May 30, 2025 • 50 mins
Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, and Jim Miller break down their observations from the Bears' offseason so far and preview what to watch for when veteran minicamp kicks off next week.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in Tough Bears Weekly powered by IGS Energy.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
By Chicago Bears Network production.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Bears Weekly is brought you by Advocate Healthcare, Athletico Physical afferently,
cd Jallad, Connie's Pizza, IGS Energy, and Meller Liked.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilney at aka the Mayor
of Bearsville and his sidekick Tom the Surfmaster Thayer.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hey are we doing, everybody?
Speaker 4 (00:27):
We're learning more and more about twenty twenty five Bears
with each passing day during the OTA portion of the offseason,
with mandatory mini camp set to open next Tuesday. Here
at halisaw Welcome into Bears Weekly on a SPN one
thousand and the Chicago Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl
winning Bears guard Tom Thayre. I'm Jeff joniak along in
a moment Bear's former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious
x MNFL Radio guest free tonight, but we'll hear from
(00:50):
Bears head coach Ben Johnson, quarterback Cato Williams, defensive end
Montes Sweat, and the new veteran quarterback case Keenum. From
the week that was up here at Halis saw Tommy
good evening. I think Dan Barilli and Jordan treadep our
producers spending the dials at ESPN is Jack McGrath, their
executive producer, Eric Ostrotski of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
A lot going on.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
We got the next week's gonna be big, Gonna love that,
But hey, what have we learned this week? What have
we learned about the Bears that has caught your attention?
It's almost my weekly question to you out of the gate.
But with a few more OTA's in the books and
the Caleb Williams podium experience, we'll here's some of that tonight.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So a lot of things.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
You know, they're playing a faster brand of football.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
There's a lot of encouragement and coaching going on from
the coaching staff. I think that they're trying to identify
who fits where. We often talk about and I talk
about with the depth chart, and everybody's trying to get
their name on that depth chart because that's a key ingredient.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
When you move into training camp.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
What I'm excited about going forward is next Tuesday, all
the alumni are invited to the practice, and I think
that the way you monitor social media, I think you'll
see you'll be able to read a lot more about
what the alumni that come to the practice for the
first time, what their reflection is of the atmosphere. And
(02:09):
I think because these guys have so much experience in
their football life, they understand how to listen to coach,
and they understand how to watch their position. They understand
how this stage of development is really important part but
stage with the next stage of the whole process in
the football team development is that's when the real stuff starts.
(02:33):
And so I'd be excited to talk to a lot
of those guys at practice, but I'm super encouraged by
what I see at practice. I'm super encouraged at the
speed of at which they're playing and the requirements of
Ben Johnson and all of his staff.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Hey, big Jim Miller joining us now. Jim will be
here at training camp. He'll do his Syrio x NFL
training camp tour, and his stop will be here in Chicago,
hopefully with yours. Truly, we'll be breaking things down. But
I know you're going to be excited to all this too.
You're an alumni, it matters to you. I know you've
played for several teams, but I'm wondering for both of
you and Jim, welcome and good evening. I hope you're
doing well. Did you guys have a lot of alumni
(03:10):
hanging around when you guys were at these guys' age
right now, you know, for the the eighty five Bears, Tommy,
that was your first year, but Jim, I mean there
were plenty of eighty five Bears around. Certainly Tom was
one of them calling the games that you worked in
for us.
Speaker 7 (03:25):
Yeah, like you know, guys would would show up periodically
and also at training camp, and yeah, it was important,
you know, and you'd have different staffs that come into,
like college football staffs that come in. This is typically
the springtime where staffs want to see what you're doing offensively,
and certainly Ben Johnson, he'll have a couple of staffs
that roll through there that are interested to see what
(03:48):
he's doing offensively and how we install things, how they
coach certain positions, all those type of things. So there's
actually a lot going on in the spring, and it
is more team team, It isn't installed. You're teaching guys
the basics of what you want to accomplish and all
(04:08):
the discipline and the techniques and all those type of things.
So it's very thorough, and it has to be very
thorough for a reason, and these are building blocks of
what they want to press on to and that things
are gonna come a lot faster come training camp. But
it was always good to have the older players come by,
stop by, you know, just to see them. You know
that they've been through it. They've gone going through the
(04:30):
same things you're going through as a curtain player, and
they had a lot of success, so you try to
tap their brains. Guys like Tom Thayer, Hey man, what
was so different about your team? Why were you guys
so tight? What made you guys so close knit? You know,
we knew they were talented, But I think if you're
a very good team, typically you're gonna have guys that
(04:51):
work hard, that are self starters, like a Tom Thayer,
like that whole eighty five Bears team, And there's a
reason why they were so close knit. They knew that
they were going to be good, and they believed in
one another, and they counted on one another, you know.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Jeff, Because we didn't have OTAs and we led us
right into mandatory mini camp. We didn't have a lot
of alumni hanging around at a mandatory Mini camp, and
it was a three day mandatory process that you know,
Dick had kind of dangled that carrot in front of
the horse, where Okay, the last day of mini camp,
we'll either have one practice or two practices.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
But it was more training.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
Camp when the guys came to Platteville, and that's when
you know, either it was a destination to drive to
with their family for a day or even a couple days.
There's nice surrounding areas up there in Platteville, and so
if you had that chance for fifteen to twenty minutes
in between practices while we were in the weight room,
(05:50):
they would come and visit the weight room in Clyde
Emerck or even at night when we had our fifteen
minutes of free time at the end of meetings and
guys would go to different places and have a beer
and and they would be there as well. So for us,
it was more catching up with the alumni at training
camp more so than Mini camp.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Do you do you remember who showed up?
Speaker 6 (06:13):
Oh, there there was a lot of guys like Mike Pyle,
ed Obradovich, Roland Harper, Jim Osborne, Danny.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Neil, Doug Yeah, Doug Buffone, Doug Plank, you know, Terry Schmidt. Uh,
you know, there's a plenty of guys.
Speaker 6 (06:32):
You know, you still had your Bob Avellini's and stuff,
So there was plenty of guys that showed up for
one reason or the other.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, I get a kick out of that.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Actually, when I see all that they it's I think
it's important to keep that. The alumni close to the
organization of the Bears do a really good job of
trying to make that happen. So they'll continue to do
that next week. So guys like Kyler Gordon, T J.
Edwards dealing with some soft tissue injuries, Luther Burden the
third as well, and we'll learn more about this during
(07:00):
the next week with the mini camp. Who's available, but
Ben Johnson saying yesterday that everybody should be in the
building at least it is mandatory, so even if you
are injured. With that said, let's listen in to some
Ben Johnson yesterday at the podium. He was talking about
the specifics that he needs from his players. No detail
(07:23):
too small, and one is they start defining what a snap,
a rep a play looks like at the finish from
defense right through to the offense.
Speaker 8 (07:36):
The ball, the momentum of the ball running through the
defense in practice, even without pads on, and so it's
a learning experience of what that looks like and what
we're going to be about. And then offensively, we talk
about the finishing aspect of getting connected down the field
and blocking for our buddies.
Speaker 9 (07:52):
So finishing is a huge deal about.
Speaker 10 (07:55):
What we're doing.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
We're very much rooted in the fundamentals and the techniques
of what we're asking our guys to do. And so
we saw growth last week in that way, and that's
the expectation for us going forward.
Speaker 10 (08:08):
I saw you guys make him go back in the
huddle several times. What exactly are you looking forward in
the huddle and as they come out.
Speaker 8 (08:12):
Of Yeah, there's a certain way that the play needs
to get communicated in the huddle. There's a certain way
that the break should sound to us around us. That
means that that we're ready for business and we're ready
to get going. And if it doesn't sound that way,
then we're just not going to allow the practice to
go south. Fatigue is something that we're gonna combat. The
longer practice goes, the more fatigue guys get and the
(08:34):
mental toughness has to come through of still doing the
little things correctly.
Speaker 9 (08:37):
So that's a part of it.
Speaker 6 (08:38):
I saw I'm gaji left tackled last week when we
were here and today it was Ozzie. Is it a
is it one day on, one day off for each
guy or is it based on how they're.
Speaker 8 (08:47):
We're moving guys around. Yeah, we want to give everyone
an opportunity. So you know, Darnell woul feel pretty comfortable
keeping him at the right side right now, so the
left the left side until we get bracting back in
the mix.
Speaker 9 (08:58):
It's gonna be a little bit of musical chairs. Consider
right tackles, settle them that he's not going to uk
to be determined.
Speaker 8 (09:04):
Anything's on the table, and we're gonna let the plan
play out, which is keep them there for the time
being and let these guys battle it out on the
left side and we can decide to change course whenever
we need to.
Speaker 10 (09:16):
And what have you been learning about what Caleb can
at this point as you're resetting for him.
Speaker 9 (09:21):
It's been consistent throughout.
Speaker 8 (09:22):
He's been very attentive, He's been very detailed in terms
of the meetings. He's taking great notes, He's asking excellent questions.
The more we're out on the grass together, we're figuring
out what we can put in in the morning and
what we can execute later on in the afternoon. And
so that's that's been the fun part of it so far,
because there is for everybody, there's a saturation level that
(09:46):
we got to find what that point is so that
as coaches we don't ask too much out of any
player over the course of the season. We've got to
be able to download a game plan and and execute it.
And so it's been a health the process right now.
I think JT. Barrett's doing a phenomenal job. Deklan's a
big part of that as well, just figuring out how
(10:08):
much install we can push on these guys. And the
good news is we got the weekend that they can
get the plan and start ahead for the next week.
And you can really see guys separate, not just at
the quarterback position, but really all around on offensive defense.
Who's in their book a little bit exer than the
next guy.
Speaker 9 (10:26):
Keen of helping Caleb throughout the case has been phenomenal.
Speaker 8 (10:32):
I haven't been with him in the past, but he
came highly recommended from a number of people that I trust.
He's got skins on the wall. I mean, he's been
to playoff games, He's won playoff games. He's done it
at a high level. He's been the number two quarterback
at a number of different places as well, so his
experience level is off the charts. He's seen a little
bit of everything that this league has to offer. And
(10:55):
I can say from my experience of being in the
room with him, he finds a good way to ask
questions that I might not or Deck Leonard JT we
might not have provided the answer to prior. So he
does a good job filling those gaps. And then, of
course we're constrained so much by the time limits in
the springtime that he's able to help the process when
we're not in there as coaches, and he.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Is battling for the number two job with Tyson Bag
and entering his third season. One thing out of this
that I'll throw in and then I want your reactions
from both of you guys.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
He is a first time head coach.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
He has not had a regular season game just yet,
but he certainly sounds like he's been here before. He
sounds like a head coach and everything he's saying makes sense.
That that's the number one thing for me. Everything Ben
Johnson is saying makes sense.
Speaker 6 (11:42):
You Know one thing I kind of giggle at is
when I listened to Ben Johnson, if you didn't know
he was a first time head coach, you really wouldn't
know it because he's prepared and he's concise about all
of his answers. However, when I listened to him, he
reminds me so much of George Allen talking at the podium,
because George Allen was a stickler for breaking the huddle,
and he says the breaking the huddle that was a
(12:05):
big part of the influence of practice because he kind
of got a feel that everybody was on the same page,
the sound of the break, the way you went to
the line of scrimmage. And when I think about my
past experiences of football and all the quality coaches that
I had a chance to play for, it already kind
of makes me think about a guy that we're all
(12:27):
waiting to see how his first experience goes at head coach,
but he sounds like a seasoned head coach and it's
super encouraging to me because it's things I've heard. I've
heard before from coaches with a great deal of experience.
Speaker 11 (12:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
I like the part of if we don't allow things.
