys on the inside, I
(31:41):
think that they are gonna be able to increase and
upgrade the learning curve of the guys that are behind them.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
And now clear out some space for a guy like
DeAndre Swift a career high thirteen hundred and forty five
yards from scrimmage, six touchdowns last year, but you know
he was not happy with how his individual and teams
success escaped them last year, career worse three point eight
yards per carry. He's definitely eyeballing a big change in
that regard. You look at his connection to the five
(32:09):
and a half yards of carry when he was with
Detroit and the plays that were called by Ben Johnson.
I also feel as a pass catcher that Ben's utilization
of him will be significant. I think in the years
he was there, the two years one hundred and forty
targets in the passing game, so he caught quite a
few balls for Detroit, and I can see him, you know,
(32:31):
on new screens because Ben's all about explosives, and that
doesn't mean a fifty yard bomb. It also means a
five yard toss or a screen for fifty or sixty yards,
and that's the run after the catchability of all these
weapons on the team tight ends backs. But DeAndre Swift's
got the explosive button, right.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
I mean, if you can ignite the alertness of a
defensive coordinator by saying, look, when DeAndre Swift is on
the field, we really have to make sure that responsible
for him, and he puts a linebacker or safety in
height and alert. But that opens the opportunity for other
guys on the field. So the more DeAndre Swift can
do and contribute to the offense, the more opportunities he's
(33:11):
going to open up for the other guys. However, if
Caleb in the quarterbacks, they develop a good working relationship
with DeAndre Swift, as you said that yards after catch,
it can be an incredible asset for this offense. And
I probably is excited about him in that term. Yards
after catch as I am any receiver on this team.
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Yeah, he had four hundred and thirty one yards after
the catch in the passing game with Detroit on those
one hundred and forty one targets over the last over
those two years.
Speaker 7 (33:39):
In twenty one and twenty two.
Speaker 6 (33:40):
All right, let's listen to see what Swift ted san
at the podium here today at Halushol.
Speaker 12 (33:44):
We didn't win them many games last year, so if
you ask anybody on the team, they probably had the
same type of answers.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
I guess.
Speaker 12 (33:50):
I don't think I produced enough to contribute to more
wins obviously, but a lot of stuff I feel like
I'll get better at. I'm just looking back. It's overall
improve its excited for betunity of new years.
Speaker 15 (34:01):
When you talk about the frustration that you had last season,
how much did that drive you on a daily basis
in your training in the off season.
Speaker 12 (34:09):
Uh, very little, to be honest with you, My mentality
is what it is, and it's not going to change.
I didn't produce how I wanted to, but that don't
not gonna work harder because of it. Already work hard.
That's just how I am. That's how I always been,
you know. What I mean, So I got the same
mindset with how it worked.
Speaker 14 (34:25):
It sounds like the identity of the running game is
still kind of forming. How do you get a feel
in the really stage is a camp of how it's
all going to come together and what it's going to
look like.
Speaker 12 (34:33):
Yeah's day too, so it's kind of hard to get
a field, especially you out there and just helmets, you
know what I mean. Once we start putting pads on
and started getting feel probably like week two or three,
probably get a little better fil how everything is moving along.
Speaker 18 (34:45):
Receivers and the quarterback gelling and getting on the same page.
What's the process like for running backs in an offensive line?
And obviously there's so many new guys here. How long
is the type of thing take?
Speaker 12 (34:55):
I said it probably like the next couple of weeks,
long as we as soon as we get passed on
first couple of days on everybody going to be exciting
things like that. But just to get the timing with
them guys and how they work their combos and things
they got to work through, and that's being on time
with them and our landmarks and our cut ups and
things like that, definitely take time.
Speaker 18 (35:12):
Take reps would you describe the experience of playing for
Ben Johnson, because you have some history there and now
you're doing it again.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
I mean, what's it like for you being in that offense.
It's amazing, It's amazing.
Speaker 12 (35:23):
I can't say enough how intelligent and smart he is
as a play caller, him just knowing his personnel and
kind of just putting his guys in positions to succeed.
And that's all across the board. So just excited to
be a part of a part of.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
This team with him leading it. Eric, what's that experience
like to have him in your ear all the time?
It's good.
Speaker 12 (35:45):
It's good old school kind of coach. But me and
he got a good relationship. Man, it's good working for him.
Speaker 6 (35:50):
He can't get past the Eric Banamy angle. He's an
impactful voice and he makes you want to play your
absolute best. And it's a guy who has logged a
lot of NFL experience, not just as a player, but
a long time coach as well. This guy's been in
the league for over twenty years. With that kind of experience,
(36:12):
you tend to gravitate towards a coach and you will
take his hard coaching.
Speaker 13 (36:18):
You will.
Speaker 8 (36:19):
Yeah, ex player thirty years were removed, and he still
makes me nervous as a coach because I know what
his requirements are for his players. And it's so it's okay,
you just have the way you have to look at things.
Every single day you go out to practice. You better
live up to his expectations, else you're not going to
get a lot of opportunities. So every one of these
(36:40):
guys that are coming out here with a running back
jersey on, you better first and foremost impress your coach.
And that's the same way I felt about playing for
Dick Stanfeld. Here's a guy that's a Hall of Fame
offensive lineman, and he knows exactly everything that you're trying
to do to improve and get better and what he's
got to help you with. And that's the same way
Eric the Enemy is with the running back position.
Speaker 6 (37:03):
Also, let's take a look at the rest of the room.
We detailed this in some of our shows in the
past and the offseason. But Roshawn Johnson looks like he's
really good, he looks quick, he can lower his pads.
You got Travis Homer, Kyle Manungay had a terrific run today. Again,
no pads but it was the burst and the escapability
(37:23):
that popped up in a run. It was one of
the best plays of the day in my opinion. And
Ian Wheeler, he looks fast and he's also in the
return game kick return game, trying to work through getting
back from an acl that's gonna always take a little
bit of time, but that happened a year ago, so
he's had plenty of months. And now all that together,
I think it's an interesting collection of backs. They all
(37:46):
do something a little bit different, all right. Coming up
the defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in our final segment, and
maybe a Tom thought Er too, how about that. It's
coming up next on ESPN one thousand of the Bears
Radio Network.
Speaker 17 (37:58):
Is Bears Weekly.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Voice of the Bears for twenty four years with Chef Shone,
a chef on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (38:07):
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletical
Physical Therapy. Visit Athletic but dot com to request it
in clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow.
Jeff and Tom and are remaining moments here out of
sp and one thousand of the Bears Radio Network. A
couple of things Tom the Bears were in ten one
score games and six three point or less games.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Now, they didn't win the majority of those games.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
But with the change in thinking, a change in attitude,
a change in philosophy, a change in the playbook on
both sides of the ball, offense and defense, and a
change with the additions on both sides of the ball,
do you feel that this team can close the gap
on winning one score games. They lost games by a
(38:53):
combined three and a half points. The point differential was
just minus sixty. It wasn't one hundred and fifty or
one hundred and twenty. It was sixty points. That's three
and a half. That's a field goal plus a game,
three and a half points, different roster, different coaches, But
how do you close the gap on winning those one
score games?