That was the problem last year, and it was veteran
players saying, well, we just kind of skipped over things
and if something wasn't run right, they just let it go. Okay,
you can't allow that. That's why you're dead last in offense,
dead last in sacks. I literally would put up every
(13:04):
statistic of what the Bears did last year in that
locker room to let them know how bad they were.
And if I were Ben Johnson, I'd say when a
player says, oh, I got it, coach, don't worry, I
got it. The only thing you're gonna get is me fired.
I'm not gonna be the guy that gets fired over
you not knowing your job. Okay, So don't allow it.
(13:26):
Don't allow it at all on any single play. And
it starts with breaking the huddle. Like Tom just said,
don't allow any of it because they haven't earned that
right as any player in that locker room.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Well, by watching practice, I can tell you it's fast,
it's furious, it's aggressive on both sides of the ball,
and they are pushing the limits here just in short
pants and shirts and helmets, no pads.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It's going to be a great training camp when we
come back.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
We'll be joined by Caleb Williams some of his press
conference yesterday here at HASAW. This is Bears Weekly on
ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
You were listening to Bears Week on the Bears Radio Network.
Fiss Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
twenty four years, Chef Chef on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
This second of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
IGS editor Jeff and thom and Jim Miller from sirius
X and MNFL Radio, as we break down what has
been an interesting off season for the Bears leading into
next week's veteran medicamp. It was admittedly a distraction, frankly
the only one of this offseason distraction. Freeze good, that's
what teams want. But the ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's
(14:37):
upcoming book, American King's, a Biography of the Quarterback, will
include some Caleb Williams in there. Some of what came
from Wickersham was discussed at length Wednesday, as the Bears
quarterback who did a very good job tackling some key points,
clarifying his thought process and what he wants to do
as a Bear moving forward. And this is about moving forward,
among other topics. Here's Caleb Williams.
Speaker 12 (14:59):
The main goal and the main objective of being here
is to turn around. That's why I was selected number one.
And so you know, that's what we're here to do.
That's what they brought you know, me here to do.
That's what they brought all these guys here to do,
Joe DJ, all these different guys, and that's why they
brought Ben here. And so, like I said, it's a
challenge and and we look at those challenges and you
(15:20):
know we you know, we don't laugh. We look at
him really really seriously, and you know, we go attack him,
you know, to the best of our ability to go
and change it and turn.
Speaker 11 (15:26):
Around about the new leadership.
Speaker 10 (15:28):
Has has left an impression.
Speaker 12 (15:30):
Yeah, no, it, Ben's uh. I think y'all have been
able to to see it. When he gets up here
and you get a little taste of of how he is.
He's he's always laser focused. He he encourages and he
pushes you and challenges you to be at your best
as a team, offense, defense, special teams, doesn't matter position,
uh sharp. And he's a he's a guy that wants
to win. And so you know, being here being the
(15:52):
head guy, and he's and and to be honest, he's
consistent with it every day. So excuse me, uh so
him him being here and being the head guy and
and doing all those things and being consistent with it.
So far, it's been awesome, and I think everybody's been
enjoying what.
Speaker 9 (16:05):
Has Ben taught about.
Speaker 13 (16:06):
Those shortcuts are just things that maybe he sees that
he wants you to start seeing.
Speaker 12 (16:10):
Like I said, I think Ben has been extremely detailed.
And so when he talks about the plays, when he
talks about you know, the past run screen play action,
he talks about him really in depth and and you know,
what we love him verse and what we don't love
him verse and things like that, and you know, just
have an idea going into practice, going into soon game
days and things like that, it's gonna be nice for
(16:31):
something that we've been repping and getting after. And you know,
I think I think that's been I think that's been
one of the things that's that's been really awesome. Is
the detail. And you know him him really been on
top of that. And I mean he's been in it
for six years, has been his offense for six years,
so you know, he's really on top of it. And
you know, we're only trying to catch up. I'm only
trying to catch up to him and be on top
of the details as much as possible. Curious, uh Na, honestly,
(16:58):
don't care. It's not it's not you know, like I said,
we're we're all those things were in the past, all
the things happened already, and so we're here focused on
the future. We're here focused on the present and and
and really trying to, like I say, get this train going,
and and and you know, have this thing picking up
steam and and and chewt you and alone.
Speaker 14 (17:17):
Being said when when you the past is the past?
You're hearing now Ben Johnson has made some tweets to
your game. Have you adjusted to the change and the stands?
How have you adjusted to being under centered a little bit more?
Speaker 12 (17:27):
Yes, the Ben Johnson effect, right, I guess the Ben
Johnson effect.
Speaker 11 (17:30):
Right.
Speaker 12 (17:30):
He's gonna get a kick out of that when he
hears it. Yeah, No, I think I think uh, I
think part of it is just you know, different coaches
have different philosophies, philosophies for things, and you know that's
one of his things, is left foot up. I've been
a right foot up guy for typically all of my career,
and I think I've I've done it once or twice
throughout my you know, throughout my time and playing QB.
(17:50):
So you know, it's just one of his things. And then,
like I said, the details been on top of it, huddle.
We call it PSP, but preesting that procedure all these
different things, and especially in big games and big moments,
all the little things come up. And so you know,
I think, I think, you know, that's important to him,
and it's important to us, and we gotta, you know,
we gotta get on top of it and be on top
(18:12):
of it from from the head down. So like I said,
the Ben Johnson effect, I guess right.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Yeah, And and the Ben Johnson effect is permeating the
entire building in many different ways.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But okay, so that's a portion of it. Tommy, take
the floor, you know.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
The thing about whether would put forward or you know,
and how things are changing, that is fundamentally done and
you're gonna do it a million times before the season start,
and it's gonna become second nature and that'll be an
easy transition. But when Ben Johnson was talking up at
the podium, he was talking about oversaturating these guys and
(18:46):
see how they absorbed that amount of information and then
how they carry it to.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
The field in the afternoon.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
And that's just the process of installing a playbook to
all these guys because they're you know, they're all star
darting from ground zero because this is a new head coach. Fortunately,
I was in a system for seven years and by
year two or three, it's second nature to you. You
know every single little thing about it, and then you
(19:13):
just keep repeating it. It's not something you start installing
different stuff because that's not what your offensive game plan is.
So by the time Caleb gets in the training camp
and the latter stages of training camp, all of this
footwork and terminology will become second nature to them.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, Jim, that's a great point.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
It would be refreshing to know that Caleb Williams will
be with this head coach for the next five years
at a minimum and learn, you know, everything second nature,
And to me, that would make the most impact on
Caleb Williams is the continuity with the head coach and
play caller.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
Absolutely, and here Ben Jonson's given him the reasons why.
There's a reason why he wants his left foot forward.
It's to make them a more efficient, better quarterback and
there it absolutely correlates to him playing better. And so
again he's not responsible for the sins of the past. However,
Caleb was coached in the past. I don't care. I
(20:12):
don't think Ben Johnson cares, and nobody else should care.
The bottom eye is to make him a better quarterback,
and having your left foot forward will make him a
better quarterback. So do it coach his way and maybe
we'll have better offensive numbers than we had a year
ago because there's a reason why he wants you to
do that, and so he's got to do it his way.
(20:34):
And again, you don't allow with certain things, and Ben
Johnson's in control of it.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Jim, what will defense This may be a shot in
the dark, but what will defenses do to challenge Caleb
now that they have a seventeen game survey of sorts
to sift through from last season? Or is it all
irrelevant from last season? Because it is going to be
a new system.
Speaker 7 (20:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's irrelevant. They'll they'll go by the first
game breakdown or the first five weeks breakdown. They'll see
what the Bears. You know, I think they will go
back to watch the Lions tall Ben likes to you know,
he does two tight ends twenty six percent of the time,
So we're probably going to expect Loveland and Cole Comet
are going to be out there twenty six percent of
(21:21):
the time. Is how either teams are going to game
plan them before week one, they're going to look at
some of the things that Ben taps into some of
his tendencies. But as for the Bears players and what
they've shown, no, they really can't game plan. It won't
be till after really week four, week five that they'll
start to get really a beat on Caleb and how
(21:43):
he performs in this new offense, and how he performs
differently from what they did a year ago, and what
their areas of focus are going to be, because there's
going to be areas that are better than others until
they catch up with everything that Ben wants to.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
Do, you know, And one thing leading up to that
first four or five weeks of the season. For Jeff
Joniac the broadcaster, it's going to be more important for
you to pay attention during practices in training camp than
it will be for preseason games, because I don't think
that Ben Johnson is gonna reveal or unveil what his
(22:20):
offense is all gonna be about in that first four
or five weeks. He's gonna show a little bit of something.
You guys start preparing for this, but this is a
this is an offshoot of what else we can offer you.
So probably for us going to practice every day in
training camp, it's gonna be a time that you really
really want to pay attention.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
We'll do good advice.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Indeed, coming up next, we'll hear from case Keenum, the
newest Bears quarterback. As we continue on Bears Weekly with
Jim Miller and Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniac. This is
Bears Weekly, an ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Jonia on
the radio network. Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on
the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the voice of
the Bears, Jeff Jolian.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
athletical physical therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to questioned in
clinic or virtual deployment and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Jeff and Thoma.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radio another quarterback new
to the Bears, but certainly not to the NFL. A
battle under way for that number two spot, according to
the head coach, Ben Johnson, with third year Tyson Bagent
and the twelve year veteran Case Keenan on his eighth team.
In those twelve years, once upon a time, the NCAA
leader in total passing yards, touchdowns and completions at the
(23:44):
University of Houston. And you gotta remember, and I forgot
this fellas. This is an undrafted player at six one
two fifteen, similar in size at least height and wait
to Caleb Williams, and he's impressed.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
With the second year quarterbacks performance.
Speaker 11 (24:00):
Only cows.
Speaker 13 (24:01):
Guy's really good and he's got a chance to be
a lot better.
Speaker 11 (24:06):
And it's been great.
Speaker 13 (24:08):
It's been so much fun coming here and playing and
being a part of that quarterback groom and an offense
and you know, working with Ben a deck and JT
and press and obviously with Caleb and Tyson Austin, those
guys in that room.
Speaker 11 (24:22):
It's just it's been really special for me. I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
You was to be a guide for him, So so
what is excited you about the early stages of that
relationship on what you think you could give him at the.
Speaker 13 (24:33):
Stage, you know, he's just he's a sponge, you know,
for being an all world talent, a guy who's obviously,
since high school, you know, been the best player on
any field anywhere he's ever stepped on.
Speaker 11 (24:49):
Uh.
Speaker 13 (24:50):
To to be humble enough to like ask me questions
and and and watch and learn.
Speaker 11 (24:57):
Has been really refreshing.
Speaker 13 (24:59):
To see a guy that young and that talented, but
but still you know, take to to me, it will say,
you know, it's been it's been really fun.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
One of the assurances that you could compete to be
the number two coming.
Speaker 13 (25:13):
Out, I've competing my whole life. You know, I show
up every day and hope my lockers are not cleaned out.
Speaker 12 (25:18):
Man.
Speaker 11 (25:18):
That's that's how I treat every day.
Speaker 13 (25:20):
I compete against myself, compete against uh, the guys in
that room. I compete against you know, the defense we're
playing that day today, And then every day. I've competed
my whole life, so you know I have I have
a knack of uh, you know, sticking around and being
ready to go when my name is called, no matter
when that is or how that is.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
So I'm impressed with that whole room.
Speaker 13 (25:42):
Caleb, obviously, I've already talked about him, but I think
Tyson is gonna play a long time in this league.
Speaker 11 (25:47):
I really do. He is very athletic.
Speaker 13 (25:49):
Uh, He's trained, and he is hungry man he is.
He's one of the most well prepared guys on that
field every day. So I'm very impressed with him in Austin.