Speaker 8 (39:11):
I would put a tape together of all of those
results of last year, and I would show this football
team how close they were being a great football team,
just by a little bit of video evidence. And if
they just understood that if it's a tip finger here,
if it's a you know, just whatever the case was
what didn't allow them to win that game. I would
(39:33):
just make sure that these that these guys know that
they had a lot of fight in them. They brought
it down to the end. But now it's about closing
the door and not giving the team an opportunity to
close the door on them. And I think if you
can just show them subtly how good of a football
team they can be with just the difference in twelve
(39:54):
or fifteen plays, I think that can leave in a
dolible mark on these guys as they prepared for this.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
You know, Dennis Allen's going to be tasked with trying
to get this defense to continue to be a heartbeat,
especially that secondary the heartbeat of the football team. Really,
as we talk about all the time, but the heart
beat is won in a division that's going to be
highly flammable because all the teams in the division have weapons,
they can put points on the board. That's where it
all starts to get to the playoffs. And that's the
(40:22):
way Ben Johnson has this team thinking. That's the way
Dennis Allen has this team thinking. They're not thinking about
just getting better, they're thinking still about going to a
super Bowl. Kevin Byerd said it, others have said it.
That's the mindset. They're about winning right now and You're
gonna have to tailor your game plans in a variety
of different ways. There's gonna be some muddy games, some
(40:42):
games that are going to be six to three, possibly
outside the division, who the heck knows, But the Bears
have to be adaptable and be able to ball out
to fish and fight the black and Blue division wars
that they're gonna see and then maybe have games where
you're gonna be an aerial show. And I think Ben
Johnson can Taylor a game plan sam as Dennis Sown,
Taylor a game plan to fit whatever task is at hand.
(41:05):
Here in the seventeen weeks of the regular season.
Speaker 8 (41:08):
You know, one thing you have to take into account
is where and when. Where are you playing them and
when are you playing them? And so if you can
have a team like you play the second week of
the season, the Detroit Lions, and they have a big
lot of new staff members aboard, and maybe they're still
in the midst of trying to learn what the coaches
are expecting of them, how they're going to call plays,
(41:29):
and what are they trying to do to their football team.
Maybe you can take advantage of a scenario like that.
You got you open up at home and you expect
that Chicago Bear crowd to be loud and proud, and
so maybe that's a Dennis Allen game that comes out
and he's aggressive immediately and he can make big plays
on defense that can help settle in your offense. So
(41:49):
you know where and win is going to be a
big part of this season, and you know, you see
how those first five weeks go before you have that
bye week and then maybe reg group at that point.
Speaker 6 (42:01):
All Right, Dennis Allen's defense plans to be aggressive. That's
how he rolls. Let's listen into his news conference earlier
this week.
Speaker 14 (42:07):
Look, training camp is going to be difficult, and we're
gonna have to be able to overcome when we're tired.
How do we focus, How do we concentrate? How do
we dig down deep inside and rise up and make
plays in critical situations of the game. Uh, And a
lot of times that comes with being being tired. So
it's all just part of you know, as much as
training them physically, it's about training them mentally.
Speaker 7 (42:29):
Do you want to see a vocal leader emerges that
impart to you?
Speaker 14 (42:33):
Well, I think the best defenses that are best teams
that I've ever been on have been player driven, player
led uh and so, but I think that has to
happen naturally. I don't think that's anything that you try
to force to happen. I do think we have some
guys on our team that have some leadership qualities, uh,
And it's kind of our job as coaches to try
(42:54):
to foster that a little bit. Uh, you know, give
them some freedom to make some checks, make some adjustments,
see how they handle it. But I do I feel
good about the type of guys that we have in
our building. I think we have a lot of guys
that the love football, a lot of guys that are
willing to work, a lot of guys are willing to
sacrifice for each other and for the team. And I
(43:16):
think those are things that we're gonna need to count
on throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 6 (43:20):
There's so much about Dennis Allen if you reach back
a little bit, like I alluded to early in the
show about being a Bill Parcells guy early on in
his career. But he's put together some really impactful defenses
tom that have been a premium on limiting points, which
is the key to key you score more points than
the opponent. That's the plan, right, but among the league
leaders in that category in many of his years as
(43:42):
a defensive coordinator and or head coach with the New
Orleans Saints.
Speaker 17 (43:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (43:46):
You know one thing about Dennis Allen. He understands opponents
offenses so well, and he can identify their vulnerabilities and
then he can identify how to use his assets to
take up for those vulnerabilities. That's what you have to
have in a quality defensive coordinator. It's not only about
sitting there and coaching the eleven guys on defense. It's
(44:08):
about understanding what the opponent is trying to do to
you against your defense. And so when you hear Dennis
Allen talk about the podium, or you talk or Ben
Johnson talks about these conversations he has with Dennis Allen,
he gets an understanding of how football knowledge knowledgeable Dennis is.
And I think that's the reason that he's such a
(44:29):
quality coach at this level. And statistically you can see
it in their results.
Speaker 13 (44:34):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (44:35):
He's intense. He's detail oriented. Oh, by the way, so
is Ben Jensen. It's a perfect pairing as well. Native
Texan six top ten scoring defenses since twenty sixteen and
three in the top five. The Saints also ranked top
ten and takeaways five times under Allen. The premium is
in things we're familiar with here in Chicago during the
Levy Smith era, and of course when Matt Eberfluss put
(44:58):
a premium taking the ball away as well.
Speaker 7 (45:00):
So that's in the plan. All right.
Speaker 6 (45:02):
That's gonna wrap us up. Thanks to everyone for listening.
The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network, Eric Ostrowski.
Thanks to Andrew Billings and in the ESPN studios Justin Pottinger,
our Bears producers Dan Brillly, Jordan tread Up, and Katie Fox.
For Tom there, I'm Jeff Joniak. This has been Bears
Weekly on the radio home of the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago.
Speaker 7 (45:21):
Have a good night, everybody. Black and Abdalla are next.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation
The Bears Weekly, hosted by the Mara Bears, Bill, Jeff
Juliacp and Surfmaster Tom Thayer. Podcasts were available on the
Chicago Bears offishal app brought to you by Verizon.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
And Apple Podcasts. Bears Weekly has been brought to you
by the Miller Life
Welcome in Tough Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy, a
Chicago Bears Network production.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Bears Weekly is.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Brought to you by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Physical Therapy, CD Collaghy, Connie's Pizza, IGS Energy.
Speaker 5 (00:17):
And Meta Liked.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Here are your hosts, Jeff Jilliac, KKA, the Mayor of
Bearsville and is sidekick Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 6 (00:26):
A couple of days of practice and we already see
a big difference in how the Chicago Bears are going
to roll this season. Hi, everybody, it is Bears Weekly
on ESPN one thousand and the Chicago Bears Radio Network
with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff
Joniac coming up with the program. We visit with Bears
defensive tackle Andrew Billings and we're gonna hear a series
of podium sound from Bear's head coach Ben Johnson, safety
(00:48):
Kevin Byard, running back DeAndre Swift, and defensive coordinator Dennis
Allen throughout the show. Justin Pottinger is our producer in
studio tonight thanks to Dan Burrilly, Jordan tread Up and
Katie Fox, and the executive producer of the Bears Radio Network.
Is Eric Ostrowski. All right, big Tom, we have arrived
practice this week. Pads come out on Monday of next week,
(01:09):
so the ramp up period is, you know, without pads,
but anything but a ramp up. I mean, these guys
are working and it's a different time in place right now,
and Ben Johnson has everybody's attention.
Speaker 7 (01:21):
I'll tell you that.
Speaker 8 (01:22):
Well, you know, Jeff, I got to go back a
couple weeks because you and I did an interview with
Drew Dolman and I was saying, Drew, I remember going
down to training camp in Atlanta when my brother in
law played there, and I couldn't believe the unbearable heat
that there used to be in Atlanta, And you know,
I kind of had the feel good story that the
temperatures were going to be perfect. And listen, man, the
first couple days of camp, even though they weren't pads,
(01:44):
weren't very heat forgiving. So I think that's a little
bit of good little sock in the face just to
let these players know improve that they are in shape.
But this is underway now and that's in the rearview mirror,
and so everything is full steam ahead. And every time
Ben Johnson gets to the podium, I like to hear
what his thoughts about the day, about the practice and
(02:06):
the upcoming events.
Speaker 7 (02:07):
Yeah, and it's good. That's the first thing in the
morning too.
Speaker 9 (02:10):
You know.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
He arrived at the podium earlier the day and said,
how we like these early morning practices.
Speaker 8 (02:17):
You know, this is kind of the style of practice
when we were in the old days of football, when
we had too a day's We are on the field
at seven fifty am for pre specialty period and then
that kind of led us into the first practice. Then
you had that midday opening, and then you went into
the evening practice. So I'm super familiar with these early
morning sessions and I absolutely love them.
Speaker 6 (02:38):
All Right, here's the update on players who are not
practicing just yet, and it's the rookies. Wide receiver Luther
Burden the third soft tissue injury, so it lingered a
little longer after that happened in rookie mini camp, so
he remains day to day. Shamart Turner, the second round
defensive tackle defensive lineman, suffered an angle injury on day one.
They're still checking on that. Zeve Fraser excuse for personnel reasons.
(03:01):
The fifth round cornerback, and of course Jalen Johnson, just
want to minimize those injuries as much as you can
and hopefully you don't have any serious ones one.
Speaker 8 (03:10):
Hundred percent get them right by the time they're in
full pads, because that's when really football evaluations start. When
I think of the Jalen Johnson injury, it makes me
think immediately a Terrell Smith, because here's a guy that
missed a little bit of time in the offseason because
of injury, but now he's going to be healthy and
ready to roll and probably steps up and gives the
coaches an opportunity to a little bit more of an
(03:33):
honest evaluation of how Terrell Smith fits onto this football
team because he has cornerback qualities and traits and like
you say, you can never have enough good cornerbacks.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
Right and right now, taking first team snaps is nation
on right. He'd been there through entire offseason program. Fifth
year player, was on the defense with Al Harris in Dallas,
so there's.
Speaker 7 (03:55):
A familiarity there.
Speaker 6 (03:56):
He's a big, long guy, and so he's been with
the Dallas Cowboys in the Minnesota Vikings thirty three games
in his career with three starts and thirty seven tackles.
So again that connection to former coaches that with players
that come in, that's always something of significant. So keep
an eye on that. There's nineteen defensive backs on this team.
So all right, let's listen to the sum of Ben
(04:16):
Johnson from the podium early this morning at Halishov.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Had a great practice yesterday. Good start.
Speaker 10 (04:22):
Guys were excited, effort was there, and tensity was there.
It was fun to watch them fly around. I know,
I know some people enjoyed me throwing the first team
out of practice.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Not the case.
Speaker 10 (04:36):
We're on a time crunch, as you guys all know.
We got ninety minutes there that first day. We're up
to one hundred and five here today, so I just
need to keep things moving on along there or else
other guys weren't going.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
To be able to get their reps.
Speaker 10 (04:47):
So but point is, though, we got to be on
our p's and our cues in every minute.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Every rep is really valuable as well. So with that,
I'll go ahead and open it up out there.
Speaker 10 (05:01):
No, I'm good, I'm good. Like it is what it is,
you know, Uh, our guys we got to end up
executing getting in and out of the huddle a certain
way and it wasn't that way, and so we'll be
better today.
Speaker 11 (05:17):
Caber is that everybody.
Speaker 10 (05:18):
It's everybody, it's every We're we're learning, we're growing. You know,
there were some things from the springtime expected to carry
over that that was probably one we just don't have
any tolerance for anymore.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
We got we got too far to go.
Speaker 12 (05:30):
Do you find that they're very receptive in those moments too, Yeah?
Speaker 10 (05:33):
Yeah, everyone they know it's not good enough. So it's
just keep the train moving.
Speaker 11 (05:38):
With Luthor, we're not here every day during the off
season program. How much work did he get in in
May and June and how much catching up is going
to be.
Speaker 10 (05:49):
Involved everything that that our training staff is telling us
we can do physically with them, we're utilizing. I know
Coach Randall L's been and all over them in meetings,
keeping them involved. He's being he's being quizzed NonStop. Our
quarterbacks are taking them to the side, whether it's it's
walkthroughs on their own. So he's utilizing that time as
(06:12):
much as he can. But there's really no substitute for
full speed reps, and so the sooner we get him
out there, the quicker he can carve a role for himself.
Speaker 13 (06:21):
Days weeks.
Speaker 10 (06:22):
Yeah, I'm hopeful. It's just a few days. You know,
we're saying day to day right now. Those sometimes those
soft tissues you can't predict. Everyone's a little bit different.
Some guys take longer than others. So uh, like I said,
just it was hopeful, and we'll keep on trucking on along.
Speaker 14 (06:38):
And what as you learned about your running backs?
Speaker 5 (06:40):
Shoot?
Speaker 10 (06:41):
Uh, we'll find out more once we get the pads on.
But extremely coachable improvements on the tracks every single day.
Just we're very detailed with where we want them to go.
They they're all about it. Coach Bmy's doing a phenomenal job.
He's very demanded. I think it's one of the more
demanding coaches I've been around. I think they're receptive to
(07:03):
that type of coaching. I think Swift has done a
great job come back this from the summer. He's in
great shape. He had some plays yesterday that weren't ideal.
We might have had a guy unblocked in the hole,
and yet he's able to extend it and make something happen.
Beyond so highly motivated group. I know the perception out
(07:25):
there is that maybe it's not the most talented room
in the world. They like to hear that noise, so
we're gonna be just fine.
Speaker 15 (07:33):
Then you told us when you got here that you
were going to run the Bears offense, not the Detroit
Lions offense from last year the year before. But in
terms of like run pass split, are there principles you
believe in that you want to be around a.
Speaker 10 (07:44):
Certain number, No, no, that there are not. Every game
is its own entity, and that's what I learned. I mean,
I saw it for a number of years when I
was in Miami. The New England Patriots were really the
top of the league for so long, and each week
you just didn't know offense and defense, they just continued
to morph, and they had their opponents guessing. You didn't
(08:05):
know what Belichick was going to pull out front wise
or coverage wise on defense. You didn't know what McDaniels
was going to do on all he might throw at
fifty times, he might run at fifty times, and standing
from afar seeing how dominant that was. I think that's
a really good tactic to have. That's something that I
would like to do here as well. You know, it's
we got the elements play a role, our talent plays
(08:27):
a role. Who we're going against plays a role. It
all plays a piece into the puzzle, and that's what's
fun about each game week.