I see a lot of myself in Austin. Young guy
that just needs a shot and it's hungry, doesn't get
a ton of reps, but uh, it makes makes the
most of him when he when he can.
Speaker 11 (26:08):
You have a connection with Ben Johnson all or anyone
else on the staff.
Speaker 13 (26:11):
I mean when you played as long as I have,
and you've been around enough coaches that we had a
bunch of kind of a couple of degrees of separation.
And I've talked to a bunch of guys about him,
and I think he did the same about me.
Speaker 11 (26:25):
Uh to some of those same people.
Speaker 13 (26:26):
So, uh, yeah, we had we had some connections, but no,
I'd never really worked with him in the past.
Speaker 14 (26:34):
She talked about you can watch some of cables from
before you into him coming here.
Speaker 9 (26:38):
What were some of the things that you.
Speaker 14 (26:39):
Saw that immediately you were like, if he makes this
small tweet, he's gonna take.
Speaker 15 (26:44):
This next step.
Speaker 13 (26:46):
I mean, uh, what jumped out immediately was just effortless
arm talent. I don't know if I've seen a guy
do that as as a you know, a young guy,
but just just being able to take sometimes what defenses
give you and not make this crazy big, you know,
off schedule play, letting those plays kind of come to you.
Speaker 11 (27:06):
And I think he found some spots of that last year.
Speaker 13 (27:09):
And you know he's he's settled into this this offense
and how Ben sees it and trying to get on
the same page with him and Press and Deck and JT,
trying to trying to all come out of that quarterback
room and seeing the defense the exact same way as
the play caller has been. So you know what we're
trying to accomplish and how we're trying to accomplish it
(27:30):
along with the footwork, you know, the operation before the snap,
defense recognition, all all those things combined with leadership.
Speaker 11 (27:38):
So it's quarterbacking.
Speaker 13 (27:40):
I mean, it's an art and it's a science, and
it's all of that combined. And there's a you know,
one hundred ways of getting the ball down the field.
But in the end, you know, I think there is
some common thread, some common themes of being a pro quarterback.
What it means day in and day out, showing up here,
being ready to do your job.
Speaker 11 (27:59):
And you know, that's.
Speaker 13 (28:01):
Representing himself, his family, this, you know, an offense, a
coaching staff, the team, an organization, and a city like
Chicago where it was such a a story tradition of
players and coaches and and really sports teams. It's it's
incredible that he's got a chance to do that. He's
(28:23):
going to do it for a long time.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And that is case Keenum coming to the Bears after
not able to playing last season because of a foot injury,
but sixty six starts on his resume in eighty games,
only twelve starts in the last six years, but Jim
eleven and three in Minnesota. In that twenty seventeen season,
he had twenty two touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
And I'm sure there's a lot there you can relate to.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
I'm intrigued by him calling quarterback playing art and a science.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Would you agree?
Speaker 7 (28:51):
Yeah? That that year in Minnesota he was the number
one quarterback against the Blitz. Okay, he knows protections is
not how to get sacked or avoid sacks. And so
that'd be a resource if I were Caleb and Tyson
that I'd tap into. You know, and you hang around
the league twelve years for a reason, and like you said,
(29:12):
he's an undrafted guy because he takes his job seriously.
He's responsible for what he had to work for everything
to stay at a roster. He knows what it's about.
So you know, they need to use him as a resource.
Tap into him. You know, how were you the number
one rated quarterback versus the Blitz? How do you learn
(29:32):
your protections, what's hot, what's not? How do you protect yourself?
Utilize that that asset, that experience that he has. He's
been in eight different offenses that he just mentioned. He
knows a lot of football.
Speaker 10 (29:46):
Is my point.
Speaker 7 (29:47):
Use him, use them. He's a resource that you can
learn from.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
You know, one thing about case I don't want his
experience to be wasted only on the quarterback room, because
he's got the same mentality I did. Every single day
I walked in the Hallas hall, I thought, this may
be the day.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
That I'm going to get cut.
Speaker 6 (30:03):
And his dedication and desire to be a professional football
player should spill over to some of these other young
guys who take it for granted, because once you start
taking the NFL opportunity for granted, and the next step
is going to be out the door. And I think
Case can be a great reflection to every single position
(30:24):
I'm in that locker room about what it takes to
be a dedicated, double digit years of service player.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
We'd do on Beijing, by the way, Jim, because more
often than not, I'm hearing these same platitudes about his preparation.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
And the amount of time he spends on being ready.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
And for Case Keenum to come in here only for
a few months and know that out of the gate
he's seeing it firsthand, says a lot about Tyson Beaging.
And this sounds like it'll be a pretty interesting battle
for the number two job.
Speaker 7 (30:58):
If teams are gonna call to trade for Tyson Beagen.
I guarantee you. They may have already gotten them calls
the words out. That kid is a grinder. That kid prepares.
That kid went to and two as a rookie, and
Justin Fields was getting sacked one out of every eight plays.
Tyson Bazin Pagent was inserted into the lineup, he was
(31:21):
sacked one every twenty one because he knows what's expected
of him the words out. He will be a hot
commodity that teams will call the trade for by the
trade deadline. If a quarterback goes down, then you still
have a veteran in case Keenum that could step in
and play and the Bears could get assets for Tyson Beagen. Okay,
(31:44):
that kid's the words out. He's a good player.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
I would like to keep Tyson Beaijing. I like this player.
I like his personality. I think he's good for the
football team. He's got the respect of the players as well.
Tom Jim knows all these ratios of sacks per PA.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Did you know yours?
Speaker 7 (32:02):
No? I didn't know why. I know for the Bears,
I only got sex seven times that whole year.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I do know that the two thousand and one season.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
Yeah, we got back twenty seven as a team, and
I was responsible for seven of them.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
Holy smokes, and it Doug on it. If it didn't
happen in that playoff game, we'd be singing a different tune, Jimmy.
Speaker 7 (32:26):
Of that. Hey, if you Doug Douglas to me right now,
cage match, Let's go.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Right, Hugh Douglas, Tommy, you Douglas. Oh, he was a
nasty player, But Jim you were a hell of a quarterback. Here, buddy,
a hell of a quarterback. All right, let's take another break.
Coming up, we'll hear from defensive player, a defensive end
that has a lot of significance to his game and
will need to be that way this season.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Montes Sweat.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
This is Bear's Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the
Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
the Bears Radio Network. I'll come back to Bears Weekly
on the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the Voice
of the Bears, Jeff Joy.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Igs Energy, Jeff Joniak, TM Thayer and Jim Miller from
sirius XM NFL Radio. Getting you set for the start
of Veteran Minicamp next week. We talk a lot about Cale,
a lot about the offense. But strangely, I've had some interviews,
(33:30):
not interviews, but speaking engagements up here at Hallashall with Bears, partners,
sponsors or whatever, and I find myself Jim and Tom
not talking that much about kit. I'm talking a lot
about coaching, and I'm talking about other important pieces to
the puzzle, because it is a puzzle. It's not just
about the quarterback. Yes, the quarterback has to play well
and all that. But one of the guys I've been
(33:50):
talking about is Montes Sweat. And I think I mentioned
on Wada and Sylvie earlier tonight when I was out
with them late this afternoon that you know, I'm thinking
that I never heard this, but you know, Montes Sweat
had some issues in training camp with a nagging injury
and it may have lingered throughout the whole season. That's
that's my guess, and I think he was working through
(34:11):
some stuff and now with a new defense to learn
that he has not really played in much. It's it's
probably a pretty big learning moment right now for Monteste Sweat.
Albeit that when you're an edge rusher. You know what
your main job is. You got to go get the quarterback,
but stop of the run will be as equally important
this year.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
Yeah you know.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
I mean that's one of the requirements of Dennis Allen
is having a defensive line that's willing and able and
capable of stopping the run so they have the opportunity
to rush the passer. But if I think if there's
any one marquee name on this roster that means the
most of the success of this football team, it is
probably Monteste Sweat. And not to deny the fact that
(34:51):
Caleb Williams is going to be an important part of
the future of this organization. But when you go out
and you get a guy like Montese Sweat and then
you give him a big contra, you want every offensive line,
every offensive coordinator for seventeen weeks to think about how
you're gonna block him.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
And then when you figure out how.
Speaker 6 (35:09):
You're gonna block him, what openings does that give the
other members of the defensive front seven and even defensive
backs for that matter. So when you look at Montese Sweat,
he's got to be such a dial mover for your
defense that other guys are succeeding because Montese Sweat is succeeding.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Right and Jim, you know, not every team has a
pass rusher that can demand a double team down in
and down out in the pass game. And so but
those moments when he will be he'll be chipped or whatever,
it does open up some great opportunities from other defensive
lineman's that's the obvious. And I just think he's a
terrific talent. He's still young, and he's still got a
(35:50):
lot left in the tank.
Speaker 7 (35:53):
He does he's got to be a double digit sack guy.
I believe he had five last year. Whether he's heard
or whatever was wrong. They need him to be a
double digit sack guy. And on the other side, whether
it's Booker, whether it's Daye who's brought in there, they've
got need to take advantage of that. You know, if
you got a double digit sack guy on one side,
(36:13):
you have to be able to take advantage on the
other side because of the attention that he commands, and
those other guys got to step up and get in
on the party. No matter if it's a rotation or
if Dayo's the guy. You you know, it's just you
gotta get minimum. If you can get twenty sacks from
your two outside guys, you're cooking with gas. If both
(36:35):
are double digit, you got something good brewing. But if
he can be just who he is, a double digit
sack guy in sweat, and then you can get whether
it's Dale Booker, other guys opposite, to get up the
double digits, say five and five as a rotation group.
Now you're talking, but it starts with sweat. Period.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
I think the pass rush does on obvious third down
start with a Monteste sweat.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
But I think you have to have.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
The understanding that if Grady Jarrett gives you interior explosiveness
and he's making penetration into the backfield, and now you're
talking about how a center guard tackle will slide all
the way.
Speaker 5 (37:19):
Out to Monteste sweat.
Speaker 6 (37:20):
Now if they have to slide quicker and maybe sustain
a little bit longer time with Grady Jarrett, then that's
gonna give Monteste sweats some one on one opportunity. Or
if they feel that that guard's got to slide out
to help the offensive tackle as quickly as possible to
try to get to Monteste sweat, it's going to open
up opportunities for Grady Jarrett, and so I think when
(37:41):
you look at the relationship between those two guys, that's
where the influence of pass rush is gonna come from.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
All Right, let's listen in to Montest sweat from the
podium yesterday. Hear it to how Saul his initial opinion
of his new defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen.
Speaker 10 (37:56):
Oh, yeah, he's a very complex individual.
Speaker 15 (38:00):
He has a lot of a lot of fronts and
schemes and things that he can attack the attack the
offense with.
Speaker 10 (38:06):
So, yeah, he's a great guy. Smart.
Speaker 11 (38:09):
You were thinking about it for a second.
Speaker 10 (38:11):
For White, it's complex. The word that comes up when you.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Think the end.
Speaker 15 (38:15):
Well, I mean, I'm saying I'm trying to learn a
new defense right now.
Speaker 10 (38:18):
So it's a uh.
Speaker 15 (38:20):
It presents his challenges, different friends, different blitches, different different countries,
different coverages and things like that, and uhs just more
than I had to learn in the past, I would say. So, uh,
he's definitely a little bit more complex than the DC's
I had the path.
Speaker 12 (38:34):
Seeing how the team addressed the D line, how do
you feel about that?
Speaker 15 (38:39):
I'm excited. Yeah, add a new talent on the D line.
Every year you get new guys and uh, new personalities
and things and stuff like that.
Speaker 10 (38:46):
So yeah, I'm excited what the year has to offer early.