Speaker 6 (08:33):
He addressed a lot tom including the running back position
we touched on on Our Bears podcast. You know, there's
this assumption that the Bears might still be looking for
a veteran that's still out there in free agency, but
I think they have all sorts of types of backs
that Ben Johnson feels very comfortable with, not the least
of which is the starter DeAndre Swif, whom he coached
and did well with in Detroit.
Speaker 8 (08:54):
You know what, the running back position, you're going to
have a wide variety of responsibilities in order for this
offense to be successful. So the longer you hear, the
more that you can mentally and physically contribute. If there
is a guy out there that Ryan Poles thinks is
worthy of a training camp tryout, then you're going to
have a lot of catching up to do. And I
(09:14):
think when you go out there and you script these
different periods, whether it's nine on seven the inside run,
or it's the team work or seven on seven, you
want to make sure that you guys have eleven guys
or seven guys that are fully up to speed and
they can run the plays efficiently. So that's something that's
going to have to work itself out in training camp
(09:36):
or at that position specifically.
Speaker 6 (09:38):
All right, when we come back, we'll be joined by
Andrew Billings, one of our favorite players here on the
Chicago Bears.
Speaker 7 (09:43):
He's coming up next.
Speaker 6 (09:45):
This is Bears Weekly on the ESPN Chicago and the
Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
twenty four years, Chef Jone at Chef Jony on the
Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
IGS Energy. Welcome back, everybody, the Bears Weekly here on
ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl
winning Bears guard Tom Thayer, Jeff Joniak, and Andrew Billings.
Speaker 7 (10:13):
Our guest this week. How you doing, my friend. I'm
good to see you. We missed you. How you're feeling?
Speaker 6 (10:18):
First and foremost, I know that had to kill you
last year with the injury, But how do you feel
and how'd you get through it?
Speaker 13 (10:25):
I'm feeling good right now. Getting through it was tough.
Speaker 16 (10:28):
In the beginning for sure, having a surgery like that.
I've never tore a pick before, but it came back
astro on the field and did in the weight room,
So yeah, yes, that's good.
Speaker 8 (10:39):
So I know that Billy got the reputation being one
of the strongest guys in the NFL, and I was
a strong guy like you, and I played and I
was interested about the recovery of an injury like that,
and what were the incremental improvements that you went through,
not only proving ground to yourself, but make sure the
muscles repairing.
Speaker 17 (10:58):
So what was that like?
Speaker 16 (10:59):
First is getting that motion back, you know, almost like
an ac joint, get your hand over your head. And then
really where it started was the weight room. It was
a way more difficult in the weight room than it
was in the field, and like bench and stuff. Once
you racket, you know, you kind of fill it after
your racket and kind of posts for a little bit.
But the doctor said, you know, once you saw it
(11:20):
back in, it's stronger than you're right, So.
Speaker 17 (11:22):
I know for the word went back to it.
Speaker 8 (11:24):
I mean, and then when you're talking about that kind
of strong that that's a unique quality to have. So
in this new style of defense, and what's required out
of you from Dennis Allen is your strength and asset
in the combat style of play he wants you to have.
Speaker 16 (11:39):
Yeah, yeah, this is not back defense. So strength is
always always valuable.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
What's your all time bench?
Speaker 13 (11:47):
All time? Actually high school? Five hundred?
Speaker 6 (11:52):
You got the five hundred, Tom, tell me your story
about five hundred.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
So I had a really hard time overcoming four ninety
five to five hundred. It was a mental hurdle I
couldn't get to. And so we are down in Atlanta
practicing before the Super Bowl and I had four ninety
five on the bench and down there in that weight room,
it's got these cowboy style doors on the old weight
room back in the day, and all of a sudden
that doors get kicked open. They start swinging, and Nick
(12:18):
Michael walks through. McMichael was a strong guy himself, and
he looks at the bar on each side of it.
He goes, put the two and a half's on each side,
you sissy, And you know, Bill, It's like when you
talk about the gains in weight up to those levels,
it is a mental hurdle in some of those weights
(12:39):
that you know, you got to convince yourself that you
have the capabilities of doing it.
Speaker 13 (12:43):
That's true. It's it's your brain telling you don't go down.
That's right. That's how I felt in power.
Speaker 16 (12:49):
Your brain tells you, no, don't do this, isn't safe,
So you know I'm going to go ahead and do it.
Speaker 6 (12:53):
Anyways, new coaches in the weight room, Well, what's that
change been like? And do you see guys getting a
lot stronger this year the offseason?
Speaker 16 (13:00):
And to there, yes, yes, we are definitely getting stronger.
It's more Olympic, a lot more you know, split squads
and stuff like that, and working those type Olympic lifts, snatches,
things like that, And I've felt a huge different for myself,
especially come back from the pet boy.
Speaker 8 (13:17):
Ryan Poles told us the other day that Ben Johnson's
in there doing some heavy lifting, some powerlifting style stuff
and actually making some grunts and groans during his lifting.
But let's talk about defense a little bit, because you know,
I've been an offensive player my whole life, and I
know when they install a new offense, the learning process
is difficult because all eleven guys got to make sure
(13:39):
they get on the same page. What is the learning
process of a new defense for you and how challenging
is it, how complicated is it? And if you're a veteran,
is it easier to learn?
Speaker 16 (13:52):
If a veteran, yeah, it's easy to learn because you
have better habits. I'll say that much. But here we
went on it four times from now, so it's it's
really has been hammered in and when we got back
here this week, it really it clicked. I mean for
a lot of people.
Speaker 8 (14:08):
So is it something that in the sixth week time
period that you have off from the end of mandatory
mini camp to one year report, you guys have to
stay in your tablet because you know, offensive guys that
are learning for the first time, you know it's mandatory
to stay in your tablet.
Speaker 17 (14:22):
Do you have to or does it just come back to.
Speaker 13 (14:24):
You now you got to stay in your tablet.
Speaker 16 (14:26):
I think sometimes when you study on your own kind
of helps because you get to make your mistakes on
your own and call your coach and say, hey, is
this right and he's like, no, that's not right.
Speaker 13 (14:33):
Are yeah, that's right.
Speaker 16 (14:34):
So you kind of know what you have, know what
you don't, and then we get back in the building,
it's just refresh again.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
Andrew buildings.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Our guest here on a SPN one thousand of the
Bears Radio Network, tell us about some of your new
teammates and some of the young guys that you know
are going to be pushing they try to get into
that rotation on the defensive.
Speaker 13 (14:50):
Mind great, he's great. Love working with him. Weight room too,
he's with me, so oh yeah, good, good, good, lift
with him.
Speaker 16 (14:58):
The young guys are moving then they're is clicking for
them too, quicker than I've seen and this is not
the easiest defense to learn. So it's really nice. But
they had their rookie mini campra and you can tell
they really went over over their stuff.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
Yeah, Grady Jarrett's impact, I'm certain. I mean, even when
he's at the podium, you could just feel his energy.
And we've always enjoyed, maybe didn't look forward to facing
him because we knew he's a guy you had a
circle you got to you gotta stop him in order
to get things going offensively. But it's got to be
kind of interesting for him because now this is your
third team. But this is the first time in his
(15:32):
eleven years that he's changing. Even in college, he never
left the state of Georgia, so has he talked about
that at all? And is it or is he just
the kind of personality he just fits in with everybody
right away.
Speaker 13 (15:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 16 (15:44):
I mean he's a pro, so it just fits it
fits in with the business. And he came in and
was on the stuff like he's been there, so he
just slid right in with the work.