Speaker 7 (38:50):
But what has Brady brought to that room, you know
of off the field.
Speaker 10 (38:55):
And how do you expect your bringing on the field,
because obviously.
Speaker 6 (38:58):
That pressure in the middle if you'd probably help you will.
Speaker 10 (39:02):
Yeah, Greaty.
Speaker 15 (39:03):
He's brought a lot of leadership and experience to the
to the room. He helps how the young guys a lot.
Speaker 11 (39:08):
Uh.
Speaker 15 (39:09):
He's also kind of played in this type of in
this type of defense before that. Uh, some some players
haven't included me, so he's helping out in that in
that aspect too, So yeah, Greaty is a big help
right now.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
I know you guys are still getting to know the
coaching staff, but are you already sensing that they're bringing
in the right energy or there's a sense of buying
in the room that the culture is going to change
the way that you guys.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Feel it needs to.
Speaker 10 (39:33):
Yeah, I definitely feel like we're on the right track.
Speaker 15 (39:36):
You could do all the hoot and to hollering before
the before the season and all that type of stuff,
it all comes down to what's what's happening on Sundays.
Speaker 10 (39:42):
Are we winning or are we losing? So we'll bring
the judge board out there.
Speaker 9 (39:47):
We'd expected that in this defense that's different from the
specific defense you played under.
Speaker 7 (39:55):
I don't know.
Speaker 10 (39:56):
I don't think much has changed. Football is football.
Speaker 15 (40:00):
I'm just probably playing from another alignment or from another stands.
But at the end of the day, are here to
fade the QB. Grady said that Von put together those workoutshots.
Did that in Miami? You showed up why that was important,
But also what do you think it said about de
people that together? Yeah, dex is Ah, he's a leader
on the d line, he's a leader on his team. Uh,
(40:20):
he's actually from he's from Uh, he's from Florida. So
it was a kind of convenient for us to come
to meet him down there. And I just thought it
was important because, uh, just meeting your new teammates, letting
him just developing that chemistry and all all those type
of things.
Speaker 8 (40:36):
Uh.
Speaker 10 (40:37):
Yeah, supportant.
Speaker 11 (40:39):
Last season, you.
Speaker 14 (40:40):
Guys struggled to stop the run, especially towards the second
half of the year.
Speaker 10 (40:44):
What kind of changes is da Broady?
Speaker 11 (40:46):
And of course the talent has been out of that.
Speaker 14 (40:47):
You think it's gonna affect stopping to run more positively.
Speaker 15 (40:50):
This season, We're gonna see we understand that we got
to stop the run to rush the passer. And everybody
likes to rush the passer, but you gotta stop the
run for So that's definitely a big emphasis in his
defense and.
Speaker 10 (41:03):
That's what we plan on doing.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
That is Montes sweat guys.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
One of the key things he said there that that
really got my attention that he looks at Jervon Dexter
as one of the leaders of the football team. And
I mentioned this earlier today as well. The more young
guys that can emerge as important leaders is a great
sign for the future. And there's any number of guys
on both sides of the ball. If you just want
(41:26):
to stick on the line of scrimmage, a guy like
Darnel Wright and a guy like Javon.
Speaker 3 (41:30):
Dexter Senior Tommy, that would be huge.
Speaker 4 (41:32):
And that was Jervon Dexter's initiative that brought those guys together.
Speaker 6 (41:35):
Yeah, you know, you think of Grady Jaron, the enthusiasm
that he approaches football with and you look at the
skill and the athleticism what.
Speaker 5 (41:42):
Dexter Senior has.
Speaker 6 (41:45):
He's gonna have to figure out how to compliment whomever
he's playing next to, if it's Monteese on one side
and Grady on the other. But he's gonna have to
turn into that high draft choice bona fide defensive line leader,
that it develops a reputation within the the conference, in
the within the division, that he is a guy that
(42:05):
you have to identify his whereabouts as much as Montes
or anybody else in that defensive line. And we've seen,
we've seen you know, uh steps of you know, uh
improvement by Dexter, but we need to see it for
seventeen game, all year round type of performance.
Speaker 4 (42:22):
Jimmy is a hustle guy, backside guy, downfield guy. Do
you feel that there are dominant traits that can be
pulled out of him from Dennis Allen and the d
line coach.
Speaker 5 (42:34):
Definitely there.
Speaker 7 (42:37):
Yeah, he's an interesting guy who's like like Tom said,
he's made splash plays, but this is a new defense
for him. And it's good that you know, here, you
just heard from Montes Sweat saying, hey man, this defense
is pretty complicated. It's pretty complex, and Dexter is the
younger player than even Montese Sweat and he's out there
(42:57):
to show in leadership. So it tells me he feels
pretty confident in what he's being installed and that he
is going to do pretty well in it. If he's
out there, you know, bouncing around and having that type
of enthusiasm where guys are calling him a kind of
a leader guy, he should be a more competent guy.
He's played, he's had splash plays, he knows he's capable
(43:19):
of more, and now he's going to be in a
new defense that probably, if anything, would cause him to
be more reserved about it practice. But it seems like
he's excited about this move and how he could be utilized.
So it could be a good thing. But a young
player who's ascending is what i'd say.
Speaker 4 (43:36):
Right, He's only twenty three. He'll be twenty four in
season on October fifth of this year, So a young player.
Jim born in two thousand and one, Jim, when you
led the Bears to the playoffs, we're getting old?
Speaker 7 (43:48):
Who was our who is our defensive leader?
Speaker 5 (43:51):
Well?
Speaker 7 (43:52):
No, no, I'd say you, well, no, no.
Speaker 8 (43:53):
No, no.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Jervine was born in two thousand and one. I said
you and I.
Speaker 7 (43:58):
We're yeah, man, I can't even believe that. Don't bring
that start up again.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
J One more segment to go. Well, we'll get to
the lightning round. As I like to say, Tom's thoughts.
We got Tom's thoughts. He texted some today. Jimmy, you
saw him. We'll break him down there. Coming up next
on Bears Weekly on AESPN one thousand of the Bears
Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
twenty four years, Chef Shone Chef on the Bear's Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
All back, everybody.
Speaker 4 (44:40):
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletical
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Speaker 3 (44:48):
I hope everybody's feeling great.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
Final five minutes of our program tonight, as we took
a canvas look at the week that was here up
at Hallow, Saul, Let's talk DeAndre Swift want to talk
to you guys about the fit and how he can
be used to his full capabilities with Ben Johnson. Jim
will start with you because he was with Ben in
twenty twenty two, and if you just go on Pro
(45:10):
Football Focus rankings, it's just a good gauge to give
you some just a ballpark anyway, he had his best
rushing grade in twenty twenty two, that was his final
season in Detroit. It was not a big workload, small
sample size of carries, but at least it gives you
some idea that Ben Johnson knows what he has in
a DeAndre Swift.
Speaker 7 (45:32):
Yeah, he knows him, and DeAndre should feel pretty comfortable
of how the system is set up and didn't work
out in Detroit, but here he's getting another He gets
another bite at the apples, so to speak, in an
offense that he's familiar with, with an upgraded offensive line,
So he should be pretty excited about that. And I
think for Swift, he's you know, he's definitely a three
(45:54):
down back, you know, and in my opinion, he's been
in a couple of places that we haven't utilized him
the way he should have been utilized. And I think
Ben will tap into his skill sets. But he's a
good receiving back out of the backfield. One drop in
Detroit kind of plugged him. That kind of went south
for the fans that he dropped the touchdown pass and
(46:15):
he kind of never recovered and why he got you know,
ended up moving on to Philly. So the best is
yet to come, I think for Swift. I think he's
got probably the best personnel around him as he's had
other than Philadelphia prior to Chicago.
Speaker 6 (46:31):
You know, I believe DeAndre Swift is a three down
back there, There's no doubt about it. However, there's one
thing that Ben Johnson said when he's at the podium,
I want to make sure DeAndre Swift is willing to
get the dirty yards. And so that will be something
that I will pay attention to in the early portion
of the season. If it is that third and two,
third and one second three, are you willing to take
(46:54):
the point of attack and commit to it?
Speaker 3 (46:56):
Yeah? And another thing my head turns every time. I
love the screen pass.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
One of my favorite things for a running back, not
just a wide receiver or a flanker screen or a
tight end screen. But I'm watching and there's this lightning
bolt and it's Swift on the screen with the big
guys out in the front. That could be some deadly
damaged there.
Speaker 5 (47:13):
All right.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Some of Tom's thoughts. Tom Offensive line.
Speaker 4 (47:19):
We talk about left tackle, It's going to be a
big battle at training camp, no question about it, between
at least those three guys that we know of right now.
When a healthy Braxton Jones, I'm a Gaji and Ozzie Trapido.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
But you are not shying away from the.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Rest of the battles because the spillover for the sixth
and seventh and eighth offensive lineman. You got to view
them also as starter grade because of the threat of
injury or performance issues.
Speaker 6 (47:45):
Correct, Well, you think of the Bears offensive line last year,
if they didn't have Coleman Shelton, where would they have
been at center? Now you're talking about there's the sixth
inserted offensive lineman. Then you do have a late season
injury by Braxton Jones.
Speaker 5 (47:59):
So this is not all only.
Speaker 6 (48:00):
And I know we focus a lot of tension of
the future of the left tackle with the Chicago Bears
because it is really important.
Speaker 5 (48:07):
However, when you're talking about.
Speaker 6 (48:09):
An offensive line, you better have minimum seven hopefully eight.
Speaker 4 (48:13):
All right, and Jim time off after training camp. It's
always a pet peeve from my big guy over here,
Tom Thayer. What are you gonna do with that time?
He feels it's his important as training camp itself.
Speaker 5 (48:23):
Do you agree.
Speaker 7 (48:25):
Yeah, you better be cranking it up prior to training
camp starting. You know, you you better be in your
best shape because there are no guarantees. This is a
new coach, so you better be ready to go day
one if you're a player, So I wouldn't do yourself
a disservice. I would not do your team a disservice
by coming in out of shape and not knowing your
(48:47):
assignments because that would not be a good thing. And
as coach said, it's not going to be allowed. So
don't even fall into that trap if you're a player.
Speaker 5 (48:57):
Yeah, the mental part of it, you better stay.
Speaker 6 (48:59):
Is dedicated to the mental part of it as you
are right now going to meetings every day, the weightlifting
part of it, the conditioning part of it.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
That's what's expected of you.
Speaker 6 (49:07):
However, you can't come in here in full pads and
start making mental mistakes.
Speaker 4 (49:11):
Yeah, that will be the first thing that gets you
cut for sure, or at least lose your position.
Speaker 3 (49:16):
Guys, we're out of time. Thank you so much, Jim,
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (49:19):
For Tommy and all our producers, including Jack McGrath, this
has been Bears Weekly on the new radio home of
the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago. We are joining Game five
of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals between the Knicks and
the Pacers. It's coming up next here on ESPN one thousand.
Have a great night, everybody.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation
The Bears Weekly hosted.
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By the Mayra Bears, Bill Cheff, Judy App and Surfmaster
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Here are your hosts, Jeff Chilney at aka the Mayor
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Speaker 3 (00:26):
Hey are we doing, everybody?
Speaker 4 (00:27):
We're learning more and more about twenty twenty five Bears
with each passing day during the OTA portion of the offseason,
with mandatory mini camp set to open next Tuesday. Here
at halisaw Welcome into Bears Weekly on a SPN one
thousand and the Chicago Bears Radio Network with Super Bowl
winning Bears guard Tom Thayre. I'm Jeff joniak along in
a moment Bear's former Bears quarterback Jim Miller from Serious
x MNFL Radio guest free tonight, but we'll hear from
(00:50):
Bears head coach Ben Johnson, quarterback Cato Williams, defensive end
Montes Sweat, and the new veteran quarterback case Keenum. From
the week that was up here at Halis saw Tommy
good evening. I think Dan Barilli and Jordan treadep our
producers spending the dials at ESPN is Jack McGrath, their
executive producer, Eric Ostrotski of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
A lot going on.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
We got the next week's gonna be big, Gonna love that,
But hey, what have we learned this week? What have
we learned about the Bears that has caught your attention?