Speaker 7 (15:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (15:53):
Last year when you left, the team was five hundred,
so you know things were looking promising and they missed you.
They felt your presence, you know, on that defensive line,
certainly in the run game, but you know you're more
than that. In my opinion, how hard was that for
you to sit there and not be there and seeing
(16:14):
how it all all went down in the end.
Speaker 13 (16:16):
It was tough.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
You know.
Speaker 13 (16:18):
My expectation, being ir was be on the sideline at least,
but yeah, with a.
Speaker 16 (16:22):
Peck you can't really be around anybody. So it's sitting
home watching the game. It's a that's a different place.
Speaker 7 (16:28):
Yeah, but now you know that's ancient history.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
That's the way it's got to be in the NFL,
even if you win the bundle, it's a reset of significance. Uh,
do you feel the difference in the building just from
this coaching staff. It's a it's an interestingly built coaching staff.
From a twenty eight year old offensive coordinator to a
sixty nine year old defensive I don't even know that,
but he twenty eight years old to a sixty nine
(16:51):
year old linebackers coach.
Speaker 13 (16:53):
Wow.
Speaker 6 (16:53):
Yeah, I mean, do you feel just a and some
ex players into the mix too of significance?
Speaker 13 (16:59):
Do you feel the.
Speaker 7 (17:00):
Change in the ways that they're going about it?
Speaker 13 (17:03):
Yeah, yeah, there's definitely a change.
Speaker 16 (17:04):
Anytime you get a coaching staff change, it's going to
be a change, and the difference is drastic.
Speaker 13 (17:10):
There's forty updowns we start off with it. It was
a big bill.
Speaker 7 (17:16):
I don't know if you heard.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
Kevin Bayern said that it was put on the tape
so you guys got to have a chance to watch it,
and he felt sorry for you.
Speaker 13 (17:26):
That's the funniest thing I've seen on taping, the way.
Speaker 7 (17:29):
Your own self is just watching the whole.
Speaker 13 (17:31):
Thing, myself and everybody, everybody tomorrow.
Speaker 7 (17:33):
How hard was it?
Speaker 16 (17:34):
You know, it was difficult, but it was got you
going in a weird way. It was like, I'm so tired, team, Okay,
here we go. You know, it's basically felt like a game.
Speaker 7 (17:47):
And everybody's got to do it.
Speaker 6 (17:48):
Tom Alex Cook, he was a release right before the
start of camp to make the changes that they needed
to add. Some veterans comes back and he had to
do the forty by himself and the whole defense garreted
around them.
Speaker 7 (18:01):
I think it's a.
Speaker 6 (18:02):
Great story, but it's like, hey, this is what you
got to go through to be one of us, and
anybody comes in from this point forward, well, on defense,
we'll have to.
Speaker 13 (18:11):
Do the forty.
Speaker 8 (18:13):
Big Bill, I got one story, one question. So the
story is every single day that I used to walk
out to training camp, and when I was with the Bears,
the first training camp I came in, we went twenty
two straight days of doubles, full pads every practice, with
conditioning and weightlifting after practice. So that's the old part.
But our defense, you know, hall of famers up and
(18:35):
down the line. They had to do fifty up downs
every pre practice and I used to walk up over
the hill and down to get to the offensive line
coach and going, I am so glad I'm not a
defensive player because I just couldn't imagine myself doing that.
Speaker 17 (18:52):
And you know, so I did feel sorry.
Speaker 8 (18:54):
For those you know, as an ex offensive lineman, I
kind of look at the talent across the ball for me,
and I look at the interior defensive lineman.
Speaker 17 (19:04):
There's no two guys alike.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
I mean, you got your size and strength, you got
Grady's leverage and speed, you got Garrett Givon, Dexter senior
length and stuff, you got Chris Williams, you got for
the whole group of guys. So when you're watching the defense,
kind of go through the paces in film.
Speaker 17 (19:25):
Can you watch a.
Speaker 8 (19:26):
Guy that's not your stay the same template and learn
from him or do you just play according to your
style and your gifts?
Speaker 16 (19:34):
No, I watched the different guys. I do you tried
in practice. If you can't do it all right, then
that's the end of that. If you can then use it,
and with this defensive line, it's great because it's like,
you know you can. You can study me all you want,
but then you know four gonna come up, and then
Deck's gonna come up.
Speaker 13 (19:49):
So pick your poison. You're dealing with something else every rotation.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
One thing that you used to drive me crazy about
you last year is that you are the signal caller
on the defensive line to get the defense, to get
the defensive line to shift, and back in my day,
it was the linebacker that made that call, so you
could kind of get a distance and you wouldn't become
susceptible as jumping. And I used to sit there and
(20:12):
pull my hair out about Big Bill just ruining the
practices by making that move call and getting these guys
to jump at. And it's kind of fun the things
that you gravitate towards if you have a background in football.
And that was it for me when you got here, and.
Speaker 17 (20:31):
He used to just aggravate me.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
You can still do it, right, I still got it
all right, give us one move there you go, simple
as that.
Speaker 8 (20:40):
You got to be attention to it, man, And you're
so close to that center and guards that if you're
thinking about the snap count, you're thinking about your assignment,
and then all of a sudden you hear that you're
jumping one of the five.
Speaker 13 (20:53):
Is about it? All right?
Speaker 6 (20:55):
You got meetings, Thank you so much, appreciate it. Welcome
back man, good to see you. Andrew Buildings our guest
here on ESPN one thousand more Bears weekly after this
on ESPN Chicago and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
Want to welcome back to Bears Week become the Bears
Radio Network. Here's your host, the Voice of the Bears.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Jeff Joey calling all small businesses. Your business can be
featured at a Bear's home game. Apply with the Small
Business Off Pros program at Chicago Bears dot com.
Speaker 7 (21:23):
Brought to you by PNC with Tom Day.
Speaker 6 (21:25):
I'm Jeff Jioniak here on Bears Weekly on ESPN Chicago
and the Bears Radio Network. All Right, a couple of
guys at the podium today. Kevin Byard is one of them.
Had a busy summer break. I guess it was called
full time daddy duties. Went down to Alice Beach in
the Panhandle there in Florida for a little vacation. He's
got three kids in a one year old, and he's
(21:46):
very proud to be in his tenth year in the NFL.
Tommy second season with the Bears, and what is a
big remodel with Dennis Allen. As a matter of fact,
check out Chicago Bears dot com. Gabby Heiduke wrote stories
on several Bears, including Cairo SAMs and what they did
on their summer vacation. Well, you know, he loved soccer,
two favorite soccer teams, Flamengo and Chelsea, so he had
(22:08):
a flight book they think at six am to fly
into Philly and June twentieth in the FIFA Club World Cup.
Flight was canceled, so drove to Philly from Florida for
twelve hours through the night. Made it to the stadium
a couple hours beforehand, met some of the Chelsea team,
did a British TV broadcast and had a jersey exchange
(22:29):
with one of the Flamengo stars and then watch the game,
enjoyed it, had dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse, and then
drove twelve more hours back home. So interesting story on
some of the Bears. Check it out on Chicago Bears
dot com. And you know, we talk about the return
of Jakwan Brisker and being healthy and being impactful. I
also look at Kevin Bayern being impactful because outstanding communicator
(22:52):
back there, and that's as important as anything on the
back end of the defense, making sure every gets lined
up okay. But he just has a lot of savvy
to them, and I think, you know, a couple of
years now removed from being a first team All Pro
with the Titans. It's not that long ago, but he's
logged a lot of time, logged a lot of snaps.