It's almost my weekly question to you out of the gate.
But with a few more OTA's in the books and
the Caleb Williams podium experience, we'll here's some of that tonight.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
So a lot of things.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
You know, they're playing a faster brand of football.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
There's a lot of encouragement and coaching going on from
the coaching staff. I think that they're trying to identify
who fits where. We often talk about and I talk
about with the depth chart, and everybody's trying to get
their name on that depth chart because that's a key ingredient.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
When you move into training camp.
Speaker 6 (01:49):
What I'm excited about going forward is next Tuesday, all
the alumni are invited to the practice, and I think
that the way you monitor social media, I think you'll
see you'll be able to read a lot more about
what the alumni that come to the practice for the
first time, what their reflection is of the atmosphere. And
(02:09):
I think because these guys have so much experience in
their football life, they understand how to listen to coach,
and they understand how to watch their position. They understand
how this stage of development is really important part but
stage with the next stage of the whole process in
the football team development is that's when the real stuff starts.
(02:33):
And so I'd be excited to talk to a lot
of those guys at practice, but I'm super encouraged by
what I see at practice. I'm super encouraged at the
speed of at which they're playing and the requirements of
Ben Johnson and all of his staff.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Hey, big Jim Miller joining us now. Jim will be
here at training camp. He'll do his Syrio x NFL
training camp tour, and his stop will be here in Chicago,
hopefully with yours. Truly, we'll be breaking things down. But
I know you're going to be excited to all this too.
You're an alumni, it matters to you. I know you've
played for several teams, but I'm wondering for both of
you and Jim, welcome and good evening. I hope you're
doing well. Did you guys have a lot of alumni
(03:10):
hanging around when you guys were at these guys' age
right now, you know, for the the eighty five Bears, Tommy,
that was your first year, but Jim, I mean there
were plenty of eighty five Bears around. Certainly Tom was
one of them calling the games that you worked in
for us.
Speaker 7 (03:25):
Yeah, like you know, guys would would show up periodically
and also at training camp, and yeah, it was important,
you know, and you'd have different staffs that come into,
like college football staffs that come in. This is typically
the springtime where staffs want to see what you're doing offensively,
and certainly Ben Johnson, he'll have a couple of staffs
that roll through there that are interested to see what
(03:48):
he's doing offensively and how we install things, how they
coach certain positions, all those type of things. So there's
actually a lot going on in the spring, and it
is more team team, It isn't installed. You're teaching guys
the basics of what you want to accomplish and all
(04:08):
the discipline and the techniques and all those type of things.
So it's very thorough, and it has to be very
thorough for a reason, and these are building blocks of
what they want to press on to and that things
are gonna come a lot faster come training camp. But
it was always good to have the older players come by,
stop by, you know, just to see them. You know
that they've been through it. They've gone going through the
(04:30):
same things you're going through as a curtain player, and
they had a lot of success, so you try to
tap their brains. Guys like Tom Thayer, Hey man, what
was so different about your team? Why were you guys
so tight? What made you guys so close knit? You know,
we knew they were talented, But I think if you're
a very good team, typically you're gonna have guys that
(04:51):
work hard, that are self starters, like a Tom Thayer,
like that whole eighty five Bears team, And there's a
reason why they were so close knit. They knew that
they were going to be good, and they believed in
one another, and they counted on one another, you know.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Jeff, Because we didn't have OTAs and we led us
right into mandatory mini camp. We didn't have a lot
of alumni hanging around at a mandatory Mini camp, and
it was a three day mandatory process that you know,
Dick had kind of dangled that carrot in front of
the horse, where Okay, the last day of mini camp,
we'll either have one practice or two practices.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
But it was more training.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
Camp when the guys came to Platteville, and that's when
you know, either it was a destination to drive to
with their family for a day or even a couple days.
There's nice surrounding areas up there in Platteville, and so
if you had that chance for fifteen to twenty minutes
in between practices while we were in the weight room,
(05:50):
they would come and visit the weight room in Clyde
Emerck or even at night when we had our fifteen
minutes of free time at the end of meetings and
guys would go to different places and have a beer
and and they would be there as well. So for us,
it was more catching up with the alumni at training
camp more so than Mini camp.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Do you do you remember who showed up?
Speaker 6 (06:13):
Oh, there there was a lot of guys like Mike Pyle,
ed Obradovich, Roland Harper, Jim Osborne, Danny.
Speaker 5 (06:21):
Neil, Doug Yeah, Doug Buffone, Doug Plank, you know, Terry Schmidt. Uh,
you know, there's a plenty of guys.
Speaker 6 (06:32):
You know, you still had your Bob Avellini's and stuff,
So there was plenty of guys that showed up for
one reason or the other.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, I get a kick out of that.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Actually, when I see all that they it's I think
it's important to keep that. The alumni close to the
organization of the Bears do a really good job of
trying to make that happen. So they'll continue to do
that next week. So guys like Kyler Gordon, T J.
Edwards dealing with some soft tissue injuries, Luther Burden the
third as well, and we'll learn more about this during
(07:00):
the next week with the mini camp. Who's available, but
Ben Johnson saying yesterday that everybody should be in the
building at least it is mandatory, so even if you
are injured. With that said, let's listen in to some
Ben Johnson yesterday at the podium. He was talking about
the specifics that he needs from his players. No detail
(07:23):
too small, and one is they start defining what a snap,
a rep a play looks like at the finish from
defense right through to the offense.
Speaker 8 (07:36):
The ball, the momentum of the ball running through the
defense in practice, even without pads on, and so it's
a learning experience of what that looks like and what
we're going to be about. And then offensively, we talk
about the finishing aspect of getting connected down the field
and blocking for our buddies.
Speaker 9 (07:52):
So finishing is a huge deal about.
Speaker 10 (07:55):
What we're doing.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
We're very much rooted in the fundamentals and the techniques
of what we're asking our guys to do. And so
we saw growth last week in that way, and that's
the expectation for us going forward.
Speaker 10 (08:08):
I saw you guys make him go back in the
huddle several times. What exactly are you looking forward in
the huddle and as they come out.
Speaker 8 (08:12):
Of Yeah, there's a certain way that the play needs
to get communicated in the huddle. There's a certain way
that the break should sound to us around us. That
means that that we're ready for business and we're ready
to get going. And if it doesn't sound that way,
then we're just not going to allow the practice to
go south. Fatigue is something that we're gonna combat. The
longer practice goes, the more fatigue guys get and the
(08:34):
mental toughness has to come through of still doing the
little things correctly.
Speaker 9 (08:37):
So that's a part of it.
Speaker 6 (08:38):
I saw I'm gaji left tackled last week when we
were here and today it was Ozzie. Is it a
is it one day on, one day off for each
guy or is it based on how they're.
Speaker 8 (08:47):
We're moving guys around. Yeah, we want to give everyone
an opportunity. So you know, Darnell woul feel pretty comfortable
keeping him at the right side right now, so the
left the left side until we get bracting back in
the mix.
Speaker 9 (08:58):
It's gonna be a little bit of musical chairs. Consider
right tackles, settle them that he's not going to uk
to be determined.
Speaker 8 (09:04):
Anything's on the table, and we're gonna let the plan
play out, which is keep them there for the time
being and let these guys battle it out on the
left side and we can decide to change course whenever
we need to.
Speaker 10 (09:16):
And what have you been learning about what Caleb can
at this point as you're resetting for him.
Speaker 9 (09:21):
It's been consistent throughout.
Speaker 8 (09:22):
He's been very attentive, He's been very detailed in terms
of the meetings. He's taking great notes, He's asking excellent questions.
The more we're out on the grass together, we're figuring
out what we can put in in the morning and
what we can execute later on in the afternoon. And
so that's that's been the fun part of it so far,
because there is for everybody, there's a saturation level that
(09:46):
we got to find what that point is so that
as coaches we don't ask too much out of any
player over the course of the season. We've got to
be able to download a game plan and and execute it.
And so it's been a health the process right now.
I think JT. Barrett's doing a phenomenal job. Deklan's a
big part of that as well, just figuring out how
(10:08):
much install we can push on these guys. And the
good news is we got the weekend that they can
get the plan and start ahead for the next week.
And you can really see guys separate, not just at
the quarterback position, but really all around on offensive defense.
Who's in their book a little bit exer than the
next guy.
Speaker 9 (10:26):
Keen of helping Caleb throughout the case has been phenomenal.
Speaker 8 (10:32):
I haven't been with him in the past, but he
came highly recommended from a number of people that I trust.
He's got skins on the wall. I mean, he's been
to playoff games, He's won playoff games. He's done it
at a high level. He's been the number two quarterback
at a number of different places as well, so his
experience level is off the charts. He's seen a little
bit of everything that this league has to offer. And
(10:55):
I can say from my experience of being in the
room with him, he finds a good way to ask
questions that I might not or Deck Leonard JT we
might not have provided the answer to prior. So he
does a good job filling those gaps. And then, of
course we're constrained so much by the time limits in
the springtime that he's able to help the process when
we're not in there as coaches, and he.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Is battling for the number two job with Tyson Bag
and entering his third season. One thing out of this
that I'll throw in and then I want your reactions
from both of you guys.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
He is a first time head coach.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
He has not had a regular season game just yet,
but he certainly sounds like he's been here before. He
sounds like a head coach and everything he's saying makes sense.
That that's the number one thing for me. Everything Ben
Johnson is saying makes sense.
Speaker 6 (11:42):
You Know one thing I kind of giggle at is
when I listened to Ben Johnson, if you didn't know
he was a first time head coach, you really wouldn't
know it because he's prepared and he's concise about all
of his answers. However, when I listened to him, he
reminds me so much of George Allen talking at the podium,
because George Allen was a stickler for breaking the huddle,
and he says the breaking the huddle that was a
(12:05):
big part of the influence of practice because he kind
of got a feel that everybody was on the same page,
the sound of the break, the way you went to
the line of scrimmage. And when I think about my
past experiences of football and all the quality coaches that
I had a chance to play for, it already kind
of makes me think about a guy that we're all
(12:27):
waiting to see how his first experience goes at head coach,
but he sounds like a seasoned head coach and it's
super encouraging to me because it's things I've heard. I've
heard before from coaches with a great deal of experience.
Speaker 11 (12:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (12:43):
I like the part of if we don't allow things.
That was the problem last year, and it was veteran
players saying, well, we just kind of skipped over things
and if something wasn't run right, they just let it go. Okay,
you can't allow that. That's why you're dead last in offense,
dead last in sacks. I literally would put up every
(13:04):
statistic of what the Bears did last year in that
locker room to let them know how bad they were.
And if I were Ben Johnson, I'd say when a
player says, oh, I got it, coach, don't worry, I
got it. The only thing you're gonna get is me fired.
I'm not gonna be the guy that gets fired over
you not knowing your job. Okay, So don't allow it.
(13:26):
Don't allow it at all on any single play. And
it starts with breaking the huddle. Like Tom just said,
don't allow any of it because they haven't earned that
right as any player in that locker room.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Well, by watching practice, I can tell you it's fast,
it's furious, it's aggressive on both sides of the ball,
and they are pushing the limits here just in short
pants and shirts and helmets, no pads.