It's going to be really important for the safeties this year.
(23:12):
Tom with the style of defense and Dennis Allen wants
to run, which is a lot of man in your
face coverage, and then those safeties, you know, can't can't
get beat deep because if somebody slips by one of
those corners, they gotta patrol a lot of territory, so
lots on them.
Speaker 8 (23:28):
And one thing the importance of a position like the
safety position, because I saw fensic condors and do it
and all the other safeties I played with throughout my career,
is that they can make sure everybody in front of
him is lined up in the right position according to
the offensive formation and then the pre snab movement, and
then if somebody or they can't communicate it to somebody
(23:49):
up front before the ball is snap, they can make
up that distance or make up that ground. They don't
want to freelance that often, but they have to know
everybody's assignment in front of them, and that's one thing
Kevin is great at.
Speaker 7 (24:02):
YEP, extremely durable and reliable. The only game he's missed
in his career.
Speaker 6 (24:06):
Was good at having two byes after getting traded in
twenty twenty three, so they're back to back, so it
didn't count as a full season of games for him,
but he has had a great stretch. He had some
fun with the media after the updowns from Dennis Allen
that had to be done forty of them for every
defensive player, and it brought some humor to the table
(24:28):
as well.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
It was different.
Speaker 9 (24:30):
It kind of took me back to like high school,
you know, almost kind of felt like punishment a little
bit like but no, it's special to me just because
of I think the way Da kind of, you know,
puts it to us.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
It's like, you know, you got.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
To pay the toll. It's a buying, you know what
I mean. It's almost like an initiation, and it's special.
We had a guy, Alex Cooks who who actually reported here,
got released and actually they signed him in I think yesterday.
He flew back into town and to start practice. We
all saw around him and he had did his updowns.
Kind of felt bad w Washington doing by himself, but
(25:05):
at the same time, it's just like that's just one
of those this is like the initiation of his defense,
like and then once he finished, everybody's like welcome to
the defense and got on a practice. So it's funny
to me because he was saying the same thing like,
if we get the week fifteen and we signed, the
guys gonna do fifteen up down, So that's gonna be
to I mean forty uptowns, which is gonna be tough.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
But uh but no, man, that's just what it is. Man.
Speaker 9 (25:23):
I think that's the type of family atmosphere that did
is creating for this defense. Yeah, for sure, he's I
think Tess put it perfectly in the spring. He's a
complex individual for sure.
Speaker 13 (25:36):
Uh.
Speaker 9 (25:36):
I wouldn't say he's sort of like a mad man
or nothing like that, but just the way he sees defense,
the way he wants us to play, the physicality and
the attitude. I think he lives and breathed that every
single day. Forty yes, forty, it's yeah, forty for sure.
Speaker 13 (25:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:53):
No, once you did him, you're good, Yeah, you're good.
Yeah cheap. I don't care if you year at ten
or year one. This thing is real for sure.
Speaker 9 (26:03):
And it was funny because in the meeting we watched
the film yesterday, but because they filmed it, so y'all
know big Bills like three forty. I ain't trying to
joke with big Bills, my dog, But we got to
like twenty bro. He wasn't even getting off the ground
at that point. He was just had on his stumma
picking his RNs up.
Speaker 5 (26:19):
He was doing a jo. Was funny, It was hilarious.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
So we heard from Billings, We heard from Bayern. Just
an excellent communicator. Love listening to him talk at the
podium today. The guys had some success with good teams
in Tennessee. Was with Philadelphia in twenty three after they
acquired him from Tennessee, and came to the Bears last year.
But the next game he plays playoffs included, it would
be one hundred and fifty sixth He's got a winning
record and he's well over nine hundred tackles, so i'd
(26:45):
love to see him get a thousand tackles before his
career ends.
Speaker 7 (26:47):
It's kind of a big me too, kind of a
big numb no.
Speaker 17 (26:49):
He he is the king of durability.
Speaker 8 (26:51):
And we brought it up a little bit earlier, but
I keep like thinking about that interception he had last
year it was one of the greatest. You know, Jakwon
Brisker had a great interception a couple of years ago
in New England, but Kevin Byard had an equally his
beautiful interception last year in Chicago. And so that's what
you want to see out of these safeties. And I
do think that if they have a chance to play
(27:13):
a long stretch together, you'll see Kevin get to that
one thousand tackles and you'll see both of them get
their hands on a lot more football.
Speaker 6 (27:20):
So interesting that now more than one Bears player byared
included at the podium. As you just heard calling Dennis
Allen complex, and that's not a slap in the face,
that's a compliment because he's got a lot of ideas
of how he wants this defense to be and there's
a lot to it because it's big on being flexible,
(27:42):
moving players around different sub packages. I know he you know,
you go through the tree of these coaches and I
didn't realize this too. I did some homework on Dennis Allen,
but he was with the Cowboys with Bill Parcells, so
he learned a lot from Bill Parcells in its style
of defense that he'd like to to put forth and
(28:04):
that begins with violence and intensity number one, but just
being creative and creating mismatches for the offense to deal with.
Speaker 8 (28:12):
You have to have a variety of your players because No. Two,
you know, you're not going to have just a guy
that are from similar templates. You're gonna have a lot
of guys and they're gonna have different frames and different
abilities in the different things they can do of their
strong point. Whether you're talking about first level defensive lineman,
there's a wide variety of sizes and shapes. You look
(28:35):
at the linebacker position, there's a wide variety of speed, sizes,
shapes and lengths. And the same thing in the defensive backfield.
When you talk about youa Kwan Brisker and Kevin Byrd
along with Kyle Gordon in the cornerback positions. Here, I
think the more personnel that is available to our Dennis
has the mental ability to put these guys and use
(28:57):
them and fresh and in the right space.
Speaker 6 (29:00):
You know, you think about Jakwan Brisker and how Dennis
Allen has used safeties in his career, including Tyrone Matthew
who just retired. But remember Malcolm Jenkins. I mean Malcolm
Jenkins was a bad man at safety and deployable. I
see that same ability here with Yakwan Brisker.
Speaker 17 (29:18):
Oh, I agree one hundred percent.
Speaker 8 (29:20):
Jaquan Brisker is just scratching the surface of what he's
capable of being. Now, if everything stays according to plan
in terms of his health and he stays on the field,
I think he creates a tremendous upside to the back
end of this defense. In the last couple of years
that we would go to training camp and we would
see how good the defensive backfield is, how much they
(29:42):
chirped with the offense, but then the results they had,
And I think we'll be able to see it a
couple times this year when they practice against Miami and Buffalo.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
All right, coming up next, a big piece of the
Bears offensive puzzle. It's DeAndre Swift. We'll hear his comments
from the podium at Hallis saw earlier today. This is
ESPN went Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Welcome back to Bears Weekly. Become a Bears Radio Network.
Here's your host, the voice of the Bears, Jeff Jolliet.
Speaker 6 (30:13):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Igs Energy. Jeff in Tom with you on this week's
edition of Bears Weekly. As the Bears are now two
practices into what is a twenty practice preseason, can't really wait,
honestly until the pads come out.
Speaker 7 (30:26):
We say it every year. It's the best, especially the
one on ones offense and defensive lineman. Can't get enough
of that.