Speaker 3 (13:47):
It's going to be a great training camp when we
come back.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
We'll be joined by Caleb Williams some of his press
conference yesterday here at HASAW. This is Bears Weekly on
ESPN one thousand and the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
You were listening to Bears Week on the Bears Radio Network.
Fiss Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
twenty four years, Chef Chef on the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
This second of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
IGS editor Jeff and thom and Jim Miller from sirius
X and MNFL Radio, as we break down what has
been an interesting off season for the Bears leading into
next week's veteran medicamp. It was admittedly a distraction, frankly
the only one of this offseason distraction. Freeze good, that's
what teams want. But the ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's
(14:37):
upcoming book, American King's, a Biography of the Quarterback, will
include some Caleb Williams in there. Some of what came
from Wickersham was discussed at length Wednesday, as the Bears
quarterback who did a very good job tackling some key points,
clarifying his thought process and what he wants to do
as a Bear moving forward. And this is about moving forward,
among other topics. Here's Caleb Williams.
Speaker 12 (14:59):
The main goal and the main objective of being here
is to turn around. That's why I was selected number one.
And so you know, that's what we're here to do.
That's what they brought you know, me here to do.
That's what they brought all these guys here to do,
Joe DJ, all these different guys, and that's why they
brought Ben here. And so, like I said, it's a
challenge and and we look at those challenges and you
(15:20):
know we you know, we don't laugh. We look at
him really really seriously, and you know, we go attack him,
you know, to the best of our ability to go
and change it and turn.
Speaker 11 (15:26):
Around about the new leadership.
Speaker 10 (15:28):
Has has left an impression.
Speaker 12 (15:30):
Yeah, no, it, Ben's uh. I think y'all have been
able to to see it. When he gets up here
and you get a little taste of of how he is.
He's he's always laser focused. He he encourages and he
pushes you and challenges you to be at your best
as a team, offense, defense, special teams, doesn't matter position,
uh sharp. And he's a he's a guy that wants
to win. And so you know, being here being the
(15:52):
head guy, and he's and and to be honest, he's
consistent with it every day. So excuse me, uh so
him him being here and being the head guy and
and doing all those things and being consistent with it.
So far, it's been awesome, and I think everybody's been
enjoying what.
Speaker 9 (16:05):
Has Ben taught about.
Speaker 13 (16:06):
Those shortcuts are just things that maybe he sees that
he wants you to start seeing.
Speaker 12 (16:10):
Like I said, I think Ben has been extremely detailed.
And so when he talks about the plays, when he
talks about you know, the past run screen play action,
he talks about him really in depth and and you know,
what we love him verse and what we don't love
him verse and things like that, and you know, just
have an idea going into practice, going into soon game
days and things like that, it's gonna be nice for
(16:31):
something that we've been repping and getting after. And you know,
I think I think that's been I think that's been
one of the things that's that's been really awesome. Is
the detail. And you know him him really been on
top of that. And I mean he's been in it
for six years, has been his offense for six years,
so you know, he's really on top of it. And
you know, we're only trying to catch up. I'm only
trying to catch up to him and be on top
of the details as much as possible. Curious, uh Na, honestly,
(16:58):
don't care. It's not it's not you know, like I said,
we're we're all those things were in the past, all
the things happened already, and so we're here focused on
the future. We're here focused on the present and and
and really trying to, like I say, get this train going,
and and and you know, have this thing picking up
steam and and and chewt you and alone.
Speaker 14 (17:17):
Being said when when you the past is the past?
You're hearing now Ben Johnson has made some tweets to
your game. Have you adjusted to the change and the stands?
How have you adjusted to being under centered a little bit more?
Speaker 12 (17:27):
Yes, the Ben Johnson effect, right, I guess the Ben
Johnson effect.
Speaker 11 (17:30):
Right.
Speaker 12 (17:30):
He's gonna get a kick out of that when he
hears it. Yeah, No, I think I think uh, I
think part of it is just you know, different coaches
have different philosophies, philosophies for things, and you know that's
one of his things, is left foot up. I've been
a right foot up guy for typically all of my career,
and I think I've I've done it once or twice
throughout my you know, throughout my time and playing QB.
(17:50):
So you know, it's just one of his things. And then,
like I said, the details been on top of it, huddle.
We call it PSP, but preesting that procedure all these
different things, and especially in big games and big moments,
all the little things come up. And so you know,
I think, I think, you know, that's important to him,
and it's important to us, and we gotta, you know,
we gotta get on top of it and be on top
(18:12):
of it from from the head down. So like I said,
the Ben Johnson effect, I guess right.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Yeah, And and the Ben Johnson effect is permeating the
entire building in many different ways.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
But okay, so that's a portion of it. Tommy, take
the floor, you know.
Speaker 6 (18:26):
The thing about whether would put forward or you know,
and how things are changing, that is fundamentally done and
you're gonna do it a million times before the season start,
and it's gonna become second nature and that'll be an
easy transition. But when Ben Johnson was talking up at
the podium, he was talking about oversaturating these guys and
(18:46):
see how they absorbed that amount of information and then
how they carry it to.
Speaker 5 (18:50):
The field in the afternoon.
Speaker 6 (18:52):
And that's just the process of installing a playbook to
all these guys because they're you know, they're all star
darting from ground zero because this is a new head coach. Fortunately,
I was in a system for seven years and by
year two or three, it's second nature to you. You
know every single little thing about it, and then you
(19:13):
just keep repeating it. It's not something you start installing
different stuff because that's not what your offensive game plan is.
So by the time Caleb gets in the training camp
and the latter stages of training camp, all of this
footwork and terminology will become second nature to them.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
Yeah, Jim, that's a great point.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
It would be refreshing to know that Caleb Williams will
be with this head coach for the next five years
at a minimum and learn, you know, everything second nature,
And to me, that would make the most impact on
Caleb Williams is the continuity with the head coach and
play caller.
Speaker 7 (19:48):
Absolutely, and here Ben Jonson's given him the reasons why.
There's a reason why he wants his left foot forward.
It's to make them a more efficient, better quarterback and
there it absolutely correlates to him playing better. And so
again he's not responsible for the sins of the past. However,
Caleb was coached in the past. I don't care. I
(20:12):
don't think Ben Johnson cares, and nobody else should care.
The bottom eye is to make him a better quarterback,
and having your left foot forward will make him a
better quarterback. So do it coach his way and maybe
we'll have better offensive numbers than we had a year
ago because there's a reason why he wants you to
do that, and so he's got to do it his way.
(20:34):
And again, you don't allow with certain things, and Ben
Johnson's in control of it.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Jim, what will defense This may be a shot in
the dark, but what will defenses do to challenge Caleb
now that they have a seventeen game survey of sorts
to sift through from last season? Or is it all
irrelevant from last season? Because it is going to be
a new system.
Speaker 7 (20:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's irrelevant. They'll they'll go by the first
game breakdown or the first five weeks breakdown. They'll see
what the Bears. You know, I think they will go
back to watch the Lions tall Ben likes to you know,
he does two tight ends twenty six percent of the time,
So we're probably going to expect Loveland and Cole Comet
are going to be out there twenty six percent of
(21:21):
the time. Is how either teams are going to game
plan them before week one, they're going to look at
some of the things that Ben taps into some of
his tendencies. But as for the Bears players and what
they've shown, no, they really can't game plan. It won't
be till after really week four, week five that they'll
start to get really a beat on Caleb and how
(21:43):
he performs in this new offense, and how he performs
differently from what they did a year ago, and what
their areas of focus are going to be, because there's
going to be areas that are better than others until
they catch up with everything that Ben wants to.
Speaker 6 (21:59):
Do, you know, And one thing leading up to that
first four or five weeks of the season. For Jeff
Joniac the broadcaster, it's going to be more important for
you to pay attention during practices in training camp than
it will be for preseason games, because I don't think
that Ben Johnson is gonna reveal or unveil what his
(22:20):
offense is all gonna be about in that first four
or five weeks. He's gonna show a little bit of something.
You guys start preparing for this, but this is a
this is an offshoot of what else we can offer you.
So probably for us going to practice every day in
training camp, it's gonna be a time that you really
really want to pay attention.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
We'll do good advice.
Speaker 4 (22:43):
Indeed, coming up next, we'll hear from case Keenum, the
newest Bears quarterback. As we continue on Bears Weekly with
Jim Miller and Tom There, I'm Jeff Joniac. This is
Bears Weekly, an ESPN one thousand of the Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Jonia on
the radio network. Well, welcome back to Bears Weekly on
the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the voice of
the Bears, Jeff Jolian.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
athletical physical therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to questioned in
clinic or virtual deployment and start feeling better tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (23:20):
Jeff and Thoma.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Jim Miller from Serious x MNFL Radio another quarterback new
to the Bears, but certainly not to the NFL. A
battle under way for that number two spot, according to
the head coach, Ben Johnson, with third year Tyson Bagent
and the twelve year veteran Case Keenan on his eighth team.
In those twelve years, once upon a time, the NCAA
leader in total passing yards, touchdowns and completions at the
(23:44):
University of Houston. And you gotta remember, and I forgot
this fellas. This is an undrafted player at six one
two fifteen, similar in size at least height and wait
to Caleb Williams, and he's impressed.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
With the second year quarterbacks performance.
Speaker 11 (24:00):
Only cows.
Speaker 13 (24:01):
Guy's really good and he's got a chance to be
a lot better.
Speaker 11 (24:06):
And it's been great.
Speaker 13 (24:08):
It's been so much fun coming here and playing and
being a part of that quarterback groom and an offense
and you know, working with Ben a deck and JT
and press and obviously with Caleb and Tyson Austin, those
guys in that room.
Speaker 11 (24:22):
It's just it's been really special for me. I'm enjoying it.
Speaker 8 (24:25):
You was to be a guide for him, So so
what is excited you about the early stages of that
relationship on what you think you could give him at the.
Speaker 13 (24:33):
Stage, you know, he's just he's a sponge, you know,
for being an all world talent, a guy who's obviously,
since high school, you know, been the best player on
any field anywhere he's ever stepped on.
Speaker 11 (24:49):
Uh.
Speaker 13 (24:50):
To to be humble enough to like ask me questions
and and and watch and learn.
Speaker 11 (24:57):
Has been really refreshing.
Speaker 13 (24:59):
To see a guy that young and that talented, but
but still you know, take to to me, it will say,
you know, it's been it's been really fun.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
One of the assurances that you could compete to be
the number two coming.
Speaker 13 (25:13):
Out, I've competing my whole life. You know, I show
up every day and hope my lockers are not cleaned out.
Speaker 12 (25:18):
Man.
Speaker 11 (25:18):
That's that's how I treat every day.
Speaker 13 (25:20):
I compete against myself, compete against uh, the guys in
that room. I compete against you know, the defense we're
playing that day today, And then every day. I've competed
my whole life, so you know I have I have
a knack of uh, you know, sticking around and being
ready to go when my name is called, no matter
when that is or how that is.
Speaker 11 (25:40):
So I'm impressed with that whole room.
Speaker 13 (25:42):
Caleb, obviously, I've already talked about him, but I think
Tyson is gonna play a long time in this league.
Speaker 11 (25:47):
I really do. He is very athletic.
Speaker 13 (25:49):
Uh, He's trained, and he is hungry man he is.
He's one of the most well prepared guys on that
field every day. So I'm very impressed with him in Austin.
I see a lot of myself in Austin. Young guy
that just needs a shot and it's hungry, doesn't get
a ton of reps, but uh, it makes makes the
most of him when he when he can.
Speaker 11 (26:08):
You have a connection with Ben Johnson all or anyone
else on the staff.
Speaker 13 (26:11):
I mean when you played as long as I have,
and you've been around enough coaches that we had a
bunch of kind of a couple of degrees of separation.
And I've talked to a bunch of guys about him,
and I think he did the same about me.
Speaker 11 (26:25):
Uh to some of those same people.
Speaker 13 (26:26):
So, uh, yeah, we had we had some connections, but no,
I'd never really worked with him in the past.
Speaker 14 (26:34):
She talked about you can watch some of cables from
before you into him coming here.
Speaker 9 (26:38):
What were some of the things that you.
Speaker 14 (26:39):
Saw that immediately you were like, if he makes this
small tweet, he's gonna take.
Speaker 15 (26:44):
This next step.
Speaker 13 (26:46):
I mean, uh, what jumped out immediately was just effortless
arm talent. I don't know if I've seen a guy
do that as as a you know, a young guy,
but just just being able to take sometimes what defenses
give you and not make this crazy big, you know,
off schedule play, letting those plays kind of come to you.
Speaker 11 (27:06):
And I think he found some spots of that last year.
Speaker 13 (27:09):
And you know he's he's settled into this this offense
and how Ben sees it and trying to get on
the same page with him and Press and Deck and JT,
trying to trying to all come out of that quarterback
room and seeing the defense the exact same way as
the play caller has been. So you know what we're
trying to accomplish and how we're trying to accomplish it
(27:30):
along with the footwork, you know, the operation before the snap,
defense recognition, all all those things combined with leadership.
Speaker 11 (27:38):
So it's quarterbacking.
Speaker 13 (27:40):
I mean, it's an art and it's a science, and
it's all of that combined. And there's a you know,
one hundred ways of getting the ball down the field.
But in the end, you know, I think there is
some common thread, some common themes of being a pro quarterback.
What it means day in and day out, showing up here,
being ready to do your job.
Speaker 11 (27:59):
And you know, that's.
Speaker 13 (28:01):
Representing himself, his family, this, you know, an offense, a
coaching staff, the team, an organization, and a city like
Chicago where it was such a a story tradition of
players and coaches and and really sports teams. It's it's
incredible that he's got a chance to do that. He's
(28:23):
going to do it for a long time.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
And that is case Keenum coming to the Bears after
not able to playing last season because of a foot injury,
but sixty six starts on his resume in eighty games,
only twelve starts in the last six years, but Jim
eleven and three in Minnesota. In that twenty seventeen season,
he had twenty two touchdowns and just seven interceptions.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
And I'm sure there's a lot there you can relate to.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
I'm intrigued by him calling quarterback playing art and a science.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
Would you agree?
Speaker 7 (28:51):
Yeah? That that year in Minnesota he was the number
one quarterback against the Blitz. Okay, he knows protections is
not how to get sacked or avoid sacks. And so
that'd be a resource if I were Caleb and Tyson
that I'd tap into. You know, and you hang around
the league twelve years for a reason, and like you said,
(29:12):
he's an undrafted guy because he takes his job seriously.
He's responsible for what he had to work for everything
to stay at a roster. He knows what it's about.
So you know, they need to use him as a resource.
Tap into him. You know, how were you the number
one rated quarterback versus the Blitz? How do you learn
(29:32):
your protections, what's hot, what's not? How do you protect yourself?
Utilize that that asset, that experience that he has. He's
been in eight different offenses that he just mentioned. He
knows a lot of football.
Speaker 10 (29:46):
Is my point.
Speaker 7 (29:47):
Use him, use them. He's a resource that you can
learn from.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
You know, one thing about case I don't want his
experience to be wasted only on the quarterback room, because
he's got the same mentality I did. Every single day
I walked in the Hallas hall, I thought, this may
be the day.
Speaker 5 (30:02):
That I'm going to get cut.
Speaker 6 (30:03):
And his dedication and desire to be a professional football
player should spill over to some of these other young
guys who take it for granted, because once you start
taking the NFL opportunity for granted, and the next step
is going to be out the door. And I think
Case can be a great reflection to every single position
(30:24):
I'm in that locker room about what it takes to
be a dedicated, double digit years of service player.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
We'd do on Beijing, by the way, Jim, because more
often than not, I'm hearing these same platitudes about his preparation.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
And the amount of time he spends on being ready.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
And for Case Keenum to come in here only for
a few months and know that out of the gate
he's seeing it firsthand, says a lot about Tyson Beaging.
And this sounds like it'll be a pretty interesting battle
for the number two job.
Speaker 7 (30:58):
If teams are gonna call to trade for Tyson Beagen.
I guarantee you. They may have already gotten them calls
the words out. That kid is a grinder. That kid prepares.
That kid went to and two as a rookie, and
Justin Fields was getting sacked one out of every eight plays.
Tyson Bazin Pagent was inserted into the lineup, he was
(31:21):
sacked one every twenty one because he knows what's expected
of him the words out. He will be a hot
commodity that teams will call the trade for by the
trade deadline. If a quarterback goes down, then you still
have a veteran in case Keenum that could step in
and play and the Bears could get assets for Tyson Beagen. Okay,
(31:44):
that kid's the words out. He's a good player.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
I would like to keep Tyson Beaijing. I like this player.
I like his personality. I think he's good for the
football team. He's got the respect of the players as well.
Tom Jim knows all these ratios of sacks per PA.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Did you know yours?
Speaker 7 (32:02):
No? I didn't know why. I know for the Bears,
I only got sex seven times that whole year.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I do know that the two thousand and one season.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
Yeah, we got back twenty seven as a team, and
I was responsible for seven of them.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
Holy smokes, and it Doug on it. If it didn't
happen in that playoff game, we'd be singing a different tune, Jimmy.
Speaker 7 (32:26):
Of that. Hey, if you Doug Douglas to me right now,
cage match, Let's go.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Right, Hugh Douglas, Tommy, you Douglas. Oh, he was a
nasty player, But Jim you were a hell of a quarterback. Here, buddy,
a hell of a quarterback. All right, let's take another break.
Coming up, we'll hear from defensive player, a defensive end
that has a lot of significance to his game and
will need to be that way this season.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Montes Sweat.
Speaker 4 (32:49):
This is Bear's Weekly on ESPN one thousand and the
Bears Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
You were tuned into Bears Weekly with Jeff Joniak on
the Bears Radio Network. I'll come back to Bears Weekly
on the Bears Radio Network. Here's your host, the Voice
of the Bears, Jeff Joy.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
This segment of Bears Weekly is brought to you by
Igs Energy, Jeff Joniak, TM Thayer and Jim Miller from
sirius XM NFL Radio. Getting you set for the start
of Veteran Minicamp next week. We talk a lot about Cale,
a lot about the offense. But strangely, I've had some interviews,
(33:30):
not interviews, but speaking engagements up here at Hallashall with Bears, partners,
sponsors or whatever, and I find myself Jim and Tom
not talking that much about kit. I'm talking a lot
about coaching, and I'm talking about other important pieces to
the puzzle, because it is a puzzle. It's not just
about the quarterback. Yes, the quarterback has to play well
and all that. But one of the guys I've been
(33:50):
talking about is Montes Sweat. And I think I mentioned
on Wada and Sylvie earlier tonight when I was out
with them late this afternoon that you know, I'm thinking
that I never heard this, but you know, Montes Sweat
had some issues in training camp with a nagging injury
and it may have lingered throughout the whole season. That's
that's my guess, and I think he was working through
(34:11):
some stuff and now with a new defense to learn
that he has not really played in much. It's it's
probably a pretty big learning moment right now for Monteste Sweat.
Albeit that when you're an edge rusher. You know what
your main job is. You got to go get the quarterback,
but stop of the run will be as equally important
this year.
Speaker 5 (34:30):
Yeah you know.
Speaker 6 (34:30):
I mean that's one of the requirements of Dennis Allen
is having a defensive line that's willing and able and
capable of stopping the run so they have the opportunity
to rush the passer. But if I think if there's
any one marquee name on this roster that means the
most of the success of this football team, it is
probably Monteste Sweat. And not to deny the fact that
(34:51):
Caleb Williams is going to be an important part of
the future of this organization. But when you go out
and you get a guy like Montese Sweat and then
you give him a big contra, you want every offensive line,
every offensive coordinator for seventeen weeks to think about how
you're gonna block him.
Speaker 5 (35:08):
And then when you figure out how.
Speaker 6 (35:09):
You're gonna block him, what openings does that give the
other members of the defensive front seven and even defensive
backs for that matter. So when you look at Montese Sweat,
he's got to be such a dial mover for your
defense that other guys are succeeding because Montese Sweat is succeeding.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Right and Jim, you know, not every team has a
pass rusher that can demand a double team down in
and down out in the pass game. And so but
those moments when he will be he'll be chipped or whatever,
it does open up some great opportunities from other defensive
lineman's that's the obvious. And I just think he's a
terrific talent. He's still young, and he's still got a
(35:50):
lot left in the tank.
Speaker 7 (35:53):
He does he's got to be a double digit sack guy.
I believe he had five last year. Whether he's heard
or whatever was wrong. They need him to be a
double digit sack guy. And on the other side, whether
it's Booker, whether it's Daye who's brought in there, they've
got need to take advantage of that. You know, if
you got a double digit sack guy on one side,
(36:13):
you have to be able to take advantage on the
other side because of the attention that he commands, and
those other guys got to step up and get in
on the party. No matter if it's a rotation or
if Dayo's the guy. You you know, it's just you
gotta get minimum. If you can get twenty sacks from
your two outside guys, you're cooking with gas. If both
(36:35):
are double digit, you got something good brewing. But if
he can be just who he is, a double digit
sack guy in sweat, and then you can get whether
it's Dale Booker, other guys opposite, to get up the
double digits, say five and five as a rotation group.
Now you're talking, but it starts with sweat. Period.
Speaker 6 (37:00):
I think the pass rush does on obvious third down
start with a Monteste sweat.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
But I think you have to have.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
The understanding that if Grady Jarrett gives you interior explosiveness
and he's making penetration into the backfield, and now you're
talking about how a center guard tackle will slide all
the way.
Speaker 5 (37:19):
Out to Monteste sweat.
Speaker 6 (37:20):
Now if they have to slide quicker and maybe sustain
a little bit longer time with Grady Jarrett, then that's
gonna give Monteste sweats some one on one opportunity. Or
if they feel that that guard's got to slide out
to help the offensive tackle as quickly as possible to
try to get to Monteste sweat, it's going to open
up opportunities for Grady Jarrett, and so I think when
(37:41):
you look at the relationship between those two guys, that's
where the influence of pass rush is gonna come from.
Speaker 4 (37:49):
All Right, let's listen in to Montest sweat from the
podium yesterday. Hear it to how Saul his initial opinion
of his new defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen.
Speaker 10 (37:56):
Oh, yeah, he's a very complex individual.
Speaker 15 (38:00):
He has a lot of a lot of fronts and
schemes and things that he can attack the attack the
offense with.
Speaker 10 (38:06):
So, yeah, he's a great guy. Smart.
Speaker 11 (38:09):
You were thinking about it for a second.
Speaker 10 (38:11):
For White, it's complex. The word that comes up when you.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Think the end.
Speaker 15 (38:15):
Well, I mean, I'm saying I'm trying to learn a
new defense right now.
Speaker 10 (38:18):
So it's a uh.
Speaker 15 (38:20):
It presents his challenges, different friends, different blitches, different different countries,
different coverages and things like that, and uhs just more
than I had to learn in the past, I would say. So, uh,
he's definitely a little bit more complex than the DC's
I had the path.
Speaker 12 (38:34):
Seeing how the team addressed the D line, how do
you feel about that?
Speaker 15 (38:39):
I'm excited. Yeah, add a new talent on the D line.
Every year you get new guys and uh, new personalities
and things and stuff like that.
Speaker 10 (38:46):
So yeah, I'm excited what the year has to offer early.