Speaker 6 (30:31):
And I think with the addiction you know of what
they have brought in and a healthy Monteste Sweat and
big number fifty out there Grady Jarrett, I think it's
going to be some really impactful pass rushing one on
ones and pass blocking from those interior three. In the
battle at left tackle and seeing Darnell Wright hopefully rise
(30:51):
to a premier player in year three, I mean that
is going to be where my eyes are going to
take me every day in pads big time.
Speaker 8 (30:59):
Yeah, I agree, one hundred percent. And the battle on
the offensive line is going to be interesting to see
a new offensive line coach, Dan Roshar take a hold
of that position and kind of use his experience in
his coaching skills and turn Ozzi Trapillo a right tackle
is just a mammoth of a guy and have him
be competitive at left tackle, to see what he can
(31:20):
do with a guy that comes from the IVY League
that has all the skills mentally and physically in order
to play at this level, and see what he can
turn Kurana Magaji into in the way Braxon Jones rebound.
And then you talked about Darnell, but the interior three man,
Jonah Drew and Joe those guys on the inside, I
(31:41):
think that they are gonna be able to increase and
upgrade the learning curve of the guys that are behind them.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
And now clear out some space for a guy like
DeAndre Swift a career high thirteen hundred and forty five
yards from scrimmage, six touchdowns last year, but you know
he was not happy with how his individual and teams
success escaped them last year, career worse three point eight
yards per carry. He's definitely eyeballing a big change in
that regard. You look at his connection to the five
(32:09):
and a half yards of carry when he was with
Detroit and the plays that were called by Ben Johnson.
I also feel as a pass catcher that Ben's utilization
of him will be significant. I think in the years
he was there, the two years one hundred and forty
targets in the passing game, so he caught quite a
few balls for Detroit, and I can see him, you know,
(32:31):
on new screens because Ben's all about explosives, and that
doesn't mean a fifty yard bomb. It also means a
five yard toss or a screen for fifty or sixty yards,
and that's the run after the catchability of all these
weapons on the team tight ends backs. But DeAndre Swift's
got the explosive button, right.
Speaker 8 (32:49):
I mean, if you can ignite the alertness of a
defensive coordinator by saying, look, when DeAndre Swift is on
the field, we really have to make sure that responsible
for him, and he puts a linebacker or safety in
height and alert. But that opens the opportunity for other
guys on the field. So the more DeAndre Swift can
do and contribute to the offense, the more opportunities he's
(33:11):
going to open up for the other guys. However, if
Caleb in the quarterbacks, they develop a good working relationship
with DeAndre Swift, as you said that yards after catch,
it can be an incredible asset for this offense. And
I probably is excited about him in that term. Yards
after catch as I am any receiver on this team.
Speaker 6 (33:32):
Yeah, he had four hundred and thirty one yards after
the catch in the passing game with Detroit on those
one hundred and forty one targets over the last over
those two years.
Speaker 7 (33:39):
In twenty one and twenty two.
Speaker 6 (33:40):
All right, let's listen to see what Swift ted san
at the podium here today at Halushol.
Speaker 12 (33:44):
We didn't win them many games last year, so if
you ask anybody on the team, they probably had the
same type of answers.
Speaker 5 (33:50):
I guess.
Speaker 12 (33:50):
I don't think I produced enough to contribute to more
wins obviously, but a lot of stuff I feel like
I'll get better at. I'm just looking back. It's overall
improve its excited for betunity of new years.
Speaker 15 (34:01):
When you talk about the frustration that you had last season,
how much did that drive you on a daily basis
in your training in the off season.
Speaker 12 (34:09):
Uh, very little, to be honest with you, My mentality
is what it is, and it's not going to change.
I didn't produce how I wanted to, but that don't
not gonna work harder because of it. Already work hard.
That's just how I am. That's how I always been,
you know. What I mean, So I got the same
mindset with how it worked.
Speaker 14 (34:25):
It sounds like the identity of the running game is
still kind of forming. How do you get a feel
in the really stage is a camp of how it's
all going to come together and what it's going to
look like.
Speaker 12 (34:33):
Yeah's day too, so it's kind of hard to get
a field, especially you out there and just helmets, you
know what I mean. Once we start putting pads on
and started getting feel probably like week two or three,
probably get a little better fil how everything is moving along.
Speaker 18 (34:45):
Receivers and the quarterback gelling and getting on the same page.
What's the process like for running backs in an offensive line?
And obviously there's so many new guys here. How long
is the type of thing take?
Speaker 12 (34:55):
I said it probably like the next couple of weeks,
long as we as soon as we get passed on
first couple of days on everybody going to be exciting
things like that. But just to get the timing with
them guys and how they work their combos and things
they got to work through, and that's being on time
with them and our landmarks and our cut ups and
things like that, definitely take time.
Speaker 18 (35:12):
Take reps would you describe the experience of playing for
Ben Johnson, because you have some history there and now
you're doing it again.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
I mean, what's it like for you being in that offense.
It's amazing, It's amazing.
Speaker 12 (35:23):
I can't say enough how intelligent and smart he is
as a play caller, him just knowing his personnel and
kind of just putting his guys in positions to succeed.
And that's all across the board. So just excited to
be a part of a part of.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
This team with him leading it. Eric, what's that experience
like to have him in your ear all the time?
It's good.
Speaker 12 (35:45):
It's good old school kind of coach. But me and
he got a good relationship. Man, it's good working for him.
Speaker 6 (35:50):
He can't get past the Eric Banamy angle. He's an
impactful voice and he makes you want to play your
absolute best. And it's a guy who has logged a
lot of NFL experience, not just as a player, but
a long time coach as well. This guy's been in
the league for over twenty years. With that kind of experience,
(36:12):
you tend to gravitate towards a coach and you will
take his hard coaching.
Speaker 13 (36:18):
You will.
Speaker 8 (36:19):
Yeah, ex player thirty years were removed, and he still
makes me nervous as a coach because I know what
his requirements are for his players. And it's so it's okay,
you just have the way you have to look at things.
Every single day you go out to practice. You better
live up to his expectations, else you're not going to
get a lot of opportunities. So every one of these
(36:40):
guys that are coming out here with a running back
jersey on, you better first and foremost impress your coach.
And that's the same way I felt about playing for
Dick Stanfeld. Here's a guy that's a Hall of Fame
offensive lineman, and he knows exactly everything that you're trying
to do to improve and get better and what he's
got to help you with. And that's the same way
Eric the Enemy is with the running back position.
Speaker 6 (37:03):
Also, let's take a look at the rest of the room.
We detailed this in some of our shows in the
past and the offseason. But Roshawn Johnson looks like he's
really good, he looks quick, he can lower his pads.
You got Travis Homer, Kyle Manungay had a terrific run today. Again,
no pads but it was the burst and the escapability
(37:23):
that popped up in a run. It was one of
the best plays of the day in my opinion. And
Ian Wheeler, he looks fast and he's also in the
return game kick return game, trying to work through getting
back from an acl that's gonna always take a little
bit of time, but that happened a year ago, so
he's had plenty of months. And now all that together,
I think it's an interesting collection of backs. They all
(37:46):
do something a little bit different, all right. Coming up
the defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in our final segment, and
maybe a Tom thought Er too, how about that. It's
coming up next on ESPN one thousand of the Bears
Radio Network.
Speaker 17 (37:58):
Is Bears Weekly.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
Voice of the Bears for twenty four years with Chef Shone,
a chef on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (38:07):
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletical
Physical Therapy. Visit Athletic but dot com to request it
in clinic or virtual appointment and start feeling better tomorrow.
Jeff and Tom and are remaining moments here out of
sp and one thousand of the Bears Radio Network. A
couple of things Tom the Bears were in ten one
score games and six three point or less games.
Speaker 7 (38:27):
Now, they didn't win the majority of those games.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
But with the change in thinking, a change in attitude,
a change in philosophy, a change in the playbook on
both sides of the ball, offense and defense, and a
change with the additions on both sides of the ball,
do you feel that this team can close the gap
on winning one score games. They lost games by a
(38:53):
combined three and a half points. The point differential was
just minus sixty. It wasn't one hundred and fifty or
one hundred and twenty. It was sixty points. That's three
and a half. That's a field goal plus a game,
three and a half points, different roster, different coaches, But
how do you close the gap on winning those one
score games?
Speaker 8 (39:11):
I would put a tape together of all of those
results of last year, and I would show this football
team how close they were being a great football team,
just by a little bit of video evidence. And if
they just understood that if it's a tip finger here,
if it's a you know, just whatever the case was
what didn't allow them to win that game. I would
(39:33):
just make sure that these that these guys know that
they had a lot of fight in them. They brought
it down to the end. But now it's about closing
the door and not giving the team an opportunity to
close the door on them. And I think if you
can just show them subtly how good of a football
team they can be with just the difference in twelve
(39:54):
or fifteen plays, I think that can leave in a
dolible mark on these guys as they prepared for this.
Speaker 6 (40:00):
You know, Dennis Allen's going to be tasked with trying
to get this defense to continue to be a heartbeat,
especially that secondary the heartbeat of the football team. Really,
as we talk about all the time, but the heart
beat is won in a division that's going to be
highly flammable because all the teams in the division have weapons,
they can put points on the board. That's where it
all starts to get to the playoffs. And that's the
(40:22):
way Ben Johnson has this team thinking. That's the way
Dennis Allen has this team thinking. They're not thinking about
just getting better, they're thinking still about going to a
super Bowl. Kevin Byerd said it, others have said it.
That's the mindset. They're about winning right now and You're
gonna have to tailor your game plans in a variety
of different ways. There's gonna be some muddy games, some
(40:42):
games that are going to be six to three, possibly
outside the division, who the heck knows, But the Bears
have to be adaptable and be able to ball out
to fish and fight the black and Blue division wars
that they're gonna see and then maybe have games where
you're gonna be an aerial show. And I think Ben
Johnson can Taylor a game plan sam as Dennis Sown,
Taylor a game plan to fit whatever task is at hand.
(41:05):
Here in the seventeen weeks of the regular season.
Speaker 8 (41:08):
You know, one thing you have to take into account
is where and when. Where are you playing them and
when are you playing them? And so if you can
have a team like you play the second week of
the season, the Detroit Lions, and they have a big
lot of new staff members aboard, and maybe they're still
in the midst of trying to learn what the coaches
are expecting of them, how they're going to call plays,
(41:29):
and what are they trying to do to their football team.
Maybe you can take advantage of a scenario like that.
You got you open up at home and you expect
that Chicago Bear crowd to be loud and proud, and
so maybe that's a Dennis Allen game that comes out
and he's aggressive immediately and he can make big plays
on defense that can help settle in your offense. So
(41:49):
you know where and win is going to be a
big part of this season, and you know, you see
how those first five weeks go before you have that
bye week and then maybe reg group at that point.
Speaker 6 (42:01):
All Right, Dennis Allen's defense plans to be aggressive. That's
how he rolls. Let's listen into his news conference earlier
this week.
Speaker 14 (42:07):
Look, training camp is going to be difficult, and we're
gonna have to be able to overcome when we're tired.
How do we focus, How do we concentrate? How do
we dig down deep inside and rise up and make
plays in critical situations of the game. Uh, And a
lot of times that comes with being being tired. So
it's all just part of you know, as much as
training them physically, it's about training them mentally.
Speaker 7 (42:29):
Do you want to see a vocal leader emerges that
impart to you?
Speaker 14 (42:33):
Well, I think the best defenses that are best teams
that I've ever been on have been player driven, player
led uh and so, but I think that has to
happen naturally. I don't think that's anything that you try
to force to happen. I do think we have some
guys on our team that have some leadership qualities, uh,
And it's kind of our job as coaches to try
(42:54):
to foster that a little bit. Uh, you know, give
them some freedom to make some checks, make some adjustments,
see how they handle it. But I do I feel
good about the type of guys that we have in
our building. I think we have a lot of guys
that the love football, a lot of guys that are
willing to work, a lot of guys are willing to
sacrifice for each other and for the team. And I
(43:16):
think those are things that we're gonna need to count
on throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 6 (43:20):
There's so much about Dennis Allen if you reach back
a little bit, like I alluded to early in the
show about being a Bill Parcells guy early on in
his career. But he's put together some really impactful defenses
tom that have been a premium on limiting points, which
is the key to key you score more points than
the opponent. That's the plan, right, but among the league
leaders in that category in many of his years as
(43:42):
a defensive coordinator and or head coach with the New
Orleans Saints.
Speaker 17 (43:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (43:46):
You know one thing about Dennis Allen. He understands opponents
offenses so well, and he can identify their vulnerabilities and
then he can identify how to use his assets to
take up for those vulnerabilities. That's what you have to
have in a quality defensive coordinator. It's not only about
sitting there and coaching the eleven guys on defense. It's
(44:08):
about understanding what the opponent is trying to do to
you against your defense. And so when you hear Dennis
Allen talk about the podium, or you talk or Ben
Johnson talks about these conversations he has with Dennis Allen,
he gets an understanding of how football knowledge knowledgeable Dennis is.
And I think that's the reason that he's such a
(44:29):
quality coach at this level. And statistically you can see
it in their results.
Speaker 13 (44:34):
Yep.
Speaker 6 (44:35):
He's intense. He's detail oriented. Oh, by the way, so
is Ben Jensen. It's a perfect pairing as well. Native
Texan six top ten scoring defenses since twenty sixteen and
three in the top five. The Saints also ranked top
ten and takeaways five times under Allen. The premium is
in things we're familiar with here in Chicago during the
Levy Smith era, and of course when Matt Eberfluss put
(44:58):
a premium taking the ball away as well.
Speaker 7 (45:00):
So that's in the plan. All right.
Speaker 6 (45:02):
That's gonna wrap us up. Thanks to everyone for listening.
The executive producer of the Bears Radio Network, Eric Ostrowski.
Thanks to Andrew Billings and in the ESPN studios Justin Pottinger,
our Bears producers Dan Brillly, Jordan tread Up, and Katie Fox.
For Tom there, I'm Jeff Joniak. This has been Bears
Weekly on the radio home of the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago.
Speaker 7 (45:21):
Have a good night, everybody. Black and Abdalla are next.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
Thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation
The Bears Weekly, hosted by the Mara Bears, Bill, Jeff
Juliacp and Surfmaster Tom Thayer. Podcasts were available on the
Chicago Bears offishal app brought to you by Verizon.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
And Apple Podcasts. Bears Weekly has been brought to you
by the Miller Life
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.