Speaker 7 (38:50):
But what has Brady brought to that room, you know
of off the field.
Speaker 10 (38:55):
And how do you expect your bringing on the field,
because obviously.
Speaker 6 (38:58):
That pressure in the middle if you'd probably help you will.
Speaker 10 (39:02):
Yeah, Greaty.
Speaker 15 (39:03):
He's brought a lot of leadership and experience to the
to the room. He helps how the young guys a lot.
Speaker 11 (39:08):
Uh.
Speaker 15 (39:09):
He's also kind of played in this type of in
this type of defense before that. Uh, some some players
haven't included me, so he's helping out in that in
that aspect too, So yeah, Greaty is a big help
right now.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
I know you guys are still getting to know the
coaching staff, but are you already sensing that they're bringing
in the right energy or there's a sense of buying
in the room that the culture is going to change
the way that you guys.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Feel it needs to.
Speaker 10 (39:33):
Yeah, I definitely feel like we're on the right track.
Speaker 15 (39:36):
You could do all the hoot and to hollering before
the before the season and all that type of stuff,
it all comes down to what's what's happening on Sundays.
Speaker 10 (39:42):
Are we winning or are we losing? So we'll bring
the judge board out there.
Speaker 9 (39:47):
We'd expected that in this defense that's different from the
specific defense you played under.
Speaker 7 (39:55):
I don't know.
Speaker 10 (39:56):
I don't think much has changed. Football is football.
Speaker 15 (40:00):
I'm just probably playing from another alignment or from another stands.
But at the end of the day, are here to
fade the QB. Grady said that Von put together those workoutshots.
Did that in Miami? You showed up why that was important,
But also what do you think it said about de
people that together? Yeah, dex is Ah, he's a leader
on the d line, he's a leader on his team. Uh,
(40:20):
he's actually from he's from Uh, he's from Florida. So
it was a kind of convenient for us to come
to meet him down there. And I just thought it
was important because, uh, just meeting your new teammates, letting
him just developing that chemistry and all all those type
of things.
Speaker 8 (40:36):
Uh.
Speaker 10 (40:37):
Yeah, supportant.
Speaker 11 (40:39):
Last season, you.
Speaker 14 (40:40):
Guys struggled to stop the run, especially towards the second
half of the year.
Speaker 10 (40:44):
What kind of changes is da Broady?
Speaker 11 (40:46):
And of course the talent has been out of that.
Speaker 14 (40:47):
You think it's gonna affect stopping to run more positively.
Speaker 15 (40:50):
This season, We're gonna see we understand that we got
to stop the run to rush the passer. And everybody
likes to rush the passer, but you gotta stop the
run for So that's definitely a big emphasis in his
defense and.
Speaker 10 (41:03):
That's what we plan on doing.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
That is Montes sweat guys.
Speaker 4 (41:05):
One of the key things he said there that that
really got my attention that he looks at Jervon Dexter
as one of the leaders of the football team. And
I mentioned this earlier today as well. The more young
guys that can emerge as important leaders is a great
sign for the future. And there's any number of guys
on both sides of the ball. If you just want
(41:26):
to stick on the line of scrimmage, a guy like
Darnel Wright and a guy like Javon.
Speaker 3 (41:30):
Dexter Senior Tommy, that would be huge.
Speaker 4 (41:32):
And that was Jervon Dexter's initiative that brought those guys together.
Speaker 6 (41:35):
Yeah, you know, you think of Grady Jaron, the enthusiasm
that he approaches football with and you look at the
skill and the athleticism what.
Speaker 5 (41:42):
Dexter Senior has.
Speaker 6 (41:45):
He's gonna have to figure out how to compliment whomever
he's playing next to, if it's Monteese on one side
and Grady on the other. But he's gonna have to
turn into that high draft choice bona fide defensive line leader,
that it develops a reputation within the the conference, in
the within the division, that he is a guy that
(42:05):
you have to identify his whereabouts as much as Montes
or anybody else in that defensive line. And we've seen,
we've seen you know, uh steps of you know, uh
improvement by Dexter, but we need to see it for
seventeen game, all year round type of performance.
Speaker 4 (42:22):
Jimmy is a hustle guy, backside guy, downfield guy. Do
you feel that there are dominant traits that can be
pulled out of him from Dennis Allen and the d
line coach.
Speaker 5 (42:34):
Definitely there.
Speaker 7 (42:37):
Yeah, he's an interesting guy who's like like Tom said,
he's made splash plays, but this is a new defense
for him. And it's good that you know, here, you
just heard from Montes Sweat saying, hey man, this defense
is pretty complicated. It's pretty complex, and Dexter is the
younger player than even Montese Sweat and he's out there
(42:57):
to show in leadership. So it tells me he feels
pretty confident in what he's being installed and that he
is going to do pretty well in it. If he's
out there, you know, bouncing around and having that type
of enthusiasm where guys are calling him a kind of
a leader guy, he should be a more competent guy.
He's played, he's had splash plays, he knows he's capable
(43:19):
of more, and now he's going to be in a
new defense that probably, if anything, would cause him to
be more reserved about it practice. But it seems like
he's excited about this move and how he could be utilized.
So it could be a good thing. But a young
player who's ascending is what i'd say.
Speaker 4 (43:36):
Right, He's only twenty three. He'll be twenty four in
season on October fifth of this year, So a young player.
Jim born in two thousand and one, Jim, when you
led the Bears to the playoffs, we're getting old?
Speaker 7 (43:48):
Who was our who is our defensive leader?
Speaker 5 (43:51):
Well?
Speaker 7 (43:52):
No, no, I'd say you, well, no, no.
Speaker 8 (43:53):
No, no.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Jervine was born in two thousand and one. I said
you and I.
Speaker 7 (43:58):
We're yeah, man, I can't even believe that. Don't bring
that start up again.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
J One more segment to go. Well, we'll get to
the lightning round. As I like to say, Tom's thoughts.
We got Tom's thoughts. He texted some today. Jimmy, you
saw him. We'll break him down there. Coming up next
on Bears Weekly on AESPN one thousand of the Bears
Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
You were listening to Bears Weekly on the Bears Radio Network.
Is Bears Weekly with the voice of the Bears for
twenty four years, Chef Shone Chef on the Bear's Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
All back, everybody.
Speaker 4 (44:40):
This segment of Bears Weekly brought to you by Athletical
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Speaker 3 (44:48):
I hope everybody's feeling great.
Speaker 4 (44:50):
Final five minutes of our program tonight, as we took
a canvas look at the week that was here up
at Hallow, Saul, Let's talk DeAndre Swift want to talk
to you guys about the fit and how he can
be used to his full capabilities with Ben Johnson. Jim
will start with you because he was with Ben in
twenty twenty two, and if you just go on Pro
(45:10):
Football Focus rankings, it's just a good gauge to give
you some just a ballpark anyway, he had his best
rushing grade in twenty twenty two, that was his final
season in Detroit. It was not a big workload, small
sample size of carries, but at least it gives you
some idea that Ben Johnson knows what he has in
a DeAndre Swift.
Speaker 7 (45:32):
Yeah, he knows him, and DeAndre should feel pretty comfortable
of how the system is set up and didn't work
out in Detroit, but here he's getting another He gets
another bite at the apples, so to speak, in an
offense that he's familiar with, with an upgraded offensive line,
So he should be pretty excited about that. And I
think for Swift, he's you know, he's definitely a three
(45:54):
down back, you know, and in my opinion, he's been
in a couple of places that we haven't utilized him
the way he should have been utilized. And I think
Ben will tap into his skill sets. But he's a
good receiving back out of the backfield. One drop in
Detroit kind of plugged him. That kind of went south
for the fans that he dropped the touchdown pass and
(46:15):
he kind of never recovered and why he got you know,
ended up moving on to Philly. So the best is
yet to come, I think for Swift. I think he's
got probably the best personnel around him as he's had
other than Philadelphia prior to Chicago.
Speaker 6 (46:31):
You know, I believe DeAndre Swift is a three down
back there, There's no doubt about it. However, there's one
thing that Ben Johnson said when he's at the podium,
I want to make sure DeAndre Swift is willing to
get the dirty yards. And so that will be something
that I will pay attention to in the early portion
of the season. If it is that third and two,
third and one second three, are you willing to take
(46:54):
the point of attack and commit to it?
Speaker 3 (46:56):
Yeah? And another thing my head turns every time. I
love the screen pass.
Speaker 4 (47:00):
One of my favorite things for a running back, not
just a wide receiver or a flanker screen or a
tight end screen. But I'm watching and there's this lightning
bolt and it's Swift on the screen with the big
guys out in the front. That could be some deadly
damaged there.
Speaker 5 (47:13):
All right.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Some of Tom's thoughts. Tom Offensive line.
Speaker 4 (47:19):
We talk about left tackle, It's going to be a
big battle at training camp, no question about it, between
at least those three guys that we know of right now.
When a healthy Braxton Jones, I'm a Gaji and Ozzie Trapido.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
But you are not shying away from the.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Rest of the battles because the spillover for the sixth
and seventh and eighth offensive lineman. You got to view
them also as starter grade because of the threat of
injury or performance issues.
Speaker 6 (47:45):
Correct, Well, you think of the Bears offensive line last year,
if they didn't have Coleman Shelton, where would they have
been at center? Now you're talking about there's the sixth
inserted offensive lineman. Then you do have a late season
injury by Braxton Jones.
Speaker 5 (47:59):
So this is not all only.
Speaker 6 (48:00):
And I know we focus a lot of tension of
the future of the left tackle with the Chicago Bears
because it is really important.
Speaker 5 (48:07):
However, when you're talking about.
Speaker 6 (48:09):
An offensive line, you better have minimum seven hopefully eight.
Speaker 4 (48:13):
All right, and Jim time off after training camp. It's
always a pet peeve from my big guy over here,
Tom Thayer. What are you gonna do with that time?
He feels it's his important as training camp itself.
Speaker 5 (48:23):
Do you agree.
Speaker 7 (48:25):
Yeah, you better be cranking it up prior to training
camp starting. You know, you you better be in your
best shape because there are no guarantees. This is a
new coach, so you better be ready to go day
one if you're a player, So I wouldn't do yourself
a disservice. I would not do your team a disservice
by coming in out of shape and not knowing your
(48:47):
assignments because that would not be a good thing. And
as coach said, it's not going to be allowed. So
don't even fall into that trap if you're a player.
Speaker 5 (48:57):
Yeah, the mental part of it, you better stay.
Speaker 6 (48:59):
Is dedicated to the mental part of it as you
are right now going to meetings every day, the weightlifting
part of it, the conditioning part of it.
Speaker 5 (49:06):
That's what's expected of you.
Speaker 6 (49:07):
However, you can't come in here in full pads and
start making mental mistakes.
Speaker 4 (49:11):
Yeah, that will be the first thing that gets you
cut for sure, or at least lose your position.
Speaker 3 (49:16):
Guys, we're out of time. Thank you so much, Jim,
appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (49:19):
For Tommy and all our producers, including Jack McGrath, this
has been Bears Weekly on the new radio home of
the Chicago Bears, ESPN Chicago. We are joining Game five
of the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals between the Knicks and
the Pacers. It's coming up next here on ESPN one thousand.
Have a great night, everybody.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Thank you for listening to the Chicago Bears Network presentation
The Bears Weekly hosted.
Speaker 2 (49:43):
By the Mayra Bears, Bill Cheff, Judy App and Surfmaster
Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
Podcasts that are available on the Chicago Bears Official ad
brought to you by Verizon.
Speaker 11 (49:54):
And Apple Podcasts.
Speaker 2 (49:56):
Bears Weekly has been brought to you by Miller. Life
is Smell
Speaker 12 (50:05):
Than
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